Verizon Begins Rolling Out its FiOS TV Interactive Media Guide

US incumbent telco, Verizon, has begun rolling out its Interactive Media Guide. The guide is now available in a number of regions where the telco offers its FiOS TV service, including parts of California, Maryland, Virginia, Indiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Maryland and Virginia (note: customers are being upgraded to the new guide automatically via a network download; Verizon is providing customers with a "driver's manual" to the new guide in advance of the download). The guide allows viewers to access programming from FiOS TV's linear-TV and VOD services, and from their DVR's, as well as personal music and photos from their home network (note: in order to access home media content, viewers must have access to FiOS TV's Media Manager, which is part of its DVR service). According to Verizon, future versions of the guide, that will be downloaded over the next year or so, will allow viewers to access Internet video and radio, podcasts and games; and will also allow them to use mobile phones and the Internet to schedule their DVR's and manage their home media.

Verizon claims to have developed innovative search routines that enable the new guide's search results to reflect current news topics: thus, if two actors have the same initials, but one of them has recently been in the news, the results of searches on those initials will treat the "newsworthy" actor as more relevant to the search than the other actor. It also claims that the guide provides relevant results instantly, thanks to the high-bandwidth offered by its fiber network. The company says that the guide incorporates technology licensed from a number of third-party vendors, and that before it was rolled out commercially, its usability was tested for 18 months with around 2,000 consumers in Boston and Dallas. Field trials were then conducted in New Jersey this spring. 

Verizon is also touting the new guide's design and usability. In addition to featuring vibrant colors and graphics, the company says, the guide was designed so as to ensure that customers could reach content with as few clicks of the remote as possible. Navigation can be performed either via the remote's "arrow" and "OK" buttons, or via its shortcut keys. According to the company, another key design principle was to give viewers a choice in how they interact with FiOS TV: viewers can search for content using mobile phone-style text entry, a virtual keyboard or a simple on-screen scroll wheel, and, as they enter each text character in their search, the guide responds with corresponding actor names, TV shows, and so forth; adding additional characters refines the search. In addition, viewers can customize their searches by opting to see all channels, HDTV channels only, or a list of their favorites; the guide's display also provides full-screen view, half-screen view, and mini-screen options. Meanwhile, when viewers search for VOD titles, the guide presents them with colorful on-screen movie posters for featured titles, and allows them to browse by newest release, star and special interests (e.g. children's comedies).

Originally Published: October 12, 2007 in [itvt] Issue 7.39 Part 3A

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