US20080066106A1 - Systems and methods for providing media guidance planners - Google Patents

Systems and methods for providing media guidance planners Download PDF

Info

Publication number
US20080066106A1
US20080066106A1 US11/888,637 US88863707A US2008066106A1 US 20080066106 A1 US20080066106 A1 US 20080066106A1 US 88863707 A US88863707 A US 88863707A US 2008066106 A1 US2008066106 A1 US 2008066106A1
Authority
US
United States
Prior art keywords
asset
user
assets
media assets
media
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Abandoned
Application number
US11/888,637
Inventor
Michael Ellis
Michael Craner
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Adeia Guides Inc
Original Assignee
GuideWorks LLC
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by GuideWorks LLC filed Critical GuideWorks LLC
Priority to US11/888,637 priority Critical patent/US20080066106A1/en
Assigned to GUIDEWORKS, LLC reassignment GUIDEWORKS, LLC ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: CRANER, MICHAEL L., ELLIS, MICHAEL D.
Publication of US20080066106A1 publication Critical patent/US20080066106A1/en
Assigned to ROVI GUIDES, INC. reassignment ROVI GUIDES, INC. ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: GUIDEWORKS, LLC
Assigned to JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT reassignment JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT SECURITY INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: APTIV DIGITAL, INC., A DELAWARE CORPORATION, GEMSTAR DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, A CALIFORNIA CORPORATION, INDEX SYSTEMS INC, A BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS COMPANY, ROVI CORPORATION, A DELAWARE CORPORATION, ROVI GUIDES, INC., A DELAWARE CORPORATION, ROVI SOLUTIONS CORPORATION, A DELAWARE CORPORATION, ROVI TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION, A DELAWARE CORPORATION, STARSIGHT TELECAST, INC., A CALIFORNIA CORPORATION, UNITED VIDEO PROPERTIES, INC., A DELAWARE CORPORATION
Assigned to UNITED VIDEO PROPERTIES, INC., GEMSTAR DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, STARSIGHT TELECAST, INC., INDEX SYSTEMS INC., TV GUIDE INTERNATIONAL, INC., ALL MEDIA GUIDE, LLC, APTIV DIGITAL, INC., ROVI CORPORATION, ROVI TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION, ROVI SOLUTIONS CORPORATION, ROVI GUIDES, INC. reassignment UNITED VIDEO PROPERTIES, INC. PATENT RELEASE Assignors: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

Links

Images

Classifications

    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N7/00Television systems
    • H04N7/16Analogue secrecy systems; Analogue subscription systems
    • H04N7/173Analogue secrecy systems; Analogue subscription systems with two-way working, e.g. subscriber sending a programme selection signal
    • H04N7/17309Transmission or handling of upstream communications
    • H04N7/17318Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N5/00Details of television systems
    • H04N5/44Receiver circuitry for the reception of television signals according to analogue transmission standards
    • H04N5/50Tuning indicators; Automatic tuning control
    • GPHYSICS
    • G06COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06FELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F3/00Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
    • G06F3/01Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer
    • G06F3/048Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]
    • G06F3/0481Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI] based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/20Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/25Management operations performed by the server for facilitating the content distribution or administrating data related to end-users or client devices, e.g. end-user or client device authentication, learning user preferences for recommending movies
    • H04N21/254Management at additional data server, e.g. shopping server, rights management server
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/20Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/25Management operations performed by the server for facilitating the content distribution or administrating data related to end-users or client devices, e.g. end-user or client device authentication, learning user preferences for recommending movies
    • H04N21/258Client or end-user data management, e.g. managing client capabilities, user preferences or demographics, processing of multiple end-users preferences to derive collaborative data
    • H04N21/25866Management of end-user data
    • H04N21/25891Management of end-user data being end-user preferences
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/43Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
    • H04N21/431Generation of visual interfaces for content selection or interaction; Content or additional data rendering
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/43Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
    • H04N21/433Content storage operation, e.g. storage operation in response to a pause request, caching operations
    • H04N21/4334Recording operations
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/43Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
    • H04N21/438Interfacing the downstream path of the transmission network originating from a server, e.g. retrieving MPEG packets from an IP network
    • H04N21/4383Accessing a communication channel
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/43Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
    • H04N21/442Monitoring of processes or resources, e.g. detecting the failure of a recording device, monitoring the downstream bandwidth, the number of times a movie has been viewed, the storage space available from the internal hard disk
    • H04N21/44213Monitoring of end-user related data
    • H04N21/44218Detecting physical presence or behaviour of the user, e.g. using sensors to detect if the user is leaving the room or changes his face expression during a TV program
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/45Management operations performed by the client for facilitating the reception of or the interaction with the content or administrating data related to the end-user or to the client device itself, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies, resolving scheduling conflicts
    • H04N21/4508Management of client data or end-user data
    • H04N21/4532Management of client data or end-user data involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/45Management operations performed by the client for facilitating the reception of or the interaction with the content or administrating data related to the end-user or to the client device itself, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies, resolving scheduling conflicts
    • H04N21/458Scheduling content for creating a personalised stream, e.g. by combining a locally stored advertisement with an incoming stream; Updating operations, e.g. for OS modules ; time-related management operations
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/45Management operations performed by the client for facilitating the reception of or the interaction with the content or administrating data related to the end-user or to the client device itself, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies, resolving scheduling conflicts
    • H04N21/458Scheduling content for creating a personalised stream, e.g. by combining a locally stored advertisement with an incoming stream; Updating operations, e.g. for OS modules ; time-related management operations
    • H04N21/4583Automatically resolving scheduling conflicts, e.g. when a recording by reservation has been programmed for two programs in the same time slot
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/45Management operations performed by the client for facilitating the reception of or the interaction with the content or administrating data related to the end-user or to the client device itself, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies, resolving scheduling conflicts
    • H04N21/466Learning process for intelligent management, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies
    • H04N21/4667Processing of monitored end-user data, e.g. trend analysis based on the log file of viewer selections
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/47End-user applications
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/47End-user applications
    • H04N21/472End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/47End-user applications
    • H04N21/472End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content
    • H04N21/47202End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/47End-user applications
    • H04N21/472End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content
    • H04N21/47214End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content for content reservation or setting reminders; for requesting event notification, e.g. of sport results or stock market
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/47End-user applications
    • H04N21/482End-user interface for program selection
    • H04N21/4821End-user interface for program selection using a grid, e.g. sorted out by channel and broadcast time
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/47End-user applications
    • H04N21/482End-user interface for program selection
    • H04N21/4823End-user interface for program selection using a channel name
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/47End-user applications
    • H04N21/485End-user interface for client configuration
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/47End-user applications
    • H04N21/488Data services, e.g. news ticker
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/60Network structure or processes for video distribution between server and client or between remote clients; Control signalling between clients, server and network components; Transmission of management data between server and client, e.g. sending from server to client commands for recording incoming content stream; Communication details between server and client 
    • H04N21/65Transmission of management data between client and server
    • H04N21/658Transmission by the client directed to the server
    • H04N21/6582Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/80Generation or processing of content or additional data by content creator independently of the distribution process; Content per se
    • H04N21/81Monomedia components thereof
    • H04N21/8126Monomedia components thereof involving additional data, e.g. news, sports, stocks, weather forecasts
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/80Generation or processing of content or additional data by content creator independently of the distribution process; Content per se
    • H04N21/81Monomedia components thereof
    • H04N21/8166Monomedia components thereof involving executable data, e.g. software
    • H04N21/8173End-user applications, e.g. Web browser, game
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/47End-user applications
    • H04N21/482End-user interface for program selection

