Cable static disrupts TV feature
[SNIP]
Harry Wessel
of The Sentinel Staff
Published in The Orlando Sentinel on June 16, 2000
Gemstar. The system, when working, can automatically record shows.
If you're in the market for a television and have heard
about a feature called "Guide Plus," bear this in mind: It
probably won't work.
Guide Plus is an electronic, onscreen interactive programming guide built into dozens of popular sets.
Selected models of such well-known brands as GE, JVC, Magnavox, Proscan, RCA, Sony and Zenith carry it. The sets range in price from about $350 to $2,000 and more.
Guide Plus doesn't just tell you when shows are on. It
tells you what they're about, sorts your favorite shows
by themes and will automatically record them if you so
desire. It provides picture-in-picture so that you can do
all this without obscuring what you're currently watching.
But if you're a customer of Time Warner Communications -- and 670,000 TV watchers in Central Florida are Time Warner customers -- the Guide Plus feature won't work. Time Warner cut off the service on March 1.
Question: Why did Time Warner cut off the Guide Plus feature?
Answer: Time Warner is in a legal dispute with Gemstar, the company that owns the patent for Guide Plus and licenses it to TV manufacturers. The updated information for Guide Plus is transmitted into your television in the wee hours of the morning over what's called the Vertical Blanking Interval.
The VBL is a portion of the TV signal used for transmitting data to set-top boxes and imbedded memory chips. This includes such features as closed captioning and Guide Plus data. Time Warner says it owns the interval and should be compensated for its use, because the information is being transmitted over its cable system. Gemstar thinks Time Warner has no right to compensation.
Q: Who is right?
A: The Federal Communications Commission will decide. It is reviewing the case, with no indication of whether a decision is weeks or months away. According to an FCC spokeswoman, the National Association of Cable TV Advertisers sides with Time Warner. The Consumer Electronics Association, the National Association of Broadcasters and Circuit City are among those siding with Gemstar.
Q: Are places that sell TVs with Guide Plus alerting
customers to the problem?
A: Some are; some aren't. A week before it cut off Guide Plus, Time Warner sent letters to electronics stores telling them of the action. Not all stores got the letter, however, and some that did may not have gotten the message to all members of their sales staff.
Q: Are consumers complaining about this?
A: Some are. Jim Evans, who's in charge of cable TV regulatory enforcement for Orange County, said he had
received about 15 complaints. Time Warner spokesman
Diane Pickett said the company has "hardly heard from
anybody." Sales associates at Circuit City and Sound
Advice said they had received a few complaints.
Q: What is Gemstar saying?
A: Gemstar is encouraging disgruntled viewers to complain to Time Warner, to their local cable franchise authority and to the FCC. The FCC's toll-free number is 1-888-225-5322.
FULL ARTICLE @
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