Backwards EPGs, or electronic programme guides that can be scrolled backwards as well as forwards in time, are part of UPC Ireland's product development "roadmap", according to Mark Coan, its sales and marketing director.
A feature of the British television market through platforms such as YouView and Freesat, backwards EPGs effectively integrate the catch-up functionality already offered through on-demand services into the EPG. This allows users to browse through the recent past of certain channels’ schedules and access programmes they may have missed that way.
“We like the concept of backwards EPGs, but it’s not something we’re launching today,” Coan said, speaking at a briefing earlier this week on UPC’s new Horizon apps for watching television and on-demand content on other devices in the home.
The full Horizon television service, which allows users to fully sync their devices with their TV sets, will be introduced to the Irish market later this year.
UPC's product launches over the next few months, which it is calling its "summer spectacular", will be supported by "a little bit of above-the-line" advertising, courtesy of its creative agency Irish International, media buyer Carat and frontman Craig Doyle. "They're the holy trinity for us."
