TheProgram and System Information Protocol (PSIP) is theMPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group, a video and audio industry group) and privately definedprogram-specific information originally defined byGeneral Instrument for theDigiCipher 2 system and later extended for theATSC digital television system for carryingmetadata about eachchannel in thebroadcastMPEG transport stream of atelevision station and for publishing information about television programs so that viewers can select what to watch by title and description. Its FM radio equivalent isRadio Data System (RDS).

PSIP definesvirtual channels andcontent ratings, as well aselectronic program guides withtitles and (optionally) descriptions to be decoded and displayed by theATSC tuner.

PSIP can also send:

• the exacttime referenced toUTC andGPS time;
• theshort name, which some stations use to publish their callsign. A maximum of seven characters can be used in a short name.

PSIP is defined in ATSC standardA/65, the most recent revision of which isA/65:2013, published in 2013.^[1]A/69 is a recommended practice for implementing PSIP in a television station.^[2]

PSIP also supersedes theA/55 andA/56 protocol methods of delivering program guide information (which the ATSC has deleted).TV Guide On Screen is a different, proprietary system provided bydatacasting on a single station, while PSIP is required, at least in the United States, to be sent by every digital television station.

PSIP information may be passed through theairchain using proprietary protocols or through use of theProgramming Metadata Communication Protocol metadata scheme.

PMCP, defined in the Advanced Television Systems Committee's A/76B,^[3] provides ATSC broadcasters with a standardized means to exchange system information (SI) among systems that create and manage these data elements. These systems can be outside Program listing services, program management systems, traffic (commercial and program scheduling) andbroadcast automation systems, which all contribute a portion of the PSIP data to a PSIP Generator.

At the heart of PMCP is anXML Schema (actually a collection of XML Schema Definition files), which provide a standardized structure into which PSI and PSIP-related data may be exchanged. PMCP does not dictate systems' internal database structures; it is simply a platform-independent protocol for the exchange of data.^[4]

PMCP was first published as A/76 in November 2004,^[5] and enjoys adoption from a variety of broadcast equipment and system vendors. Two revisions (largely backwards-compatible) with the standard have been made. ATSC A/76a extended PMCP to include metadata necessary for proper signaling ofACAP data broadcast elements, and A/76B, was released in 2007, fixed some errors and made the schema usable with the related SMPTE S2021 (BXF) schema.

System Time Table (STT)^[a]

Current time, transmitted at least once persecond, with an accuracy of new time values within 1 second or better.

Master Guide Table (MGT)^[a]

Data pointers to other PSIP tables.

Terrestrial Virtual Channel Table (TVCT)^[a]

Defines each virtual channel and enablesEITs to be associated with the channel.

Cable Virtual Channel Table (CVCT)

Assigns numbers to each virtual channel and enablesEITs to be associated with the channel.

Rating Region Table (RRT)

Content ratings for each country (region) covered by the station, save the U.S., as that region is loaded into television sets already.

Event Information Table (EIT)[a]

Titles and program guide data.

Extended Text Table (ETT)

Channel Extended Text Table (CETT)

Detailed descriptions of channels.

Event Extended Text Table (EETT)

Detailed descriptions of aired events.

Directed Channel Change Table (DCCT)

The DCC function lets broadcasters tell a digital television receiver where to change, based upon the viewer's settings. This is most likely to be aZIP or otherpostal code, which can selectdemographically-based programming to show, such astelevision commercials orweather bulletins, possibly taken from an accompanyingdatacasting channel.

Implementation of the DCC feature is entirely optional, and depends on development ofreceiver and decoder technology. For example, adigital video recorder could record commercial broadcast at other times for later replay, so that many more different commercials could be shown in different parts of a largemetro area than can actually be transmitted at once.

Directed Channel Change Selection Code Table (DCCSCT)

Provides for the ability to update states, counties and program genres used inDCCTs.

• Electronic program guide

• "Table Sections [ASTC Syntax]".EtherGuide Systems. Archived fromthe original on 30 December 2016.

• ATSC
• Digital television

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from December 2020