Definitions

  • This invention relates generally to media systems and, more particularly, to media systems with enhanced media guidance support for future media attractions, and media planners.
  • An interactive media guidance application such as an interactive television program guide, allows a user to tune to and display a wide array of media content that is available within a media system.
  • Interactive media guidance applications may also allow users to perform numerous media guidance application functions relating to available content. For example, the user may schedule a recording of future programming (e.g., a series recording), set a reminder, or bookmark content of interest.
  • Some media guidance applications are limited in their ability to perform media guidance application functions on future programming or coming attractions.
  • typical media guidance applications download an advance window of program schedule data and use this program schedule data to display program schedule listings for content available within the program schedule window (e.g., content available within the next fourteen days of available programming).
  • This downloaded program schedule data allows the media guidance application to display program schedule listings, schedule recordings, and perform other related media guidance application functions on content identified in the schedule.
  • Performing media guidance application functions on programming available outside the downloaded schedule window is severely limited because little or no information is generally available for this programming.
  • any information that may be available is subject to frequent changes or revisions by the content or service provider, media vendor or distributor, or multiple service operator (MSO). This often results in incorrect or quickly outdated information.
  • the user may have manually scheduled one or more recordings during a certain time period, and the interactive media guidance application may be configured to automatically record one or more programs (e.g., episodes of a season pass recording) during the same time period.
  • programs e.g., episodes of a season pass recording
  • the user may not be able to easily discern the number and type of media guidance application functions that are scheduled to be executed at any given time. Therefore, there is the possibility of unforeseen conflicts due to, for example, the number of available tuners in the user equipment device.
  • a more flexible solution for scheduling and planning future media content viewing is provided.
  • Users may view a comprehensive, visual plan of all their scheduled media content activities (e.g., all scheduled recordings and reminders) from one centralized media planner application.
  • the media planner application may also automatically detect and resolve scheduling conflicts (e.g., tuner conflicts) associated with the user's planned media content activities.
  • the media planner may automatically assign preemption priorities to the user's scheduled activities, and the user may change the assigned preemption priorities by dragging or moving the listings up or down in the planner.
  • the preemption priorities of the scheduled activities may define the order in which activities are preempted by other scheduled activities (e.g., in the event of a conflict, such as a lack of available tuners).
  • the user may be presented with a listing of activities that will actually be carried out on the user equipment device and activities that may be preempted due to conflicts.
  • the impact a change in the preemption priority will have on other scheduled activities may also be displayed to the user in the media planner.
  • the planner may allow the user to add listings for content available within the current program schedule listings window as well as content identified in a coming-soon database.
  • the planner may take the form of an interactive grid of content listings sorted by preemption priority.
  • the user may adjust the preemption priority of a listing by moving the content to a new location (e.g., up or down) in the planner grid.
  • Content with a higher preemption priority may preempt content with lower preemption priority. For example, if three content selections are scheduled for recording during the same time period and only two tuners are available for recording, the content selections with the two highest priorities may be recorded.
  • Listings for content selections that may be preempted due to a tuner conflict may be visually distinguished from other listings (e.g., the listings may be grayed out, displayed with an icon indicating unavailability, displayed in a smaller font, or displayed in a font of a different color) in the planner grid.
  • Non-linear content such as on-demand and locally recorded content
  • Some non-linear content in the grid may be viewed without commercial interruptions.
  • the commercials may be extracted from the content (or automatically skipped) using data parsed from commercial status flags and/or by analyzing the black frame interval or other audio/video characteristics of the content. Since the duration of the non-linear content may be shorter without commercials, in some embodiments the planner may automatically pack the planner grid to account for the new duration. This way, other content may be planned for viewing or recording immediately after the non-linear content is displayed without commercials.
  • the new duration may be estimated using typical commercial break percentages customary for the program, network, or industry.
  • non-linear content may be watched in more than one session and its duration, for planning purposes, may be treated differently as a result. For example, if a user watches one hour of a three-hour program, in some embodiments, an option may be provided within the media planner wherein the system will display the program as having a (e.g., remaining) duration of only two hours.
  • a user may move a listing for a linear asset to a later time in the planner grid in order to resolve a planner conflict. If the user time-shifts a linear asset, a recording for the asset may be automatically set or scheduled on the user equipment so that it may be displayed at the new time. In some embodiments, the media planner automatically recommends to the user the most efficient viewing schedule (i.e., the viewing schedule with the fewest conflicts) so that the user may maximize the number of successfully viewed or recorded selections.
  • a user may also manually adjust the start or end point of a scheduled viewing or recording. While viewing the planning grid, the viewer may decide to extend or shorten the end point or start point of the program, for example by selecting and moving the left or right edge of the program's cell in the grid.
  • the media planner application also allows busy users to plan a schedule of their future media viewing so that important shows and programs are not missed. External commitments may then be planned around scheduled media viewing (or alternatively the user's media viewing may be planned around the user's external commitments). This may be one way for content providers to help increase viewership because fewer people may miss planned programming. In addition, advance notification of programming available outside the current program data schedule window helps spread “buzz” about an upcoming attraction.
  • the media planner may include scheduled activities for “coming-soon” content.
  • Third-party media content vendors, television broadcasters, and other content and service providers and distributors may provide coming-soon announcements for upcoming media content that may become available to the user equipment device at some future time.
  • the announcements may be for media content being broadcast (or otherwise made available, for example, via on on-demand service) outside the current window of program schedule data (e.g., beyond the fourteen day schedule window).
  • the announcements may take a standard announcement record format and may be compatible with traditional program schedule information, allowing the coming-soon announcements to be displayed, for example, in traditional program grid guides.
  • the coming soon announcements may support approximate schedule information. For example, an upcoming program may be announced for a season, a month, a day without a time, or other suitable approximate time, or it may have no predicted or estimated availability date.
  • coming-soon announcements may be manually uploaded to a supplemental data source for delivery to user equipment devices.
  • Web scripting or remote API function calls may also be used to automatically compose and send coming-soon announcements to a supplemental data source (or directly to the user equipment devices).
  • content providers may customize the announcement details using a web interface. The interface may be linked to a production schedule database so that production schedule changes are automatically reflected in the coming-soon announcements. Announcement updates may then be sent periodically to the user equipment devices to update or revise any information related to the announcement, including the availability of the content (i.e., the scheduled availability date and time, or a more precise prediction of the availability date), the scheduled duration, the rating, or any other content attribute.
  • coming-soon announcements may also include advanced content control flags which may restrict the user's ability to record (or otherwise interact with) the content after it is made available to the user equipment device.
  • the content control flags may prohibit or restrict transcoding or reformatting the content to other formats or versions.
  • the content control flags may also prohibit editing, copying, or retransmission of the content. This may protect the integrity of the content while maintaining copyright control.
  • the content control flags may also include flags for automatically recording the content, automatically setting a reminder for the content, or automatically bookmarking the content on the user equipment device.
  • the scheduled recording, reminder, or bookmark may be set immediately after receiving the coming-soon announcement or after the content becomes available.
  • the interactive media guidance application may process coming-soon announcements, including any advanced content control flags, as soon as they are received. Alternatively, announcements may be processed in batches after a predetermined number of announcements has been received.
  • One or more coming-soon databases may be created on the user equipment device to store the coming-soon information in the coming-soon announcements.
  • Storage of the coming soon announcement information as well as user decisions (e.g., record, ignore, set reminder, or set bookmark) regarding these announcements may be stored on the user equipment device, the network, or a combination of both the user equipment device and the network, in various embodiments. In this way, information for these special upcoming events and coming soon attractions may be accessed even though the dates for these events may be outside the current program listings schedule window (e.g., for a date outside the program listings database holdings) for the user equipment device (e.g., beyond fourteen days).
  • An interactive element (such as an interactive advertisement or interactive listing) associated with coming-soon programming may be displayed to the user in any suitable display screen.
  • the user may select the interactive element to automatically set a reminder, schedule a recording, set a bookmark, or perform any other suitable media guidance application function on the coming-soon programming.
  • These reminders and recordings may be automatically adjusted after an announcement update identifies a change in the availability of the programming. For example, the start time of the coming-soon programming may be changed from 6 PM to 8 PM due to an unforeseen network scheduling conflict. Alternatively, a more specific availability date and time may be made available. For example, an announcement with only a date specified may be updated to include a date and a time.
  • An announcement update may be sent to the user equipment device to update the announcement database and corresponding recordings and reminders set for the coming-soon content.
  • a unique program identifier may also be associated with each coming-soon content selection. This unique program identifier may be saved with each media guidance application function scheduled for the coming-soon content selection.
  • the interactive media guidance application may then monitor the downloaded window of program schedule data that is used to display program schedule listings for content available within the program schedule window. If the unique program identifier associated with a coming-soon content selection matches the program identifier in the downloaded window of program schedule data, the availability information (as well as other content attributes) of the coming-soon content selection may be automatically reconciled with the information in the downloaded window of program schedule data. This may cause any scheduled media guidance application functions associated with the coming-soon content to be automatically updated to reflect the data in the downloaded window of program schedule data.
  • Conditional media guidance application functions may be created by selecting the interactive element (e.g., interactive advertisement or interactive listing) associated with the coming-soon programming.
  • the conditional media guidance application functions may be conditioned on one or more content attributes of the coming-soon content being true at the content availability time (e.g., the actual broadcast time or release date).
  • Compound logic expressions may be created by the user for more advanced conditional function control.
  • the user may select to view coming-soon information from one or more sources.
  • Each source may be associated with its own coming-soon database stored at the user equipment device or at a headend server.
  • a listing or grid of program schedule information relating to coming-soon content associated with the selected source may be displayed.
  • the listing or grid may be sorted or filtered by any suitable criterion or combination of criteria.
  • FIG. 1 is an illustrative block diagram of a media system in accordance with one embodiment of the invention
  • FIG. 2 is an illustrative block diagram of sources of coming-soon information in accordance with one embodiment of the invention
  • FIG. 3 is an illustrative coming-soon announcement data structure in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 4 is an illustrative search menu display screen in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 5 is an illustrative coming-soon listing display screen in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 6 is an illustrative coming-soon details display screen for a linear asset in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 7 is an illustrative coming-soon details display screen for a non-linear asset in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 8 shows an illustrative coming-soon source selection overlay in accordance with one embodiment of the invention
  • FIG. 9 shows an illustrative coming-soon sorting overlay in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.
  • FIGS. 10 and 11 are illustrative conditional action display screens in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.
  • FIGS. 12 and 13 show illustrative planner window selection display screens in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 14 shows an illustrative planner display screen in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 15 shows an illustrative planner display screen with on-demand row in accordance with one embodiment of the invention
  • FIG. 16 shows an illustrative planner display screen with a recordings row in accordance with one embodiment of the invention
  • FIG. 17 shows an illustrative watch without commercials display screen in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 18 shows an illustrative packed planner grid in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 19 shows an illustrative user activity prompt in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.
  • FIGS. 20, 21A , 21 B, 21 C, 21 D, 22 , 23 A, and 23 B show illustrative processes for planning a user's media content viewing and scheduling conditional media guidance application functions in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.
  • the media planner feature and associated functionality described herein may be provided by a stand-alone media planner application executing at least partially on a user equipment device, or the features and functionality may be provided by a media planner module or mode of an existing interactive application. If implemented as a media planner module or mode of an existing interactive application, such as an interactive media guidance application, all the display screens, prompts, and overlays shown herein may be integrated with the display screens, prompts, and overlays of the existing application. For example, fonts, colors, and overall layouts may be changed from those depicted to better match the fonts, colors, and overall layouts of the already existing application. Although any type of application may perform the media planner functionality described herein, for convenience this application is referred to as an interactive media guidance application or media planner application.
  • the media planner application may allow users to plan or schedule their media content activities (e.g., recordings and reminders) in advance of actually performing the activities. For example, users may plan next week's media content viewing using an intuitive, easy-to-use interface.
  • a media planner grid may include interactive listings for assets scheduled for recording and assets with active reminders set for the planner grid time window. One or more of these listings may be for coming-soon content that is not identified or scheduled in the current program guide schedule listing window. Users may drag new listings for linear (e.g., broadcast) and non-linear (e.g., on-demand and locally recorded) content into the planner grid in order to schedule the content for viewing or recording. Preemption priorities may also be assigned to content with overlapping schedules. Some content in the planner grid may be automatically recorded, depending on its priority and the number of available tuners in the user equipment device.
  • FIG. 1 shows illustrative interactive media system 100 for performing the media planner functionality in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.
  • User equipment device 102 receives content in the form of signals from content source 130 and/or supplemental data source 120 over communications paths 150 and 152 , respectively. Any suitable number of users may have one or more user equipment devices, such as user equipment 102 , coupled to content source 130 , data sources 140 , and supplemental data source 120 . For the clarity of the figure, however, only a single user equipment device is shown. In addition, although in practice there may be numerous instances of content source 130 and supplemental data source 120 , for clarity only one instance of each source has been shown in the example of FIG. 1 .
  • Content source 130 may be any suitable source of media content, such as, for example, a cable system headend, satellite television distribution facility, television broadcast facility, on-demand server (e.g., video-on-demand (VOD) server), Internet or network media/web server, or any other suitable facility or system for originating or distributing passive or interactive content to user equipment 102 .
  • Media content that may be provided by content source 130 to user equipment 102 includes broadcast programming, VOD programming, digital music, news, interactive applications (e.g., interactive games), Internet resources and web services (e.g., websites, newsgroups, and chat rooms), and any other content capable of being displayed by, presented to, recorded, or interacted with, using user equipment 102 .
  • Supplemental data source 120 may be any suitable data source configured to provide schedule information about coming-soon attractions to user equipment 102 .
  • content providers may send coming-soon announcements to supplemental data source 120 for storage in one or more instances of database 122 .
  • Supplemental data source 120 may also store editorial ratings, popularity ratings, purchase price information, content summaries, and other suitable information about coming attractions in database 122 .
  • Nielsen ratings information or box office revenues may be made available on supplemental data source 120 . Ratings may include objective ratings based on, for example, network access statistics, as well as subjective ratings based on editorial programming picks.
  • editors or celebrities may rate their favorite programming using a number, point, star, grade, or any other suitable rating system.
  • editors may associate collections of programs with one or more affinity groups. Users subscribed to an affinity group may submit user ratings pertaining to any content associated with the group.
  • the editorial and user ratings may be stored on supplemental data source 120 for access by user equipment device 102 at any suitable time. Additionally or alternatively, ratings information may be automatically delivered to user equipment 102 periodically or continuously, as network bandwidth permits.
  • network statistics from a switched digital video (SDV) manager, remote recording manager, or video-on-demand server may be stored on supplemental data source 120 for access by user equipment device 102 .
  • the SDV manager or VOD server may provide data reflecting the number, frequency, and/or identity of content access requests from other users in the local service group. This information may then be stored on supplemental data source 120 (e.g., in database 122 ) and used by interactive media guidance application 106 to determine the popularity of content available within the network at any given moment based, at least in part, on the total number of network access requests, the duration of the access, or any other suitable criteria.
  • Database 122 may also store network viewing statistics of all users in media system 100 (not just in the user's local service group). By accessing network viewing statistics, user equipment 102 may determine what content is currently being watched by a large number of viewers. This may be used as an indication of the popularity of the content.
  • database 122 may also store the interactive media guidance application (or a stand-alone media planner application) itself.
  • supplemental data source 120 may transmit the interactive media guidance application directly to user equipment 102 via communications path 152 (or supplemental data source 120 may transmit the interactive media guidance application to content source 130 for transmission to user equipment 120 , if desired).
  • the interactive media guidance application is an OpenCable Applications Platform (“OCAP”) application downloaded by middleware to user equipment 102 .
  • OCAP OpenCable Applications Platform
  • User equipment 102 (or a proxy acting on behalf of the user equipment) may periodically query supplemental data source 120 for application updates, or supplemental data source 120 may push application updates to user equipment 102 automatically as updates become available.
  • Content source 130 and supplemental data source 120 may be configured to transmit signals to user equipment 102 over any suitable communications paths 150 and 152 including, for example, a satellite path, a fiber-optic path, a cable path, or any other suitable wired or wireless path.
  • the signals may be transmitted as a broadcast, multicast, unicast, or any other suitable transmission stream.
  • Content source 130 may also include control circuitry 132 for performing operations on the signals transmitted by content source 130 , such as, for example, generating new signals or communicating with user equipment 102 to provide on-demand functionality.
  • User equipment 102 may receive interactive application data from one or more instances of data sources 140 , content source 130 , and supplemental data source 120 .
  • Data sources 140 may provide data for a particular type of content or for a particular application running on user equipment 102 .
  • one data source 142 may provide data for interactive media guidance application 106 (including data for the media planner module of the application) and another data source may provide data for an interactive home shopping application.
  • data sources 140 may provide data to the applications running on user equipment 102 using a client-server model.
  • data sources 140 may provide data to the applications running on user equipment 102 using a data carousel such as the data carousel specified in “Enhanced TV Application Messaging Specification,” OC-SP-ETV-AM-I02-050727, published by Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. and hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
  • Content source 130 , supplemental data source 120 , and data sources 140 are shown in FIG. 1 as separate elements. In practice, their functionality may be combined into a single mechanism and provided from a single system at a single facility, or their functionality may be provided by multiple systems at multiple facilities. For example, supplemental data source 120 , content source 130 , and data sources 140 may be combined to provide broadcast television content and associated broadcast television data, including ratings, genre, and content summary information, or other suitable information to user equipment 102 .
  • User equipment 102 may include any equipment suitable for presenting media content to a user.
  • user equipment 102 may include computer equipment, such as a personal computer with a television card (PCTV) and/or Open Cable Unidirectional Receiver (OCUR).
  • User equipment 102 may also include television equipment such as a television and set-top box, a recording device, a video player, a user input device (e.g., remote control, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch pad, a touch screen, and/or a voice recognition/verification module) or any other device suitable for providing a complete, interactive experience.
  • user equipment 102 may include a DCT 2000, 2500, 5100, 6208 or 6412 set-top box provided by Motorola, Inc.
  • user equipment 102 includes control circuitry 114 , display device 104 , interactive media guidance application 106 , storage device 110 , and user input device 108 , all of which may be implemented as separate devices or as a single, integrated device.
  • interactive media guidance application 106 other interactive applications, such as an interactive home shopping application, may be implemented on user equipment 102 .
  • these interactive applications may, for example, direct a tuner in control circuitry 114 to display, on display device 104 , the content transmitted by content source 130 over communications path 150 and to provide interactive application features.
  • Display device 104 may be any suitable device capable of presenting human-perceivable media, such as, for example, a television monitor, computer monitor, LCD display, video projection device, holographic projector, or virtual reality simulator. Display device 104 may also be configured to provide audio and other sensory output.
  • Control circuitry 114 is adapted to receive user input from input device 108 , execute the instructions of interactive media guidance application 106 , execute the instructions of any other interactive applications, and direct display device 104 to display media content and interactive application display screens and overlays.
  • Control circuitry 114 may include one or more tuners 115 (e.g., analog or digital tuners), encoders and decoders (e.g., MPEG encoders and decoders), processors (e.g., MIPs and/or Motorola 68000 family processors), memory (e.g., RAM, ROM, flash memory, and hard disks), communications circuitry (e.g., cable modem and ATSC 256QAM receiver circuitry), input/output circuitry (e.g., graphics circuitry), connections to the various devices of user equipment 102 (e.g., storage device 110 ), and any other suitable components for providing analog or digital television programming, Internet content, and coming-soon listings.
  • control circuitry 114 may be included as part of one of the devices
  • Control circuitry 114 may be connected to storage device 110 for storing data from data sources 140 , content source 130 , or supplemental data source 120 .
  • storage device 110 may include one or more digital video recorders (DVRs), hard disks, or any other storage mechanism.
  • Control circuitry 114 may also be configured to execute the instructions of interactive media guidance application 106 from memory, which may include any type of storage or memory mechanism (e.g., RAM, ROM, hybrid types of memory, hard disks, and/or optical drives).
  • interactive media guidance application 106 is internal to user equipment 102
  • interactive media guidance application 106 may be implemented externally or partially implemented externally to user equipment 102 .
  • interactive media guidance application 106 may be implemented at supplemental data source 120 or content source 130 and may run using a client-server or distributed architecture where some of the application is implemented locally on user equipment 102 in the form of a client process and some of the application is implemented at a remote location in the form of a server process.
  • Interactive media guidance application 106 may also be implemented on any suitable server, computer equipment, or set-top box accessible by user equipment 102 .
  • interactive media guidance application 106 is integrated with another interactive application or is implemented as a standalone application, subprocess, or class (e.g., in an OCAP environment). In one embodiment, interactive media guidance application 106 is completely integrated within another interactive application running on user equipment 102 . In this embodiment, the management and administrative functionality of interactive media guidance application 106 may be invoked directly by the other application or the underlying operating system after some user input from input device 108 . In some embodiments, interactive media guidance application 106 includes a web-based interface for accessing interactive media guidance application 106 and performing all related functionality from a remote location (including planning media content viewing, updating viewing preferences, viewing and configuring coming-soon listing, and configuring various media planner settings).
  • interactive media guidance application 106 is implemented in software. However, an implementation of software and/or hardware may be used in other embodiments. These arrangements are merely illustrative. Other suitable techniques for implementing interactive media guidance application 106 may be used if desired.
  • Interactive media guidance application 106 may use application data from data sources 140 to determine the type of content currently being displayed on display device 104 or recorded on storage device 110 .
  • media guidance application data may include genre information (e.g., sports, mystery, or comedy), subgenre information, content summaries, actor/director information, ratings (e.g., parental control ratings, editorial ratings, and network popularity ratings), or any other suitable information about media content accessible within media system 100 .
  • Interactive media guidance application 106 may store media planner schedules in memory (not shown) of control circuitry 114 or on storage device 110 .
  • the media planner schedules may include an identification of the content scheduled for viewing or recording as well as the priority of each scheduled content selection. As described in more detail below with regard to FIG. 15 , the priority of the scheduled content may be used to determine the preemption order for recording and/or viewing content available during the same time period. For example, if control circuitry 114 includes only three tuners, such as tuners 115 , than there may be a conflict if more than three assets are scheduled for recording or viewing at the same time (and a separate tuner is required to tune each asset). In this case, the media planner may inform the user of potential conflicts and allow the user to resolve any such conflicts in advance.
  • FIG. 2 shows illustrative network 200 for supplying coming-soon announcements in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.
  • Coming-soon sources 202 may include any content provider. Motion picture distributors, television broadcasters, MSOs, and media vendors may have advance knowledge of upcoming media content that may become available to user equipment device 102 ( FIG. 1 ). For example, a network cable station may set approximate or incomplete programming schedules a season in advance, while accurate and complete schedule information is generally downloaded by the user equipment device only fourteen days in advance. So that the user may better plan his or her media content viewing, coming-soon sources 202 may send coming-soon announcements to supplemental data source 120 over network 210 .
  • Network 210 may include any one-way or two-way network, including a cable network, fiber-optic network, satellite network, cellular data network, or the Internet.
  • Coming-soon announcements may be limited to announcements of programs that may be of particular interest to many viewers (such as the return of a popular series, the television premier of a popular movie, or the broadcast of a major sporting event). Announcements may also include programs that the provider particularly wishes to promote, such as the premier of a new series or a big-budget documentary or mini-series.
  • Coming-soon sources 202 may transmit coming-soon announcements over network 210 using one or more of web scripting engine 204 , remote API function calls 206 , and FTP upload module 208 .
  • a coming-soon source may use a webpage interface to input announcement data relating to new coming-soon programming.
  • Web scripting engine 204 may transmit announcements over network 210 (e.g., the Internet) and store the announcement in one or more of VOD coming attractions database 222 , broadcast coming attractions database 224 , and other coming attractions database 226 .
  • each of databases 222 , 224 , and 226 may store coming-soon announcements relating to a different type of media content.
  • VOD coming attractions database 222 may store announcements relating to on-demand assets
  • broadcast coming attractions database 224 may store announcements relating to linear (e.g., scheduled) assets.
  • a single central or distributed database could be used to store all coming soon announcements.
  • Other coming attractions database 226 may store announcements relating to Internet content and interactive applications and games that may be provided to user equipment 102 ( FIG. 1 ).
  • Coming-soon sources 202 may also execute remote API function calls 206 in order to populate VOD coming attractions database 222 , broadcast coming attractions database 224 , and other coming attractions database 226 .
  • remote API function calls 206 may include distributed API function calls, such as, for example, function calls implementing remote method invocation (RMI).
  • the API function calls may be executed from a suitable web interface so that coming-soon sources 202 may conveniently populate VOD coming attractions database 222 , broadcast coming attractions database 224 , and other coming attractions database 226 with coming-soon data.
  • coming-soon sources 202 may upload coming-soon data over network 210 using file transfer protocol (FTP) upload module 208 .
  • FTP file transfer protocol
  • any other suitable transfer protocol such as secure FTP (SFTP), secure copy protocol (SCP), or secure shell (SSH), may be used in other embodiments.
  • SFTP secure FTP
  • SCP secure copy protocol
  • SSH secure shell
  • coming-soon sources 202 may upload coming-soon announcements directly to supplemental data source 120 . Announcements may be uploaded to different directories depending on the type of announcement. For example, on-demand announcements may be uploaded to a “VOD” directory, while broadcast announcements are uploaded to a “Broadcast” directory.
  • An application process executing on supplemental data source 120 may automatically process announcement uploads and populate VOD coming attractions database 222 , broadcast coming attractions database 224 , and other coming attractions database 226 with the uploaded data. After the databases are populated, the announcement uploads may be deleted from supplemental data source 120 .
  • all coming-soon announcements are stored in a single announcement database.
  • the announcement database may be indexed by any suitable field, including source, availability date, or genre.
  • the announcement data stored in the database may include mandatory and optional fields.
  • the expected availability date (or date range) of the programming may be a mandatory field
  • the rating e.g., MPAA rating
  • coming-soon sources 202 may send coming-soon data to supplemental data source 120 in some embodiments, in other embodiments, coming-soon sources 202 are automatically searched for coming-soon data relating to new coming-soon content that may become available to user equipment 102 ( FIG. 1 ).
  • interactive media guidance application 106 FIG. 1
  • a web service or process may execute on coming-soon sources 202 that automatically processes requests for new coming-soon data. After receiving an authenticated request, the web service or process may then deliver all available coming-soon data directly to user equipment 102 ( FIG. 1 ).
  • any other suitable transfer mechanism or mechanisms may be used to deliver coming-soon data to supplemental data source 120 in other embodiments.
  • announcements may be sent in serialized object form or a suitable mark-up language may be used.
  • Announcements may also be delivered (e.g., using a multicast transmission protocol) directly to the user equipment devices instead of or in addition to being stored on supplemental data source 120 .
  • Supplemental data source 120 may use web crawling techniques to populate databases 222 , 224 , and 226 .
  • coming soon announcements may be entered manually into supplemental data source 120 . Any suitable methods, including combinations of methods previously described, may be used to collect coming soon announcement data in other embodiments.
  • XML file 300 may store one or more coming-soon announcements.
  • Extensible Markup Language XML
  • any suitable mark-up language may be used, including, for example, any subset of Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML).
  • SGML Standard Generalized Markup Language
  • any other suitable encoding e.g., UTF-8, UTF-16, or UTF-32
  • Any suitable program metadata format may be used, such as the CableLabs Video-On-Demand Metadata standard.
  • XML file 300 includes title 302 , which may include a unique announcement identifier.
  • Body 304 of XML file 300 may include a number of standard and optional tags that define the coming-soon announcement.
  • a “name” tag may identify the name or title of the coming-soon content.
  • a “subname” tag may identify the subtitle (or episode title) of the coming-soon content.
  • a “desc” tag may include a text summary or description of the plot, an identification of the cast, director, and/or players (e.g., teams and/or athletes) in the coming-soon content.
  • a program identifier tag may also be included in XML file 300 to uniquely identify the coming-soon content. The program identifier may be unique among all content available within media system 100 ( FIG.
  • the source of coming-soon data may be in communication with a program identifier database that uniquely allocates new program identifiers for coming-soon content.
  • the program identifier database may be maintained by the cable operator, MSO, or a third-party.
  • the unique program identifiers may be compared to corresponding program identifiers in downloaded program schedule data to determine when the coming-soon content is scheduled in the window of program schedule listings.
  • “Season” and “episode” tags may identify the season and episode numbers, respectively.
  • a “rating” tag may identify an editorial rating (e.g., star rating), or content rating (e.g., MPAA or TV rating) associated with the coming-soon content.
  • a “date” tag may identify the scheduled broadcast, availability, or release date of the coming-soon content.
  • Start_time” and “run_time” tags may identify the schedule start time or availability time and the scheduled duration of the coming-soon content, respectively.
  • a “source” tag may identify the channel number, channel name, or source of the coming-soon content or the coming-soon announcement (e.g., MLB.com).
  • XML file 300 may also include a number of optional tags. Some of the more common optional tags are shown in the example of FIG. 3 .
  • a “reliability” tag may identify how reliable or firm the information in the announcement (particularly the scheduled availability information) is given that the programming schedule may change as the scheduled availability date approaches. It is expected that announcements for coming-soon content scheduled to become available in the distant future (e.g., several months away) would have a lower reliability indicator than coming-soon content scheduled for more immediate availability (e.g., within the next few weeks).
  • the reliability tag may reflect any suitable reliability indicator. Schedule information for more distant content may also be expressed in less precise terms, such as to a season, a month, a week, or a day.
  • XML file 300 may also include a “price” tag.
  • the price tag may identify the estimated access price for the coming-soon content.
  • on-demand content may be associated with an access charge or subscription fee.
  • the price tag will generally indicate that the content is associated with a zero price (i.e., access to the coming-soon content is free).
  • Some non-zero price may be included in the price tag to indicate that a surcharge is associated with the coming-soon content.
  • a series identifier tag may identify a unique series identifier, if applicable. For example, as shown in FIG.
  • the coming-soon announcement is for the season finale of “The Sopranos.”
  • the season finale may be associated with a series identifier that uniquely identifies the series, “The Sopranos.”
  • the program identifier may uniquely identify the episode within the series or uniquely identify the episode among all other available media content.
  • the optional “update” tag may indicate whether the announcement is an update announcement or an original announcement.
  • announcements may be updated periodically as new information about the coming-soon content becomes available.
  • Update announcements may take the same (or similar) form as original announcements except that the update announcement may only include tags that have changed from the original announcement. Thus, update announcements may be smaller in size than original announcements, thus saving network bandwidth.
  • XML file 300 may also include a “promote” tag and optional “promote_source” tag (not shown). These tags may signal to the interactive media guidance application whether this coming-soon content should be promoted or advertised on the user equipment device. For example, some content providers may pay an additional fee to have their content promoted within any of the display screens shown herein.
  • the promote source tag may include a link to the promotional material itself (or the actual text of the promotion).
  • the user equipment device may maintain a separate database of promotions and advertisements relating to coming-soon content. As described in more detail below in regard to FIG. 4 , the advertisements and other promotional material in the advertisement database may be displayed simultaneously with the coming-soon listings or in any coming-soon display screen within an advertisement window. A user may select a coming-soon advertisement in order to schedule any suitable media guidance application function associated with the coming-soon content promoted in the advertisement.
  • XML file 300 may also include a number of advanced content control tags. These tags may specify what type of content access is granted to the user equipment device if and when the coming-soon content is made available to the user equipment device. These advanced content control tags may be saved to the user equipment device (e.g., in a coming-soon announcement database) and enforced at some later time when the coming-soon content is accessed by the user equipment device. Some of these tags may be used to control unauthorized copying, distribution, retransmission, or display of the coming-soon content. The interactive media guidance application may enforce all content control tags on the user equipment device.
  • an “allow_record” tag may indicate whether the content is permitted to be saved to the user equipment device (e.g., to a storage device 110 ( FIG. 1 )).
  • the allow recordings tag also prohibits caching and buffering of the coming-soon content.
  • the output of tuners tuned to coming-soon content where the allow record tag is not set may not be automatically buffered by the user equipment device. This may help prevent unauthorized recording or saving of restricted content to the user equipment device.
  • the “display_number” tag may indicate the number of times the user is authorized to display the coming-soon content.
  • this tag may indicate the number of times the user may request the content via an on-demand service or the number of times playback is permitted from a recording device (e.g., storage device 110 ( FIG. 1 )).
  • Other supported content control tags may include tags for limiting or prohibiting retransmission of the coming-soon content, editing of the coming-soon content, and/or sampling of the coming-soon content (e.g., for digital audio content).
  • the interactive media guidance application may interface with a digital rights management (DRM) application in order to request additional access permissions, as desired by the user.
  • DRM digital rights management
  • Content control tags may also include tags for automatically performing some action after the coming-soon content is made available to the user equipment device.
  • an automatic recordings tag may indicate whether the content should be automatically recorded to a local storage device (e.g., storage device 110 ( FIG. 1 )) as soon as the content is available to the user equipment device.
  • the automatic recordings tag may cause a recording to be automatically scheduled on the user equipment device. This date, time, and source of the scheduled recording may be updated automatically in response to receiving announcement updates.
  • Other actions that may be automatically performed based on content control tags include automatically setting a reminder for the coming-soon content, bookmarking the coming-soon content, or adding the coming-soon content to a favorites list.
  • FIG. 3 shows one example of a typical coming-soon announcement
  • update announcements may only include the tags with changes from the original announcement (or most recent update announcement).
  • announcement updates may resemble abridged versions of full announcements, like the announcement shown in FIG. 3 .
  • the interactive media guidance application may include a media planner feature for determining in advance which programs will be recorded or watched on the user equipment device.
  • a media planner feature for determining in advance which programs will be recorded or watched on the user equipment device.
  • the user may use listings data from the program schedule database, a program search utility, and series recordings.
  • Coming-soon content may also be added to the media planner by clicking on an interactive element (e.g., an interactive advertisement or interactive listing) associated with (or promoting) the coming-soon content.
  • search menu display screen 400 includes a number of selectable options. After a user selects coming-soon option 402 , display screen 500 ( FIG. 5 ) may be automatically displayed. After a user selects planner option 404 , media planner display screen 1200 ( FIG. 12 ) may be automatically displayed.
  • Display screen 400 may also display interactive promotions or advertisements related to coming-soon attractions. For example, as shown in PIG window 406 , an advertisement for the season finale of “The Sopranos” is displayed simultaneously with the search menu. This advertisement may be selected from a coming-soon advertisement database stored locally at the user equipment. The advertisement may include text, graphic, and video and may be identified in the coming-soon announcements. In some embodiments, the advertisement data is included in the original announcement itself. For example, the text “Watch the Sopranos! Season 6 Finale” may be included within the “promote_source” tag of the announcement. Placeholders for variable advertisement data may also be included.
  • variable “% d” may be replaced with the scheduled availability or broadcast date
  • variable “% t” may be replaced with the scheduled availability or broadcast time in the local time zone
  • variable “% s” may be replaced with the scheduled source (e.g., channel number or channel name).
  • an advertisement template may be identified in the “promote_source” tag of the announcement, while modified advertisements are actually displayed to the user.
  • the modified advertisements may be updated with new variable advertisement data after such data is received (e.g., through announcement updates).
  • the text advertisement “Watch the Sopranos! Season 6 Finale % d at % t on % s” may be modified at the user equipment to display the correct variable advertisement data for the local user equipment device.
  • Channel numbers and channel names may be looked up from the local channel or source map.
  • the resulting advertisement may then be displayed in PIG window 406 .
  • PIG window 406 may display and/or repeat advertisements on any suitable schedule.
  • a new advertisement is displayed whenever the user selects a new option or button within display screen 400 .
  • a new advertisement is displayed after a predetermined amount of time has passed.
  • PIG window 406 may also display scaled video from, for example, the channel displayed immediately prior to requesting search menu display screen 400 .
  • a user may select PIG window 406 in order to schedule or execute any media guidance application function associated with the content identified by the advertisement currently displayed in PIG window 406 .
  • FIG. 5 shows coming-soon display screen 500 .
  • the coming-soon feature allows the user to find programs that are not yet identified in the available window of program schedule data that is used to display program schedule listings on the user equipment device.
  • Coming-soon display screen 500 may be accessed from search menu 400 ( FIG. 4 ) by selecting coming-soon option 402 ( FIG. 4 ).
  • Coming-soon programs listed in coming-soon display screen 500 may include blockbuster movies that are planned in the next few weeks or months on VOD, PPV, premium or network channels, series returns and season premiers, upcoming mini-series and made-for-TV movies, award shows, concerts, sporting events, and other upcoming live events that are not yet in the schedule window.
  • the programs may include packages, series, or other groups of programs (e.g., sporting event tournaments).
  • the user may select any content entry in coming-soon display screen 500 , such as entry 502 , and view more one or more pages of details (e.g., a description, network, and approximate availability time frame).
  • the title of the program may be displayed in title area 506 .
  • the source of the program may be displayed in source area 504 .
  • the scheduled availability information (including availability time frame or date) of the program may be displayed in availability area 510 .
  • summary information may be displayed in summary area 512 .
  • the title, rating e.g., MPAA rating
  • user or editorial rating e.g., star rating 513
  • genre e.g., cast members, or any other suitable summary information
  • any other suitable summary information may be displayed in summary area 512 . Some or all of this information may be derived from the coming-soon announcement for the program.
  • an indication of the reliability of the scheduled availability date is also displayed in coming-soon display screen 500 .
  • reliability indicator 508 takes the form of zero to three check marks in the example of FIG. 5 .
  • a text indicator such as “tentative” could replace the checkmarks in FIG. 5 for a low reliability coming-soon announcement. Any other suitable icon or indicator may be used in other embodiments.
  • More check marks in reliability indicator 508 may indicate increased reliability.
  • three check marks in reliability indicator 508 may indicate that the availability information is firm and no longer subject to changes or updates.
  • Zero check marks in reliability indicator 508 may indicate that the availability information is tentative and subject to frequent changes or updates.
  • Reliability indicator 508 may be useful to a user in planning his or her viewing schedule.
  • Coming-soon display screen 500 may also include PIG window 514 .
  • PIG window 514 may display advertisements or previews for the content listed in coming-soon display screen 500 .
  • PIG window 514 automatically displays a video preview (if available) of the content currently highlighted in the coming-soon list. For example, a video preview for the coming-soon movie “Capote” may be automatically displayed in response to a user selecting the listing for “Capote.”
  • advertisements, previews, or promotions for any other content may be displayed in PIG window 514 .
  • a user may select any entry in coming-soon display screen 500 to display a details page for the selected entry.
  • FIG. 6 shows details display screen 600 for a broadcast asset.
  • the title of the asset may be displayed in title area 602 .
  • Summary information may be displayed in summary area 604 . Some or all of this summary information may be derived from the data included in the description tag of the coming-soon announcement.
  • PIG window 616 may show advertising or previews for the selected asset.
  • Previews may be available for many assets (including both VOD and broadcast assets).
  • a user may also set a reminder by selecting reminder button 608 .
  • the user may schedule an advance recording by selecting recording button 610 .
  • recording button 610 To create or remove a parental control lock relating to the coming-soon content, the user may select parental control button 614 .
  • parental control button 614 To return to coming-soon display screen 500 ( FIG. 5 ), the user may select back button 606 . If the user selects to schedule a recording or set a reminder, a listing for the coming-soon content may be displayed in the media planner at the anticipated availability date and/or time.
  • FIG. 7 shows details display screen 700 for an on-demand asset. Similar to details display screen 600 ( FIG. 6 ) for a broadcast asset, details display screen 700 may display the title of the on-demand asset in title area 702 and summary information in summary area 708 . In addition, user or editorial rating 704 may be displayed. This information may be derived from the rating tag in the coming-soon announcement for the on-demand asset. Additionally or alternatively, the rating may be retrieved from a supplemental data source (e.g., supplemental data source 120 of FIG. 1 ). This rating, which takes the form of a star rating in the example of FIG. 7 , may indicate the popularity (or expected popularity) of the asset. It may also indicate the average rating given to the asset from all the major critics.
  • supplemental data source e.g., supplemental data source 120 of FIG. 1
  • a user may create a new bookmark by selecting bookmark button 716 .
  • the user may also set a reminder to be displayed when the program is available by selecting reminder icon 712 .
  • a preview of the on-demand asset may be displayed in PIG window 720 after the user selects preview button 714 .
  • a parental control lock may be set or removed by selecting parental control button 718 .
  • the user may select back button 710 .
  • the user may also select various reminder and recording preferences when scheduling a recording or setting a reminder for a coming-soon attraction. For example, the user may select to record or be reminded of the on-demand or broadcast version of the asset, the pay or free version of the asset, the HD or SD version of the asset, or any other suitable recording or reminder preferences.
  • coming-soon attractions may also be added to normal content search results.
  • the coming-soon list may include coming-soon attractions published by various sources (e.g., coming-soon sources 202 of FIG. 2 ).
  • a user may select one or more of all the available coming-soon sources and display only the listings published by the selected source or sources.
  • FIG. 8 shows coming-soon display screen 800 with source selection overlay 802 .
  • a user may select one or more sources listed in source selection overlay 802 and then press an “OK” or other suitable button on an input device (e.g., input device 108 of FIG. 1 ) in order to display all the coming-soon listings published by the selected sources.
  • source selection overlay 802 includes all sources selection 804 to indicate that coming-soon display screen 800 should list content from all available sources.
  • Other illustrative source selections may include on-demand only sources selection 806 , all premium sources selection 808 , all broadcast sources selection 810 , ESPN.com source selection 812 , HBO source selection 814 , and “MTV Online” source selection 816 .
  • More available sources may be viewed by pressing a down cursor or arrow button on an input device (e.g., input device 108 of FIG. 1 ), as indicated by more icon 818 .
  • coming-soon display screen 800 may display only the coming-soon listings associated with the selected sources. New sources may be added or removed at any time.
  • MLB.com may publish projected division playoffs games as well as Major League Baseball's World Series several weeks (or months) in advance of the series.
  • ESPN.com may publish projected games and matches for various other sporting events and tournaments that will be available on the ESPN channel (or an affiliate channel or on-demand service).
  • Premium channels e.g., HBO
  • HBO may publish their own projected content offerings well in advance of their actual release. These advance announcements may serve to increase viewership and community “buzz” about upcoming attractions.
