[rick]

So the EPG will be ordered according to popularity? So we're going to see even more of a mess of a channel list than we do currently. I hope there's a favourite option so you can at least order the channels how YOU want them, not what the country as a whole deems more interesting to watch. Channels 6 and 7 are "allocated according to reach and pairing" (why?) and 8 and 9 are for local channels, and 31 is a "promo channel" slot (however that is going to work) as are channels 90-99. So essentially, two channels potentially can jump ahead of BBC 3 at 10 which is the start of the channels outside of the main five.

I think they have missed an opportunity to create a proper EPG that caters for all the existing channels, leaves them room to expand if they choose to, and puts all broadcasters channels together for ease of navigation. The only real positive I can see from this so far is that +1's now have their own section, as do the shopping channels. But with channels only being in some regions and getting high prominence, it means we'll have the top of the EPG being 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 13 for most people and the gaps just look silly on a new service. Local TV is a dead duck, and I think a separate section for regional/local TV should have been included to house these channels, so 6 onwards on the guide can be used for the popular channels.