A remote control apparatus for recording/playback equipment capable of remotely controlling complicated recording playback equipment while placing little burden on the control side. Schedule data is transmitted from an uplink system 100 to a downlink system 200 via a communications satellite. The schedule data includes operation data for recording and playback operations and their related operations, start data which displays at least the operation start time, and position data which indicates the recording/playback position on the recording medium. The received schedule data is stored in a non-volatile RAM in the control area of the VCR 203. The VCR then uses this schedule data as a basis for automatically carrying out recording or playback operations and their related operations. As is no longer necessary to control the operation by providing appropriate commands to the VCR 203 in real time, the burden on the control side is greatly eased with regards to the control of complicated operations in addition to recording and playback, such as rewind and pre-roll operation modes.