  • a user may add coming-soon listings to a comprehensive media planner so that the user may plan his or her viewing in advance.
  • FIG. 9 shows coming-soon display screen 900 with sorting overlay 902 .
  • Sorting overlay 902 includes some common attributes that may be used to sort the listings, including by projected date 904 , by genre 906 , by title 908 , by source 910 , by reliability 912 , and by rating 914 .
  • other attributes may also be selected by pressing a down cursor or arrow button on an input device (e.g., input device 108 of FIG. 1 ).
  • the listings in coming-soon display screen 900 may be reordered by the selected attribute.
  • the listing may be arranged alphabetically by title by selecting sort by title 908 or chronologically by date as a result of selecting sort by projected date 904 .
  • a user may schedule media guidance application functions for coming-soon content. For example, the user can select to record a coming-soon broadcast asset when it becomes available, bookmark a coming-soon on-demand asset once it gets loaded onto an on-demand server, or set a reminder for either type of asset. Other functions may also be performed. For example, the user may add the coming-soon asset to a favorite programs list or create a new parental control lock for the asset (e.g., lock by title).
  • conditional actions provide the user with added flexibility to condition the execution (or scheduling) of a media guidance application function on simple or compound logic.
  • FIG. 10 shows such a conditional action request.
  • Coming-soon display screen 1000 includes conditional action overlay 1002 for executing conditional media guidance application functions.
  • the functions are called “conditional” because the actual execution (or scheduling) of these functions may be conditioned on some attribute of the coming-soon content at the time the content is made available to the user equipment device (e.g., at the time the content is actually broadcast or made available via an on-demand service or at the point when the listings data is as complete as the two week advance schedule listings data or sufficiently complete to complete the conditional action).
  • conditional action overlay 1002 includes an indication of the action in action selection 1004 . The user may select action selection 1004 in order to change the action to a different media guidance application function, if desired.
  • conditional action overlay 1002 the user wishes to record the coming-soon movie “Capote” only if the movie is available before April 15 and the access price associated with the movie is less than $8. Date selection 1006 and amount selection 1008 may be selected and changed by the user to any suitable values using an input device (e.g., input device 108 of FIG. 1 ).
  • conditional action overlay 1002 the user may select more icon 1010 .
  • a list of available content attributes may be displayed to the user.
  • Content attributes may include any valid attribute of the coming-soon content, including cast members, directors, user ratings, MPAA ratings, TV ratings, whether the program is recordable, and access price. Some or all of these content attributes may be defined in the coming-soon announcement for the coming-soon content.
  • the user may add another logic statement to conditional action overlay 1002 and complete the logic statement with a desired attribute value. After the coming-soon content is actually made available to the user equipment device (or at any suitable prior time), the interactive media guidance application may verify whether the conditional logic statements are satisfied by the actual attribute values.
  • Suitable actions may include any media guidance application function.
  • the action may include one or more of scheduling the coming-soon content for recording, automatically recording the coming-soon content, setting a reminder for the coming-soon content, automatically tuning the coming-soon content, automatically displaying the coming-soon content, automatically ordering the coming-soon content, applying coming soon content to a user's profile or persistent “find content like this” search settings, and automatically submitting a user rating for the coming-soon content.
  • Conditional actions may be created for any coming-soon listing.
  • FIG. 11 shows coming-soon display screen 1100 with conditional action overlay 1102 for a sporting event.
  • Action selection 1104 in conditional action overlay 1102 indicates that the user wishes to be reminded of any game associated with the published “Final Four” program package so long as certain criteria are met.
  • team selection 1106 and player selection 1108 the user will only be reminded if either the Florida Gators are playing in one of the games or the player Corey Brewer is playing. For example, if Corey Brewer is actually playing in a game associated with the Final Four package (even if he is not playing for the Florida Gators), then the user will be reminded of that game.
  • the user may select more icon 1110 in order to add additional logic statements into the compound statement. For example, in addition to adding a player to the conditional statement, the user may also add one or more of the player's statistics. For example, the user may further refine the conditional statement so that the user is only reminded if player Corey Brewer has scored a certain number of points or obtained a certain number of rebounds this season.
  • the specific logic terms available for inclusion in each logic statement may vary depending on the type of content and the genre of the content. For example, basketball sporting events may have different logic terms (and attributes) than baseball sporting events. Feature-length movies may also have different available logic terms (and attributes) than television shows. For example, movies may be associated with MPAA ratings while television shows may be associated with TV ratings. The user may select any suitable term or attribute for inclusion in a conditional logic statement. Conditional actions may be available from any suitable screen or feature within the interactive media guidance application, such as, for example, details display screen 600 of FIG. 6 .
  • the user may use a media planner feature to display a quick view of the planned viewing activities for a specific time period (e.g., next Tuesday during primetime).
  • the user may select the day and time period, and may easily move to different days and times.
  • media planner display screen 1200 includes date selection overlay 1202 .
  • the user may select any date from date selection overlay 1202 , such as date selection 1204 , in order to view the selected date window in the media planner.
  • the user may select one of more arrows 1206 .
  • time window overlay 1302 may also access a time selection overlay, such as time window overlay 1302 , from media planner display screen 1300 . Similar to date selection overlay 1202 ( FIG. 12 ), the user may select any time window from time window overlay 1302 , such as and time selection 1304 , in order to view the selected time window in the media planner.
  • FIG. 14 shows media planner display screen 1400 after the selection of a date and time.
  • media content listings may be shown in media planner grid 1410 .
  • programs to be recorded may be shown first (near the top of media planner grid 1410 ), programs with reminders second (below the programs to be recorded), and other selected programs third (below the programs with reminders).
  • the current date and time window may be displayed at the top of media planner grid 1410 .
  • the user may use left and right arrow buttons on an input device (e.g., input device 108 of FIG. 1 ) in order to change the displayed time window.
  • media planner display screen 1400 shows a window of time with all scheduled viewing activities (e.g., recordings and reminders).
  • the media planner may monitor the status of tuners available within the user equipment device, such as tuners 115 ( FIG. 1 ).
  • the media planner may mark those programs that are or are not of interest to the user. For example, as shown in FIG. 14 , some programs are displayed in regular typeface (e.g., those with recordings and reminders set) and some programs are disabled or shown in grayed out typeface (e.g., those programs that the user has not expressed an interest in). For example, the show “Family Guy” is shown as disabled or in grayed out typeface in the illustrative planner grid shown in FIG. 14 .
  • This program may be broadcast during the displayed planner time window on a channel that is showing a program that the user has expressed an interest in (e.g., channel “13 KDVR”).
  • a channel that is showing a program that the user has expressed an interest in
  • the user may not have expressed an interest in the program “Family Guy” and hence it may be visually distinguished from programs in the planner grid that the user has expressed an interest in.
  • Media planner grid 1410 may include a plurality of identifiers (e.g., text labels, icons, graphics, listings, or cells) for tagged assets of interest during the media planner grid window.
  • the identifiers may identify the assets by name or by any other suitable characteristics.
  • identifier 1407 may include the name or title of the asset.
  • Other suitable identifiers may include one or more of a program identifier, a series identifier, an episode name, an episode number, and a season number.
  • Identifiers may also include a graphical icon, jacket art, or some visual representation of the asset.
  • a still frame or thumbnail video of the asset (or an advertisement for the asset) may be displayed within each listing in media planner grid 1410 . This still frame or video may be an identifier of the asset.
  • the identifier may also include the entire listing or cell within media planner grid 1410 , such as listing 1402 .
  • Will not record icon 1404 may indicate that the program “The West Wing” will not be recorded because of its priority and the number of available tuners in the user equipment device. Will not record icon 1404 indicates to the user that a program of interest in the planner grid will not be recorded. The user may then have an opportunity to change (e.g., increase) the program's priority in order to actually record the program. Recording icon 1406 may indicate that the associated program may be scheduled for recording using an available tuner. This tuner may be reserved to perform the recording unless the priority of some other listing in media planner grid 1410 is increased above the priority for this recording. Reminder icon 1408 may indicate that a reminder is set for the associated program. Reminder icon 1408 may also indicate that the associated program is scheduled for automatic tuning and display at the scheduled time.
  • a tuner may or may not be reserved for programs with reminders set.
  • the number of available tuners must be equal to (or exceed) the number of listings in the media planner marked for recording or viewing (and optionally listings for programs with a reminder set) for any specific time.
  • the planner provides a convenient overview for the user of what is happening with respect to programs of interest in a given date/time frame.
  • Listings may be displayed in priority order, giving the user a visual representation of why a requested program may not be available for viewing or recording at that time (or at some later time). For example, “Charmed” is shown at the highest priority because the user may have at some point (either from grid view or from planner view) indicated his or her preference to watch Charmed at that time and defer recording of The West Wing.
  • recording conflict resolution management logic may inform a user in various views if the number of recordings scheduled exceeds the number of tuners available.
  • a reminder is considered a reservation of a tuner in the same way a recording is considered a reservation of a tuner.
  • FIG. 14 may represent a media planner grid for a triple-tuner user equipment device.
  • there may be no conflict at 7 PM because two tuners are used for recordings (the Sopranos and the Simpsons) and the third tuner may be reserved for the show that is intended to be watched at that time (i.e., “Charmed”).
  • a user is provided with an option to indicate a desired recording (e.g., The West Wing) using an “interested in possibly recording” option without having the system flag it as a violation or conflict of the tuner limitations of the user equipment device.
  • the “interested in possibly recording” icon may look similar to will not record icon 1404 .
  • the user may select any listing within media planner grid 1410 in order to toggle the action icon between recording icon 1406 , reminder icon 1408 , and “interested but will not record” icon 1404 .
  • three tuners may be available within the media system. As a result, at most three listings in media planner grid 1410 may be scheduled for recording, viewing, or both recording and viewing at any given time without a conflict.
  • reminder icon 1408 indicates that a reminder is set for the television show “Charmed” available on channel “2 KGWN” at 7 PM on Sunday, March 19.
  • This program may be automatically tuned and displayed by the interactive media guidance application at 7 PM using one available tuner.
  • “The Sopranos” and “Simpsons” may both be automatically recorded using available tuners. Since “The Sopranos” is displayed higher in media planner grid 1410 than “Simpsons”, this listing may have higher priority.
  • the recording of “Simpsons” may be preempted before the recording of “The Sopranos.”
  • the user may drag any listing in media planner grid up or down in media planner grid 1410 to change the listing's priority. For example, the user may press a “PAGE UP” or “PAGE DOWN” key on an input device (e.g., input device 108 ) while any listing is highlighted with the cursor in order to increase or decrease that listing's priority.
  • the user may also select and drag listings (e.g., with a mouse or other suitable input device) within media planner grid 1410 .
  • the user may also move or drag listings in media planner grid 1410 left or right to change the start time of the scheduled activity. For example, if there is a tuner conflict at 7 PM because of too many assets being recorded simultaneously, then the user may drag one of these assets left or right within media planner grid 1410 to adjust the time of the scheduled recording. Some assets may be only dragged left (i.e., moved earlier in the schedule), only dragged right (i.e., pushed later in the schedule), or dragged left and right. For example, a linear asset (e.g., broadcast television programming) is generally not available before its broadcast time, so the user may only be permitted to drag this programming to the right in media planner grid 1410 .
  • a linear asset e.g., broadcast television programming
  • a linear asset is moved or dragged to a later time than its broadcast time (i.e., moved right in media planner grid 1410 )
  • the asset may be automatically recorded to the user equipment device (e.g., on storage device 110 of FIG. 1 ) so that the asset may be displayed time-shifted at the new scheduled time.
  • a user may be prevented from moving a program to the right if there is no tuner available to record it.
  • a copy of a linear program may be stored on a server such as content source 130 ( FIG. 1 ). This remotely stored copy may then be made available for time shifted viewing.
  • programs that are available with start over functionality may be indicated to the user in the planner window and used to help resolve tuner conflicts. For example, a variant of start over which allows programs to be watched one or two hours after their airing time would be recognized by the planner and allow time shifted viewing of those programs to the right in the grid.
  • content may be added to the planner view from the grid view by simply tagging the content of interest (e.g., setting an “interested” flag for the program, a reminder, or a recording for the program, or setting a bookmark for the program).
  • other content e.g., coming soon data
  • may be accessible directly from the planner view e.g., via a submenu display for a search function, for example).
  • media planner grid 1410 shows the user's planned viewing activities for some narrow time window (e.g., 7 PM to 8:30 PM), some rows in the media planner grid 1410 may correspond to the same source or channel. As shown in the example of FIG. 14 , channel “13 KDVR” appears twice in media planner grid 1410 because the user has a planned recording at 7 PM and another planned recording at 7:30 PM, but the two recordings are at different priority levels. In some embodiments, only single row is used in media planner grid 1410 to denote multiple planned activities on the same channel or source.
  • the viewer may scroll down from media planner grid 1410 to display the entire program grid, allowing the viewer to select additional programs for viewing at that time.
  • favorite channels may be displayed near the top of media planner grid 1410 (for example, just below the rows for programs with recordings or reminders) or may be otherwise quickly selectable, allowing the viewer to easily find programs on those channels during the selected time window.
  • Other programs may be automatically moved near the top or otherwise visually distinguished in media planner grid 1410 based on user preferences or viewing history. For example, listings matching user viewing preferences, perhaps specific to that day of the week and time period, may be displayed in a different font or color from other listings in the planner view, even though these programs were not explicitly identified as of interest by the user.
  • Programs within the selected time window that are being promoted may also be highlighted or otherwise visually distinguished in media planner grid 1410 .
  • the media planner may also include a “windowed search” feature. This feature may allow the viewer to search for programs based on any supported criteria, constrained to broadcast within the selected time window.
  • the media planner may also include one or more special rows used to add on-demand and locally recorded content to the planner.
  • FIG. 15 shows media planner display screen 1500 with on-demand planner row 1502 .
  • On-demand planner row 1502 may be used to add on-demand content to the media planner.
  • a user may select on-demand planner row 1502 to display a listing or menu of on-demand content available within the selected time window. The user may select any on-demand content selection to add it to on-demand planner row 1502 .
  • an episode of the hit series “Entourage” is planned for viewing at 7 PM. Since this asset is now planned for viewing on an available tuner, the listing for “Charmed” is displayed with a “do not remind” icon.
  • the do not remind icon is analogous to the do not record icon in that it may indicate an interest in a program (which in some embodiments keeps it in the planner view) and a related function (e.g., remind or record) but does not specifically reserve a tuner for the operation.
  • the do not remind icon may be placed on the program automatically in some embodiments as the priority of the programs is changed (e.g., via moving them up and down in the planner view) indicating that this program may no longer be viewed or recorded due to the lack of an available tuner (assuming that the user equipment device has only three available tuners).
  • on-demand planner row 1502 is always displayed at the top of the media planner grid.
  • on-demand planner row 1502 may not be associated with a priority. In other embodiments, on-demand planner row 1502 may be moved up and down through the media planner grid like any other row in the planner because the viewing of the VOD content may require a tuner. Thus, if the VOD content is flagged for viewing during a specific time period, it may count as a reservation of a tuner, similar to other programs scheduled for recording or viewing.
  • FIG. 16 shows media planner display screen 1600 with DVR planner row 1602 .
  • DVR planner row 1602 may be used to add locally recorded assets to the media planner grid.
  • a user may select DVR planner row 1602 to display a listing or menu of locally recorded content (e.g., content recorded to a DVR hard drive). The user may select any content selection in the listing or menu to add it to DVR planner row 1602 .
  • DVR planner row 1602 may be special in that it may always be displayed at the top of the media planner grid.
  • DVR planner row 1602 is not associated with a priority because, in some embodiments, playback of a DVR asset does not require a tuner.
  • DVR planner row 1602 may be moved up and down through the media planner grid like any other row in the planner.
  • a single row may be used for both on-demand and locally recorded content. Both locally-recorded and on-demand content may be moved left and right in the planner grid, similarly to linear content, but without the corresponding constraints.
  • the interactive media guidance application may provide promotional opportunities using the coming-soon and media planner features. Advertisements may be targeted based on user preferences, viewing history, and planned viewing activities in the media planner. For example, as shown in media planner display screens 1500 ( FIG. 15 ) and 1600 ( FIG. 16 ), advertisements may be displayed simultaneously within the media planner grid. The advertisements may promote one or more listings currently displayed in the media planner. Alternatively, the advertisements may promote other programming offered by a content provider whose programming is displayed in the media planner grid. For example, if an episode of “The Sopranos” has been added to the media planner grid, advertisements for The Sopranos, HBO, or any other programming offered by HBO may be displayed (e.g., in PIG windows 406 ( FIG. 4 ), 514 ( FIG. 5 ), or any other suitable PIG or advertisement window shown herein). Additionally or alternatively, advertisements for unrelated products and services may be displayed.
  • a “week-at-a-glance” feature allows viewing of a weekly planning view with some smart modes (e.g., collapsing of days where the user does not watch TV—for example—Tuesday bowling nights, viewing of only the evening portion of the displayed days, and viewing a subset of the week—for example Monday through Wednesday—for better visibility).
  • This week-at-a-glance feature allows the user to move assets around with automatic creation and deletion of recording events as appropriate to the modified viewing plan.
  • Some assets may be viewed and/or recorded without commercials even though the original asset was transmitted or broadcast with commercials.
  • several commercial interruptions may be inserted into broadcast television programs. Each of these commercial interruptions may include one or more commercials, typically ranging in duration from 15 seconds to one minute in length.
  • commercial status flags are transmitted to the user equipment device in the vertical blanking interval (VBI) or out-of-band on a separate status stream. These commercial status flags may mark the start and end of the commercial interruptions within an asset. These commercial status flags may also be used to record an asset to a local storage device (e.g., storage device 110 of FIG. 1 ) without commercials.
  • VBI vertical blanking interval
  • These commercial status flags may mark the start and end of the commercial interruptions within an asset.
  • These commercial status flags may also be used to record an asset to a local storage device (e.g., storage device 110 of FIG. 1 ) without commercials.
  • assets may be recorded with commercials, but played back without commercials.
  • the commercial status flags may be written or saved to the local storage device (e.g., storage device 110 of FIG. 1 ) with the recorded asset.
  • the commercial status flags may include an indication of the start and stop times of the commercial interruptions within the asset. After receiving a request to play back or view the asset, the asset may be automatically played back or viewed without the commercials.
  • commercial status flags may be read to determine the location of the commercial interruptions, in other embodiments an analysis of the black frame interval and/or other audio/video characteristics is additionally or alternatively used. This analysis may be performed either while the program is being recorded or after it has been recorded.
  • the media planner grid may automatically adjust the user's visual plan (e.g., as shown in media planner grid 1410 of FIG. 14 ) by the appropriate amount so that other programs may be scheduled in the media planner.
  • FIG. 17 shows media planner display screen 1700 with commercial adjustment overlay 1702 .
  • commercial adjustment overlay 1702 when a user adds an asset that is eligible for commercial skipping to the media planner grid, commercial adjustment overlay 1702 is automatically displayed.
  • Commercial adjustment overlay 1702 may notify the user that the asset is available to be viewed without commercial interruption.
  • commercial adjustment overlay 1702 includes watch without commercials option 1704 , adjust duration option 1706 , and pack planner grid option 1708 .
  • a user may toggle check mark indicator 1710 on and off to select one or more of the options.
  • watch without commercials option 1704 the asset may be played back without commercial interruptions. For example, if an asset is recorded locally to a storage device with commercials and the asset's commercial status flags were also recorded or saved to the storage device, the asset may be automatically viewed without commercials when the asset is played back. If the user sets watch without commercials option 1704 in the media planner grid, this option may be saved and associated with the selected asset so that the user will not be required to manually skip commercials when the asset is automatically displayed pursuant to the user's planned schedule. If adjust duration option 1706 is selected, the asset's runtime will be automatically adjusted to take into account the removed commercials. This reduced runtime may then be visually indicated in the media planner grid.
  • pack planner grid option 1708 other listings in the planner grid may be packed to utilize the time freed by the runtime adjustment. For example, if 10 minutes are saved in the planner grid by viewing the asset without commercial interruption, then other assets may be viewed or recorded during this time. This allows for more efficient use of the user's planned viewing schedule.
  • FIG. 18 shows packed media planner display screen 1800 .
  • listing 1802 for “The Best of Seinfeld” has been truncated to reflect its new runtime (without commercials). For example, the show may have originally been broadcast as a one-hour special, but now is capable of being presented without commercial interruption in 40 minutes.
  • the interactive media guidance application may determine the new runtime by subtracting the length of all commercial interruptions within the asset (as determined by the commercial status flags) from the original runtime of the asset.
  • Listing 1802 may then be automatically adjusted to indicate its new runtime.
  • Listing 1804 for another locally recorded asset has also been adjusted to start immediately after the conclusion of the Seinfeld episode in listing 1802 . In this way, the user's planned viewing scheduled is efficiently packed to save time.
  • listing 1804 may have been adjusted, but listing 1804 may have remained scheduled to start at 8:00 PM. The user could then add additional content during the time saved by watching the asset without commercials, if desired, or use the time to perform other non-television-related tasks.
  • the user may make other adjustments to items in the media planner grid. For example, the user may select either the start or end edge of the program and drag it to the left or right, lengthening or shortening its duration.
  • the user may highlight an item in the grid, select it using a select key on user input device 108 ( FIG. 1 ), select the left or right edge of the program listing using the left or right arrow key and select key on user input device 108 ( FIG. 1 ), and then move the edge of the item in the grid by using a key such as a next/previous page key. Moving the right edge of a program listing to the right for a planned recording of a linear program may cause the recording time to be extended, and moving it to the left may cause the recording to be truncated.
  • moving the left edge of a program listing for a planned recording of a linear program to the left may cause its recording to be started early, while moving it to the right may cause its recording to be delayed.
  • shortening the listing for an on-demand or recorded program may truncate its start or end.
  • it may actually compress or extend its playback time.
  • it may change the amount of time allocated for watching the program, but not change the playback of the program itself. For example, the user may allocate 90 minutes to watch a 60 minute program because of planned interruptions, during which the user may, for example, intend to pause the program.
  • the user may be allowed to split the planned viewing of a program (e.g., linear, recorded, or on-demand program) into two or more pieces or segments. For example, the user may be allowed to put a program into a viewing time smaller than the duration of a program (or plan the viewing of other programs such that there is insufficient time to view the program in its entirety). The user may then be allowed to select a “split” function. After receiving the split instruction, the interactive media guidance application may put as much of the program into the viewing slot as will fit, and then allow the user to drag the remainder of the program into another viewing slot or segment. In this way, a user may plan out the viewing of, for example, a long documentary over the course of two evenings.
  • the second half or split may be automatically scheduled for recording while the first half is not scheduled for recording.
  • the interactive media guidance application may anticipate and automatically record content that a user would likely be interested in watching. The determination of what content the user would likely be interested in watching may be based on one or more of the user's profile, the user's viewing preferences, and content included in the user's media planner grid.
  • the interactive media guidance application may also associate various recording and “keep” priorities with the content selected for automatic recording. A keep priority may determine the preference or order assets on a storage device are overwritten in order to make room for new assets. For example, assets matching a large number of user viewing preferences may be assigned a higher keep priority than assets matching fewer user viewing preferences.
  • the interactive media guidance application integrates or interfaces to a user's external calendar (e.g., Microsoft Outlook calendar) and notes when the user will be away.
  • the interactive media guidance application may then record programs that the user would likely be interested in watching, as indicated by the user's past behavior (e.g., the user may have set a reminder for a particular program or accessed episodes of the same series on a predetermined number of prior occasions), during the period that the user is noted as away.
  • the interactive media guidance application may use activity monitoring to detect the user's presence or absence. For example, the interactive media guidance application may detect that a user regularly watches “CSI Miami” almost every Friday at 8 PM. One Friday, if the interactive media guidance application notes that there has been no user activity for a predetermined amount of time (e.g., no channel change requests, volume change requests, or any user input on input device 108 of FIG. 1 ), the interactive media guidance application may automatically record the content on behalf of the user.
  • a predetermined amount of time e.g., no channel change requests, volume change requests, or any user input on input device 108 of FIG. 1
  • the interactive media guidance application may optionally bring up a dialog or overlay for the user to indicate presence or activity.
  • Display screen 1900 of FIG. 19 shows such a user activity confirmation.
  • Activity confirmation overlay 1902 may be displayed at any suitable time after the user has been idle for a predetermined length of time.
  • the predetermined length of time may be configurable by the user, typically this length of time will be longer than the maximum duration of media content available within the media system so as to minimize the display of activity confirmation overlay 1902 when the user is, in fact, not idle.
  • the predetermined length of time may be set to 3 hours in some embodiments.
  • the user may select confirmation selection 1904 in order to restart the idle timer.
  • Activity confirmation overlay 1902 may be similar to the dialogue and overlay used in SDV systems. If a user fails to acknowledge the dialog, the interactive media guidance application may go ahead and record all programs the user has set a reminder for as well as all episodes of series that the user has watched in the past. In this way, the interactive media guidance application can proactively record certain programs without any express instruction from the user to record the programs.
  • the priority of programs that are automatically recorded based on user history may be set low relative to other recordings that have explicitly been scheduled or relative to the automatic recording of a program for which a reminder has been set. Similarly, the recording's “keep” priority may be set low relative to programs the user has explicitly scheduled for recording. In this way, recordings of interest that are more likely to be actually viewed by the user are not overwritten by recordings made by the system.
  • a recordings listing page (not shown) may display the difference in priority (e.g., in the recorded assets list) and/or distinguish those recordings that are the result of a user's explicit request, a reminder, or a user profile or user history analysis.
  • FIG. 20 shows illustrative process 2000 for displaying an interactive media planner.
  • interactive media guidance application 106 may identify media content activities scheduled within a predetermined time window. For example, all scheduled recordings and reminders set within a two-hour time period may be identified. These recordings and reminders may be stored in a table (or other suitable data structure) in memory (not shown) of control circuitry 114 ( FIG. 1 ) or on storage device 110 ( FIG. 1 ).
  • preemption priorities may be assigned to each scheduled activity that requires an available tuner.
  • Interactive media guidance application 106 may determine the number of tuners 115 ( FIG. 1 ) within user equipment device 102 ( FIG.
  • the tuner reservations may be made in order of the preemption priority assigned to the scheduled activities at step 2004 .
  • scheduled recordings may be assigned higher priorities than reminders.
  • the preemption priority may be a function of the position of the scheduled activity in the media planner grid.
  • interactive media guidance application 106 may determine if all scheduled activities have reserved tuners. For example, if the number of scheduled activities requiring an available tuner is less than or equal to the total number of tuners 115 ( FIG. 1 ) within user equipment device 120 ( FIG. 1 ), then all scheduled activities may have tuners reserved. If the total number of tuners 115 ( FIG. 1 ) within user equipment device 120 ( FIG. 1 ) is less than the number of scheduled activities requiring an available tuner, then the activities with conflicts may be determined at step 2010 . For example, one or more of the activities with the lowest assigned preemption priorities may be designated as conflict activities at step 2010 .
  • an interactive media planner may be displayed with a listing for each activity scheduled within the predetermined time window.
  • media planner display screen 1400 ( FIG. 14 ) with media planner grid 1410 ( FIG. 14 ) may be displayed.
  • listings for activities with conflicts may be visually distinguished from listings for activities without conflicts. For example, listings with conflicts may be disabled, displayed in a different font color, a different font size, or an icon indicating the conflict may be displayed within the listings with conflicts. Any other way to visually distinguish the listings with conflicts may also be used. The user may then be allowed to change the preemption priorities of any of the displayed listings.
  • interactive media guidance application 106 may reassign tuners to the scheduled activities based on the new preemption priorities of the scheduled activities. For example, a user may increase the preemption priority of a scheduled activity with a conflict above that of a scheduled activity without a conflict. The media planner display may then be automatically refreshed to reflect the new preemption priorities and the new activities with conflicts.
  • one or more steps shown in process 2000 may be combined with other steps, performed in any suitable order, performed in parallel (e.g., simultaneously or substantially simultaneously), or removed.
  • FIGS. 21A, 21B , 21 C, and 21 D show illustrative process 2100 for supporting a coming-soon feature.
  • a coming-soon announcement for upcoming programming may be received by the user equipment device.
  • coming-soon sources 202 may utilize one or more of web scripting engine 204 , remote API function calls 206 , and FTP upload module 208 in order to transmit coming-soon announcements over network 210 to a supplemental data source, such as supplemental data source 120 .
  • supplemental data source such as supplemental data source 120 .
  • These announcements may then be sent to a plurality of user equipment devices, such as user equipment device 102 ( FIG. 1 ).
  • coming-soon announcements may be sent directly to the user equipment devices (e.g., via a multicast transmission protocol), if desired.
  • the format of the coming-soon announcements may take the form shown in FIG. 3 .
  • the announcements may be associated with assets available outside the current window of available program schedule data used to display program schedule listings on the user equipment device. For example, program schedule data may be downloaded for content available within a fourteen-day window. This window may be the current program schedule window. Coming-soon announcements may identify assets available outside this program schedule window.
  • interactive media guidance application 106 may determine if the update flag for the received announcement is set. For example, there may be an update tag defined in the coming-soon announcement (e.g., in XML file 300 ). This flag or tag may indicate that the received announcement is an update as opposed to an original announcement. If the update flag is set at step 2104 , the updated announcement data may be read at step 2106 . If the update flag is not set, the announcement may be parsed at step 2108 .
  • a coming-soon record may then be updated or created in an announcement database stored at the user equipment device. For example, the announcement database may be stored in storage device 110 ( FIG. 1 ). The coming-soon record may store some or all of the announcement data contained in the coming-soon announcement.
  • all the coming-soon records in the announcement database may be read at step 2114 .
  • the user may select coming-soon option 402 from search menu display screen 400 ( FIG. 4 ) in order to display a list of coming-soon attractions.
  • the illustrative process may continue in FIG. 21B .
  • an interactive coming-soon list may be displayed to the user.
  • coming-soon display screen 500 FIG. 5
  • interactive media guidance application 106 FIG. 1
  • step 2120 an interactive coming-soon list
  • step 2124 a summary information display screen may be displayed at step 2124 with remind, bookmark, and preview options.
  • interactive media guidance application 106 may determine if the user has selected one or more coming-soon sources at step 2126 .
  • the user may select a coming-soon source before selecting an asset in the interactive coming-soon list.
  • the user may bring up coming-soon selection overlay 802 ( FIG. 8 ). If the user selects one or more coming-soon sources, at step 2128 the coming-soon records associated with the selected source or sources are read.
  • the interactive coming-soon list is then refreshed at step 2130 with only the listings for coming-soon content associated with the selected source or sources.
  • the illustrative process may continue in FIG. 21C .
  • a recording may be scheduled at step 2134 .
  • the recording may be scheduled using the preliminary availability information from the coming-soon record. For example, the projected broadcast date and/or time may be used to schedule the recording. This information may be included in the coming-soon announcement, as shown in FIG. 3 .
  • the interactive media guidance application may record the request and schedule the recording at the time the final schedule information is received for the program at a later date.
  • the coming-soon asset may be tagged with an “interested in recording” or related interest tag. This tag may be used by the system to remind the user at a later date to make a decision related to the asset once more information is known about the asset.
  • interactive media guidance application 106 FIG. 1
  • the user may select reminder option 608 ( FIG. 6 ) to set a reminder. If the user selects to set a reminder, a reminder may be set at step 2138 using the preliminary availability information from the coming-soon record.
  • the projected broadcast date and/or time may be included in the coming-soon announcement, as shown in FIG. 3 .
  • This information may be used to set the reminder.
  • the interactive media guidance application may record the request and schedule the reminder at the time the final schedule information is received for the program at a later date.
  • the user may select to view a preview of the broadcast asset at step 2140 .
  • a full-motion video preview of the asset may be accessed and displayed at step 2142 .
  • the preview may be accessed from a suitable content source that delivers previews for broadcast programming (e.g., one of data sources 140 of FIG. 1 ).
  • the video preview may also be made available on a supplemental data source (e.g., supplemental data source 120 of FIG. 1 , if desired).
  • the preview may be displayed in a preview window or in any suitable location with the coming-soon listing.
  • the preview may be displayed in PIG windows 514 ( FIG. 5 ), 616 ( FIG. 6 ), or 720 ( FIG. 7 ).
  • the illustrative process may continue in FIG. 21D .
  • a bookmark for the on-demand asset may be created at step 2146 .
  • interactive media guidance application 106 FIG. 1
  • the user may select reminder option 712 ( FIG. 7 ) to set a reminder.
  • a reminder may be set at step 2150 using the preliminary availability information from the coming-soon record. For example, the projected broadcast date and/or time may be included in the coming-soon announcement, as shown in FIG. 3 . This information may be used to set the reminder.
  • the interactive media guidance application may record the request and then, at the time the program becomes available on-demand it may display the reminder to the user.
  • the date and time for a reminder (or optionally a planned viewing date and time) may be set, in some cases constrained to the period of availability of the asset, if present in the coming-soon data record.
  • the user may select to view a preview of the broadcast asset at step 2152 .
  • a full-motion video preview of the asset may be accessed and displayed at step 2154 .
  • the preview may be accessed from a suitable content source that delivers previews for on-demand programming (e.g., one of data sources 140 of FIG. 1 ).
  • the video preview may also be made available on a supplemental data source (e.g., supplemental data source 120 of FIG. 1 , if desired).
  • the preview may be displayed in a preview window or in any suitable location with the coming-soon listing.
  • the preview may be displayed in PIG windows 514 ( FIG. 5 ), 616 ( FIG. 6 ), or 720 ( FIG. 7 ).
  • one or more steps shown in process 2100 may be combined with other steps, performed in any suitable order, performed in parallel (e.g., simultaneously or substantially simultaneously), or removed.
  • FIG. 22 shows illustrative process 2200 for scheduling or executing a conditional action for a coming-soon asset.
  • coming-soon assets are often associated with preliminary data (including availability information, such as scheduled availability date and/or time) that is subject to change
  • conditional actions allow a user to condition the execution of a media guidance application function on one or more conditional statements being true at the program runtime (e.g., at the asset's actual availability date and time) or at any suitable time prior to the program runtime (e.g., when the listings data has been completely received or when sufficient information has been received to disambiguate the action).
  • Conditional actions may be useful to a user who wants to perform some media guidance application function on an asset only under particular circumstances.
  • a conditional expression is received.
  • the user may input a simple or compound conditional statement using conditional action overlay 1002 ( FIG. 10 ) or overlay 1102 ( FIG. 11 ) from a coming-soon display screen, such as display screen 1000 ( FIG. 10 ) or 1100 ( FIG. 11 ).
  • a user may also set up a conditional action from any other display screen shown herein.
  • the user may be presented with a list of predefined conditional expressions to choose from.
  • the coming-soon record associated with the asset may be read. For example, as previously described in regard to FIG. 3 , some or all of the data in a coming-soon announcement may be saved to storage device 110 ( FIG.
  • This record may store, for example, preliminary availability data, ratings information, access price information, genre information, cast member information, or any other suitable data associated with the asset. Some or all of this data may be subject to change.
  • interactive media guidance application 106 may determine if the necessary preliminary data is defined in the coming-soon record. For example, to schedule a recording for the coming-soon announcement, at least the source (e.g., channel), date, and time may be required variables. If these variables are not defined in the coming-soon record, interactive media guidance application 106 ( FIG. 1 ) may set default, placeholder variables for these undefined variables at step 2208 . Then, at step 2210 , the conditional action may be scheduled based on the preliminary data and/or the default variables set by interactive media guidance application 106 ( FIG. 1 ) as well as the conditional expression received at step 2202 .
  • the source e.g., channel
  • date e.g., date
  • time may be required variables. If these variables are not defined in the coming-soon record, interactive media guidance application 106 ( FIG. 1 ) may set default, placeholder variables for these undefined variables at step 2208 . Then, at step 2210 , the conditional action may be scheduled based
  • a recording of the asset may be conditioned on the asset having a particular access price (or range of access prices), as shown in FIG. 10 .
  • Other illustrative conditions may include the rating of the asset (e.g., its MPAA rating), a user or editorial rating of the asset (e.g., using a star rating system), the cast members, the teams or players (for sporting events), or any other suitable attribute of the asset.
  • a conditional expression may include one or more conditional statements based on the activity of other users in media system 100 ( FIG. 1 ).
  • an SDV manager may maintain a table of user viewing activity as well as conditional actions set up by all users of the SDV service group.
  • a channel change monitoring mechanism or service may maintain a table of user viewing activity as well as conditional actions set up by all users of the media system (or all users in a local subnet or geographical region).
  • an on-demand server may track the viewing statistics for individual on-demand assets. A user may then create a conditional action based on the number (or percentage) of users performing a related activity or whether or not the asset is currently allocated within the network.
  • a user may select to record an asset only if at least 90% of other users (e.g., in the SDV service group, local subnet, or geographical region) have also scheduled the same asset for recording.
  • a user may set a conditional action based on the percentage of other users rating the asset in a particular way. For example, the user may schedule the asset for recording only if at least 80% of other users (e.g., in the SDV service group, local subnet, or geographical region) have rated the asset with a 3 star rating or higher (or the editorial rating is a 3 star rating or higher). Any other action conditioned on other rating schemes may also be created and scheduled.
  • the conditional action may be updated (if needed) at step 2114 .
  • the update flag shown in XML file 300 may be set to indicate a coming-soon announcement update.
  • the update may include updated availability data (or any other suitable attribute, such as access price or rating) for the asset.
  • the coming-soon asset may actually be included in the downloaded window of program schedule data. For example, as previously described, typical systems may download program schedule data associated with programming available within a program schedule listings window.
  • This window is generally short (e.g., two weeks) and the schedule data for programming available within this window may be downloaded at any suitable time (e.g., every two weeks or every day).
  • interactive media guidance application 106 may reconcile scheduled conditional actions with the actual data received for the coming-soon asset when it enters the program schedule window and is included in the regular program schedule database.
  • a unique program identifier may be defined in the coming-soon announcement (e.g., XML tag 300 of FIG. 3 ) and may be compared to the program identifiers of the programs identified in the program schedule database. If the program identifiers match, this may indicate to interactive media guidance application 106 ( FIG.
  • any conflicting information between the downloaded program schedule data and the coming-soon data may be reconciled in favor of the program schedule data that is used for displaying program schedule listings on user equipment device 102 ( FIG. 1 ).
  • interactive media guidance application 106 may determine if the conditional expression is satisfied. For example, just prior to the actual execution of the conditional action, the conditional expression may be reevaluated based on the asset's final attributes. If the conditional expression is still satisfied, then at step 2220 the action may be executed on the asset. If the conditional expression is not satisfied, then at step 2218 the action may be skipped or ignored.
  • a user may create a conditional action to record a sporting event if a particular athlete or team is playing in the sporting event.
  • interactive media guidance application 106 FIG. 1
  • the athletes and teams who are playing may be derived from extended media guidance application data received from a suitable data source (e.g., one of data sources 140 ( FIG. 1 ) or supplemental data source 120 ( FIG. 1 )).
  • a suitable data source e.g., one of data sources 140 ( FIG. 1 ) or supplemental data source 120 ( FIG. 1 )
  • the conditional action may be executed (for example, the coming-soon asset may be recorded); otherwise, the action may be ignored.
  • Any other suitable content attributes may also be used in simple or complex conditional expressions associated with the conditional action.
  • one or more steps shown in process 2200 may be combined with other steps, performed in any suitable order, performed in parallel (e.g., simultaneously or substantially simultaneously), or removed.
  • FIGS. 23A and 23B show illustrative process 2300 for displaying and supporting a media planner grid.
  • a user request for the media planner grid may be received.
  • the user may select planner option 404 ( FIG. 4 ) to display media planner display screen 1400 ( FIG. 14 ).
  • a media planner grid for Sunday, March 19 is shown from 7:00 to 8:30 PM.
  • the user may change the date and/or time by pressing the left and right arrow keys on an input device (e.g., input device 108 ( FIG. 1 ).
  • the user may also use overlays 1202 ( FIG. 12 ) and 1302 ( FIG. 13 ) to select a desired date or time window.
  • the interactive media planner grid may show all programs scheduled for recording and/or with reminders set during the displayed grid time window.
  • the interactive media planner grid may also show programming that is not associated with any automatic media guidance application function, but the user has expressed an interest in or would like to watch at the planned date and time anyway. For example, the user may wish to watch “The Sopranos” on HBO during its weekly broadcast time, but not schedule a recording or set a reminder for the show.
  • These “tagged” assets may all be identified in some way (either manually by the user or automatically by the interactive media guidance application) as assets the user is interested in watching or recording on a particular date and at a particular time.
  • assets of interest are said to be tagged relative to a particular date and time (e.g., the planned viewing date and time, the planned reminder date and time, or the planned recording date and time).
  • a particular date and time e.g., the planned viewing date and time, the planned reminder date and time, or the planned recording date and time.
  • all assets scheduled for recording on the system are automatically tagged.
  • Assets with reminders set, assets scheduled for automatic tuning or display at a particular time, and/or assets with bookmarks set (that are available during the planning window) may also be considered “tagged.”
  • the user may access his or her media planner grid at any time in order to view a listing of planned viewing activities (e.g., all tagged assets).
  • the user may then select any listing in the media planner grid to tune to that content, display a screen of additional information about the content, adjust the listing's priority, schedule the viewing activity for an earlier time (e.g., by dragging the listing left), schedule the viewing activity for an later time (e.g., by dragging the listing right), extend or shorten its viewing time, split its planned viewing time into two or more parts, or toggle its recording or reminder status.
  • the interactive media guidance application may access data identifying the total number of tuners 115 ( FIG. 1 ) available within user equipment device 102 ( FIG. 1 ). The interactive media guidance application may then assign or reserve a tuner for each entry scheduled for recording or viewing in the media planner grid at step 2303 . If the user has planned more viewing activities than available tuners, then tuners may be assigned to entries in the media planner grid in priority order. The entries without a reserved tuner may be automatically disabled when the media planner grid is displayed.
  • the user may also select to add a new asset to the user's media planner grid.
  • the full schedule grid e.g., the full media guidance application program schedule guide
  • other program selection screen may be displayed to the user at step 2306 .
  • the user may then select any asset within the full grid at step 2308 (e.g., tag the asset with one or more “interest” tags, such as interested in recording or viewing), and a new listing for the selected asset may be displayed in the user's media planner application grid at step 2310 .
  • recorded or on-demand assets may be added to the media planner grid manually.
  • media planner display screen 1400 FIG. 14
  • the user may have just selected to add “The West Wing” listing. In some embodiments, this listing is displayed with default priority (e.g., the listing is displayed near the middle of the grid).
  • interactive media guidance application 106 may determine if the number of available tuners has been exceeded by the addition of the new asset. For example, if user equipment device 102 ( FIG. 1 ) has three available tuners 115 ( FIG. 1 ) and three programs are already scheduled for recording, a conflict may be signaled. If the number of tuners has been exceeded, the entry in the media planner grid with the lowest priority may be disabled, marked in a special way, (or removed from the grid) at step 2314 . For example, the listing may appear grayed out or otherwise visually distinguished from the other listings in the grid. In some embodiments, an icon (or a modification of an existing icon) may additionally or alternatively be shown next to or within listings that cannot be tuned due to a lack of available tuners.
  • Illustrative process 2300 continues in FIG. 23B . If the user selects to increase the priority of an entry shown in the media planner grid at step 2316 , then the position of the selected entry in the grid may be increased at step 2318 . In some embodiments, the position of a listing within the media planner grid determines the listing's priority. For example, as shown in media planner display screen 1400 ( FIG. 14 ), the listing for “Charmed” may be associated with the highest priority, the listing for the “The Sopranos” may be associated with the next highest priority, and so on. At step 2320 , interactive media guidance application 106 ( FIG. 1 ) may determine if the number of available tuners has been exceeded by the increase in priority, or if a change in tuner assignments is required.
  • a conflict may be signaled. If the number of tuners has been exceeded, the entry in the media planner grid now with the lowest priority may be disabled (or removed from the grid) at step 2322 . For example, the listing may appear grayed out or otherwise visually distinguished from the other listings in the grid. In some embodiments, an icon may additionally or alternatively be shown or modified next to or within listings that cannot be tuned due to a lack of available tuners.
  • the position of the selected entry in the grid may be decreased at step 2326 .
  • the media planner grid may be redisplayed at step 2328 . Users may increase or decrease a listing's priority by dragging the listing up or down within the media planner grid or highlighting a listing and selecting a “PAGE UP” or “PAGE DOWN” button (or other suitable button) on input device 108 ( FIG. 1 ).
  • one or more steps shown in process 2300 may be combined with other steps, performed in any suitable order, performed in parallel (e.g., simultaneously or substantially simultaneously), or removed.

