All DISH Network receivers have an Electronic Program Guide (EPG).

What information is in the EPG?

• Currently watched channel.
• The program coming up.
• All other TV channels available from DISH Network.
• The aspect ratio Letterbox (LBX), type of audio transmitted Dolby Digital (DD) and program duration.
• Rating information for a particular show can be displayed.
• A short summary of the program.

EPG Design

• DISH Network's channel guide is designed as a program grid.
• On the left of the grid are the channel numbers.
• Across the top are the times of day.
• Inside of the grid are the shows available for viewing.
• On some receivers (DISH Home Interactive TV receivers, the DISHPlayer, the DISH 721) the current channel video is viewable.
• Once in the Electronic Program Guide, press the Guide button on the remote again to change the Favorite Lists between All Chan, All Sub, All HD, or a personalized list.

EPG Channel Colors

• Gray - a gray channel box means the account is authorized for the channel or package.
• Yellow - a yellow channel box means the channel is a digital off-air channel.
• Red - a red channel box means the account is not authorized for the channel or package.
• Green - a green channel box means the channel or package is available for purchase through the Customer Support Application.

The Complete Guide

• Non-DVR receivers currently only store approximately 3-4 hours of the guide at one time.
• Some models store approximately 48 hours of the guide in its memory.
• The complete Electronic Program Guide is very large. It contains ALL of the EPG data for every channel, including program descriptions.
• 1200+ Channels X 48 hours of information + Additional guide information = Huge amount of data
• This is transmitted on the HOME transponder as a loop - it starts at "NOW", runs through every channel and time, and ends up at 44-48 hours in the future and then starts over.
• When you scroll through the EPG, the receiver has to wait for the requested block of data to appear in the data stream to load into memory.
• Advancing forward in the EPG can be done by using the number buttons on the remote to enter the desired number of hours to advance. Then press the right arrow button to advance.
• As the number of channels increase, the size of the looped data grows.
• This reduces the amount of time that can be stored in receiver's memory.

Present / Following

• The Present/Following contains information on the current and next program on each and every channel.
• This data is transmitted to you on ALL transponders.
• This is what will display when the "Browse" button is pressed while watching a channel.
• The data is trickled down slowly and is much smaller than the whole EPG.
• This is done to speed up information retrieval

How does the EPG work?

EPG data is in 3 streams
1. Full EPG
2. Present/Following or Bouquet
3. Enhanced EPG (EEPG) 7-9 day
4. Receivers should be powered off at night to maintain current information such as blackout and spotbeam information, software, and the EPG

The Origins of the EPG

• Guide Data is provided by a third party and broadcasters.
• EPG data is purchased then transmitted by EchoStar's satellites to your set-top boxes.
• The standard EPG is approx 42-48 hours.
• Some models store all 48 hours in their memory.
• The Enhanced EPG is 7-9 days and is stored on the hard drive of DVR based receivers.
• All Digital Off-Air Broadcasters include complete Network and EPG information with their digital channels and multi-cast sub channels.