Gone are the days where you had to flip the pages of big TV guides, look through the index to find your favorite channel, subsection show, and check its time. (Honestly, when’s the last time you did that for anything in life?). Digitization has completely changed the perspective of the world. Even the best Sydney tv guide is on digital platforms.
We know in this pandemic, the streaming services surged like crazy. More users were migrating online vs. those who stuck to cable television. But the charm of cable TV persists amongst many, and even they are making advancements to catch up. In this article, we will talk about how a TV guide works.
It has evolved from a robust page flipping to a few taps on your smartphone. The level of convenience has increased, and the content is only getting better. Set your alarms to your favorite features after you’re done reading this. Let’s get started.
- Separation
“Content” is a broad term to define what the entertainment industry has to offer. There are different forms of entertainment including movies, and TV shows. They are later broken down into short movies, short stories, documentaries, indie films, etc. They further get broken down into genres, categories, and subgenres. It’s one big mess of content and the user will be left scrolling like crazy. So here, the TV guide firstly separates.
The separation of these makes the interface of the TV guide neater and cleaner. It helps you decide on your preference and then you get to scroll down to your favorite places. Another type of separation here is recorded TV and live TV. The digital TV guide is now equipped with a section that tells what’s saved for you beforehand. Of course, based on your cable subscription package, the DVR availability varies but it is there for us.
- Search Bar
Digital TV guides are assisted with search bars to pick out favorites. This helps best when you don’t remember the feature name or any detail of it. Just search anything close to it, even the genre, and you will get the feature on your first screen.
Admittedly, this feature still needs rectification. We did a test of searching Leonardo DiCaprio and it popped up a few results that were nowhere near him. But let’s be honest, it is not flawless anywhere. Even in popular streaming services like Netflix, this issue persists. One bug people reported about Netflix is how it can predict your search but does not necessarily bring it up. If you search part of a title in the bar, you will see a suggestion with the full name available, but you won’t find it in the options.
The search bar is also not sorted, so it filters amidst all the options. The reason the separation part was so important was whether you had the urge to manually scroll or not.
- Favorites
Digital Guides may not be able to connect you instantly to your favorite show (the way streaming services do), but they do ask for your feedback. When you search for it or click on it, it does hint at the algorithm that this feature was of your interest to. Don’t be scared, it’s not going to hurt you by asking you about it. If anything, it takes that feedback to start giving you personalized suggestions.
The digital TV guide can tell you of new picks and releases once they are available. It will inform you especially if you have subscribed to know about it. For example, if you’re a sports fan and love watching sports channel, the digital TV guide can recommend you movies, shows, documentaries, and interviews on sports to watch. This way, the TV guide gives a more personal touch to the user, and this develops trust in the users’ eyes.
Conclusion
The fanbase of cable TV is demanding more updates and improvements and they are in progress. The purpose behind having a TV guide is to make the experience smarter. People need standard TV listings and a search bar to go through an ocean of shows and movies. Recently, we’ve seen Apple TV emerging into the revolution of TV experience. We also acknowledge the efforts of TV Guide’s universal app that works on many platforms.
It comes with greater compatibility, accessibility, a friendlier interface, and a search directory of thousands of regions. With better updates and improvements on the way, we can say that the TV guides are helpful. By now you’re aware of how they work, so download your favorite digital TV guide app and enjoy!
