Content deleted Content added
Black Kite (talk | contribs) tagged for 16 months without improvement, trimmed to three non-free usages, tag removed |
→Prevue Guide: identified announcer |
||
Line 63:
The satellite feed's national scheduling grid was never meant to be seen by cable subscribers. On occasion, however, when a cable system's local Prevue Guide software [[Crash (computing)|crashed]] into Amiga ''[[Guru Meditation]]'' mode, subscribers would be exposed to the satellite feed's full video frame, letting them see not only the two disparate promos simultaneously running in its upper half, but perhaps more confusingly, the satellite [[Transponder#Satellite/broadcast communications|transponder]]-oriented national listings grid in its lower half.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Jz2NSNHuu4 Video: Prevue Guide crashed, then rebooting, exposing raw satellite feed video], Youtube</ref>
Commercials, often for psychic hotlines, and featurettes produced by Prevue Networks, Inc., such as ''Prevue Tonight'', were also delivered via this satellite feed. For commercials, the top half of the feed's video frame would be completely filled out, with local cable system Prevue Guide installations letting it show through in full. The satellite feed also carried a third audio channel containing Prevue Guide theme music in an infinite loop. Local Prevue Guide installations would switch to this audio source during the display of local top-screen advertising, and when they crashed. Prevue Guide could additionally signal cable system video playback equipment to override the Prevue Networks, Inc. satellite feed entirely with up to nine minutes of local, video-based advertising per hour. Few cable systems utilized this feature, however, oweing to the need to produce special versions of their local advertisements wherein, as with the satellite feed itself, all action occurred only within the top half of the video frame.
Other features of Prevue Guide, unavailable in the earlier full- and split-screen EPG Sr. versions, were colorized listings backgrounds and program-by-program channel summaries. Between its already colored grid lines, which alternated blue, green, yellow, and red with each half-hour listings cycle, each cable operator could choose to enable either red or light blue (rather than black) background colors for multiple channels of its choice. These backgrounds were usually used to highlight premium movie channels and pay-per-view services. Additionally, program-by-program channel summaries with light grey backgrounds, for up to four channels of each cable operator's choice, could be included within the scrolling grid. Appearing between each four-hour listings cycle, the names of channels (rather than times) would scroll up and slide into the grid's header bar one at a time, each followed by up to four hours worth of program-by-program listings for that channel alone.
| |||