Abstract

Systems and methods for providing media planners for planning a user's media content viewing activities are provided. The media planner may include an interactive grid of content with scheduled viewing, recording, or reminders set within a user-selectable time window. The media planner may prioritize content within the planner grid and automatically resolve conflicts when the number of available tuners within the user equipment device has been exceeded. Programs matching a user's viewing interests may also be automatically recorded in the user's absence. Coming-soon announcements may be received for programming outside the current program schedule window. Conditional media guidance application functions may be scheduled based on preliminary availability and attribute data associated with a coming-soon asset.

Description

    CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
  • This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/834,605, filed Jul. 31, 2006 and 60/903,808, filed Feb. 26, 2007, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.
  • BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
  • This invention relates generally to media systems and, more particularly, to media systems with enhanced media guidance support for future media attractions, and media planners.
  • An interactive media guidance application, such as an interactive television program guide, allows a user to tune to and display a wide array of media content that is available within a media system. Interactive media guidance applications may also allow users to perform numerous media guidance application functions relating to available content. For example, the user may schedule a recording of future programming (e.g., a series recording), set a reminder, or bookmark content of interest.
  • Some media guidance applications, however, are limited in their ability to perform media guidance application functions on future programming or coming attractions. For example, typical media guidance applications download an advance window of program schedule data and use this program schedule data to display program schedule listings for content available within the program schedule window (e.g., content available within the next fourteen days of available programming). This downloaded program schedule data allows the media guidance application to display program schedule listings, schedule recordings, and perform other related media guidance application functions on content identified in the schedule. Performing media guidance application functions on programming available outside the downloaded schedule window is severely limited because little or no information is generally available for this programming. In addition, any information that may be available is subject to frequent changes or revisions by the content or service provider, media vendor or distributor, or multiple service operator (MSO). This often results in incorrect or quickly outdated information.
  • It is also sometimes difficult for users of a user equipment device to determine what media guidance application functions are scheduled to be executed during any given time period on the user equipment device. For example, the user may have manually scheduled one or more recordings during a certain time period, and the interactive media guidance application may be configured to automatically record one or more programs (e.g., episodes of a season pass recording) during the same time period. The user may not be able to easily discern the number and type of media guidance application functions that are scheduled to be executed at any given time. Therefore, there is the possibility of unforeseen conflicts due to, for example, the number of available tuners in the user equipment device.
  • SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
  • In view of the foregoing, a more flexible solution for scheduling and planning future media content viewing is provided. Users may view a comprehensive, visual plan of all their scheduled media content activities (e.g., all scheduled recordings and reminders) from one centralized media planner application. The media planner application may also automatically detect and resolve scheduling conflicts (e.g., tuner conflicts) associated with the user's planned media content activities. The media planner may automatically assign preemption priorities to the user's scheduled activities, and the user may change the assigned preemption priorities by dragging or moving the listings up or down in the planner. The preemption priorities of the scheduled activities may define the order in which activities are preempted by other scheduled activities (e.g., in the event of a conflict, such as a lack of available tuners). In this way, the user may be presented with a listing of activities that will actually be carried out on the user equipment device and activities that may be preempted due to conflicts. The impact a change in the preemption priority will have on other scheduled activities may also be displayed to the user in the media planner.
  • The planner may allow the user to add listings for content available within the current program schedule listings window as well as content identified in a coming-soon database. The planner may take the form of an interactive grid of content listings sorted by preemption priority. The user may adjust the preemption priority of a listing by moving the content to a new location (e.g., up or down) in the planner grid. Content with a higher preemption priority may preempt content with lower preemption priority. For example, if three content selections are scheduled for recording during the same time period and only two tuners are available for recording, the content selections with the two highest priorities may be recorded. Listings for content selections that may be preempted due to a tuner conflict may be visually distinguished from other listings (e.g., the listings may be grayed out, displayed with an icon indicating unavailability, displayed in a smaller font, or displayed in a font of a different color) in the planner grid.
  • A user may plan his or her viewing schedule in the planning grid. Non-linear content, such as on-demand and locally recorded content, may be added to the grid and scheduled for viewing like traditional, linear content (e.g., broadcast television content). Some non-linear content in the grid may be viewed without commercial interruptions. For example, the commercials may be extracted from the content (or automatically skipped) using data parsed from commercial status flags and/or by analyzing the black frame interval or other audio/video characteristics of the content. Since the duration of the non-linear content may be shorter without commercials, in some embodiments the planner may automatically pack the planner grid to account for the new duration. This way, other content may be planned for viewing or recording immediately after the non-linear content is displayed without commercials. In some of these cases, the new duration may be estimated using typical commercial break percentages customary for the program, network, or industry. In some cases, non-linear content may be watched in more than one session and its duration, for planning purposes, may be treated differently as a result. For example, if a user watches one hour of a three-hour program, in some embodiments, an option may be provided within the media planner wherein the system will display the program as having a (e.g., remaining) duration of only two hours.
  • A user may move a listing for a linear asset to a later time in the planner grid in order to resolve a planner conflict. If the user time-shifts a linear asset, a recording for the asset may be automatically set or scheduled on the user equipment so that it may be displayed at the new time. In some embodiments, the media planner automatically recommends to the user the most efficient viewing schedule (i.e., the viewing schedule with the fewest conflicts) so that the user may maximize the number of successfully viewed or recorded selections. A user may also manually adjust the start or end point of a scheduled viewing or recording. While viewing the planning grid, the viewer may decide to extend or shorten the end point or start point of the program, for example by selecting and moving the left or right edge of the program's cell in the grid.
  • The media planner application also allows busy users to plan a schedule of their future media viewing so that important shows and programs are not missed. External commitments may then be planned around scheduled media viewing (or alternatively the user's media viewing may be planned around the user's external commitments). This may be one way for content providers to help increase viewership because fewer people may miss planned programming. In addition, advance notification of programming available outside the current program data schedule window helps spread “buzz” about an upcoming attraction.
  • The media planner may include scheduled activities for “coming-soon” content. Third-party media content vendors, television broadcasters, and other content and service providers and distributors (collectively referred to herein as “content providers”) may provide coming-soon announcements for upcoming media content that may become available to the user equipment device at some future time. The announcements may be for media content being broadcast (or otherwise made available, for example, via on on-demand service) outside the current window of program schedule data (e.g., beyond the fourteen day schedule window). The announcements may take a standard announcement record format and may be compatible with traditional program schedule information, allowing the coming-soon announcements to be displayed, for example, in traditional program grid guides. In some embodiments, the coming soon announcements may support approximate schedule information. For example, an upcoming program may be announced for a season, a month, a day without a time, or other suitable approximate time, or it may have no predicted or estimated availability date.
  • In some embodiments, coming-soon announcements may be manually uploaded to a supplemental data source for delivery to user equipment devices. Web scripting or remote API function calls may also be used to automatically compose and send coming-soon announcements to a supplemental data source (or directly to the user equipment devices). For example, in some embodiments, content providers may customize the announcement details using a web interface. The interface may be linked to a production schedule database so that production schedule changes are automatically reflected in the coming-soon announcements. Announcement updates may then be sent periodically to the user equipment devices to update or revise any information related to the announcement, including the availability of the content (i.e., the scheduled availability date and time, or a more precise prediction of the availability date), the scheduled duration, the rating, or any other content attribute.
  • In some embodiments, coming-soon announcements may also include advanced content control flags which may restrict the user's ability to record (or otherwise interact with) the content after it is made available to the user equipment device. For example, the content control flags may prohibit or restrict transcoding or reformatting the content to other formats or versions. The content control flags may also prohibit editing, copying, or retransmission of the content. This may protect the integrity of the content while maintaining copyright control.
  • The content control flags may also include flags for automatically recording the content, automatically setting a reminder for the content, or automatically bookmarking the content on the user equipment device. The scheduled recording, reminder, or bookmark may be set immediately after receiving the coming-soon announcement or after the content becomes available. The interactive media guidance application may process coming-soon announcements, including any advanced content control flags, as soon as they are received. Alternatively, announcements may be processed in batches after a predetermined number of announcements has been received. One or more coming-soon databases may be created on the user equipment device to store the coming-soon information in the coming-soon announcements. Storage of the coming soon announcement information as well as user decisions (e.g., record, ignore, set reminder, or set bookmark) regarding these announcements may be stored on the user equipment device, the network, or a combination of both the user equipment device and the network, in various embodiments. In this way, information for these special upcoming events and coming soon attractions may be accessed even though the dates for these events may be outside the current program listings schedule window (e.g., for a date outside the program listings database holdings) for the user equipment device (e.g., beyond fourteen days).
  • An interactive element (such as an interactive advertisement or interactive listing) associated with coming-soon programming may be displayed to the user in any suitable display screen. The user may select the interactive element to automatically set a reminder, schedule a recording, set a bookmark, or perform any other suitable media guidance application function on the coming-soon programming. These reminders and recordings may be automatically adjusted after an announcement update identifies a change in the availability of the programming. For example, the start time of the coming-soon programming may be changed from 6 PM to 8 PM due to an unforeseen network scheduling conflict. Alternatively, a more specific availability date and time may be made available. For example, an announcement with only a date specified may be updated to include a date and a time. An announcement update may be sent to the user equipment device to update the announcement database and corresponding recordings and reminders set for the coming-soon content.
  • A unique program identifier may also be associated with each coming-soon content selection. This unique program identifier may be saved with each media guidance application function scheduled for the coming-soon content selection. The interactive media guidance application may then monitor the downloaded window of program schedule data that is used to display program schedule listings for content available within the program schedule window. If the unique program identifier associated with a coming-soon content selection matches the program identifier in the downloaded window of program schedule data, the availability information (as well as other content attributes) of the coming-soon content selection may be automatically reconciled with the information in the downloaded window of program schedule data. This may cause any scheduled media guidance application functions associated with the coming-soon content to be automatically updated to reflect the data in the downloaded window of program schedule data.
  • Conditional media guidance application functions may be created by selecting the interactive element (e.g., interactive advertisement or interactive listing) associated with the coming-soon programming. The conditional media guidance application functions may be conditioned on one or more content attributes of the coming-soon content being true at the content availability time (e.g., the actual broadcast time or release date). Compound logic expressions may be created by the user for more advanced conditional function control.
  • The user may select to view coming-soon information from one or more sources. Each source may be associated with its own coming-soon database stored at the user equipment device or at a headend server. After selecting the coming-soon source, a listing or grid of program schedule information relating to coming-soon content associated with the selected source may be displayed. The listing or grid may be sorted or filtered by any suitable criterion or combination of criteria.
  • BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
  • The above and other features of the present invention, its nature and various advantages will be more apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and in which:
  • FIG. 1 is an illustrative block diagram of a media system in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
  • FIG. 2 is an illustrative block diagram of sources of coming-soon information in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
  • FIG. 3 is an illustrative coming-soon announcement data structure in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
  • FIG. 4 is an illustrative search menu display screen in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
  • FIG. 5 is an illustrative coming-soon listing display screen in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
  • FIG. 6 is an illustrative coming-soon details display screen for a linear asset in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
  • FIG. 7 is an illustrative coming-soon details display screen for a non-linear asset in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
  • FIG. 8 shows an illustrative coming-soon source selection overlay in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
  • FIG. 9 shows an illustrative coming-soon sorting overlay in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
  • FIGS. 10 and 11 are illustrative conditional action display screens in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
  • FIGS. 12 and 13 show illustrative planner window selection display screens in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
  • FIG. 14 shows an illustrative planner display screen in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
  • FIG. 15 shows an illustrative planner display screen with on-demand row in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
  • FIG. 16 shows an illustrative planner display screen with a recordings row in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
  • FIG. 17 shows an illustrative watch without commercials display screen in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
  • FIG. 18 shows an illustrative packed planner grid in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
  • FIG. 19 shows an illustrative user activity prompt in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; and
  • FIGS. 20, 21A, 21B, 21C, 21D, 22, 23A, and 23B show illustrative processes for planning a user's media content viewing and scheduling conditional media guidance application functions in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.
  • DETAILED DESCRIPTION
  • The media planner feature and associated functionality described herein may be provided by a stand-alone media planner application executing at least partially on a user equipment device, or the features and functionality may be provided by a media planner module or mode of an existing interactive application. If implemented as a media planner module or mode of an existing interactive application, such as an interactive media guidance application, all the display screens, prompts, and overlays shown herein may be integrated with the display screens, prompts, and overlays of the existing application. For example, fonts, colors, and overall layouts may be changed from those depicted to better match the fonts, colors, and overall layouts of the already existing application. Although any type of application may perform the media planner functionality described herein, for convenience this application is referred to as an interactive media guidance application or media planner application.
  • The media planner application may allow users to plan or schedule their media content activities (e.g., recordings and reminders) in advance of actually performing the activities. For example, users may plan next week's media content viewing using an intuitive, easy-to-use interface. A media planner grid may include interactive listings for assets scheduled for recording and assets with active reminders set for the planner grid time window. One or more of these listings may be for coming-soon content that is not identified or scheduled in the current program guide schedule listing window. Users may drag new listings for linear (e.g., broadcast) and non-linear (e.g., on-demand and locally recorded) content into the planner grid in order to schedule the content for viewing or recording. Preemption priorities may also be assigned to content with overlapping schedules. Some content in the planner grid may be automatically recorded, depending on its priority and the number of available tuners in the user equipment device.
  • FIG. 1 shows illustrative interactive media system 100 for performing the media planner functionality in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. User equipment device 102 receives content in the form of signals from content source 130 and/or supplemental data source 120 over communications paths 150 and 152, respectively. Any suitable number of users may have one or more user equipment devices, such as user equipment 102, coupled to content source 130, data sources 140, and supplemental data source 120. For the clarity of the figure, however, only a single user equipment device is shown. In addition, although in practice there may be numerous instances of content source 130 and supplemental data source 120, for clarity only one instance of each source has been shown in the example of FIG. 1.
  • Content source 130 may be any suitable source of media content, such as, for example, a cable system headend, satellite television distribution facility, television broadcast facility, on-demand server (e.g., video-on-demand (VOD) server), Internet or network media/web server, or any other suitable facility or system for originating or distributing passive or interactive content to user equipment 102. Media content that may be provided by content source 130 to user equipment 102 includes broadcast programming, VOD programming, digital music, news, interactive applications (e.g., interactive games), Internet resources and web services (e.g., websites, newsgroups, and chat rooms), and any other content capable of being displayed by, presented to, recorded, or interacted with, using user equipment 102.
  • Supplemental data source 120 may be any suitable data source configured to provide schedule information about coming-soon attractions to user equipment 102. For example, as shown in more detail in FIGS. 2 and 3, described below, content providers may send coming-soon announcements to supplemental data source 120 for storage in one or more instances of database 122. Supplemental data source 120 may also store editorial ratings, popularity ratings, purchase price information, content summaries, and other suitable information about coming attractions in database 122. For example, Nielsen ratings information or box office revenues (or any other network popularity statistics) may be made available on supplemental data source 120. Ratings may include objective ratings based on, for example, network access statistics, as well as subjective ratings based on editorial programming picks. For example, editors or celebrities may rate their favorite programming using a number, point, star, grade, or any other suitable rating system. In addition, editors may associate collections of programs with one or more affinity groups. Users subscribed to an affinity group may submit user ratings pertaining to any content associated with the group. The editorial and user ratings may be stored on supplemental data source 120 for access by user equipment device 102 at any suitable time. Additionally or alternatively, ratings information may be automatically delivered to user equipment 102 periodically or continuously, as network bandwidth permits.
  • In addition, network statistics from a switched digital video (SDV) manager, remote recording manager, or video-on-demand server (or any other network monitor or network manager) may be stored on supplemental data source 120 for access by user equipment device 102. The SDV manager or VOD server may provide data reflecting the number, frequency, and/or identity of content access requests from other users in the local service group. This information may then be stored on supplemental data source 120 (e.g., in database 122) and used by interactive media guidance application 106 to determine the popularity of content available within the network at any given moment based, at least in part, on the total number of network access requests, the duration of the access, or any other suitable criteria.
  • Database 122 may also store network viewing statistics of all users in media system 100 (not just in the user's local service group). By accessing network viewing statistics, user equipment 102 may determine what content is currently being watched by a large number of viewers. This may be used as an indication of the popularity of the content.
  • In some embodiments, database 122 may also store the interactive media guidance application (or a stand-alone media planner application) itself. Upon receiving a request from user equipment 102, supplemental data source 120 may transmit the interactive media guidance application directly to user equipment 102 via communications path 152 (or supplemental data source 120 may transmit the interactive media guidance application to content source 130 for transmission to user equipment 120, if desired). In one embodiment, the interactive media guidance application is an OpenCable Applications Platform (“OCAP”) application downloaded by middleware to user equipment 102. User equipment 102 (or a proxy acting on behalf of the user equipment) may periodically query supplemental data source 120 for application updates, or supplemental data source 120 may push application updates to user equipment 102 automatically as updates become available.
  • Content source 130 and supplemental data source 120 may be configured to transmit signals to user equipment 102 over any suitable communications paths 150 and 152 including, for example, a satellite path, a fiber-optic path, a cable path, or any other suitable wired or wireless path. The signals may be transmitted as a broadcast, multicast, unicast, or any other suitable transmission stream. Content source 130 may also include control circuitry 132 for performing operations on the signals transmitted by content source 130, such as, for example, generating new signals or communicating with user equipment 102 to provide on-demand functionality.
  • User equipment 102 may receive interactive application data from one or more instances of data sources 140, content source 130, and supplemental data source 120. Data sources 140 may provide data for a particular type of content or for a particular application running on user equipment 102. For example, one data source 142 may provide data for interactive media guidance application 106 (including data for the media planner module of the application) and another data source may provide data for an interactive home shopping application. In some embodiments, data sources 140 may provide data to the applications running on user equipment 102 using a client-server model. In some embodiments, data sources 140 may provide data to the applications running on user equipment 102 using a data carousel such as the data carousel specified in “Enhanced TV Application Messaging Specification,” OC-SP-ETV-AM-I02-050727, published by Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. and hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. There may be one server per data source, one server for all sources, or, in some embodiments, a single server may communicate as a proxy between user equipment 102 and various data sources 140.
  • Content source 130, supplemental data source 120, and data sources 140 are shown in FIG. 1 as separate elements. In practice, their functionality may be combined into a single mechanism and provided from a single system at a single facility, or their functionality may be provided by multiple systems at multiple facilities. For example, supplemental data source 120, content source 130, and data sources 140 may be combined to provide broadcast television content and associated broadcast television data, including ratings, genre, and content summary information, or other suitable information to user equipment 102.
  • User equipment 102 may include any equipment suitable for presenting media content to a user. For example, user equipment 102 may include computer equipment, such as a personal computer with a television card (PCTV) and/or Open Cable Unidirectional Receiver (OCUR). User equipment 102 may also include television equipment such as a television and set-top box, a recording device, a video player, a user input device (e.g., remote control, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch pad, a touch screen, and/or a voice recognition/verification module) or any other device suitable for providing a complete, interactive experience. For example, user equipment 102 may include a DCT 2000, 2500, 5100, 6208 or 6412 set-top box provided by Motorola, Inc.
  • In the example of FIG. 1, user equipment 102 includes control circuitry 114, display device 104, interactive media guidance application 106, storage device 110, and user input device 108, all of which may be implemented as separate devices or as a single, integrated device. In addition to interactive media guidance application 106, other interactive applications, such as an interactive home shopping application, may be implemented on user equipment 102. In some embodiments, these interactive applications may, for example, direct a tuner in control circuitry 114 to display, on display device 104, the content transmitted by content source 130 over communications path 150 and to provide interactive application features.
  • Display device 104 may be any suitable device capable of presenting human-perceivable media, such as, for example, a television monitor, computer monitor, LCD display, video projection device, holographic projector, or virtual reality simulator. Display device 104 may also be configured to provide audio and other sensory output.
  • Control circuitry 114 is adapted to receive user input from input device 108, execute the instructions of interactive media guidance application 106, execute the instructions of any other interactive applications, and direct display device 104 to display media content and interactive application display screens and overlays. Control circuitry 114 may include one or more tuners 115 (e.g., analog or digital tuners), encoders and decoders (e.g., MPEG encoders and decoders), processors (e.g., MIPs and/or Motorola 68000 family processors), memory (e.g., RAM, ROM, flash memory, and hard disks), communications circuitry (e.g., cable modem and ATSC 256QAM receiver circuitry), input/output circuitry (e.g., graphics circuitry), connections to the various devices of user equipment 102 (e.g., storage device 110), and any other suitable components for providing analog or digital television programming, Internet content, and coming-soon listings. In one embodiment, control circuitry 114 may be included as part of one of the devices of user equipment 102 such as, for example, part of display 104 or any other device (e.g., a set-top box, television, and/or video player).
  • Control circuitry 114 may be connected to storage device 110 for storing data from data sources 140, content source 130, or supplemental data source 120. For example, storage device 110 may include one or more digital video recorders (DVRs), hard disks, or any other storage mechanism. Control circuitry 114 may also be configured to execute the instructions of interactive media guidance application 106 from memory, which may include any type of storage or memory mechanism (e.g., RAM, ROM, hybrid types of memory, hard disks, and/or optical drives).
  • Although, in the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 1, interactive media guidance application 106 is internal to user equipment 102, interactive media guidance application 106 may be implemented externally or partially implemented externally to user equipment 102. For example, interactive media guidance application 106 may be implemented at supplemental data source 120 or content source 130 and may run using a client-server or distributed architecture where some of the application is implemented locally on user equipment 102 in the form of a client process and some of the application is implemented at a remote location in the form of a server process. Interactive media guidance application 106 may also be implemented on any suitable server, computer equipment, or set-top box accessible by user equipment 102. In some embodiments, interactive media guidance application 106 is integrated with another interactive application or is implemented as a standalone application, subprocess, or class (e.g., in an OCAP environment). In one embodiment, interactive media guidance application 106 is completely integrated within another interactive application running on user equipment 102. In this embodiment, the management and administrative functionality of interactive media guidance application 106 may be invoked directly by the other application or the underlying operating system after some user input from input device 108. In some embodiments, interactive media guidance application 106 includes a web-based interface for accessing interactive media guidance application 106 and performing all related functionality from a remote location (including planning media content viewing, updating viewing preferences, viewing and configuring coming-soon listing, and configuring various media planner settings).
  • In at least some embodiments, interactive media guidance application 106 is implemented in software. However, an implementation of software and/or hardware may be used in other embodiments. These arrangements are merely illustrative. Other suitable techniques for implementing interactive media guidance application 106 may be used if desired.
  • Interactive media guidance application 106 may use application data from data sources 140 to determine the type of content currently being displayed on display device 104 or recorded on storage device 110. For example, media guidance application data may include genre information (e.g., sports, mystery, or comedy), subgenre information, content summaries, actor/director information, ratings (e.g., parental control ratings, editorial ratings, and network popularity ratings), or any other suitable information about media content accessible within media system 100.
  • Interactive media guidance application 106 may store media planner schedules in memory (not shown) of control circuitry 114 or on storage device 110. The media planner schedules may include an identification of the content scheduled for viewing or recording as well as the priority of each scheduled content selection. As described in more detail below with regard to FIG. 15, the priority of the scheduled content may be used to determine the preemption order for recording and/or viewing content available during the same time period. For example, if control circuitry 114 includes only three tuners, such as tuners 115, than there may be a conflict if more than three assets are scheduled for recording or viewing at the same time (and a separate tuner is required to tune each asset). In this case, the media planner may inform the user of potential conflicts and allow the user to resolve any such conflicts in advance.
  • FIG. 2 shows illustrative network 200 for supplying coming-soon announcements in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. Coming-soon sources 202 may include any content provider. Motion picture distributors, television broadcasters, MSOs, and media vendors may have advance knowledge of upcoming media content that may become available to user equipment device 102 (FIG. 1). For example, a network cable station may set approximate or incomplete programming schedules a season in advance, while accurate and complete schedule information is generally downloaded by the user equipment device only fourteen days in advance. So that the user may better plan his or her media content viewing, coming-soon sources 202 may send coming-soon announcements to supplemental data source 120 over network 210. Network 210 may include any one-way or two-way network, including a cable network, fiber-optic network, satellite network, cellular data network, or the Internet. Coming-soon announcements may be limited to announcements of programs that may be of particular interest to many viewers (such as the return of a popular series, the television premier of a popular movie, or the broadcast of a major sporting event). Announcements may also include programs that the provider particularly wishes to promote, such as the premier of a new series or a big-budget documentary or mini-series.
  • Coming-soon sources 202 may transmit coming-soon announcements over network 210 using one or more of web scripting engine 204, remote API function calls 206, and FTP upload module 208. For example, using web scripting engine 204, a coming-soon source may use a webpage interface to input announcement data relating to new coming-soon programming. Web scripting engine 204 may transmit announcements over network 210 (e.g., the Internet) and store the announcement in one or more of VOD coming attractions database 222, broadcast coming attractions database 224, and other coming attractions database 226. As indicated by the database names, each of databases 222, 224, and 226 may store coming-soon announcements relating to a different type of media content. For example, VOD coming attractions database 222 may store announcements relating to on-demand assets, and broadcast coming attractions database 224 may store announcements relating to linear (e.g., scheduled) assets. Alternatively, a single central or distributed database could be used to store all coming soon announcements. Other coming attractions database 226 may store announcements relating to Internet content and interactive applications and games that may be provided to user equipment 102 (FIG. 1).
  • Coming-soon sources 202 may also execute remote API function calls 206 in order to populate VOD coming attractions database 222, broadcast coming attractions database 224, and other coming attractions database 226. In some embodiments, remote API function calls 206 may include distributed API function calls, such as, for example, function calls implementing remote method invocation (RMI). The API function calls may be executed from a suitable web interface so that coming-soon sources 202 may conveniently populate VOD coming attractions database 222, broadcast coming attractions database 224, and other coming attractions database 226 with coming-soon data.
  • Finally, coming-soon sources 202 may upload coming-soon data over network 210 using file transfer protocol (FTP) upload module 208. Although FTP is used in some embodiments, any other suitable transfer protocol, such as secure FTP (SFTP), secure copy protocol (SCP), or secure shell (SSH), may be used in other embodiments. Using FTP upload module 208, coming-soon sources 202 may upload coming-soon announcements directly to supplemental data source 120. Announcements may be uploaded to different directories depending on the type of announcement. For example, on-demand announcements may be uploaded to a “VOD” directory, while broadcast announcements are uploaded to a “Broadcast” directory. An application process executing on supplemental data source 120 may automatically process announcement uploads and populate VOD coming attractions database 222, broadcast coming attractions database 224, and other coming attractions database 226 with the uploaded data. After the databases are populated, the announcement uploads may be deleted from supplemental data source 120.
  • In other embodiments, all coming-soon announcements are stored in a single announcement database. The announcement database may be indexed by any suitable field, including source, availability date, or genre. The announcement data stored in the database may include mandatory and optional fields. For example, the expected availability date (or date range) of the programming may be a mandatory field, while the rating (e.g., MPAA rating) may be an optional field.
  • Although coming-soon sources 202 may send coming-soon data to supplemental data source 120 in some embodiments, in other embodiments, coming-soon sources 202 are automatically searched for coming-soon data relating to new coming-soon content that may become available to user equipment 102 (FIG. 1). For example, interactive media guidance application 106 (FIG. 1) may periodically send requests to coming-soon sources 202 over network 210. A web service or process may execute on coming-soon sources 202 that automatically processes requests for new coming-soon data. After receiving an authenticated request, the web service or process may then deliver all available coming-soon data directly to user equipment 102 (FIG. 1).
  • Although some common schemes for transferring coming-soon data are described above, any other suitable transfer mechanism or mechanisms may be used to deliver coming-soon data to supplemental data source 120 in other embodiments. For example, announcements may be sent in serialized object form or a suitable mark-up language may be used. Announcements may also be delivered (e.g., using a multicast transmission protocol) directly to the user equipment devices instead of or in addition to being stored on supplemental data source 120. Supplemental data source 120 may use web crawling techniques to populate databases 222, 224, and 226. Alternatively, coming soon announcements may be entered manually into supplemental data source 120. Any suitable methods, including combinations of methods previously described, may be used to collect coming soon announcement data in other embodiments.
  • For example, as shown in FIG. 3, XML file 300 may store one or more coming-soon announcements. Although Extensible Markup Language (XML) is used in the example of XML file 300, any suitable mark-up language may be used, including, for example, any subset of Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML). In addition, although the example of XML file 300 uses ISO/IEC 8859 encoding, any other suitable encoding (e.g., UTF-8, UTF-16, or UTF-32) may also be used. Any suitable program metadata format may be used, such as the CableLabs Video-On-Demand Metadata standard.
  • XML file 300 includes title 302, which may include a unique announcement identifier. Body 304 of XML file 300 may include a number of standard and optional tags that define the coming-soon announcement. A “name” tag may identify the name or title of the coming-soon content. A “subname” tag may identify the subtitle (or episode title) of the coming-soon content. A “desc” tag may include a text summary or description of the plot, an identification of the cast, director, and/or players (e.g., teams and/or athletes) in the coming-soon content. A program identifier tag may also be included in XML file 300 to uniquely identify the coming-soon content. The program identifier may be unique among all content available within media system 100 (FIG. 1). As such, the source of coming-soon data may be in communication with a program identifier database that uniquely allocates new program identifiers for coming-soon content. The program identifier database may be maintained by the cable operator, MSO, or a third-party. As described in more detail below, the unique program identifiers may be compared to corresponding program identifiers in downloaded program schedule data to determine when the coming-soon content is scheduled in the window of program schedule listings.
  • “Season” and “episode” tags may identify the season and episode numbers, respectively. A “rating” tag may identify an editorial rating (e.g., star rating), or content rating (e.g., MPAA or TV rating) associated with the coming-soon content. A “date” tag may identify the scheduled broadcast, availability, or release date of the coming-soon content. “Start_time” and “run_time” tags may identify the schedule start time or availability time and the scheduled duration of the coming-soon content, respectively. A “source” tag may identify the channel number, channel name, or source of the coming-soon content or the coming-soon announcement (e.g., MLB.com).
  • XML file 300 may also include a number of optional tags. Some of the more common optional tags are shown in the example of FIG. 3. For example, a “reliability” tag may identify how reliable or firm the information in the announcement (particularly the scheduled availability information) is given that the programming schedule may change as the scheduled availability date approaches. It is expected that announcements for coming-soon content scheduled to become available in the distant future (e.g., several months away) would have a lower reliability indicator than coming-soon content scheduled for more immediate availability (e.g., within the next few weeks). Depending on the type of content and the procedures unique to the content provider, however, the reliability tag may reflect any suitable reliability indicator. Schedule information for more distant content may also be expressed in less precise terms, such as to a season, a month, a week, or a day.
  • XML file 300 may also include a “price” tag. The price tag may identify the estimated access price for the coming-soon content. For example, on-demand content may be associated with an access charge or subscription fee. For content broadcast on channels in the local channel map that the user subscribes to, the price tag will generally indicate that the content is associated with a zero price (i.e., access to the coming-soon content is free). Some non-zero price may be included in the price tag to indicate that a surcharge is associated with the coming-soon content. A series identifier tag may identify a unique series identifier, if applicable. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the coming-soon announcement is for the season finale of “The Sopranos.” The season finale may be associated with a series identifier that uniquely identifies the series, “The Sopranos.” The program identifier may uniquely identify the episode within the series or uniquely identify the episode among all other available media content.
  • The optional “update” tag may indicate whether the announcement is an update announcement or an original announcement. As previously described, announcements may be updated periodically as new information about the coming-soon content becomes available. Update announcements may take the same (or similar) form as original announcements except that the update announcement may only include tags that have changed from the original announcement. Thus, update announcements may be smaller in size than original announcements, thus saving network bandwidth.
  • XML file 300 may also include a “promote” tag and optional “promote_source” tag (not shown). These tags may signal to the interactive media guidance application whether this coming-soon content should be promoted or advertised on the user equipment device. For example, some content providers may pay an additional fee to have their content promoted within any of the display screens shown herein. The promote source tag may include a link to the promotional material itself (or the actual text of the promotion). The user equipment device may maintain a separate database of promotions and advertisements relating to coming-soon content. As described in more detail below in regard to FIG. 4, the advertisements and other promotional material in the advertisement database may be displayed simultaneously with the coming-soon listings or in any coming-soon display screen within an advertisement window. A user may select a coming-soon advertisement in order to schedule any suitable media guidance application function associated with the coming-soon content promoted in the advertisement.
  • Finally, XML file 300 may also include a number of advanced content control tags. These tags may specify what type of content access is granted to the user equipment device if and when the coming-soon content is made available to the user equipment device. These advanced content control tags may be saved to the user equipment device (e.g., in a coming-soon announcement database) and enforced at some later time when the coming-soon content is accessed by the user equipment device. Some of these tags may be used to control unauthorized copying, distribution, retransmission, or display of the coming-soon content. The interactive media guidance application may enforce all content control tags on the user equipment device. For example, an “allow_record” tag may indicate whether the content is permitted to be saved to the user equipment device (e.g., to a storage device 110 (FIG. 1)). In some embodiments, the allow recordings tag also prohibits caching and buffering of the coming-soon content. For example, the output of tuners tuned to coming-soon content where the allow record tag is not set may not be automatically buffered by the user equipment device. This may help prevent unauthorized recording or saving of restricted content to the user equipment device. The “display_number” tag may indicate the number of times the user is authorized to display the coming-soon content. For example, this tag may indicate the number of times the user may request the content via an on-demand service or the number of times playback is permitted from a recording device (e.g., storage device 110 (FIG. 1)). Other supported content control tags may include tags for limiting or prohibiting retransmission of the coming-soon content, editing of the coming-soon content, and/or sampling of the coming-soon content (e.g., for digital audio content). In some embodiments, the interactive media guidance application may interface with a digital rights management (DRM) application in order to request additional access permissions, as desired by the user.
  • Content control tags may also include tags for automatically performing some action after the coming-soon content is made available to the user equipment device. For example, an automatic recordings tag may indicate whether the content should be automatically recorded to a local storage device (e.g., storage device 110 (FIG. 1)) as soon as the content is available to the user equipment device. The automatic recordings tag may cause a recording to be automatically scheduled on the user equipment device. This date, time, and source of the scheduled recording may be updated automatically in response to receiving announcement updates. Other actions that may be automatically performed based on content control tags include automatically setting a reminder for the coming-soon content, bookmarking the coming-soon content, or adding the coming-soon content to a favorites list.
  • Although FIG. 3 shows one example of a typical coming-soon announcement, other formats or versions may be used with more or fewer tags defined. As already mentioned, in some embodiments, update announcements may only include the tags with changes from the original announcement (or most recent update announcement). As such, announcement updates may resemble abridged versions of full announcements, like the announcement shown in FIG. 3.
  • As previously described, the interactive media guidance application may include a media planner feature for determining in advance which programs will be recorded or watched on the user equipment device. To determine in advance which programs to record or watch, the user may use listings data from the program schedule database, a program search utility, and series recordings. Coming-soon content may also be added to the media planner by clicking on an interactive element (e.g., an interactive advertisement or interactive listing) associated with (or promoting) the coming-soon content. As shown in FIG. 4, search menu display screen 400 includes a number of selectable options. After a user selects coming-soon option 402, display screen 500 (FIG. 5) may be automatically displayed. After a user selects planner option 404, media planner display screen 1200 (FIG. 12) may be automatically displayed.
  • Display screen 400 may also display interactive promotions or advertisements related to coming-soon attractions. For example, as shown in PIG window 406, an advertisement for the season finale of “The Sopranos” is displayed simultaneously with the search menu. This advertisement may be selected from a coming-soon advertisement database stored locally at the user equipment. The advertisement may include text, graphic, and video and may be identified in the coming-soon announcements. In some embodiments, the advertisement data is included in the original announcement itself. For example, the text “Watch the Sopranos! Season 6 Finale” may be included within the “promote_source” tag of the announcement. Placeholders for variable advertisement data may also be included. For example, the variable “% d” may be replaced with the scheduled availability or broadcast date, the variable “% t” may be replaced with the scheduled availability or broadcast time in the local time zone, and the variable “% s” may be replaced with the scheduled source (e.g., channel number or channel name). In this way, an advertisement template may be identified in the “promote_source” tag of the announcement, while modified advertisements are actually displayed to the user. The modified advertisements may be updated with new variable advertisement data after such data is received (e.g., through announcement updates). Thus, using the example above, the text advertisement “Watch the Sopranos! Season 6 Finale % d at % t on % s” may be modified at the user equipment to display the correct variable advertisement data for the local user equipment device. Channel numbers and channel names may be looked up from the local channel or source map. The resulting advertisement may then be displayed in PIG window 406.
  • PIG window 406 may display and/or repeat advertisements on any suitable schedule. In some embodiments, a new advertisement is displayed whenever the user selects a new option or button within display screen 400. In other embodiments, a new advertisement is displayed after a predetermined amount of time has passed. PIG window 406 may also display scaled video from, for example, the channel displayed immediately prior to requesting search menu display screen 400. A user may select PIG window 406 in order to schedule or execute any media guidance application function associated with the content identified by the advertisement currently displayed in PIG window 406.
  • FIG. 5 shows coming-soon display screen 500. The coming-soon feature allows the user to find programs that are not yet identified in the available window of program schedule data that is used to display program schedule listings on the user equipment device. Coming-soon display screen 500 may be accessed from search menu 400 (FIG. 4) by selecting coming-soon option 402 (FIG. 4). Coming-soon programs listed in coming-soon display screen 500 may include blockbuster movies that are planned in the next few weeks or months on VOD, PPV, premium or network channels, series returns and season premiers, upcoming mini-series and made-for-TV movies, award shows, concerts, sporting events, and other upcoming live events that are not yet in the schedule window. The programs may include packages, series, or other groups of programs (e.g., sporting event tournaments).
  • The user may select any content entry in coming-soon display screen 500, such as entry 502, and view more one or more pages of details (e.g., a description, network, and approximate availability time frame). The title of the program may be displayed in title area 506. The source of the program may be displayed in source area 504. The scheduled availability information (including availability time frame or date) of the program may be displayed in availability area 510. As the user moves a cursor up and down through the coming-soon program list, summary information may be displayed in summary area 512. For example, the title, rating (e.g., MPAA rating), user or editorial rating (e.g., star rating 513), genre, cast members, or any other suitable summary information may be displayed in summary area 512. Some or all of this information may be derived from the coming-soon announcement for the program.
  • In some embodiments, an indication of the reliability of the scheduled availability date (or availability time frame) is also displayed in coming-soon display screen 500. For example, reliability indicator 508 takes the form of zero to three check marks in the example of FIG. 5. Alternatively, a text indicator, such as “tentative” could replace the checkmarks in FIG. 5 for a low reliability coming-soon announcement. Any other suitable icon or indicator may be used in other embodiments. More check marks in reliability indicator 508 may indicate increased reliability. For example, three check marks in reliability indicator 508 may indicate that the availability information is firm and no longer subject to changes or updates. Zero check marks in reliability indicator 508 may indicate that the availability information is tentative and subject to frequent changes or updates. Reliability indicator 508 may be useful to a user in planning his or her viewing schedule.
  • Coming-soon display screen 500 may also include PIG window 514. PIG window 514 may display advertisements or previews for the content listed in coming-soon display screen 500. In some embodiments, PIG window 514 automatically displays a video preview (if available) of the content currently highlighted in the coming-soon list. For example, a video preview for the coming-soon movie “Capote” may be automatically displayed in response to a user selecting the listing for “Capote.” In other embodiments, advertisements, previews, or promotions for any other content (regardless of whether it is represented in the currently displayed coming-soon listings) may be displayed in PIG window 514.
  • A user may select any entry in coming-soon display screen 500 to display a details page for the selected entry. For example, FIG. 6 shows details display screen 600 for a broadcast asset. The title of the asset may be displayed in title area 602. Summary information may be displayed in summary area 604. Some or all of this summary information may be derived from the data included in the description tag of the coming-soon announcement. PIG window 616 may show advertising or previews for the selected asset. For example, after the user selects preview button 612, a video preview may be displayed in PIG window 616. Previews may be available for many assets (including both VOD and broadcast assets). For broadcast programs, a user may also set a reminder by selecting reminder button 608. The user may schedule an advance recording by selecting recording button 610. To create or remove a parental control lock relating to the coming-soon content, the user may select parental control button 614. To return to coming-soon display screen 500 (FIG. 5), the user may select back button 606. If the user selects to schedule a recording or set a reminder, a listing for the coming-soon content may be displayed in the media planner at the anticipated availability date and/or time.
  • FIG. 7 shows details display screen 700 for an on-demand asset. Similar to details display screen 600 (FIG. 6) for a broadcast asset, details display screen 700 may display the title of the on-demand asset in title area 702 and summary information in summary area 708. In addition, user or editorial rating 704 may be displayed. This information may be derived from the rating tag in the coming-soon announcement for the on-demand asset. Additionally or alternatively, the rating may be retrieved from a supplemental data source (e.g., supplemental data source 120 of FIG. 1). This rating, which takes the form of a star rating in the example of FIG. 7, may indicate the popularity (or expected popularity) of the asset. It may also indicate the average rating given to the asset from all the major critics.
  • For on-demand assets, a user may create a new bookmark by selecting bookmark button 716. The user may also set a reminder to be displayed when the program is available by selecting reminder icon 712. A preview of the on-demand asset may be displayed in PIG window 720 after the user selects preview button 714. A parental control lock may be set or removed by selecting parental control button 718. To return to coming-soon display screen 500 (FIG. 5), the user may select back button 710.
  • In some embodiments, the user may also select various reminder and recording preferences when scheduling a recording or setting a reminder for a coming-soon attraction. For example, the user may select to record or be reminded of the on-demand or broadcast version of the asset, the pay or free version of the asset, the HD or SD version of the asset, or any other suitable recording or reminder preferences. In some embodiments, coming-soon attractions may also be added to normal content search results.
  • The coming-soon list may include coming-soon attractions published by various sources (e.g., coming-soon sources 202 of FIG. 2). In order to filter the coming-soon listings, a user may select one or more of all the available coming-soon sources and display only the listings published by the selected source or sources. For example, FIG. 8 shows coming-soon display screen 800 with source selection overlay 802. A user may select one or more sources listed in source selection overlay 802 and then press an “OK” or other suitable button on an input device (e.g., input device 108 of FIG. 1) in order to display all the coming-soon listings published by the selected sources.
  • As shown in the example of FIG. 8, source selection overlay 802 includes all sources selection 804 to indicate that coming-soon display screen 800 should list content from all available sources. Other illustrative source selections may include on-demand only sources selection 806, all premium sources selection 808, all broadcast sources selection 810, ESPN.com source selection 812, HBO source selection 814, and “MTV Online” source selection 816. More available sources may be viewed by pressing a down cursor or arrow button on an input device (e.g., input device 108 of FIG. 1), as indicated by more icon 818.
  • After the user selects one or more sources from source selection overlay 802, coming-soon display screen 800 may display only the coming-soon listings associated with the selected sources. New sources may be added or removed at any time. For example, MLB.com may publish projected division playoffs games as well as Major League Baseball's World Series several weeks (or months) in advance of the series. As another example, ESPN.com may publish projected games and matches for various other sporting events and tournaments that will be available on the ESPN channel (or an affiliate channel or on-demand service). Premium channels (e.g., HBO) may publish their own projected content offerings well in advance of their actual release. These advance announcements may serve to increase viewership and community “buzz” about upcoming attractions. In addition, as described in more detail below, a user may add coming-soon listings to a comprehensive media planner so that the user may plan his or her viewing in advance.
  • In order to more easily navigate through the coming-soon listings, a user may also sort the listings by any suitable attribute. FIG. 9 shows coming-soon display screen 900 with sorting overlay 902. Sorting overlay 902 includes some common attributes that may be used to sort the listings, including by projected date 904, by genre 906, by title 908, by source 910, by reliability 912, and by rating 914. As indicated by more icon 916, other attributes may also be selected by pressing a down cursor or arrow button on an input device (e.g., input device 108 of FIG. 1). After the user selects a sort criteria, the listings in coming-soon display screen 900 may be reordered by the selected attribute. For example, the listing may be arranged alphabetically by title by selecting sort by title 908 or chronologically by date as a result of selecting sort by projected date 904.
