Discovery channel oddity.

[music_beans]

Early Monday mornings (3:00am CDT) there is a paid program on called 'Advanced Paid Program', and shows a weird test pattern type image with text scrolling 'This pattern is part of the Tivo broadcast.' What kind of infomercial is this? More like a Tivo test program. '


BTW, There is another 5 minute infomercial that follows called 'Teleworld Paid Program' that shows movie trailers and other stuff. (by Tivo too.) Comes on early Thursday mornings too at 2:00am.

[timf]

The Advanced Paid Program is for the Service Data Download. This is an alternate method of sending guide data and other service information such as Showcases to standalone TiVos. On DIRECTV DVRs, this data is sent via satellite, so they do not use the Advanced Paid Program.

The Teleworld Paid Program contains short video clips used for promotions in Showcases. These will appear as clapboards either on TiVo/DIRECTV Central or in Showcases. The remainder of the time not used for promos is usually a TiVo infomercial.

[Mark Holtz]

The "wierd test pattern" is actually an excrypted data stream so that the standalone units have program data, and is faster than transferring it via phone lines. Audio isn't used at all.