How to write a formal letter of complaint to your local broadcast authority.

If your over the air guide data sucks, why not take a minute to write a letter to your local broadcasting authority about it? It's the only way we're going to fix the root cause of the problem.

People around the world in countries like Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the majority of Europe enjoy at least 1 - 2 weeks of good quality in-band EPG over the air. By contrast, TV stations in the United States and Canada tend to only do the "bare minimum" required in order to operate, sending only a few hours of EPG, if any at all. We need to raise that "bare minimum".

Let's do this!

In Canada

Fill out the CRTC interactive complaint form.

Visit CRTC.gc.ca
  1. If you agree with the CRTC's terms, click accept.
  2. Select I'd like to send a complaint.
  3. Select TV for type of service.
  4. Enter your particulars along with a complaint about your lack of in-band guide data. Here's an example complaint letter.

In the USA

Fill out the FCC's TV complaint form.

Visit FCC.gov
  1. Enter your particulars along with a complaint about your lack of in-band guide data. Here's an example complaint letter.
  2. For TV Issues select Availability.
  3. For Your TV Method select Broadcast (over the air).
  4. For Company Name select Other and enter "Local TV stations" as the name.
  5. For Relationship to Company select Other.
 

Example complaint letter

IMPORTANT: If you live near a border and stations outside of your country are included below, you need to remove those from your complaint — because jurisdictions are a thing.

I wish to register my formal complaint against the following TV stations in my area:

[enter station numbers and names]

Inadequate availability of over the air TV guide data provided by these stations render my PVR inoperable.

In most countries throughout the world, in-band guide data is transmitted for up to two weeks ahead of time, allowing people to use their PVRs and Smart TVs. 

Please mandate that these TV stations transmit at least two weeks of guide data, the very same data that they're already providing today to companies such as Gracenote (Nielson), tvmedia.ca and satellite providers, but are opting not to include in their broadcast signal.

There is no technical reason why their transmissions can't include two weeks of in-band event information, allowing PVRs and Smart TVs to function.