No programme information on satellite

[simi69]

Simple problem. EPG doesn't populate at all under Freesat or Satellite channels. Nothing, not even now or next.

Over-the-air works normally full 7 day EPG. I've tried resetting the TV app but it hasn't helped.

In the past the guide worked sporadically for satellite, normally sometimes though most of the time you had to go to the channel to force it to update.

[SkyNet404]

Hey there,

What's your TV model exactly? maybe there's a setting in the manual that can help.
But not to get your hopes up, I think Sony is saying that it's normal not getting info on the EPG from the satellite, and they cannot guarantee it.
But not harm in trying.

Cheers.

[josephgall]

I would just like to add my voice to this. Between myself, my mum and dad and my friend we’ve bought eight 2020 model Sony TVs this year (a variety of models from 43XH8505 up to 49XH9505). They are all hooked up to aerial and Freesat. Only two of those eight TVs display a fully working EPG for Freesat. The rest of them display ‘no programme information’ on the majority of channels, in some cases they’ll display now and next information but the majority of the time it’s ‘no programme information’ I suspect that this is a major software problem and Sony need to get it rectified. I have contacted technical support who say it’s not a warranty issue and they don’t cover any software issues under warranty, only hardware (which is ridiculous). I imagine it must be quite an easy software fix but this has been ongoing for at least 6 months now (since I bought the TVs) and Sony really need to do something about it. How can we push them to investigate and fix this?

[tvarnon]

Sony's software implementation of Freesat simply doesn’t work reliably.

Do not buy a Sony TV if you rely on Freesat.

I have two Sony Bravia TVs running Google TV - an A8 (KD55A8BU) and A84J (XR55A84J).  Great OLED screens, great functionality, let down by badFreesat support.

Both TVs have ongoing problems populating the Freesat EPG - frequently showing "No programme information." for all channels, gradually populating now and next when I click through the channels. Sometimes fully populating for the coming week for some channels, usually not.

Trying to record from the EPG rarely allows me to "Set Timer As a Series".

Recordings rarely list the correct program name.

My 14 year old (2008) Humax recorder works infinitely better - I've had to resurrect this to get reliable recording.

Each TV has 2 separate LNB feeds and a terrestrial aerial feed.

Terrestrial channels work perfectly with full EPG.

Though I have 2 LNB feeds, I don't seem to be able to watch one channel while recording another.

I'm running latest software.

Factory reset and/or freesat retune temporarily fixes the problem.

Signal quality is 100/100 and Signal level is 100/100.

Support were unable to resolve my issue.

[SkyNet404]

Hey @tvarnon, It might be a long shot, but yea hopefully this gets sorted with a future update soon buddy.  

[ccarmock]

How many satellite feeds do you have to the TV?   I do wonder if the TV uses the second feed to download programm information in the background...

I have the same issue with a A9S from 2010 - one satellite feed connected and don't get full programme info.,

[maxximark]

Note that the programme information Sony use in their guide is not broadcast over-air from Freesat, it comes from the online service Gracenote (you'll see the Gracenote logo in the guide) and it could be failing because Sony TV's seem to lose authorisation to access it if they're not using Freeview/YouView.

The Gracenote programme guide might be part of Freeview's YouView package which also supplies the UK catchup app's like iPlayer, ITV Hub (and hopefully ITVX) and All4 and needs an active Freeview connection to stay working? I have no aerial connected and only use a satellite connection and I get a full programme guide only for the first 2 or 3 days (after a full reset) then it stops populating. When you reset the TV (or run the 'Live TV & Catch Up' app for the first time) it prompts you to activate the TV on YouView by sending an ID code. Maybe that expires if it's not used?

Either way I've found people complaining about losing the Satellite/Freesat guide on Sony TV's going back years so I doubt Sony is in any hurry to fix this.

[graygerman]

How have you tuned it, does your tv have FREESAT specifically listed as the tuner, or is it a standard non freesat FTA tuner.

FTA tuning (Not Freesat) but Free To Air satellite is the same on all tv makes, it does not provide a full tv guide, You only get the full tv guide on Specifically listed Freesat Tvs or Freeview tvs.

[maxximark]

I've got both Freesat and Satellite FTA channel lists and at first the TV loaded info for both lists with no prob's. After a few days the info stopped populating and the only way I've found to restart it is a factory reset but I'm not going to keep doing that.

There's a tip mentioned elsewhere about resetting the YouView app (called 'Live TV & Catch Up' on recent Sony TV's) but that doesn't work for me.

I thought the issue might be because I edited the channel list extensively but that would only explain the Satellite FTA problem, I never touched the Freesat list and both are blank now. 

Pretty sure it's an issue with Gracenote authorisation but Sony will probably have to fix that.