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Television: Redefined

Master of the (TV) Universe

What if your VCR morphed into a clever computer that knew just what shows you like and taped them whenever, wherever they came on -- in perfect quality? Well, guess what.

Here at home in San Francisco -- that's me in the photo -- my TV channels start with 2 and end with 998. No, I don't have 996 channels in between, but sometimes it feels like it.

What I have is satellite TV, including the optional movie and sports packages. Add pay-per-view and I've got 200 to 300 channels of high-quality television flooding into my home. It's like standing under Niagara Falls.

Remember when there were essentially just three TV stations? The evolution of television is mirroring that of magazines. Fifty years ago, there was a relative handful of magazines, mainly general-interest. Now there are thousands, each focused on a single audience. Believe it or not, there are 164 magazines just about needlepoint!

The channel I work for, techtv, is just one of an impending deluge of special-interest choices. Soon we'll have a needlework channel, a puppy channel and probably a birding channel. Even basic-cable users will be overwhelmed by choice.

The problem is finding what you want to watch. And that's where computers come to the rescue.

My friend Bill has satellite TV primarily for SpeedVision, the vehicle-racing channel. He recently picked up the Pronto remote control made by Phillips. About the size of a small paperback book, the Pronto includes a touch screen. Bill's a bit of a geek; thus, he connected the remote to his PC and programmed it to display the logos for his favorite channels. To watch one, he simply touches the logo displayed on the Pronto's screen.

But if you're like me, programming is as Greek as, well, Greek. For us, there's a new type of computer that finds the best stuff to watch from all those channels.

Remember how advanced your first CD player was compared with that old cassette deck? You could jump to any song instantly, and the music quality was clear and crisp. Well, imagine a CD player for your TV, but one that lets you record like a VCR.

That's what these new "personal TV" boxes -- yes, yet another box to balance on top of your TV -- are like. They come from two companies you've never heard of, TiVo and ReplayTV.

They're great at what's called "timeshifting" -- a new word for what you've been trying all these years to get your VCR to do. Tell the box what your favorite show is, and it records it in perfect quality. Up to 60 hours' worth! You watch whenever you want. TiVo and Replay also let you pause, fast forward and rewind in real time -- while you watch -- which is great when Mom calls during the big game.

But their real strength is cutting through the clutter to give you exactly want you want to watch -- even if you don't know it. Replay, for example, lets you build what it calls "zones." A zone tells the box to record programs specific to a particular person, word or subject. Setting up a "Coppola" zone, for example, would instruct the Replay box to record every Godfather movie whenever it airs, on whatever channel you receive. That zone also identifies and records documentaries, biographies and other programming by, or about, the famous director. My TiVo box lets me do the same thing. My wife has a "Kelsey Grammer" zone and spends most of her time watching Frasier and Cheers. TiVo even purports to learn what you like, and then find more of the same. Our TiVo box noticed I spent a lot of time watching BlackAdder and began recording other shows featuring Rowan Atkinson and Hugh Laurie. A Bit of Fry and Laurie, occasionally available on BBC America, is now one of my favorite shows.

Yes, I receive hundreds of channels, but typically I watch just one: a channel built just for me. So bring on the flood of programming options. It'll just make my personal channel even better.

Jim Louderback is editorial director of techtv.

Photo by GARY GROPP for USA WEEKEND

What exactly is --

Satellite TV: An 18-inch dish mounted outside receives TV signals from a satellite and beams hundreds of channels into your home. Cost: $20 or more a month.

Cable TV: Delivers TV channels through a wire rather than over the air. Cost: $15 a month and up.

TiVo and Replay TV: Cross between a VCR and a computer. Known as "personal TVs" or "personal video recorders." Record programs in almost perfect quality. Skip commercials, pause or rewind while you watch. Cost: $300 and up, plus service charge.

Pronto remote control: A universal remote that uses a computer and screen instead of rubber buttons to control your TV, VCR, home theater, DVD player and other devices. Cost: $275.