  • As described above with regard to FIGS. 6 and 7, a user may schedule media guidance application functions for coming-soon content. For example, the user can select to record a coming-soon broadcast asset when it becomes available, bookmark a coming-soon on-demand asset once it gets loaded onto an on-demand server, or set a reminder for either type of asset. Other functions may also be performed. For example, the user may add the coming-soon asset to a favorite programs list or create a new parental control lock for the asset (e.g., lock by title).
  • Sometimes, however, a user will not have all the appropriate information in order to perform one of these media guidance application functions. In addition, sometimes a user may wish to condition the execution or scheduling of these functions on some attribute of the asset being true or some logical expression being satisfied. Since much of the information in the coming-soon announcement is not yet available or subject to change, conditional actions provide the user with added flexibility to condition the execution (or scheduling) of a media guidance application function on simple or compound logic.
  • FIG. 10 shows such a conditional action request. Coming-soon display screen 1000 includes conditional action overlay 1002 for executing conditional media guidance application functions. The functions are called “conditional” because the actual execution (or scheduling) of these functions may be conditioned on some attribute of the coming-soon content at the time the content is made available to the user equipment device (e.g., at the time the content is actually broadcast or made available via an on-demand service or at the point when the listings data is as complete as the two week advance schedule listings data or sufficiently complete to complete the conditional action). As shown in the example of FIG. 10, conditional action overlay 1002 includes an indication of the action in action selection 1004. The user may select action selection 1004 in order to change the action to a different media guidance application function, if desired.
  • Under the action, one or more logic statements are listed. The logic statements may be combined to form compound logic expressions using such operators as “AND” and “OR.” As shown in conditional action overlay 1002, the user wishes to record the coming-soon movie “Capote” only if the movie is available before April 15 and the access price associated with the movie is less than $8. Date selection 1006 and amount selection 1008 may be selected and changed by the user to any suitable values using an input device (e.g., input device 108 of FIG. 1).
  • To add additional logic statements to conditional action overlay 1002, the user may select more icon 1010. After selecting more icon 1010, a list of available content attributes may be displayed to the user. Content attributes may include any valid attribute of the coming-soon content, including cast members, directors, user ratings, MPAA ratings, TV ratings, whether the program is recordable, and access price. Some or all of these content attributes may be defined in the coming-soon announcement for the coming-soon content. The user may add another logic statement to conditional action overlay 1002 and complete the logic statement with a desired attribute value. After the coming-soon content is actually made available to the user equipment device (or at any suitable prior time), the interactive media guidance application may verify whether the conditional logic statements are satisfied by the actual attribute values. If so, the interactive media guidance application may take the specified action in action selection 1004. Otherwise, the action may be skipped. Suitable actions may include any media guidance application function. For example, the action may include one or more of scheduling the coming-soon content for recording, automatically recording the coming-soon content, setting a reminder for the coming-soon content, automatically tuning the coming-soon content, automatically displaying the coming-soon content, automatically ordering the coming-soon content, applying coming soon content to a user's profile or persistent “find content like this” search settings, and automatically submitting a user rating for the coming-soon content.
  • Conditional actions may be created for any coming-soon listing. FIG. 11 shows coming-soon display screen 1100 with conditional action overlay 1102 for a sporting event. Action selection 1104 in conditional action overlay 1102 indicates that the user wishes to be reminded of any game associated with the published “Final Four” program package so long as certain criteria are met. As shown in team selection 1106 and player selection 1108, the user will only be reminded if either the Florida Gators are playing in one of the games or the player Corey Brewer is playing. For example, if Corey Brewer is actually playing in a game associated with the Final Four package (even if he is not playing for the Florida Gators), then the user will be reminded of that game. The user may select more icon 1110 in order to add additional logic statements into the compound statement. For example, in addition to adding a player to the conditional statement, the user may also add one or more of the player's statistics. For example, the user may further refine the conditional statement so that the user is only reminded if player Corey Brewer has scored a certain number of points or obtained a certain number of rebounds this season.
  • As may be clear from the previous examples, in some embodiments, the specific logic terms available for inclusion in each logic statement may vary depending on the type of content and the genre of the content. For example, basketball sporting events may have different logic terms (and attributes) than baseball sporting events. Feature-length movies may also have different available logic terms (and attributes) than television shows. For example, movies may be associated with MPAA ratings while television shows may be associated with TV ratings. The user may select any suitable term or attribute for inclusion in a conditional logic statement. Conditional actions may be available from any suitable screen or feature within the interactive media guidance application, such as, for example, details display screen 600 of FIG. 6.
  • The user may use a media planner feature to display a quick view of the planned viewing activities for a specific time period (e.g., next Tuesday during primetime). The user may select the day and time period, and may easily move to different days and times. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, media planner display screen 1200 includes date selection overlay 1202. The user may select any date from date selection overlay 1202, such as date selection 1204, in order to view the selected date window in the media planner. To view more dates in date selection overlay 1202, the user may select one of more arrows 1206.
  • As shown in FIG. 13, after choosing a date the user may also access a time selection overlay, such as time window overlay 1302, from media planner display screen 1300. Similar to date selection overlay 1202 (FIG. 12), the user may select any time window from time window overlay 1302, such as and time selection 1304, in order to view the selected time window in the media planner.
  • FIG. 14 shows media planner display screen 1400 after the selection of a date and time. As shown in the example of FIG. 14, media content listings may be shown in media planner grid 1410. In some embodiments, programs to be recorded may be shown first (near the top of media planner grid 1410), programs with reminders second (below the programs to be recorded), and other selected programs third (below the programs with reminders). The current date and time window may be displayed at the top of media planner grid 1410. The user may use left and right arrow buttons on an input device (e.g., input device 108 of FIG. 1) in order to change the displayed time window. Thus, media planner display screen 1400 shows a window of time with all scheduled viewing activities (e.g., recordings and reminders).
  • The media planner may monitor the status of tuners available within the user equipment device, such as tuners 115 (FIG. 1). The media planner may mark those programs that are or are not of interest to the user. For example, as shown in FIG. 14, some programs are displayed in regular typeface (e.g., those with recordings and reminders set) and some programs are disabled or shown in grayed out typeface (e.g., those programs that the user has not expressed an interest in). For example, the show “Family Guy” is shown as disabled or in grayed out typeface in the illustrative planner grid shown in FIG. 14. This program may be broadcast during the displayed planner time window on a channel that is showing a program that the user has expressed an interest in (e.g., channel “13 KDVR”). However, the user may not have expressed an interest in the program “Family Guy” and hence it may be visually distinguished from programs in the planner grid that the user has expressed an interest in.
  • Media planner grid 1410 may include a plurality of identifiers (e.g., text labels, icons, graphics, listings, or cells) for tagged assets of interest during the media planner grid window. The identifiers may identify the assets by name or by any other suitable characteristics. For example, as shown in FIG. 14, identifier 1407 may include the name or title of the asset. Other suitable identifiers may include one or more of a program identifier, a series identifier, an episode name, an episode number, and a season number. Identifiers may also include a graphical icon, jacket art, or some visual representation of the asset. For example, a still frame or thumbnail video of the asset (or an advertisement for the asset) may be displayed within each listing in media planner grid 1410. This still frame or video may be an identifier of the asset. In other embodiments, the identifier may also include the entire listing or cell within media planner grid 1410, such as listing 1402.
  • Will not record icon 1404 may indicate that the program “The West Wing” will not be recorded because of its priority and the number of available tuners in the user equipment device. Will not record icon 1404 indicates to the user that a program of interest in the planner grid will not be recorded. The user may then have an opportunity to change (e.g., increase) the program's priority in order to actually record the program. Recording icon 1406 may indicate that the associated program may be scheduled for recording using an available tuner. This tuner may be reserved to perform the recording unless the priority of some other listing in media planner grid 1410 is increased above the priority for this recording. Reminder icon 1408 may indicate that a reminder is set for the associated program. Reminder icon 1408 may also indicate that the associated program is scheduled for automatic tuning and display at the scheduled time. A tuner may or may not be reserved for programs with reminders set. Thus, in some embodiments, the number of available tuners must be equal to (or exceed) the number of listings in the media planner marked for recording or viewing (and optionally listings for programs with a reminder set) for any specific time. The planner provides a convenient overview for the user of what is happening with respect to programs of interest in a given date/time frame. Listings may be displayed in priority order, giving the user a visual representation of why a requested program may not be available for viewing or recording at that time (or at some later time). For example, “Charmed” is shown at the highest priority because the user may have at some point (either from grid view or from planner view) indicated his or her preference to watch Charmed at that time and defer recording of The West Wing.
  • In some embodiments, recording conflict resolution management logic may inform a user in various views if the number of recordings scheduled exceeds the number of tuners available. As previously mentioned, in some embodiments, a reminder is considered a reservation of a tuner in the same way a recording is considered a reservation of a tuner. For example, FIG. 14 may represent a media planner grid for a triple-tuner user equipment device. In this embodiment, there may be no conflict at 7 PM because two tuners are used for recordings (the Sopranos and the Simpsons) and the third tuner may be reserved for the show that is intended to be watched at that time (i.e., “Charmed”). In this embodiment, a user is provided with an option to indicate a desired recording (e.g., The West Wing) using an “interested in possibly recording” option without having the system flag it as a violation or conflict of the tuner limitations of the user equipment device. The “interested in possibly recording” icon may look similar to will not record icon 1404. The user may select any listing within media planner grid 1410 in order to toggle the action icon between recording icon 1406, reminder icon 1408, and “interested but will not record” icon 1404. As previously mentioned, in the example of FIG. 14, three tuners may be available within the media system. As a result, at most three listings in media planner grid 1410 may be scheduled for recording, viewing, or both recording and viewing at any given time without a conflict.
  • As shown in FIG. 14, reminder icon 1408 indicates that a reminder is set for the television show “Charmed” available on channel “2 KGWN” at 7 PM on Sunday, March 19. This program may be automatically tuned and displayed by the interactive media guidance application at 7 PM using one available tuner. Also at 7 PM, “The Sopranos” and “Simpsons” may both be automatically recorded using available tuners. Since “The Sopranos” is displayed higher in media planner grid 1410 than “Simpsons”, this listing may have higher priority. Thus, if any recordings need to be preempted for any reason, the recording of “Simpsons” may be preempted before the recording of “The Sopranos.” The user may drag any listing in media planner grid up or down in media planner grid 1410 to change the listing's priority. For example, the user may press a “PAGE UP” or “PAGE DOWN” key on an input device (e.g., input device 108) while any listing is highlighted with the cursor in order to increase or decrease that listing's priority. The user may also select and drag listings (e.g., with a mouse or other suitable input device) within media planner grid 1410. When a program is moved up or down in the grid, its icon may be automatically changed between record/will not record or remind/will not remind. In this way, listings may be easily moved up and down in priority, and the user may also switch or toggle a displayed indicator between a reminder, a recording, an automatic tuning, and deletion of the listing from the planning grid.
  • The user may also move or drag listings in media planner grid 1410 left or right to change the start time of the scheduled activity. For example, if there is a tuner conflict at 7 PM because of too many assets being recorded simultaneously, then the user may drag one of these assets left or right within media planner grid 1410 to adjust the time of the scheduled recording. Some assets may be only dragged left (i.e., moved earlier in the schedule), only dragged right (i.e., pushed later in the schedule), or dragged left and right. For example, a linear asset (e.g., broadcast television programming) is generally not available before its broadcast time, so the user may only be permitted to drag this programming to the right in media planner grid 1410. If a linear asset is moved or dragged to a later time than its broadcast time (i.e., moved right in media planner grid 1410), then in some embodiments, the asset may be automatically recorded to the user equipment device (e.g., on storage device 110 of FIG. 1) so that the asset may be displayed time-shifted at the new scheduled time. A user may be prevented from moving a program to the right if there is no tuner available to record it. In some embodiments, a copy of a linear program may be stored on a server such as content source 130 (FIG. 1). This remotely stored copy may then be made available for time shifted viewing. In some embodiments, programs that are available with start over functionality may be indicated to the user in the planner window and used to help resolve tuner conflicts. For example, a variant of start over which allows programs to be watched one or two hours after their airing time would be recognized by the planner and allow time shifted viewing of those programs to the right in the grid.
  • In the example of FIG. 14, if the user presses the “PAGE UP” key on an input device (e.g., input device 108 of FIG. 1), the priority of the currently highlighted listing, “The West Wing,” would be raised above that of “Simpsons,” and it would be recorded (preempting the recordings of “Simpsons” and “War at Home”). The listing for the “The West Wing” may then be automatically displayed in a higher position in media planner grid 1410 (i.e., above “Simpson”). Pressing an “INFO” key may allow the user to access all record/remind options for the program. Selecting the day cell on the grid and pressing “OK” may redisplay date selection overlay 1202 (FIG. 12), allowing the user to quickly select a new day and time to view. In some embodiments, content may be added to the planner view from the grid view by simply tagging the content of interest (e.g., setting an “interested” flag for the program, a reminder, or a recording for the program, or setting a bookmark for the program). In some embodiments, other content (e.g., coming soon data) may be accessible directly from the planner view (e.g., via a submenu display for a search function, for example).
  • Since media planner grid 1410 shows the user's planned viewing activities for some narrow time window (e.g., 7 PM to 8:30 PM), some rows in the media planner grid 1410 may correspond to the same source or channel. As shown in the example of FIG. 14, channel “13 KDVR” appears twice in media planner grid 1410 because the user has a planned recording at 7 PM and another planned recording at 7:30 PM, but the two recordings are at different priority levels. In some embodiments, only single row is used in media planner grid 1410 to denote multiple planned activities on the same channel or source.
  • The viewer may scroll down from media planner grid 1410 to display the entire program grid, allowing the viewer to select additional programs for viewing at that time. In some embodiments, favorite channels may be displayed near the top of media planner grid 1410 (for example, just below the rows for programs with recordings or reminders) or may be otherwise quickly selectable, allowing the viewer to easily find programs on those channels during the selected time window. Other programs may be automatically moved near the top or otherwise visually distinguished in media planner grid 1410 based on user preferences or viewing history. For example, listings matching user viewing preferences, perhaps specific to that day of the week and time period, may be displayed in a different font or color from other listings in the planner view, even though these programs were not explicitly identified as of interest by the user. Programs within the selected time window that are being promoted may also be highlighted or otherwise visually distinguished in media planner grid 1410. The media planner may also include a “windowed search” feature. This feature may allow the viewer to search for programs based on any supported criteria, constrained to broadcast within the selected time window.
  • The media planner may also include one or more special rows used to add on-demand and locally recorded content to the planner. FIG. 15 shows media planner display screen 1500 with on-demand planner row 1502. On-demand planner row 1502 may be used to add on-demand content to the media planner. A user may select on-demand planner row 1502 to display a listing or menu of on-demand content available within the selected time window. The user may select any on-demand content selection to add it to on-demand planner row 1502. As shown in FIG. 15, an episode of the hit series “Entourage” is planned for viewing at 7 PM. Since this asset is now planned for viewing on an available tuner, the listing for “Charmed” is displayed with a “do not remind” icon. The do not remind icon is analogous to the do not record icon in that it may indicate an interest in a program (which in some embodiments keeps it in the planner view) and a related function (e.g., remind or record) but does not specifically reserve a tuner for the operation. Likewise, the do not remind icon may be placed on the program automatically in some embodiments as the priority of the programs is changed (e.g., via moving them up and down in the planner view) indicating that this program may no longer be viewed or recorded due to the lack of an available tuner (assuming that the user equipment device has only three available tuners). In some embodiments, on-demand planner row 1502 is always displayed at the top of the media planner grid. Since on-demand programs are typically not recorded locally to the user equipment device, on-demand planner row 1502 may not be associated with a priority. In other embodiments, on-demand planner row 1502 may be moved up and down through the media planner grid like any other row in the planner because the viewing of the VOD content may require a tuner. Thus, if the VOD content is flagged for viewing during a specific time period, it may count as a reservation of a tuner, similar to other programs scheduled for recording or viewing.
  • FIG. 16 shows media planner display screen 1600 with DVR planner row 1602. DVR planner row 1602 may be used to add locally recorded assets to the media planner grid. A user may select DVR planner row 1602 to display a listing or menu of locally recorded content (e.g., content recorded to a DVR hard drive). The user may select any content selection in the listing or menu to add it to DVR planner row 1602. Similar to on-demand planner row 1502 (FIG. 15), DVR planner row 1602 may be special in that it may always be displayed at the top of the media planner grid. In some embodiments, DVR planner row 1602 is not associated with a priority because, in some embodiments, playback of a DVR asset does not require a tuner. In other embodiments, DVR planner row 1602 may be moved up and down through the media planner grid like any other row in the planner. In some embodiments, a single row may be used for both on-demand and locally recorded content. Both locally-recorded and on-demand content may be moved left and right in the planner grid, similarly to linear content, but without the corresponding constraints.
  • As previously mentioned, the interactive media guidance application may provide promotional opportunities using the coming-soon and media planner features. Advertisements may be targeted based on user preferences, viewing history, and planned viewing activities in the media planner. For example, as shown in media planner display screens 1500 (FIG. 15) and 1600 (FIG. 16), advertisements may be displayed simultaneously within the media planner grid. The advertisements may promote one or more listings currently displayed in the media planner. Alternatively, the advertisements may promote other programming offered by a content provider whose programming is displayed in the media planner grid. For example, if an episode of “The Sopranos” has been added to the media planner grid, advertisements for The Sopranos, HBO, or any other programming offered by HBO may be displayed (e.g., in PIG windows 406 (FIG. 4), 514 (FIG. 5), or any other suitable PIG or advertisement window shown herein). Additionally or alternatively, advertisements for unrelated products and services may be displayed.
  • In some embodiments, a “week-at-a-glance” feature allows viewing of a weekly planning view with some smart modes (e.g., collapsing of days where the user does not watch TV—for example—Tuesday bowling nights, viewing of only the evening portion of the displayed days, and viewing a subset of the week—for example Monday through Wednesday—for better visibility). This week-at-a-glance feature allows the user to move assets around with automatic creation and deletion of recording events as appropriate to the modified viewing plan.
  • Some assets, such as locally recorded assets, on-demand assets, and even broadcast asset, may be viewed and/or recorded without commercials even though the original asset was transmitted or broadcast with commercials. Typically, several commercial interruptions may be inserted into broadcast television programs. Each of these commercial interruptions may include one or more commercials, typically ranging in duration from 15 seconds to one minute in length. In some embodiments, commercial status flags are transmitted to the user equipment device in the vertical blanking interval (VBI) or out-of-band on a separate status stream. These commercial status flags may mark the start and end of the commercial interruptions within an asset. These commercial status flags may also be used to record an asset to a local storage device (e.g., storage device 110 of FIG. 1) without commercials.
  • In some embodiments, assets may be recorded with commercials, but played back without commercials. The commercial status flags may be written or saved to the local storage device (e.g., storage device 110 of FIG. 1) with the recorded asset. For example, the commercial status flags may include an indication of the start and stop times of the commercial interruptions within the asset. After receiving a request to play back or view the asset, the asset may be automatically played back or viewed without the commercials. Although in some embodiments, commercial status flags may be read to determine the location of the commercial interruptions, in other embodiments an analysis of the black frame interval and/or other audio/video characteristics is additionally or alternatively used. This analysis may be performed either while the program is being recorded or after it has been recorded.
  • Since watching an asset without commercials may affect the asset's play back time (i.e., the asset's duration or runtime), the media planner grid may automatically adjust the user's visual plan (e.g., as shown in media planner grid 1410 of FIG. 14) by the appropriate amount so that other programs may be scheduled in the media planner. For example, FIG. 17 shows media planner display screen 1700 with commercial adjustment overlay 1702. In some embodiments, when a user adds an asset that is eligible for commercial skipping to the media planner grid, commercial adjustment overlay 1702 is automatically displayed. Commercial adjustment overlay 1702 may notify the user that the asset is available to be viewed without commercial interruption. Several other options may also be displayed to the user. As shown in the example of FIG. 17, commercial adjustment overlay 1702 includes watch without commercials option 1704, adjust duration option 1706, and pack planner grid option 1708. A user may toggle check mark indicator 1710 on and off to select one or more of the options.
  • If watch without commercials option 1704 is selected, the asset may be played back without commercial interruptions. For example, if an asset is recorded locally to a storage device with commercials and the asset's commercial status flags were also recorded or saved to the storage device, the asset may be automatically viewed without commercials when the asset is played back. If the user sets watch without commercials option 1704 in the media planner grid, this option may be saved and associated with the selected asset so that the user will not be required to manually skip commercials when the asset is automatically displayed pursuant to the user's planned schedule. If adjust duration option 1706 is selected, the asset's runtime will be automatically adjusted to take into account the removed commercials. This reduced runtime may then be visually indicated in the media planner grid.
  • If pack planner grid option 1708 is selected, other listings in the planner grid may be packed to utilize the time freed by the runtime adjustment. For example, if 10 minutes are saved in the planner grid by viewing the asset without commercial interruption, then other assets may be viewed or recorded during this time. This allows for more efficient use of the user's planned viewing schedule.
  • FIG. 18 shows packed media planner display screen 1800. As shown in FIG. 18, listing 1802 for “The Best of Seinfeld” has been truncated to reflect its new runtime (without commercials). For example, the show may have originally been broadcast as a one-hour special, but now is capable of being presented without commercial interruption in 40 minutes. The interactive media guidance application may determine the new runtime by subtracting the length of all commercial interruptions within the asset (as determined by the commercial status flags) from the original runtime of the asset. Listing 1802 may then be automatically adjusted to indicate its new runtime. Listing 1804 for another locally recorded asset has also been adjusted to start immediately after the conclusion of the Seinfeld episode in listing 1802. In this way, the user's planned viewing scheduled is efficiently packed to save time. If the user had not selected pack planner grid option 1708 (FIG. 17), listing 1804 may have been adjusted, but listing 1804 may have remained scheduled to start at 8:00 PM. The user could then add additional content during the time saved by watching the asset without commercials, if desired, or use the time to perform other non-television-related tasks.
  • The user may make other adjustments to items in the media planner grid. For example, the user may select either the start or end edge of the program and drag it to the left or right, lengthening or shortening its duration. In some embodiments, the user may highlight an item in the grid, select it using a select key on user input device 108 (FIG. 1), select the left or right edge of the program listing using the left or right arrow key and select key on user input device 108 (FIG. 1), and then move the edge of the item in the grid by using a key such as a next/previous page key. Moving the right edge of a program listing to the right for a planned recording of a linear program may cause the recording time to be extended, and moving it to the left may cause the recording to be truncated.
  • Similarly, moving the left edge of a program listing for a planned recording of a linear program to the left may cause its recording to be started early, while moving it to the right may cause its recording to be delayed. In some embodiments, shortening the listing for an on-demand or recorded program may truncate its start or end. In other embodiments, it may actually compress or extend its playback time. In yet other embodiments, it may change the amount of time allocated for watching the program, but not change the playback of the program itself. For example, the user may allocate 90 minutes to watch a 60 minute program because of planned interruptions, during which the user may, for example, intend to pause the program.
  • In some embodiments, the user may be allowed to split the planned viewing of a program (e.g., linear, recorded, or on-demand program) into two or more pieces or segments. For example, the user may be allowed to put a program into a viewing time smaller than the duration of a program (or plan the viewing of other programs such that there is insufficient time to view the program in its entirety). The user may then be allowed to select a “split” function. After receiving the split instruction, the interactive media guidance application may put as much of the program into the viewing slot as will fit, and then allow the user to drag the remainder of the program into another viewing slot or segment. In this way, a user may plan out the viewing of, for example, a long documentary over the course of two evenings. Depending on the type of asset (e.g., VOD or linear broadcast asset), the second half or split may be automatically scheduled for recording while the first half is not scheduled for recording.
  • In some embodiments, the interactive media guidance application may anticipate and automatically record content that a user would likely be interested in watching. The determination of what content the user would likely be interested in watching may be based on one or more of the user's profile, the user's viewing preferences, and content included in the user's media planner grid. The interactive media guidance application may also associate various recording and “keep” priorities with the content selected for automatic recording. A keep priority may determine the preference or order assets on a storage device are overwritten in order to make room for new assets. For example, assets matching a large number of user viewing preferences may be assigned a higher keep priority than assets matching fewer user viewing preferences.
  • In some embodiments, the interactive media guidance application integrates or interfaces to a user's external calendar (e.g., Microsoft Outlook calendar) and notes when the user will be away. The interactive media guidance application may then record programs that the user would likely be interested in watching, as indicated by the user's past behavior (e.g., the user may have set a reminder for a particular program or accessed episodes of the same series on a predetermined number of prior occasions), during the period that the user is noted as away.
  • In addition to determining when the user is away from his television or out of town using data obtained from interfacing with an external calendar application, in some embodiments the interactive media guidance application may use activity monitoring to detect the user's presence or absence. For example, the interactive media guidance application may detect that a user regularly watches “CSI Miami” almost every Friday at 8 PM. One Friday, if the interactive media guidance application notes that there has been no user activity for a predetermined amount of time (e.g., no channel change requests, volume change requests, or any user input on input device 108 of FIG. 1), the interactive media guidance application may automatically record the content on behalf of the user.
  • In some embodiments, the interactive media guidance application may optionally bring up a dialog or overlay for the user to indicate presence or activity. Display screen 1900 of FIG. 19 shows such a user activity confirmation. Activity confirmation overlay 1902 may be displayed at any suitable time after the user has been idle for a predetermined length of time. Although in some embodiments, the predetermined length of time may be configurable by the user, typically this length of time will be longer than the maximum duration of media content available within the media system so as to minimize the display of activity confirmation overlay 1902 when the user is, in fact, not idle. For example, the predetermined length of time may be set to 3 hours in some embodiments. The user may select confirmation selection 1904 in order to restart the idle timer.
  • Activity confirmation overlay 1902 may be similar to the dialogue and overlay used in SDV systems. If a user fails to acknowledge the dialog, the interactive media guidance application may go ahead and record all programs the user has set a reminder for as well as all episodes of series that the user has watched in the past. In this way, the interactive media guidance application can proactively record certain programs without any express instruction from the user to record the programs.
  • The priority of programs that are automatically recorded based on user history may be set low relative to other recordings that have explicitly been scheduled or relative to the automatic recording of a program for which a reminder has been set. Similarly, the recording's “keep” priority may be set low relative to programs the user has explicitly scheduled for recording. In this way, recordings of interest that are more likely to be actually viewed by the user are not overwritten by recordings made by the system. A recordings listing page (not shown) may display the difference in priority (e.g., in the recorded assets list) and/or distinguish those recordings that are the result of a user's explicit request, a reminder, or a user profile or user history analysis.
  • FIG. 20 shows illustrative process 2000 for displaying an interactive media planner. At step 2002, interactive media guidance application 106 (FIG. 1) may identify media content activities scheduled within a predetermined time window. For example, all scheduled recordings and reminders set within a two-hour time period may be identified. These recordings and reminders may be stored in a table (or other suitable data structure) in memory (not shown) of control circuitry 114 (FIG. 1) or on storage device 110 (FIG. 1). At step 2004, preemption priorities may be assigned to each scheduled activity that requires an available tuner. Interactive media guidance application 106 (FIG. 1) may determine the number of tuners 115 (FIG. 1) within user equipment device 102 (FIG. 1) and then reserve, at step 2006, an available tuner for each scheduled activity that requires an available tuner. The tuner reservations may be made in order of the preemption priority assigned to the scheduled activities at step 2004. For example, in some embodiments, scheduled recordings may be assigned higher priorities than reminders. The preemption priority may be a function of the position of the scheduled activity in the media planner grid.
  • At step 2008, interactive media guidance application 106 (FIG. 1) may determine if all scheduled activities have reserved tuners. For example, if the number of scheduled activities requiring an available tuner is less than or equal to the total number of tuners 115 (FIG. 1) within user equipment device 120 (FIG. 1), then all scheduled activities may have tuners reserved. If the total number of tuners 115 (FIG. 1) within user equipment device 120 (FIG. 1) is less than the number of scheduled activities requiring an available tuner, then the activities with conflicts may be determined at step 2010. For example, one or more of the activities with the lowest assigned preemption priorities may be designated as conflict activities at step 2010.
  • At step 2012, an interactive media planner may be displayed with a listing for each activity scheduled within the predetermined time window. For example, media planner display screen 1400 (FIG. 14) with media planner grid 1410 (FIG. 14) may be displayed. At step 2014, listings for activities with conflicts may be visually distinguished from listings for activities without conflicts. For example, listings with conflicts may be disabled, displayed in a different font color, a different font size, or an icon indicating the conflict may be displayed within the listings with conflicts. Any other way to visually distinguish the listings with conflicts may also be used. The user may then be allowed to change the preemption priorities of any of the displayed listings.
  • At step 2016, if the user changes a preemption priority, interactive media guidance application 106 (FIG. 1) may reassign tuners to the scheduled activities based on the new preemption priorities of the scheduled activities. For example, a user may increase the preemption priority of a scheduled activity with a conflict above that of a scheduled activity without a conflict. The media planner display may then be automatically refreshed to reflect the new preemption priorities and the new activities with conflicts.
  • In practice, one or more steps shown in process 2000 may be combined with other steps, performed in any suitable order, performed in parallel (e.g., simultaneously or substantially simultaneously), or removed.
  • FIGS. 21A, 21B, 21C, and 21D show illustrative process 2100 for supporting a coming-soon feature. At step 2102, a coming-soon announcement for upcoming programming may be received by the user equipment device. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, coming-soon sources 202 may utilize one or more of web scripting engine 204, remote API function calls 206, and FTP upload module 208 in order to transmit coming-soon announcements over network 210 to a supplemental data source, such as supplemental data source 120. These announcements may then be sent to a plurality of user equipment devices, such as user equipment device 102 (FIG. 1). Alternatively, coming-soon announcements may be sent directly to the user equipment devices (e.g., via a multicast transmission protocol), if desired. In some embodiments, the format of the coming-soon announcements may take the form shown in FIG. 3. The announcements may be associated with assets available outside the current window of available program schedule data used to display program schedule listings on the user equipment device. For example, program schedule data may be downloaded for content available within a fourteen-day window. This window may be the current program schedule window. Coming-soon announcements may identify assets available outside this program schedule window.
  • At step 2104, interactive media guidance application 106 (FIG. 1) may determine if the update flag for the received announcement is set. For example, there may be an update tag defined in the coming-soon announcement (e.g., in XML file 300). This flag or tag may indicate that the received announcement is an update as opposed to an original announcement. If the update flag is set at step 2104, the updated announcement data may be read at step 2106. If the update flag is not set, the announcement may be parsed at step 2108. At step 2110, a coming-soon record may then be updated or created in an announcement database stored at the user equipment device. For example, the announcement database may be stored in storage device 110 (FIG. 1). The coming-soon record may store some or all of the announcement data contained in the coming-soon announcement.
  • If the user requests to display a coming-soon list at step 2112, all the coming-soon records in the announcement database may be read at step 2114. For example, the user may select coming-soon option 402 from search menu display screen 400 (FIG. 4) in order to display a list of coming-soon attractions. The illustrative process may continue in FIG. 21B.
  • At step 2116, an interactive coming-soon list may be displayed to the user. For example, coming-soon display screen 500 (FIG. 5) may be displayed. If a user selects an asset in the interactive coming-soon list at step 2118, interactive media guidance application 106 (FIG. 1) may determine if the selected asset is a broadcast asset or on-demand asset at step 2120. If the selected asset is a broadcast asset, a summary information display screen may be displayed at step 2122 with record, remind, and preview options. If the selected asset is an on-demand asset, a summary information display screen may be displayed at step 2124 with remind, bookmark, and preview options.
  • If the user does not select an asset in the interactive coming-soon list at step 2118, interactive media guidance application 106 (FIG. 1) may determine if the user has selected one or more coming-soon sources at step 2126. Alternatively, the user may select a coming-soon source before selecting an asset in the interactive coming-soon list. For example, the user may bring up coming-soon selection overlay 802 (FIG. 8). If the user selects one or more coming-soon sources, at step 2128 the coming-soon records associated with the selected source or sources are read. The interactive coming-soon list is then refreshed at step 2130 with only the listings for coming-soon content associated with the selected source or sources.
  • After the summary information display screen for a broadcast asset is displayed at step 2122, the illustrative process may continue in FIG. 21C. If the user selects to record the selected asset at step 2132 (for example by clicking on record option 610 of FIG. 6), a recording may be scheduled at step 2134. The recording may be scheduled using the preliminary availability information from the coming-soon record. For example, the projected broadcast date and/or time may be used to schedule the recording. This information may be included in the coming-soon announcement, as shown in FIG. 3. In some embodiments, rather than scheduling the recording at the time of the request, the interactive media guidance application may record the request and schedule the recording at the time the final schedule information is received for the program at a later date. In some embodiments, rather then schedule the coming-soon asset for recording, the coming-soon asset may be tagged with an “interested in recording” or related interest tag. This tag may be used by the system to remind the user at a later date to make a decision related to the asset once more information is known about the asset. If the user does not select to record the asset at step 2132, interactive media guidance application 106 (FIG. 1) may then determine if the user has selected to set a reminder for the broadcast asset at step 2136. For example, the user may select reminder option 608 (FIG. 6) to set a reminder. If the user selects to set a reminder, a reminder may be set at step 2138 using the preliminary availability information from the coming-soon record. For example, the projected broadcast date and/or time may be included in the coming-soon announcement, as shown in FIG. 3. This information may be used to set the reminder. In some embodiments, rather than scheduling the reminder at the time of the request, the interactive media guidance application may record the request and schedule the reminder at the time the final schedule information is received for the program at a later date.
  • Finally, the user may select to view a preview of the broadcast asset at step 2140. If the user selects to view a preview of the broadcast asset, a full-motion video preview of the asset may be accessed and displayed at step 2142. In some embodiments, the preview may be accessed from a suitable content source that delivers previews for broadcast programming (e.g., one of data sources 140 of FIG. 1). The video preview may also be made available on a supplemental data source (e.g., supplemental data source 120 of FIG. 1, if desired). The preview may be displayed in a preview window or in any suitable location with the coming-soon listing. For example, the preview may be displayed in PIG windows 514 (FIG. 5), 616 (FIG. 6), or 720 (FIG. 7).
  • After the summary information display screen for an on-demand asset is displayed at step 2124, the illustrative process may continue in FIG. 21D. If the user selects to create a bookmark for the selected asset at step 2144 (for example by clicking on bookmark option 716 of FIG. 7), a bookmark for the on-demand asset may be created at step 2146. If the user does not select to bookmark the asset at step 2144, interactive media guidance application 106 (FIG. 1) may then determine if the user has selected to set a reminder for the broadcast asset at step 2148. For example, the user may select reminder option 712 (FIG. 7) to set a reminder. If the user selects to set a reminder, a reminder may be set at step 2150 using the preliminary availability information from the coming-soon record. For example, the projected broadcast date and/or time may be included in the coming-soon announcement, as shown in FIG. 3. This information may be used to set the reminder. In some embodiments, rather than scheduling the reminder at the time of the request, the interactive media guidance application may record the request and then, at the time the program becomes available on-demand it may display the reminder to the user. In some embodiments, for VOD coming-soon assets, the date and time for a reminder (or optionally a planned viewing date and time) may be set, in some cases constrained to the period of availability of the asset, if present in the coming-soon data record.
  • Finally, the user may select to view a preview of the broadcast asset at step 2152. If the user selects to view a preview of the on-demand asset, a full-motion video preview of the asset may be accessed and displayed at step 2154. In some embodiments, the preview may be accessed from a suitable content source that delivers previews for on-demand programming (e.g., one of data sources 140 of FIG. 1). The video preview may also be made available on a supplemental data source (e.g., supplemental data source 120 of FIG. 1, if desired). The preview may be displayed in a preview window or in any suitable location with the coming-soon listing. For example, the preview may be displayed in PIG windows 514 (FIG. 5), 616 (FIG. 6), or 720 (FIG. 7).
  • In practice, one or more steps shown in process 2100 may be combined with other steps, performed in any suitable order, performed in parallel (e.g., simultaneously or substantially simultaneously), or removed.
  • FIG. 22 shows illustrative process 2200 for scheduling or executing a conditional action for a coming-soon asset. Because coming-soon assets are often associated with preliminary data (including availability information, such as scheduled availability date and/or time) that is subject to change, conditional actions allow a user to condition the execution of a media guidance application function on one or more conditional statements being true at the program runtime (e.g., at the asset's actual availability date and time) or at any suitable time prior to the program runtime (e.g., when the listings data has been completely received or when sufficient information has been received to disambiguate the action). Conditional actions may be useful to a user who wants to perform some media guidance application function on an asset only under particular circumstances.
  • At step 2202, a conditional expression is received. For example, the user may input a simple or compound conditional statement using conditional action overlay 1002 (FIG. 10) or overlay 1102 (FIG. 11) from a coming-soon display screen, such as display screen 1000 (FIG. 10) or 1100 (FIG. 11). A user may also set up a conditional action from any other display screen shown herein. In some embodiments, the user may be presented with a list of predefined conditional expressions to choose from. At step 2204, the coming-soon record associated with the asset may be read. For example, as previously described in regard to FIG. 3, some or all of the data in a coming-soon announcement may be saved to storage device 110 (FIG. 1) within user equipment device 102 (FIG. 1) in the form of a coming-soon record. This record may store, for example, preliminary availability data, ratings information, access price information, genre information, cast member information, or any other suitable data associated with the asset. Some or all of this data may be subject to change.
  • At step 2206, interactive media guidance application 106 (FIG. 1) may determine if the necessary preliminary data is defined in the coming-soon record. For example, to schedule a recording for the coming-soon announcement, at least the source (e.g., channel), date, and time may be required variables. If these variables are not defined in the coming-soon record, interactive media guidance application 106 (FIG. 1) may set default, placeholder variables for these undefined variables at step 2208. Then, at step 2210, the conditional action may be scheduled based on the preliminary data and/or the default variables set by interactive media guidance application 106 (FIG. 1) as well as the conditional expression received at step 2202. For example, a recording of the asset may be conditioned on the asset having a particular access price (or range of access prices), as shown in FIG. 10. Other illustrative conditions may include the rating of the asset (e.g., its MPAA rating), a user or editorial rating of the asset (e.g., using a star rating system), the cast members, the teams or players (for sporting events), or any other suitable attribute of the asset.
  • In some embodiments, a conditional expression may include one or more conditional statements based on the activity of other users in media system 100 (FIG. 1). For example, in an SDV environment, an SDV manager may maintain a table of user viewing activity as well as conditional actions set up by all users of the SDV service group. In other environments, a channel change monitoring mechanism or service may maintain a table of user viewing activity as well as conditional actions set up by all users of the media system (or all users in a local subnet or geographical region). In other embodiments, an on-demand server may track the viewing statistics for individual on-demand assets. A user may then create a conditional action based on the number (or percentage) of users performing a related activity or whether or not the asset is currently allocated within the network. For example, a user may select to record an asset only if at least 90% of other users (e.g., in the SDV service group, local subnet, or geographical region) have also scheduled the same asset for recording. As another example, a user may set a conditional action based on the percentage of other users rating the asset in a particular way. For example, the user may schedule the asset for recording only if at least 80% of other users (e.g., in the SDV service group, local subnet, or geographical region) have rated the asset with a 3 star rating or higher (or the editorial rating is a 3 star rating or higher). Any other action conditioned on other rating schemes may also be created and scheduled.
  • Because the action may be conditioned on preliminary data that may not yet be completely available or that may be subject to change or revision, if an announcement update is received at step 2212, the conditional action may be updated (if needed) at step 2114. For example, the update flag shown in XML file 300 (FIG. 3) may be set to indicate a coming-soon announcement update. The update may include updated availability data (or any other suitable attribute, such as access price or rating) for the asset. At some later time, the coming-soon asset may actually be included in the downloaded window of program schedule data. For example, as previously described, typical systems may download program schedule data associated with programming available within a program schedule listings window. This window is generally short (e.g., two weeks) and the schedule data for programming available within this window may be downloaded at any suitable time (e.g., every two weeks or every day). At step 2215, interactive media guidance application 106 (FIG. 1) may reconcile scheduled conditional actions with the actual data received for the coming-soon asset when it enters the program schedule window and is included in the regular program schedule database. A unique program identifier may be defined in the coming-soon announcement (e.g., XML tag 300 of FIG. 3) and may be compared to the program identifiers of the programs identified in the program schedule database. If the program identifiers match, this may indicate to interactive media guidance application 106 (FIG. 1) that the coming-soon asset has now entered the current program schedule window. In some embodiments, any conflicting information between the downloaded program schedule data and the coming-soon data may be reconciled in favor of the program schedule data that is used for displaying program schedule listings on user equipment device 102 (FIG. 1).
  • At step 2216, interactive media guidance application 106 (FIG. 1) may determine if the conditional expression is satisfied. For example, just prior to the actual execution of the conditional action, the conditional expression may be reevaluated based on the asset's final attributes. If the conditional expression is still satisfied, then at step 2220 the action may be executed on the asset. If the conditional expression is not satisfied, then at step 2218 the action may be skipped or ignored.
  • For example, a user may create a conditional action to record a sporting event if a particular athlete or team is playing in the sporting event. Just before the sporting event is broadcast (or at any suitable time before broadcast), interactive media guidance application 106 (FIG. 1) may determine which athletes and teams are playing. The athletes and teams who are playing may be derived from extended media guidance application data received from a suitable data source (e.g., one of data sources 140 (FIG. 1) or supplemental data source 120 (FIG. 1)). If the selected athlete or team is actually playing, the conditional action may be executed (for example, the coming-soon asset may be recorded); otherwise, the action may be ignored. Any other suitable content attributes may also be used in simple or complex conditional expressions associated with the conditional action.
  • In practice, one or more steps shown in process 2200 may be combined with other steps, performed in any suitable order, performed in parallel (e.g., simultaneously or substantially simultaneously), or removed.
  • FIGS. 23A and 23B show illustrative process 2300 for displaying and supporting a media planner grid. At step 2302, a user request for the media planner grid may be received. For example, the user may select planner option 404 (FIG. 4) to display media planner display screen 1400 (FIG. 14). As shown in FIG. 14, a media planner grid for Sunday, March 19 is shown from 7:00 to 8:30 PM. The user may change the date and/or time by pressing the left and right arrow keys on an input device (e.g., input device 108 (FIG. 1). The user may also use overlays 1202 (FIG. 12) and 1302 (FIG. 13) to select a desired date or time window.
  • The interactive media planner grid may show all programs scheduled for recording and/or with reminders set during the displayed grid time window. The interactive media planner grid may also show programming that is not associated with any automatic media guidance application function, but the user has expressed an interest in or would like to watch at the planned date and time anyway. For example, the user may wish to watch “The Sopranos” on HBO during its weekly broadcast time, but not schedule a recording or set a reminder for the show. These “tagged” assets may all be identified in some way (either manually by the user or automatically by the interactive media guidance application) as assets the user is interested in watching or recording on a particular date and at a particular time. These assets of interest are said to be tagged relative to a particular date and time (e.g., the planned viewing date and time, the planned reminder date and time, or the planned recording date and time). For example, in some embodiments, all assets scheduled for recording on the system (either manually by the user or automatically through, for example, a series recording) are automatically tagged. Assets with reminders set, assets scheduled for automatic tuning or display at a particular time, and/or assets with bookmarks set (that are available during the planning window) may also be considered “tagged.” The user may access his or her media planner grid at any time in order to view a listing of planned viewing activities (e.g., all tagged assets). The user may then select any listing in the media planner grid to tune to that content, display a screen of additional information about the content, adjust the listing's priority, schedule the viewing activity for an earlier time (e.g., by dragging the listing left), schedule the viewing activity for an later time (e.g., by dragging the listing right), extend or shorten its viewing time, split its planned viewing time into two or more parts, or toggle its recording or reminder status.
  • In displaying the media planner grid, the interactive media guidance application may access data identifying the total number of tuners 115 (FIG. 1) available within user equipment device 102 (FIG. 1). The interactive media guidance application may then assign or reserve a tuner for each entry scheduled for recording or viewing in the media planner grid at step 2303. If the user has planned more viewing activities than available tuners, then tuners may be assigned to entries in the media planner grid in priority order. The entries without a reserved tuner may be automatically disabled when the media planner grid is displayed.
  • The user may also select to add a new asset to the user's media planner grid. If the user requests to add a new asset at step 2304, the full schedule grid (e.g., the full media guidance application program schedule guide) or other program selection screen may be displayed to the user at step 2306. The user may then select any asset within the full grid at step 2308 (e.g., tag the asset with one or more “interest” tags, such as interested in recording or viewing), and a new listing for the selected asset may be displayed in the user's media planner application grid at step 2310. If desired, recorded or on-demand assets may be added to the media planner grid manually. In media planner display screen 1400 (FIG. 14), the user may have just selected to add “The West Wing” listing. In some embodiments, this listing is displayed with default priority (e.g., the listing is displayed near the middle of the grid).
  • At step 2312, interactive media guidance application 106 (FIG. 1) may determine if the number of available tuners has been exceeded by the addition of the new asset. For example, if user equipment device 102 (FIG. 1) has three available tuners 115 (FIG. 1) and three programs are already scheduled for recording, a conflict may be signaled. If the number of tuners has been exceeded, the entry in the media planner grid with the lowest priority may be disabled, marked in a special way, (or removed from the grid) at step 2314. For example, the listing may appear grayed out or otherwise visually distinguished from the other listings in the grid. In some embodiments, an icon (or a modification of an existing icon) may additionally or alternatively be shown next to or within listings that cannot be tuned due to a lack of available tuners.
  • Illustrative process 2300 continues in FIG. 23B. If the user selects to increase the priority of an entry shown in the media planner grid at step 2316, then the position of the selected entry in the grid may be increased at step 2318. In some embodiments, the position of a listing within the media planner grid determines the listing's priority. For example, as shown in media planner display screen 1400 (FIG. 14), the listing for “Charmed” may be associated with the highest priority, the listing for the “The Sopranos” may be associated with the next highest priority, and so on. At step 2320, interactive media guidance application 106 (FIG. 1) may determine if the number of available tuners has been exceeded by the increase in priority, or if a change in tuner assignments is required. For example, if user equipment device 102 (FIG. 1) has three available tuners 115 (FIG. 1) and three programs with higher priority are already scheduled for recording, a conflict may be signaled. If the number of tuners has been exceeded, the entry in the media planner grid now with the lowest priority may be disabled (or removed from the grid) at step 2322. For example, the listing may appear grayed out or otherwise visually distinguished from the other listings in the grid. In some embodiments, an icon may additionally or alternatively be shown or modified next to or within listings that cannot be tuned due to a lack of available tuners.
  • If the user selects to decrease the priority of an entry within the media planner grid at step 2324, then the position of the selected entry in the grid may be decreased at step 2326. After the position of the selected entry has been decreased at step 2326, or if the user does not select to decrease the priority of an asset at step 2324, the media planner grid may be redisplayed at step 2328. Users may increase or decrease a listing's priority by dragging the listing up or down within the media planner grid or highlighting a listing and selecting a “PAGE UP” or “PAGE DOWN” button (or other suitable button) on input device 108 (FIG. 1).
  • In practice, one or more steps shown in process 2300 may be combined with other steps, performed in any suitable order, performed in parallel (e.g., simultaneously or substantially simultaneously), or removed.
  • The above described embodiments of the invention are presented for purposes of illustration and not of limitation, and the present invention is limited only by the claims which follow.

