One Personal Video Recorder (PVR) company (TiVo) offers the "Ipreview"™ feature to simplify user selection of programs to be recorded. An icon flashes on the screen during promotional announcements for selected upcoming programs. Users interested in recording the program for later playback simply press the "select" button on the remote control. Their PVR then searches all receivable channels for an occurance of that show and episode and schedules a recording. Because PVRs are hard-disk-based systems, there are no tapes to load or any other steps involved.
1 - For national programs:
All that is required is for the station's network to come to an
agreement with TiVo for use of their proprietary encoding system. Since the
codes pass on Line 21 as easily as closed captions, there are no other steps
required for a local station to transmit the Ipreview signal.
2 - For local programs:
TiVo has an agreement allowing stations to use the Mixed Signals ITVauto™ Interactive Television Broadcast Data Automation Interface to insert IPreview triggers automatically, as driven by the station automation system.
1 - For national programs:
The network must come to an agreement with TiVo for use of their system.
Having done so, a station only need to insure that the closed-caption channel
remain intact when any national promotional spots are recorded, processed, or
edited at the station.
2 - For local programs:
Install Mixed Signals ITVauto system and configure the interface to the station automation system. Include air date and time within the automation schedule for each promo of a locally scheduled program.
