I have switched from Sky satellite to Virgin cable TV. My new service includes
a Tivo video recorder, which has a lot of fancy features but in some ways is
a step backwards from my previous Sky+ HD recorder. The remote handset is
the daftest design ever; the rounded back means it spends more time on the
floor than on the arm of my chair, but my biggest gripe is with the Program
Guide. It persists on displaying hundreds of channels that I do not
subscribe to. It can be adjusted to show just my Favourite channels, but no
matter how often I reset it, it switches back to the All Channels list. I
have searched through the menus but cannot find any way to make it stick,
could it be a fault?
Mike B, by email
No, it’s deliberate and no matter what you do it reverts to the All Channels list after an hour or so. A lot of users are irritated by this behaviour and there are a number of theories as to why it happens, the favourite one being that seeing what is on the channels you can’t get encourages you to upgrade your subscription. Either way you are stuck with it, unless Virgin or Tivo issue a firmware update. I do have one possible solution though, which should also solve your unstable handset problem, and that’s to use a programmable remote control with Macro recording. Several mid-range models have this feature and it lets you program a sequence of commands and assign them to one button. So, pressing the Guide button displays the All Channels list as usual but then goes on to step through the commands needed to display just your Favourites.