Claims (60)

1. A method for planning a user's viewing activity on a user equipment device, the method comprising:
tagging a plurality of media assets of interest relative to a particular date and time period;
displaying an interactive grid comprising identifiers for the plurality of media assets, wherein one dimension of the interactive grid represents sources for the plurality of media assets and another dimension of the interactive grid substantially represents the time period on the particular date;
receiving a user indication of a preemption priority for at least one asset of the plurality of media assets relative to a second asset of the plurality of media assets;
reserving, as a function of the relative preemption priority of the at least one asset, a tuner for the at least one asset of the plurality of media assets; and
visually distinguishing identifiers for assets of the plurality of assets that do not have an available tuner reserved from the identifiers for assets of the plurality of assets that do have an available tuner reserved.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein tagging a plurality of media assets of interest relative to a particular date and time period comprises receiving an indication from the user to tag at least one of the plurality of media assets.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein tagging a plurality of media assets of interest relative to a particular date and time period comprises automatically tagging at least one of the plurality of media assets without an express user request to tag the at least one asset.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the sources is selected from the group consisting of a linear source, a video on-demand channel, a video on-demand service, and a locally-recorded source.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein tagging a plurality of media assets of interest relative to a particular date and time period comprises scheduling at least one of the plurality of media asset of interest for recording.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein tagging a plurality of media assets of interest relative to a particular date and time period comprises setting a reminder for at least one of the plurality of media assets of interest.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein tagging a plurality of media assets of interest relative to a particular date and time period comprises tagging at least one of the plurality of media assets of interest as of interest for recording.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein tagging a plurality of media assets of interest relative to a particular date and time period comprises tagging at least one of the plurality of media assets of interest as of interest for viewing.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein tagging a plurality of media assets of interest relative to a particular date and time period comprises adding at least one asset of the plurality of media assets to a favorites list.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein tagging a plurality of media assets of interest relative to a particular date and time period comprises adding a channel showing at least one asset of the plurality of media assets to a favorites list.
11. The method of claim 1 wherein tagging a plurality of media assets of interest relative to a particular date and time period comprises setting a bookmark for at least one of the plurality of media assets of interest.
12. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
receiving a user request to change the preemption priority of one asset of the plurality of media assets; and
in response to receiving the user request to change the preemption priority, displaying the identifier for the one asset of the plurality of media assets in a new location within the interactive grid.
13. The method of claim 12 wherein receiving a user request to change the preemption priority of one asset of the plurality of media assets comprises receiving a user request to drag the identifier for the one asset to a new location in the interactive grid.
14. The method of claim 12 wherein receiving a user request to change the preemption priority of one asset of the plurality of media assets comprises:
receiving a user selection of the identifier for the one asset; and
after receiving the user selection, receiving a PAGE UP or PAGE DOWN command.
15. The method of claim 12 further comprising:
in response to receiving the user request to change the preemption priority, automatically updating the display of the interactive grid.
16. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
receiving a user request to remove the identifier for one asset of the plurality of media assets from the interactive grid;
removing the identifier for the one asset from the interactive grid; and
adjusting the relative preemption priority of at least one other asset that has an identifier remaining in the interactive grid.
17. The method of claim 1 wherein visually distinguishing identifiers for assets of the plurality of assets that do not have an available tuner reserved from the identifiers for assets of the plurality of assets that do have an available tuner reserved comprises displaying an icon within or near the identifiers for assets that do not have an available tuner reserved.
18. The method of claim 1 wherein visually distinguishing identifiers for assets of the plurality of assets that do not have an available tuner reserved from the identifiers for assets of the plurality of assets that do have an available tuner reserved comprises altering at least one of the font size or font color of a textual component of the identifiers for assets of the plurality of assets that do not have an available tuner reserved.
19. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
receiving a user selection of one asset of the plurality of media assets; and
automatically displaying media content associated with the selected one asset in response to receiving the user selection.
20. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
receiving a user selection of one asset of the plurality of media assets;
determining if the selected one asset is available for display without commercials; and
in response to determining that the one asset is available for display without commercials, prompting the user to display the one asset without commercials.
21. The method of claim 20 wherein determining if the selected one asset is available for display without commercials comprises parsing commercial status flags associated with the one asset.
22. The method of claim 21 further comprising:
displaying the one asset without commercials based, at least in part, on data from the parsed commercial status flags.
23. The method of claim 20 wherein determining if the selected one asset is available for display without commercials comprises:
analyzing at least one black frame interval of the selected one asset;
determining, from the at least one black frame interval, a start time and a stop time of the commercials within the selected one asset; and
displaying the selected one asset without commercials based on the determined start time and the stop time of the commercials.
24. The method of claim 20 further comprising:
calculating the runtime of the selected one asset without commercials; and
updating the display of the interactive grid to reflect the calculated runtime of the selected one asset without commercials.
25. The method of claim 24 further comprising, in response to updating the display of the interactive grid, automatically packing the interactive grid.
26. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving a user request to change a planned viewing time of one asset of the plurality of media assets.
27. The method of claim 26 further comprising scheduling the one asset for recording in response to the receiving a user request to change a planned viewing time of the one asset of the plurality of assets.
28. The method of claim 26 wherein receiving a user request to change the planned viewing time of the one asset of the plurality of media assets comprises dragging an edge of the identifier for the one asset in a direction of the dimension that substantially represents the time period on the particular date.
29. The method of claim 26 wherein receiving a user request to change the planned viewing time of the one asset of the plurality of media assets comprises extending the viewing time of the one asset.
30. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
receiving a user request to split a planned viewing time of one asset of the plurality of media assets; and
in response to receiving the user request to split the planned viewing time, displaying at least two segments for the planned viewing time of the one asset in the interactive grid.
31. A system for planning a user's viewing activity on a user equipment device, the system comprising:
memory for storing identifiers for a plurality of media assets;
a display device; and
control circuitry configured to:
tag a plurality of media assets of interest relative to a particular date and time period;
display, on the display device, an interactive grid comprising the identifiers for the plurality of media assets, wherein one dimension of the interactive grid represents sources for the plurality of media assets and another dimension of the interactive grid substantially represents the time period on the particular date;
receive a user indication of a preemption priority for at least one asset of the plurality of media assets relative to a second asset of the plurality of media assets;
reserve, as a function of the relative preemption priority of the at least one asset, a tuner for the at least one asset of the plurality of media assets; and
visually distinguish identifiers for assets of the plurality of assets that do not have an available tuner reserved from the identifiers for assets of the plurality of assets that do have an available tuner reserved.
32. The system of claim 31 wherein the control circuitry is configured to receive an indication from the user to tag at least one of the plurality of media assets.
33. The system of claim 31 wherein the control circuitry is configured to automatically tag at least one of the plurality of media assets without an express user request to tag the at least one asset.
34. The system of claim 31 wherein at least one of the sources is selected from the group consisting of a linear source, a video on-demand channel, a video on-demand service, and a locally-recorded source.
35. The system of claim 31 wherein the control circuitry is configured to tag a plurality of media assets of interest relative to a particular date and time period by scheduling at least one of the plurality of media asset of interest for recording.
36. The system of claim 31 wherein the control circuitry is configured to tag a plurality of media assets of interest relative to a particular date and time period by setting a reminder for at least one of the plurality of media assets of interest.
37. The system of claim 31 wherein the control circuitry is configured to tag a plurality of media assets of interest relative to a particular date and time period by tagging at least one of the plurality of media assets of interest as of interest for recording.
38. The system of claim 31 wherein the control circuitry is configured to tag a plurality of media assets of interest relative to a particular date and time period by tagging at least one of the plurality of media assets of interest as of interest for viewing.
39. The system of claim 31 wherein the control circuitry is configured to tag a plurality of media assets of interest relative to a particular date and time period by adding at least one asset of the plurality of media assets to a favorites list.
40. The system of claim 31 wherein the control circuitry is configured to tag a plurality of media assets of interest relative to a particular date and time period by adding a channel showing at least one asset of the plurality of media assets to a favorites list.
41. The system of claim 31 wherein the control circuitry is configured to tag a plurality of media assets of interest relative to a particular date and time period by setting a bookmark for at least one of the plurality of media assets of interest.
42. The system of claim 31 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
receive a user request to change the preemption priority of one asset of the plurality of media assets; and
in response to receiving the user request to change the preemption priority, display the identifier for the one asset of the plurality of media assets in a new location within the interactive grid.
43. The system of claim 42 wherein the control circuitry is configured to receive a user request to drag the identifier for the one asset to a new location in the interactive grid.
44. The system of claim 42 wherein the control circuitry is configured to:
receive a user selection of the identifier for the one asset; and
after receiving the user selection, receive a PAGE UP or PAGE DOWN command.
45. The system of claim 42 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
in response to receiving the user request to change the preemption priority, automatically update the display of the interactive grid.
46. The system of claim 31 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
receive a user request to remove the identifier for one asset of the plurality of media assets from the interactive grid;
remove the identifier for the one asset from the interactive grid; and
adjust the relative preemption priority of at least one other asset that has an identifier remaining in the interactive grid.
47. The system of claim 31 wherein the control circuitry is configured to visually distinguish identifiers for assets of the plurality of assets that do not have an available tuner reserved from the identifiers for assets of the plurality of assets that do have an available tuner reserved by displaying an icon within or near the identifiers for assets that do not have an available tuner reserved.
48. The system of claim 31 wherein the control circuitry is configured to visually distinguish identifiers for assets of the plurality of assets that do not have an available tuner reserved from the identifiers for assets of the plurality of assets that do have an available tuner reserved by altering at least one of the font size or font color of a textual component of the identifiers for assets of the plurality of assets that do not have an available tuner reserved.
49. The system of claim 31 the control circuitry is further configured to:
receive a user selection of one asset of the plurality of media assets; and
automatically display media content associated with the selected one asset in response to receiving the user selection.
50. The system of claim 31 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
receive a user selection of one asset of the plurality of media assets;
determine if the selected one asset is available for display without commercials; and
in response to determining that the one asset is available for display without commercials, prompt the user to display the one asset without commercials.
51. The system of claim 50 wherein the control circuitry is configured to determine if the selected one asset is available for display without commercials by parsing commercial status flags associated with the one asset.
52. The system of claim 31 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
display the one asset without commercials based, at least in part, on data from the parsed commercial status flags.
53. The system of claim 50 wherein the control circuitry is configured to determine if the selected one asset is available for display without commercials by:
analyzing at least one black frame interval of the selected one asset;
determining, from the at least one black frame interval, a start time and a stop time of the commercials within the selected one asset; and
displaying the selected one asset without commercials based on the determined start time and the stop time of the commercials.
54. The system of claim 50 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
calculate the runtime of the selected one asset without commercials; and
update the display of the interactive grid to reflect the calculated runtime of the selected one asset without commercials.
55. The system of claim 54 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to, in response to updating the display of the interactive grid, automatically pack the interactive grid.
56. The system of claim 31 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to receive a user request to change a planned viewing time of one asset of the plurality of media assets.
57. The system of claim 56 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to schedule the one asset for recording in response to the receiving a user request to change a planned viewing time of the one asset of the plurality of assets.
58. The system of claim 56 wherein the control circuitry is configured to receive a user request to change the planned viewing time of the one asset of the plurality of media assets by receiving a request to drag an edge of the identifier for the one asset in a direction of the dimension that substantially represents the time period on the particular date.
59. The system of claim 56 wherein the control circuitry is configured to receive a user request to change the planned viewing time of the one asset of the plurality of media assets by extending the viewing time of the one asset.
60. The system of claim 31 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
receive a user request to split a planned viewing time of one asset of the plurality of media assets; and
in response to receiving the user request to split the planned viewing time, display at least two segments for the planned viewing time of the one asset in the interactive grid.
US11/888,637 2006-07-31 2007-07-31 Systems and methods for providing media guidance planners Abandoned US20080066106A1 (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US11/888,637 US20080066106A1 (en) 2006-07-31 2007-07-31 Systems and methods for providing media guidance planners

