With a vast amount of live sport in its schedule, British Eurosport was particularly vulnerable to over-runs and delays. Last minute changes could make its EPG information unreliable, leading to complaints from annoyed viewers, from Sky (their platform client) and from advertisers unable to tell when their spots had aired.

Working closely with British Eurosport, Arqiva and Sky we developed a real-time update service for British Eurosport’s EPG. Using our own TeleView system, we ingest a real-time data stream from Eurosport’s playout suite to match unique IDs in the EPG schedule. This real-time trigger service, along with Eurosport’s adoption of Teleview as their EPG database, ensures their EPG continually updates to match any changes in the schedule, regardless of how close these are made to transmission.

The results are conclusive. The error rate on the EPG has decreased from 75% to 0.1%, protecting PVR recordings for viewers and ensuring accuracy and consistency on the Sky platform. Overall that has meant a better Eurosport brand experience for viewers and provided a reliable platform for advertising. The client is so happy with the service that it’s due to roll out on Eurosport 2 in the coming weeks.