Electronic Programme Guide providing on screen access to programme information.

The Electronic Programme Guide or EPG, also known as an Interactive Programme Guide or IPG, provides an on screen guide to channel listings, programme information or pay per view events.

The EPG provides the primary user interface by which the user interacts with a digital television service and is of key importance in providing a means of navigation around the many channels available.

As a minimum an EPG usually provides a list of channels and programme billings. Typically it will also allow the user to maintain a list of favourite channels and search for programmes by time, name, or genre.

More advanced systems provide a programme planner to allow the user to set reminders for selected programmes, or when used with a digital video recorder manage the recording and playback of programmes.

The EPG is generally a resident application in the set-top box and may also provide other core interactive services and often manages the lifecycle of other interactive applications.