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US83460506P 2006-07-31 2006-07-31
US90380807P 2007-02-26 2007-02-26
US11/888,637 US20080066106A1 (en) 2006-07-31 2007-07-31 Systems and methods for providing media guidance planners

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US20080066106A1 true US20080066106A1 (en) 2008-03-13

Family

ID=38830381

Family Applications (14)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US11/888,637 Abandoned US20080066106A1 (en) 2006-07-31 2007-07-31 Systems and methods for providing media guidance planners
US11/888,676 Active 2030-01-03 US8281341B2 (en) 2006-07-31 2007-07-31 Systems and methods for providing media guidance planners
US11/888,616 Active 2031-11-10 US8640165B2 (en) 2006-07-31 2007-07-31 Systems and methods for providing enhanced sports watching media guidance
US11/888,675 Active 2031-06-01 US8745661B2 (en) 2006-07-31 2007-07-31 Systems and methods for providing enhanced sports watching media guidance
US11/888,678 Active 2029-01-07 US8799954B1 (en) 2006-07-31 2007-07-31 Systems and methods for providing custom media content flipping
US11/888,679 Active 2029-05-20 US7985134B2 (en) 2006-07-31 2007-07-31 Systems and methods for providing enhanced sports watching media guidance
US13/758,935 Abandoned US20130167168A1 (en) 2006-07-31 2013-02-04 Systems and methods for providing custom movie lists
US14/258,974 Active 2027-10-17 US9407854B2 (en) 2006-07-31 2014-04-22 Systems and methods for providing enhanced sports watching media guidance
US14/258,956 Abandoned US20140229887A1 (en) 2006-07-31 2014-04-22 Systems and methods for providing enhanced sports watching media guidance
US14/258,924 Active US9215397B2 (en) 2006-07-31 2014-04-22 Systems and methods for providing enhanced sports watching media guidance
US14/316,338 Active US9544526B2 (en) 2006-07-31 2014-06-26 Systems and methods for providing custom media content flipping
US16/045,509 Abandoned US20190020846A1 (en) 2006-07-31 2018-07-25 Systems and methods for providing enhanced sports watching media guidance
US17/394,284 Pending US20210368128A1 (en) 2006-07-31 2021-08-04 Systems and methods for providing enhanced sports watching media guidance
US18/087,101 Pending US20230130517A1 (en) 2006-07-31 2022-12-22 Systems and methods for providing enhanced sports watching media guidance simultaneous with audio

Family Applications After (13)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US11/888,676 Active 2030-01-03 US8281341B2 (en) 2006-07-31 2007-07-31 Systems and methods for providing media guidance planners
US11/888,616 Active 2031-11-10 US8640165B2 (en) 2006-07-31 2007-07-31 Systems and methods for providing enhanced sports watching media guidance
US11/888,675 Active 2031-06-01 US8745661B2 (en) 2006-07-31 2007-07-31 Systems and methods for providing enhanced sports watching media guidance
US11/888,678 Active 2029-01-07 US8799954B1 (en) 2006-07-31 2007-07-31 Systems and methods for providing custom media content flipping
US11/888,679 Active 2029-05-20 US7985134B2 (en) 2006-07-31 2007-07-31 Systems and methods for providing enhanced sports watching media guidance
US13/758,935 Abandoned US20130167168A1 (en) 2006-07-31 2013-02-04 Systems and methods for providing custom movie lists
US14/258,974 Active 2027-10-17 US9407854B2 (en) 2006-07-31 2014-04-22 Systems and methods for providing enhanced sports watching media guidance
US14/258,956 Abandoned US20140229887A1 (en) 2006-07-31 2014-04-22 Systems and methods for providing enhanced sports watching media guidance
US14/258,924 Active US9215397B2 (en) 2006-07-31 2014-04-22 Systems and methods for providing enhanced sports watching media guidance
US14/316,338 Active US9544526B2 (en) 2006-07-31 2014-06-26 Systems and methods for providing custom media content flipping
US16/045,509 Abandoned US20190020846A1 (en) 2006-07-31 2018-07-25 Systems and methods for providing enhanced sports watching media guidance
US17/394,284 Pending US20210368128A1 (en) 2006-07-31 2021-08-04 Systems and methods for providing enhanced sports watching media guidance
US18/087,101 Pending US20230130517A1 (en) 2006-07-31 2022-12-22 Systems and methods for providing enhanced sports watching media guidance simultaneous with audio

Country Status (5)

Country Link
US (14) US20080066106A1 (en)
EP (2) EP2475166A1 (en)
JP (1) JP2009545921A (en)
CA (1) CA2658519A1 (en)
WO (2) WO2008016611A2 (en)

Cited By (42)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20080216119A1 (en) * 2007-03-03 2008-09-04 Howard Pfeffer Methods and apparatus for implementing guides and using recording information in determining program to communications channel mappings
US20080216135A1 (en) * 2007-03-03 2008-09-04 Howard Pfeffer Methods and apparatus for improved content delivery including content delivery streams dynamically populated in response to user requests
US20080216136A1 (en) * 2007-03-03 2008-09-04 Howard Pfeffer Methods and apparatus supporting the recording of multiple simultaneously broadcast programs communicated using the same communications channel
US20080238723A1 (en) * 2007-03-28 2008-10-02 Fein Gene S Digital Windshield Information System Employing a Recommendation Engine Keyed to a Map Database System
US20080256453A1 (en) * 2007-04-10 2008-10-16 Fein Gene S Integrated digital media projection and personal digital data processing system
US20090049469A1 (en) * 2007-08-17 2009-02-19 Att Knowledge Ventures L.P. Targeted online, telephone and television advertisements based on cross-service subscriber profiling
US20090064221A1 (en) * 2007-08-28 2009-03-05 Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. Method of automatically switching television channels
US20090133078A1 (en) * 2007-11-16 2009-05-21 United Video Properties, Inc Systems and methods for automatically purchasing and recording popular pay programs in an interactive media delivery system
US20090165072A1 (en) * 2007-12-19 2009-06-25 General Instrument Corporation Method and apparatus for deferring transmission of an sdv program to conserve network resources
US20090178083A1 (en) * 2008-01-04 2009-07-09 Guideworks, Llc Systems and methods for selecting media assets for display in a screen of an interactive media guidance application
US20090183204A1 (en) * 2008-01-10 2009-07-16 At&T Knowledge Ventures,L.P. System and method for collecting opinion data
US20090249409A1 (en) * 2008-03-25 2009-10-01 International Business Machines Corporation Dynamic rebroadcast scheduling of videos
US20090249397A1 (en) * 2008-03-25 2009-10-01 International Business Machines Corporation Video episode order adherence
US20090327182A1 (en) * 2008-06-27 2009-12-31 International Business Machines Corporation Calendar based personalized recommendations
US20100088293A1 (en) * 2008-10-03 2010-04-08 At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. Apparatus, methods and computer products for selection of content based on transcript searches
US20100125868A1 (en) * 2008-11-17 2010-05-20 At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. System and Method for Content Delivery
US20100241749A1 (en) * 2009-03-23 2010-09-23 Jens Eilstrup Rasmussen System and Method for Editing a Conversation in a Hosted Conversation System
US20100262509A1 (en) * 2009-04-13 2010-10-14 International Business Machines Corporation Method and system of preserving purchased on-demand transportation entertainment services across different journey segments or separate trips
US20100325666A1 (en) * 2007-12-21 2010-12-23 Wiser Philip R System for content delivery
US20100333137A1 (en) * 2009-06-30 2010-12-30 Gemstar Development Corporation Methods and systems for content scheduling across multiple devices
US20110016491A1 (en) * 2007-05-08 2011-01-20 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Method and apparatus for selecting one of a plurality of video channels for viewings
US20110138417A1 (en) * 2009-12-04 2011-06-09 Rovi Technologies Corporation Systems and methods for providing interactive content with a media asset on a media equipment device
US20110135278A1 (en) * 2009-12-04 2011-06-09 Rovi Technologies Corporation Systems and methods for providing interactive content during writing and production of a media asset
US20110162020A1 (en) * 2009-12-29 2011-06-30 Kahn Raynold M Method and system for operating a multi-room digital video recording system
US20110179434A1 (en) * 2008-05-14 2011-07-21 Joerg Thomas Selection and personalisation system for media
US20120131605A1 (en) * 2010-11-19 2012-05-24 Microsoft Corporation Hybrid tuner control
US8510399B1 (en) 2010-05-18 2013-08-13 Google Inc. Automated participants for hosted conversations
US8527602B1 (en) * 2009-05-28 2013-09-03 Google Inc. Content upload system with preview and user demand based upload prioritization
WO2013184720A1 (en) * 2012-06-08 2013-12-12 The Directv Group, Inc. Method and system for displaying content or conflicts from multiple receiving devices on a second screen device
US8719879B2 (en) 2010-06-11 2014-05-06 Kuautli Media Investment Zrt. Method and apparatus for content delivery
US8732776B2 (en) 2010-07-01 2014-05-20 Kuautli Media Investment Zrt. End of show handling
US9021386B1 (en) 2009-05-28 2015-04-28 Google Inc. Enhanced user interface scrolling system
US9026935B1 (en) 2010-05-28 2015-05-05 Google Inc. Application user interface with an interactive overlay
CN104869463A (en) * 2014-02-21 2015-08-26 中兴通讯股份有限公司 Set top box alarming method and set top box
US9185326B2 (en) 2010-06-11 2015-11-10 Disney Enterprises, Inc. System and method enabling visual filtering of content
US9363464B2 (en) * 2010-06-21 2016-06-07 Echostar Technologies L.L.C. Systems and methods for history-based decision making in a television receiver
US9380011B2 (en) 2010-05-28 2016-06-28 Google Inc. Participant-specific markup
US9554163B2 (en) 1998-07-14 2017-01-24 Rovi Guides, Inc. Client-server based interactive television program guide system with remote server recording
US9602444B2 (en) 2009-05-28 2017-03-21 Google Inc. Participant suggestion system
US10187689B2 (en) * 2017-03-16 2019-01-22 The Directv Group, Inc Dynamic advertisement insertion
US20220264186A1 (en) * 2015-08-31 2022-08-18 Opentv, Inc. Systems and methods for enabling a user to generate a plan to access content using multiple content services
EP4300977A1 (en) * 2022-07-01 2024-01-03 Google LLC Network-connected television devices with knowledge-based media content recommendations and unified user interfaces that present upcoming media content

Families Citing this family (568)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6661468B2 (en) * 1994-05-20 2003-12-09 United Video Properties, Inc. Electronic television program guide schedule system and method
US20050204384A1 (en) * 1994-08-31 2005-09-15 Gemstar Development Corporation Method and apparatus for displaying television programs and related text
US6769128B1 (en) 1995-06-07 2004-07-27 United Video Properties, Inc. Electronic television program guide schedule system and method with data feed access
US5940073A (en) 1996-05-03 1999-08-17 Starsight Telecast Inc. Method and system for displaying other information in a TV program guide
US8635649B2 (en) 1996-12-19 2014-01-21 Gemstar Development Corporation System and method for modifying advertisement responsive to EPG information
DK1036466T3 (en) 1997-07-21 2003-07-14 Guide E Inc Steps to navigate a TV listings with creatives
US20020095676A1 (en) 1998-05-15 2002-07-18 Robert A. Knee Interactive television program guide system for determining user values for demographic categories
US6898762B2 (en) 1998-08-21 2005-05-24 United Video Properties, Inc. Client-server electronic program guide
US8589975B2 (en) 1998-08-21 2013-11-19 United Video Properties, Inc. Electronic program guide with advance notification
US7600246B2 (en) * 2002-04-17 2009-10-06 Microsoft Corporation Method and apparatus for analyzing program data
US7637810B2 (en) 2005-08-09 2009-12-29 Cfph, Llc System and method for wireless gaming system with alerts
US8616967B2 (en) 2004-02-25 2013-12-31 Cfph, Llc System and method for convenience gaming
US8092303B2 (en) 2004-02-25 2012-01-10 Cfph, Llc System and method for convenience gaming
US7534169B2 (en) 2005-07-08 2009-05-19 Cfph, Llc System and method for wireless gaming system with user profiles
US20070060358A1 (en) 2005-08-10 2007-03-15 Amaitis Lee M System and method for wireless gaming with location determination
US8375119B2 (en) 2004-07-27 2013-02-12 At&T Intellectual Property I, L. P. Methods, systems, devices, and products for providing alerts for communications
US8640166B1 (en) 2005-05-06 2014-01-28 Rovi Guides, Inc. Systems and methods for content surfing
US8070604B2 (en) 2005-08-09 2011-12-06 Cfph, Llc System and method for providing wireless gaming as a service application
US10510214B2 (en) 2005-07-08 2019-12-17 Cfph, Llc System and method for peer-to-peer wireless gaming
US8533199B2 (en) * 2005-12-14 2013-09-10 Unifi Scientific Advances, Inc Intelligent bookmarks and information management system based on the same
US7835998B2 (en) 2006-03-06 2010-11-16 Veveo, Inc. Methods and systems for selecting and presenting content on a first system based on user preferences learned on a second system
US8316394B2 (en) 2006-03-24 2012-11-20 United Video Properties, Inc. Interactive media guidance application with intelligent navigation and display features
US20090089838A1 (en) * 2006-04-07 2009-04-02 Pino Jr Angelo J Template Based System, Device and Method for Providing Interactive Content
US7549576B2 (en) 2006-05-05 2009-06-23 Cfph, L.L.C. Systems and methods for providing access to wireless gaming devices
US7644861B2 (en) 2006-04-18 2010-01-12 Bgc Partners, Inc. Systems and methods for providing access to wireless gaming devices
US8939359B2 (en) 2006-05-05 2015-01-27 Cfph, Llc Game access device with time varying signal
US9008598B2 (en) * 2006-06-16 2015-04-14 Core Wireless Licensing S.A.R.L Broadcast channel identification
US8327266B2 (en) 2006-07-11 2012-12-04 Napo Enterprises, Llc Graphical user interface system for allowing management of a media item playlist based on a preference scoring system
US9003056B2 (en) * 2006-07-11 2015-04-07 Napo Enterprises, Llc Maintaining a minimum level of real time media recommendations in the absence of online friends
CA2658519A1 (en) 2006-07-31 2008-02-07 United Video Properties, Inc. Systems and methods for providing media guidance planners
US8108795B2 (en) * 2006-09-07 2012-01-31 Yahoo! Inc. System and method for the visualization of sports information
US9852430B2 (en) * 2006-10-03 2017-12-26 Microsoft Technology Licensing, Llc Dynamic generation of advertisement text
US8832742B2 (en) 2006-10-06 2014-09-09 United Video Properties, Inc. Systems and methods for acquiring, categorizing and delivering media in interactive media guidance applications
US9306952B2 (en) 2006-10-26 2016-04-05 Cfph, Llc System and method for wireless gaming with location determination
US8292741B2 (en) 2006-10-26 2012-10-23 Cfph, Llc Apparatus, processes and articles for facilitating mobile gaming
US8645709B2 (en) 2006-11-14 2014-02-04 Cfph, Llc Biometric access data encryption
US9411944B2 (en) 2006-11-15 2016-08-09 Cfph, Llc Biometric access sensitivity
US8510567B2 (en) 2006-11-14 2013-08-13 Cfph, Llc Conditional biometric access in a gaming environment
US9270963B2 (en) 2007-01-03 2016-02-23 Tivo Inc. Program shortcuts
US9071729B2 (en) * 2007-01-09 2015-06-30 Cox Communications, Inc. Providing user communication
KR101265635B1 (en) * 2007-01-10 2013-05-23 엘지전자 주식회사 A receiving method and a receiving apparatus for broadcast signak
USRE47718E1 (en) * 2007-01-10 2019-11-05 Lg Electronics Inc. Method of transmitting/receiving digital contents and apparatus for receiving digital contents
US20090049473A1 (en) * 2007-01-23 2009-02-19 Cox Communications, Inc. Providing a Video User Interface
US8789102B2 (en) * 2007-01-23 2014-07-22 Cox Communications, Inc. Providing a customized user interface
US8806532B2 (en) * 2007-01-23 2014-08-12 Cox Communications, Inc. Providing a user interface
US20090063994A1 (en) * 2007-01-23 2009-03-05 Cox Communications, Inc. Providing a Content Mark
US20090313664A1 (en) * 2007-01-23 2009-12-17 Cox Communications, Inc. Providing a Video User Interface
US8418204B2 (en) * 2007-01-23 2013-04-09 Cox Communications, Inc. Providing a video user interface
US8869191B2 (en) * 2007-01-23 2014-10-21 Cox Communications, Inc. Providing a media guide including parental information
US9135334B2 (en) * 2007-01-23 2015-09-15 Cox Communications, Inc. Providing a social network
US8319601B2 (en) 2007-03-14 2012-11-27 Cfph, Llc Game account access device
US9183693B2 (en) 2007-03-08 2015-11-10 Cfph, Llc Game access device
US8581721B2 (en) 2007-03-08 2013-11-12 Cfph, Llc Game access device with privileges
US7801888B2 (en) 2007-03-09 2010-09-21 Microsoft Corporation Media content search results ranked by popularity
US8396473B2 (en) * 2007-03-16 2013-03-12 Symbol Technologies, Inc. Intelligent scanning system and method for walkie-talkie devices
KR101328946B1 (en) * 2007-03-26 2013-11-13 엘지전자 주식회사 method for transmitting/receiving a broadcast signal and apparatus for receiving a broadcast signal
JP2008252160A (en) * 2007-03-29 2008-10-16 Casio Hitachi Mobile Communications Co Ltd Broadcast receiver and program
KR101345392B1 (en) * 2007-04-03 2013-12-24 삼성전자주식회사 Method and apparatus for receiving digital contents through data broadcasting channel
US7941764B2 (en) 2007-04-04 2011-05-10 Abo Enterprises, Llc System and method for assigning user preference settings for a category, and in particular a media category
US20080250067A1 (en) * 2007-04-06 2008-10-09 Concert Technology Corporation System and method for selectively identifying media items for play based on a recommender playlist
US20090082111A1 (en) * 2007-04-06 2009-03-26 Smith Michael J System and method for connecting users based on common interests, such as shared interests of representations of professional athletes
WO2008144255A1 (en) * 2007-05-16 2008-11-27 Singular Logic, Llc Interactive customizable broadcast
US8832220B2 (en) 2007-05-29 2014-09-09 Domingo Enterprises, Llc System and method for increasing data availability on a mobile device based on operating mode
US8839141B2 (en) 2007-06-01 2014-09-16 Napo Enterprises, Llc Method and system for visually indicating a replay status of media items on a media device
US7861267B2 (en) * 2007-07-05 2010-12-28 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Method and system for presenting TV channels
US8407737B1 (en) 2007-07-11 2013-03-26 Rovi Guides, Inc. Systems and methods for providing a scan transport bar
US9693106B2 (en) 2007-07-26 2017-06-27 The Directv Group, Inc. Method and system for preordering content in a user device associated with a content processing system
US20090055538A1 (en) * 2007-08-21 2009-02-26 Microsoft Corporation Content commentary
JP5251039B2 (en) * 2007-08-23 2013-07-31 ソニー株式会社 Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program
US7945482B2 (en) 2007-08-23 2011-05-17 Ebay Inc. Viewing shopping information on a network-based social platform
US7720722B2 (en) 2007-08-23 2010-05-18 Ebay Inc. Sharing shopping information on a network-based social platform
US9351048B1 (en) 2007-08-29 2016-05-24 The Directv Group, Inc. Method and system for assigning a channel to data in a data stream
US20090064237A1 (en) * 2007-09-05 2009-03-05 The Directv Group, Inc. User-selectable variable-sized chip overlay of video broadcast
JP2009076981A (en) * 2007-09-18 2009-04-09 Toshiba Corp Mobile terminal
US7827202B2 (en) * 2007-09-21 2010-11-02 Verizon Patent And Licensing Inc. Content scheduling for fantasy gaming
US9824389B2 (en) 2007-10-13 2017-11-21 The Directv Group, Inc. Method and system for confirming the download of content at a user device
US8301570B2 (en) * 2007-10-29 2012-10-30 Infosys Technologies Limited Method and system for data security in an IMS network
US20090119328A1 (en) * 2007-11-05 2009-05-07 United Video Properties, Inc. Bookmarks for program note information
US9319718B2 (en) * 2007-11-19 2016-04-19 Sony Corporation Content server, content providing system, content providing method and computer program
US20110009188A1 (en) * 2007-11-20 2011-01-13 Adiraju Srinivyasa M Controlling wagering transactions for multi-provider game content
US8224856B2 (en) * 2007-11-26 2012-07-17 Abo Enterprises, Llc Intelligent default weighting process for criteria utilized to score media content items
KR101358501B1 (en) * 2007-12-14 2014-02-05 엘지전자 주식회사 Data broadcast receiver and method for gathering data boadcasting application
US20090170603A1 (en) * 2007-12-28 2009-07-02 Yahoo! Inc. Sports community commentary
US8799801B2 (en) * 2008-01-16 2014-08-05 Qualcomm Incorporated Interactive ticker
US9235648B2 (en) * 2008-01-16 2016-01-12 International Business Machines Corporation Automated surfacing of tagged content in vertical applications
US10699242B2 (en) 2008-01-16 2020-06-30 International Business Machines Corporation Automated surfacing of tagged content adjunct to vertical applications
US9326099B2 (en) 2008-02-11 2016-04-26 Popular Metrics, Inc. System and method for determining audience characteristics of a music concert based on mobile phone tracking and mobile data transmissions
US9122749B2 (en) 2009-02-04 2015-09-01 Popular Metrics, Inc. Internet based system and method for wagering on an artist
US9323836B2 (en) 2008-02-11 2016-04-26 Popular Metrics, Inc. Internet based method and system for ranking artists using a popularity profile
US8515253B2 (en) * 2008-02-15 2013-08-20 Sony Computer Entertainment America Llc System and method for automated creation of video game highlights
US8430741B2 (en) * 2008-03-04 2013-04-30 Wms Gaming, Inc. Presenting wagering game content in multiple windows
US20090228922A1 (en) * 2008-03-10 2009-09-10 United Video Properties, Inc. Methods and devices for presenting an interactive media guidance application
US9378286B2 (en) * 2008-03-14 2016-06-28 Microsoft Technology Licensing, Llc Implicit user interest marks in media content
US20090249400A1 (en) * 2008-03-27 2009-10-01 United Video Properties, Inc. Systems and methods for providing on-demand media content
US20110028207A1 (en) * 2008-03-31 2011-02-03 Gagner Mark B Integrating video broadcasts into wagering games
US8187079B2 (en) * 2008-04-08 2012-05-29 Wms Gaming Inc. Gaming system with patterned enhancement features
US7543322B1 (en) * 2008-05-06 2009-06-02 International Business Machines Corporation Method for enhanced event specific features on personal video recorders
US8989561B1 (en) * 2008-05-29 2015-03-24 Rovi Guides, Inc. Systems and methods for alerting users of the postponed recording of programs
US9083853B2 (en) * 2008-06-02 2015-07-14 Intent IQ, LLC Targeted television advertisements associated with online users' preferred television programs or channels
US20090312103A1 (en) * 2008-06-12 2009-12-17 D-Media System Co., Ltd. Interactive live sports game watching system and game watching device therefor
US8601526B2 (en) 2008-06-13 2013-12-03 United Video Properties, Inc. Systems and methods for displaying media content and media guidance information
US8602564B2 (en) * 2008-06-17 2013-12-10 The Invention Science Fund I, Llc Methods and systems for projecting in response to position
US20100066689A1 (en) * 2008-06-17 2010-03-18 Jung Edward K Y Devices related to projection input surfaces
US20090313150A1 (en) * 2008-06-17 2009-12-17 Searete Llc, A Limited Liability Corporation Of The State Of Delaware Methods associated with projection billing
US8403501B2 (en) 2008-06-17 2013-03-26 The Invention Science Fund, I, LLC Motion responsive devices and systems
US8733952B2 (en) * 2008-06-17 2014-05-27 The Invention Science Fund I, Llc Methods and systems for coordinated use of two or more user responsive projectors
US20090309828A1 (en) * 2008-06-17 2009-12-17 Searete Llc, A Limited Liability Corporation Of The State Of Delaware Methods and systems for transmitting instructions associated with user parameter responsive projection
US8267526B2 (en) * 2008-06-17 2012-09-18 The Invention Science Fund I, Llc Methods associated with receiving and transmitting information related to projection
US8308304B2 (en) * 2008-06-17 2012-11-13 The Invention Science Fund I, Llc Systems associated with receiving and transmitting information related to projection
US8944608B2 (en) * 2008-06-17 2015-02-03 The Invention Science Fund I, Llc Systems and methods associated with projecting in response to conformation
US20090310103A1 (en) * 2008-06-17 2009-12-17 Searete Llc, A Limited Liability Corporation Of The State Of Delaware Methods and systems for receiving information associated with the coordinated use of two or more user responsive projectors
US8723787B2 (en) * 2008-06-17 2014-05-13 The Invention Science Fund I, Llc Methods and systems related to an image capture projection surface
US8384005B2 (en) * 2008-06-17 2013-02-26 The Invention Science Fund I, Llc Systems and methods for selectively projecting information in response to at least one specified motion associated with pressure applied to at least one projection surface
US20090312854A1 (en) * 2008-06-17 2009-12-17 Searete Llc, A Limited Liability Corporation Of The State Of Delaware Methods and systems for transmitting information associated with the coordinated use of two or more user responsive projectors
US20090309826A1 (en) * 2008-06-17 2009-12-17 Searete Llc, A Limited Liability Corporation Of The State Of Delaware Systems and devices
US8955984B2 (en) * 2008-06-17 2015-02-17 The Invention Science Fund I, Llc Projection associated methods and systems
US8262236B2 (en) * 2008-06-17 2012-09-11 The Invention Science Fund I, Llc Systems and methods for transmitting information associated with change of a projection surface
US20090313152A1 (en) * 2008-06-17 2009-12-17 Searete Llc, A Limited Liability Corporation Of The State Of Delaware Systems associated with projection billing
US20110176119A1 (en) * 2008-06-17 2011-07-21 Searete Llc, A Limited Liability Corporation Of The State Of Delaware Methods and systems for projecting in response to conformation
US20090310039A1 (en) * 2008-06-17 2009-12-17 Searete Llc, A Limited Liability Corporation Of The State Of Delaware Methods and systems for user parameter responsive projection
US20090313151A1 (en) * 2008-06-17 2009-12-17 Searete Llc, A Limited Liability Corporation Of The State Of Delaware Methods associated with projection system billing
US8641203B2 (en) * 2008-06-17 2014-02-04 The Invention Science Fund I, Llc Methods and systems for receiving and transmitting signals between server and projector apparatuses
US8936367B2 (en) 2008-06-17 2015-01-20 The Invention Science Fund I, Llc Systems and methods associated with projecting in response to conformation
US8608321B2 (en) 2008-06-17 2013-12-17 The Invention Science Fund I, Llc Systems and methods for projecting in response to conformation
US8839327B2 (en) * 2008-06-25 2014-09-16 At&T Intellectual Property Ii, Lp Method and apparatus for presenting media programs
JP4760864B2 (en) * 2008-06-25 2011-08-31 ソニー株式会社 Information processing apparatus, information processing method, program, and information processing system
US8209713B1 (en) * 2008-07-11 2012-06-26 The Directv Group, Inc. Television advertisement monitoring system
US7996422B2 (en) 2008-07-22 2011-08-09 At&T Intellectual Property L.L.P. System and method for adaptive media playback based on destination
US8990848B2 (en) * 2008-07-22 2015-03-24 At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. System and method for temporally adaptive media playback
US8782731B2 (en) * 2008-07-23 2014-07-15 Centurylink Intellectual Property Llc System, method, and apparatus for providing digital video recorder services on a portable wireless device
US20100037263A1 (en) * 2008-08-08 2010-02-11 The Directv Group, Inc. Method and apparatus for scheduling interactive content in a broadcast communication system
US20100035679A1 (en) * 2008-08-11 2010-02-11 Oram Thomas K Systems and methods for wager management
TWI455012B (en) * 2008-08-19 2014-10-01 Wistron Corp A method for displaying the divided pictures of the display and the electronic device applying the method
US8644688B2 (en) * 2008-08-26 2014-02-04 Opentv, Inc. Community-based recommendation engine
US10827066B2 (en) 2008-08-28 2020-11-03 The Directv Group, Inc. Method and system for ordering content using a voice menu system
CN102138132A (en) * 2008-09-01 2011-07-27 三菱数字电子美国公司 Systems and methods to enhance television viewing
US20100064221A1 (en) * 2008-09-11 2010-03-11 At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. Method and apparatus to provide media content
US8560371B2 (en) * 2008-09-26 2013-10-15 Microsoft Corporation Suggesting things to do during time slots in a schedule
US20100083319A1 (en) * 2008-09-30 2010-04-01 Echostar Technologies Llc Methods and apparatus for locating content in an electronic programming guide
BRPI0804100A2 (en) * 2008-09-30 2010-07-06 Tqtvd Software Ltda digital file manager and method for digital data management in a digital tv reception apparatus
US8869197B2 (en) * 2008-10-01 2014-10-21 At&T Intellectual Property I, Lp Presentation of an avatar in a media communication system
WO2010042375A1 (en) * 2008-10-08 2010-04-15 Wms Gaming, Inc. In-casino to online casino interactivity
US20100099446A1 (en) * 2008-10-22 2010-04-22 Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (Publ) Method and node for selecting content for use in a mobile user device
US20110212785A1 (en) * 2008-11-13 2011-09-01 Wms Gaming, Inc. Presenting content in wagering game systems
JP5156594B2 (en) * 2008-11-19 2013-03-06 キヤノン株式会社 Reproducing apparatus and control method thereof
US20160005258A1 (en) * 2008-12-13 2016-01-07 Harry Platis Wagering Systems and Methods
US9152300B2 (en) * 2008-12-31 2015-10-06 Tivo Inc. Methods and techniques for adaptive search
US9037999B2 (en) * 2008-12-31 2015-05-19 Tivo Inc. Adaptive search result user interface
US9396258B2 (en) * 2009-01-22 2016-07-19 Google Inc. Recommending video programs
JP5690473B2 (en) 2009-01-28 2015-03-25 任天堂株式会社 Program and information processing apparatus
JP5527721B2 (en) 2009-01-28 2014-06-25 任天堂株式会社 Program and information processing apparatus
JP5813912B2 (en) 2009-01-28 2015-11-17 任天堂株式会社 Program, information processing apparatus, and information processing system
JP5229484B2 (en) 2009-01-28 2013-07-03 任天堂株式会社 Information processing system, program, and information processing apparatus
US8150956B2 (en) 2009-02-09 2012-04-03 Cfph, Llc Mobile gaming alert
US20100211988A1 (en) * 2009-02-18 2010-08-19 Microsoft Corporation Managing resources to display media content
US20100215340A1 (en) * 2009-02-20 2010-08-26 Microsoft Corporation Triggers For Launching Applications
US20120060186A1 (en) * 2009-02-27 2012-03-08 JVC Kenwood Corporation Information reception apparatus, information reception method, computer program for information reception, and information distribution apparatus
US9069585B2 (en) * 2009-03-02 2015-06-30 Microsoft Corporation Application tune manifests and tune state recovery
US20100231792A1 (en) * 2009-03-12 2010-09-16 Microsoft Corporation Seamlessly cycled video resources
US9088757B2 (en) * 2009-03-25 2015-07-21 Eloy Technology, Llc Method and system for socially ranking programs
US9215423B2 (en) 2009-03-30 2015-12-15 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Recommendation engine apparatus and methods
US11076189B2 (en) * 2009-03-30 2021-07-27 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Personal media channel apparatus and methods
US8387094B1 (en) * 2009-04-09 2013-02-26 Tp Lab, Inc. Method and system to automatically select data network videos as television shows based on a persona
KR20100123059A (en) * 2009-05-14 2010-11-24 삼성전자주식회사 Contents information transmitting method, contents proposing method, reliability providing method of contents proposing information, and multimedia device using the same
US9626405B2 (en) * 2011-10-27 2017-04-18 Edmond K. Chow Trust network effect
US9237296B2 (en) * 2009-06-01 2016-01-12 Lg Electronics Inc. Image display apparatus and operating method thereof
US8347228B1 (en) * 2009-06-08 2013-01-01 Sprint Communications Company L.P. User interface screen presentation prioritization
KR101626461B1 (en) * 2009-06-09 2016-06-02 삼성전자주식회사 Method for providing UI and display apparatus applying the same
KR101654368B1 (en) * 2009-06-12 2016-09-05 엘지전자 주식회사 Method and apparatus for receiving a broadcasting signal
DE102009025263A1 (en) * 2009-06-17 2010-12-30 Amusys Amusement Systems Electronics Gmbh Method and device for transmitting event data
US9307205B2 (en) * 2009-06-18 2016-04-05 Centurylink Intellectual Property Llc System and method for utilizing a secured service provider memory
US8292725B2 (en) * 2009-07-22 2012-10-23 Football Nation Holdings, Llc Fantasy sports game and method of conducting same
US20110028206A1 (en) * 2009-07-28 2011-02-03 Leaguesafe, Llc Fantasy league payment and administration
KR20110021195A (en) * 2009-08-25 2011-03-04 삼성전자주식회사 Method and apparatus for detecting an important information from a moving picture
US9348913B2 (en) * 2009-09-09 2016-05-24 Yahoo! Inc. Selecting sporting events based on event status
US9166714B2 (en) 2009-09-11 2015-10-20 Veveo, Inc. Method of and system for presenting enriched video viewing analytics
US8881222B2 (en) * 2009-09-23 2014-11-04 At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. Multimedia interactive simulator
US9014546B2 (en) 2009-09-23 2015-04-21 Rovi Guides, Inc. Systems and methods for automatically detecting users within detection regions of media devices
US9043829B2 (en) * 2009-10-07 2015-05-26 At&T Intellectual Property I, Lp Synchronization of user interactive events with on-screen events during playback of multimedia stream
US8434121B2 (en) 2009-10-16 2013-04-30 At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. System and method for monitoring whole home digital video recorder usage for internet protocol television
US10708663B2 (en) * 2009-11-13 2020-07-07 At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. Apparatus and method for media on demand commentaries
US20110119696A1 (en) * 2009-11-13 2011-05-19 At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. Gifting multimedia content using an electronic address book
US20110119719A1 (en) * 2009-11-13 2011-05-19 Echostar Technologies L.L.C. Mosaic Application for Generating Output Utilizing Content from Multiple Television Receivers
US20110265123A1 (en) * 2009-11-16 2011-10-27 Jon Morisey Method and System for Presenting Customized Content on a Television In Conjunction with Regular Programming
US8973049B2 (en) 2009-12-04 2015-03-03 Cox Communications, Inc. Content recommendations
US20110137976A1 (en) * 2009-12-04 2011-06-09 Bob Poniatowski Multifunction Multimedia Device
US8327404B2 (en) * 2009-12-09 2012-12-04 Verizon Patent And Licensing Inc. Methods and systems for providing enhanced content associated with a media content instance available for purchase
WO2011085035A1 (en) * 2010-01-07 2011-07-14 Divx, Llc Systems and methods for accessing content using an internet content guide
US8670648B2 (en) * 2010-01-29 2014-03-11 Xos Technologies, Inc. Video processing methods and systems
US8413187B1 (en) 2010-02-06 2013-04-02 Frontier Communications Corporation Method and system to request audiovisual content items matched to programs identified in a program grid
US8205227B1 (en) * 2010-02-06 2012-06-19 Frontier Communications Corporation Management and delivery of audiovisual content items that correspond to scheduled programs
US20110197227A1 (en) * 2010-02-11 2011-08-11 Alan Rouse Systems and methods for providing roaming video wanted list and roaming video preferences
US8832749B2 (en) * 2010-02-12 2014-09-09 Cox Communications, Inc. Personalizing TV content
US20110258017A1 (en) * 2010-04-15 2011-10-20 Ffwd Corporation Interpretation of a trending term to develop a media content channel
US9401099B2 (en) * 2010-05-11 2016-07-26 AI Squared Dedicated on-screen closed caption display
US20120130940A1 (en) 2010-11-18 2012-05-24 Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Real-time analytics of streaming data
US8595234B2 (en) * 2010-05-17 2013-11-26 Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Processing data feeds
US9456247B1 (en) 2010-05-19 2016-09-27 The Directv Group, Inc. Method and system for changing communication parameters of a content delivery system based on feedback from user devices
BR112012029178A2 (en) * 2010-05-19 2018-05-15 Directv Group Inc Method and system for building a search list queue for a user in a content distribution system
US9883242B1 (en) 2010-05-19 2018-01-30 The Directv Group, Inc. Method and system for controlling a storage location of content in a user device
JP5754082B2 (en) * 2010-05-26 2015-07-22 船井電機株式会社 Video receiver
US9143807B2 (en) * 2010-06-22 2015-09-22 Livetv, Llc Registration of a personal electronic device (PED) with an aircraft IFE system using PED generated registration token images and associated methods
US9143732B2 (en) * 2010-06-22 2015-09-22 Livetv, Llc Aircraft IFE system cooperating with a personal electronic device (PED) operating as a commerce device and associated methods
US20110321105A1 (en) * 2010-06-24 2011-12-29 Vanessa Ogle System and Method for Alternate Multi-Channel Bi-Directional Data Transmission
CN101883148B (en) * 2010-06-24 2012-12-26 华为终端有限公司 Method and device for adding schedule
US9832441B2 (en) * 2010-07-13 2017-11-28 Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. Supplemental content on a mobile device
US9159165B2 (en) 2010-07-13 2015-10-13 Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Position-dependent gaming, 3-D controller, and handheld as a remote
US8769434B2 (en) * 2010-08-11 2014-07-01 Nike, Inc. Intelligent display of information in a user interface
US9172979B2 (en) 2010-08-12 2015-10-27 Net Power And Light, Inc. Experience or “sentio” codecs, and methods and systems for improving QoE and encoding based on QoE experiences
US8956231B2 (en) 2010-08-13 2015-02-17 Cfph, Llc Multi-process communication regarding gaming information
US8974302B2 (en) 2010-08-13 2015-03-10 Cfph, Llc Multi-process communication regarding gaming information
US9557817B2 (en) 2010-08-13 2017-01-31 Wickr Inc. Recognizing gesture inputs using distributed processing of sensor data from multiple sensors
US8789117B2 (en) 2010-08-26 2014-07-22 Cox Communications, Inc. Content library
US8364013B2 (en) 2010-08-26 2013-01-29 Cox Communications, Inc. Content bookmarking
US9167302B2 (en) 2010-08-26 2015-10-20 Cox Communications, Inc. Playlist bookmarking
US10210160B2 (en) 2010-09-07 2019-02-19 Opentv, Inc. Collecting data from different sources
US9699503B2 (en) * 2010-09-07 2017-07-04 Opentv, Inc. Smart playlist
US8695054B2 (en) * 2010-09-29 2014-04-08 Verizon Patent And Licensing Inc. Ingesting heterogeneous video content to provide a unified video provisioning service
US8943541B2 (en) * 2010-10-11 2015-01-27 Eldon Technology Limited Holographic 3D display
US20120115554A1 (en) * 2010-11-04 2012-05-10 Christopher Scott Cairns System for providing an interactive sports betting game to a plurality of participants to compete for virtual goods or virtual currency units or both and share social information with other users
US8484244B2 (en) * 2010-12-17 2013-07-09 Fanhattan Llc Forecasting an availability of a media content item
WO2012088024A1 (en) * 2010-12-22 2012-06-28 Thomson Licensing Method for locating regions of interest in a user interface
US20120166955A1 (en) * 2010-12-28 2012-06-28 Michael Bender System and method for interactive event display
JP5095857B2 (en) * 2010-12-28 2012-12-12 シャープ株式会社 Program information notification apparatus, television receiver, program information notification method, program information notification program, and recording medium
US9433837B2 (en) * 2010-12-29 2016-09-06 Django Ltd. Information terminal, golf club management method, and program
US10390090B2 (en) * 2010-12-30 2019-08-20 Sony Corporation System and method for social interaction about content items such as movies
US9736524B2 (en) 2011-01-06 2017-08-15 Veveo, Inc. Methods of and systems for content search based on environment sampling
KR20120080985A (en) * 2011-01-10 2012-07-18 삼성전자주식회사 Method for displaying a image and broadcast receiving apparatus applying the same
KR20120099328A (en) * 2011-01-18 2012-09-10 엘지전자 주식회사 Method for bookmarking at least one of item in network tv and the network tv
US20120194742A1 (en) * 2011-01-27 2012-08-02 Sony Corporation System and method for displaying interactive information
US20120198508A1 (en) * 2011-02-01 2012-08-02 Sony Corporation Multiple device iptv cloud-based recording and playback
WO2012111978A2 (en) * 2011-02-15 2012-08-23 엘지전자 주식회사 Apparatus and method for transmitting and receiving a broadcasting service
US9021527B1 (en) 2011-02-23 2015-04-28 Sprint Communications Company L.P. Facilitating communication actions in accordance with cable attributes
US8473978B2 (en) * 2011-02-24 2013-06-25 Verizon Patent And Licensing Inc. Channel navigation
US9021607B2 (en) * 2011-02-25 2015-04-28 Avaya Inc. Advanced user interface and control paradigm including digital rights management features for multiple service operator extended functionality offers
US9183514B2 (en) 2011-02-25 2015-11-10 Avaya Inc. Advanced user interface and control paradigm including contextual collaboration for multiple service operator extended functionality offers
US8819729B2 (en) 2011-02-25 2014-08-26 Avaya Inc. Advanced user interface and control paradigm for multiple service operator extended functionality offers
US8468560B2 (en) * 2011-03-09 2013-06-18 A VerMedia Technologies, Inc. Apparatus and method of setting channel
US9883239B2 (en) * 2011-03-15 2018-01-30 Lg Electronics Inc. Method for transmitting broadcast service, receiving method thereof, and receiving device thereof
US10666732B2 (en) 2011-03-21 2020-05-26 Iplcontent, Llc Systems and methods to provide digital amenities for local access
KR101852818B1 (en) * 2011-04-29 2018-06-07 엘지전자 주식회사 A digital receiver and a method of controlling thereof
EP2712181A4 (en) * 2011-05-19 2014-12-10 Japan Broadcasting Corp Signal processing device and program
EP2712184A4 (en) * 2011-05-19 2014-10-22 Japan Broadcasting Corp Receiver
WO2012161125A1 (en) * 2011-05-20 2012-11-29 日本放送協会 Receiver, program and receiving method
GB2491344B (en) * 2011-05-23 2015-07-29 Samsung Electronics Co Ltd Record list management
US8972295B2 (en) * 2011-05-23 2015-03-03 Visible Market, Inc. Dynamic visual statistical data display and method for limited display device
US9723362B2 (en) 2011-06-07 2017-08-01 Lg Electronics Inc. Method for transmitting and receiving broadcast service and receiving device thereof
US9697695B2 (en) 2011-06-15 2017-07-04 Longitude Llc Enhanced parimutuel wagering filter
KR101360873B1 (en) * 2011-07-15 2014-02-11 네이버비즈니스플랫폼 주식회사 System and method for provding advertisement to synchronize between description of advertisement and point accumulating condition
WO2013013176A1 (en) * 2011-07-21 2013-01-24 Sirius Xm Radio Inc. Method and apparatus for delivery of programs and metadata to provide user alerts to tune to corresponding program channels before high interest events occur during playback of programs
EP2892228A1 (en) 2011-08-05 2015-07-08 Fox Sports Productions, Inc. Selective capture and presentation of native image portions
US11039109B2 (en) 2011-08-05 2021-06-15 Fox Sports Productions, Llc System and method for adjusting an image for a vehicle mounted camera
US8532798B2 (en) * 2011-08-23 2013-09-10 Longitude Llc Predicting outcomes of future sports events based on user-selected inputs
US11520741B2 (en) 2011-11-14 2022-12-06 Scorevision, LLC Independent content tagging of media files
US9038111B2 (en) * 2011-11-21 2015-05-19 Echostar Technologies L.L.C. Smart channel tuning
US9967621B2 (en) * 2011-12-15 2018-05-08 Rovi Technologies Corporation Dynamic personalized program content
EP2608010A3 (en) * 2011-12-21 2017-10-04 Ixonos OYJ Master application for touch screen apparatus
US8875184B1 (en) * 2011-12-27 2014-10-28 Amazon Technologies, Inc. Customization of media play
US8893167B2 (en) 2012-02-07 2014-11-18 Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Method and system for automatic content recognition based on customized user preferences
US9426123B2 (en) 2012-02-23 2016-08-23 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Apparatus and methods for content distribution to packet-enabled devices via a network bridge
WO2013132802A1 (en) * 2012-03-05 2013-09-12 株式会社カプコン Gaming program and gaming system
US8769583B2 (en) * 2012-03-29 2014-07-01 Sony Corporation Method and apparatus for content channels using references
US9467723B2 (en) 2012-04-04 2016-10-11 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Apparatus and methods for automated highlight reel creation in a content delivery network
JP5337920B1 (en) * 2012-04-17 2013-11-06 シャープ株式会社 Display device, display device control method, television receiver, control program, and recording medium
US11284137B2 (en) 2012-04-24 2022-03-22 Skreens Entertainment Technologies, Inc. Video processing systems and methods for display, selection and navigation of a combination of heterogeneous sources
US20180316941A1 (en) * 2012-04-24 2018-11-01 Skreens Entertainment Technologies, Inc. Systems and methods for video processing and display of a combination of heterogeneous sources and advertising content
US9544641B2 (en) * 2012-05-10 2017-01-10 Humax Co., Ltd. Hybrid transmission method through MMT packet format extension
US20130311408A1 (en) * 2012-05-15 2013-11-21 Comcast Cable Communications, Llc Determining and Predicting Popularity of Content
US9792285B2 (en) * 2012-06-01 2017-10-17 Excalibur Ip, Llc Creating a content index using data on user actions
US9965129B2 (en) 2012-06-01 2018-05-08 Excalibur Ip, Llc Personalized content from indexed archives
US9094708B2 (en) * 2012-06-08 2015-07-28 Rovi Guides, Inc. Methods and systems for prioritizing listings based on real-time data
US9648379B2 (en) 2012-06-11 2017-05-09 At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. Complimentary content based recording of media content
US20150163537A1 (en) * 2012-06-14 2015-06-11 Flextronics Ap, Llc Intelligent television
US9609374B2 (en) * 2012-06-27 2017-03-28 Rovi Guides, Inc. System and methods for automatically obtaining cost-efficient access to a media content collection
US9589418B2 (en) 2012-07-19 2017-03-07 Philip Paul Givant Specialized slot machine for conducting a wagering game using real time or live action event content
US11557179B2 (en) 2012-07-19 2023-01-17 Philip Paul Givant Specialized slot machine for conducting a wagering fantasy sports tournament
US20140045595A1 (en) * 2012-08-10 2014-02-13 Robert Joseph Baschnagel, III Friendly fantasy game challenge
CN104145434B (en) 2012-08-17 2017-12-12 青岛海信国际营销股份有限公司 The channel switch device of intelligent television
USD755210S1 (en) * 2012-08-17 2016-05-03 P&W Solutions Co., Ltd. Display screen with graphical user interface
US8843839B1 (en) * 2012-09-10 2014-09-23 Imdb.Com, Inc. Customized graphic identifiers
US9460608B2 (en) 2012-09-13 2016-10-04 Apple Inc. Reminder creation for tasks associated with a user event
US9351043B2 (en) * 2012-09-18 2016-05-24 Centurylink Intellectual Property Llc Metadata system for real-time updates to electronic program guides
CN104813680A (en) * 2012-09-28 2015-07-29 汤姆逊许可公司 Context-based content recommendations
CN102917265A (en) * 2012-10-25 2013-02-06 深圳创维-Rgb电子有限公司 Information browsing method and system based on network television
US9721263B2 (en) * 2012-10-26 2017-08-01 Nbcuniversal Media, Llc Continuously evolving symmetrical object profiles for online advertisement targeting
WO2014074392A1 (en) * 2012-11-08 2014-05-15 Gamblit Gaming, Llc A gambling hybrid game including a fantasy sports game as an entertainment game
US11558672B1 (en) * 2012-11-19 2023-01-17 Cox Communications, Inc. System for providing new content related to content currently being accessed
US20140139742A1 (en) * 2012-11-19 2014-05-22 United Video Properties, Inc. Methods and systems for displaying advertisements
US20140150007A1 (en) * 2012-11-27 2014-05-29 Cbs Interactive Inc. Automated point-based entertainment betting
US9591339B1 (en) 2012-11-27 2017-03-07 Apple Inc. Agnostic media delivery system
US9904680B2 (en) * 2012-12-04 2018-02-27 Cbs Interactive Inc. Automated milestone prediction and presentation
US9774917B1 (en) 2012-12-10 2017-09-26 Apple Inc. Channel bar user interface
US20140164954A1 (en) * 2012-12-12 2014-06-12 Timothy Romanowski Rating Viewable Events
US20140164935A1 (en) * 2012-12-12 2014-06-12 Dror Frommer System for rapid browsing of content
US10200761B1 (en) 2012-12-13 2019-02-05 Apple Inc. TV side bar user interface
US9532111B1 (en) 2012-12-18 2016-12-27 Apple Inc. Devices and method for providing remote control hints on a display
US9451202B2 (en) * 2012-12-27 2016-09-20 Echostar Technologies L.L.C. Content-based highlight recording of television programming
US9106965B2 (en) 2012-12-27 2015-08-11 Echostar Technologies L.L.C. Using idle resources to reduce channel change times
US9167278B2 (en) 2012-12-28 2015-10-20 Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Method and system for automatic content recognition (ACR) based broadcast synchronization
EP2939419A1 (en) * 2012-12-31 2015-11-04 Arçelik Anonim Sirketi A video recording device
US10521188B1 (en) 2012-12-31 2019-12-31 Apple Inc. Multi-user TV user interface
WO2014110364A2 (en) * 2013-01-10 2014-07-17 Pool Of Ages, Ltd. Fantasy league across multiple sports
KR20140094125A (en) * 2013-01-21 2014-07-30 삼성전자주식회사 display apparatus and method of providing customer-built information using the apparatus
US9357241B2 (en) 2013-02-14 2016-05-31 Lg Electronics Inc. Video display apparatus and operating method thereof
USD745043S1 (en) * 2013-02-23 2015-12-08 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Display screen or portion thereof with icon
US9165069B2 (en) * 2013-03-04 2015-10-20 Facebook, Inc. Ranking videos for a user
US11743515B1 (en) * 2013-03-14 2023-08-29 Cox Communications, Inc. Substitution of items in a central video library for personally recorded video content
US10019963B2 (en) * 2013-03-14 2018-07-10 Zumobi, Inc. Systems and methods for adaptive third party content
US10356035B1 (en) * 2013-03-15 2019-07-16 Cox Communications, Inc Recommendation system based on common interests in social networks
US20140282699A1 (en) * 2013-03-15 2014-09-18 Motive Television Plc Enhanced broadcast television for portable devices
US9632689B2 (en) * 2013-04-02 2017-04-25 Facebook, Inc. Interactive elements in a user interface
US20140325565A1 (en) * 2013-04-26 2014-10-30 Microsoft Corporation Contextual companion panel
JP6332771B2 (en) * 2013-05-03 2018-05-30 マーベル ワールド トレード リミテッド Beam modification and smoothing in mixed-mode WLAN systems
US20140344861A1 (en) 2013-05-14 2014-11-20 Tivo Inc. Method and system for trending media programs for a user
US10158925B2 (en) * 2013-05-22 2018-12-18 David S. Thompson Techniques for backfilling content
US8647201B1 (en) 2013-06-07 2014-02-11 Fantasy League Crunch LLC. Fantasy league aggregation system
US8840468B1 (en) 2013-06-07 2014-09-23 Fantasy League Crunch LLC Fantasy league weighted aggregation system
WO2014200514A1 (en) * 2013-06-10 2014-12-18 Thomson Licensing Method and system for recommending media to a user
US9247282B1 (en) * 2013-06-24 2016-01-26 Isaac S. Daniel System and method for interactive access of media content
US20150020011A1 (en) * 2013-07-15 2015-01-15 Verizon and Redbox Digital Entertainment Services, LLC Media program discovery assistance user interface systems and methods
US10362351B2 (en) * 2013-08-19 2019-07-23 Tivo Solutions, Inc. Dynamic tuner allocation
US10500479B1 (en) 2013-08-26 2019-12-10 Venuenext, Inc. Game state-sensitive selection of media sources for media coverage of a sporting event
US10282068B2 (en) * 2013-08-26 2019-05-07 Venuenext, Inc. Game event display with a scrollable graphical game play feed
US9575621B2 (en) 2013-08-26 2017-02-21 Venuenext, Inc. Game event display with scroll bar and play event icons
GB201316196D0 (en) * 2013-09-11 2013-10-23 Piksel Inc Triggering an action in a computer device
WO2015048338A1 (en) 2013-09-26 2015-04-02 Publicover Mark W Providing targeted content based on a user's moral values
US20150095927A1 (en) * 2013-10-01 2015-04-02 Sling Media Pvt Ltd Intelligent recording of favorite video content using a video services receiver
US20150100449A1 (en) * 2013-10-09 2015-04-09 Crisostomo Bautista Garcia Systems and methods for electronic auctions with a set number of bidders
US10297287B2 (en) 2013-10-21 2019-05-21 Thuuz, Inc. Dynamic media recording
US20150143439A1 (en) * 2013-11-19 2015-05-21 Sony Corporation Providing increased bandwidth for transmission of audio video content and supplemental content associated therewith
US9510056B2 (en) * 2013-11-27 2016-11-29 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Methods and apparatus that support display and use of a program guide based on time spent by a user dwelling on a channel
US9578377B1 (en) 2013-12-03 2017-02-21 Venuenext, Inc. Displaying a graphical game play feed based on automatically detecting bounds of plays or drives using game related data sources
US9736544B2 (en) 2013-12-23 2017-08-15 Sony Corporation Media player in quick menu
EP2890138A1 (en) * 2013-12-30 2015-07-01 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd Method of controlling display device for providing content and display device performing the same
US9071855B1 (en) * 2014-01-03 2015-06-30 Google Inc. Product availability notifications
US9336286B2 (en) * 2014-01-08 2016-05-10 Sap Se Graphical record matching process replay for a data quality user interface
KR102145737B1 (en) * 2014-01-09 2020-08-19 엘지전자 주식회사 multimedia device and method for displaying advertize broadcasting thereof
US9594471B1 (en) 2014-01-31 2017-03-14 Sprint Communications Company L.P. System and method for inserting additional icon content into a display screen
US20150221342A1 (en) * 2014-02-03 2015-08-06 Jong Wan Kim Method of Recording a Media Stream with Interactive Elements
US9779146B2 (en) * 2014-02-07 2017-10-03 Sap Se Graphical user interface for a data record matching application
US10674195B2 (en) * 2014-02-11 2020-06-02 Disney Enterprises, Inc. Method and system for detecting commercial breaks
US10169779B2 (en) * 2014-02-11 2019-01-01 Adobe Systems Incorporated Methods and apparatus for displaying in-product messages based on an individual's past message interaction
KR102277258B1 (en) * 2014-02-27 2021-07-14 엘지전자 주식회사 Digital device and method of processing application thereof
US9943765B2 (en) * 2014-03-20 2018-04-17 Score Fantasy Sports Inc. Fantasy sport lineup builder
EP3123713A4 (en) * 2014-03-26 2017-09-06 Mark W. Publicover Computerized method and system for providing customized entertainment content
US10838606B2 (en) 2014-03-31 2020-11-17 Rovi Guides, Inc. Methods and systems for performing dynamic searches using a media guidance application
US9344748B2 (en) * 2014-03-31 2016-05-17 Arris Enterprises, Inc. Adaptive streaming transcoder synchronization
EP3126969A4 (en) 2014-04-04 2017-04-12 Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC Expandable application representation
CN105359055A (en) 2014-04-10 2016-02-24 微软技术许可有限责任公司 Slider cover for computing device
KR20150119750A (en) * 2014-04-16 2015-10-26 삼성전자주식회사 Display apparatus, server, system and postviewing related content information providing and evaluating methods thereof
US9344749B2 (en) * 2014-04-28 2016-05-17 Rovi Guides, Inc. Methods and systems for preventing users from terminating services
US10183224B2 (en) * 2014-06-12 2019-01-22 Michael Neil MACCALLUM Fantasy sports manager for various devices
TWI540894B (en) * 2014-06-13 2016-07-01 國立臺灣大學 Display system and program selection method thereof
CN111782128B (en) 2014-06-24 2023-12-08 苹果公司 Column interface for navigating in a user interface
TWI585673B (en) 2014-06-24 2017-06-01 蘋果公司 Input device and user interface interactions
US9729933B2 (en) * 2014-06-30 2017-08-08 Rovi Guides, Inc. Systems and methods for loading interactive media guide data based on user history
US9854306B2 (en) 2014-07-28 2017-12-26 Echostar Technologies L.L.C. Methods and systems for content navigation among programs presenting advertising content
US20160041998A1 (en) * 2014-08-05 2016-02-11 NFL Enterprises LLC Apparatus and Methods for Personalized Video Delivery
US10106172B2 (en) * 2014-08-18 2018-10-23 Ford Global Technologies, Llc Shared vehicle system
US10595077B2 (en) * 2014-08-26 2020-03-17 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc User interface with content filtering and/or social networking integration
US10185467B2 (en) 2014-08-28 2019-01-22 Nagravision S.A. Intelligent content queuing from a secondary device
US10638082B2 (en) * 2014-08-28 2020-04-28 Gregory A. Pearson, Inc. Systems and methods for picture-in-picture video conference functionality
KR20160035106A (en) * 2014-09-19 2016-03-31 삼성전자주식회사 Apparatus for Processing Image, Method for Processing Image and Computer Readible Recording Medium
USD761308S1 (en) * 2014-09-19 2016-07-12 Xerox Corporation Display screen or portion thereof with device management function icon
US9697630B2 (en) 2014-10-01 2017-07-04 Sony Corporation Sign language window using picture-in-picture
US10204433B2 (en) 2014-10-01 2019-02-12 Sony Corporation Selective enablement of sign language display
US10097785B2 (en) * 2014-10-01 2018-10-09 Sony Corporation Selective sign language location
US9792957B2 (en) 2014-10-08 2017-10-17 JBF Interlude 2009 LTD Systems and methods for dynamic video bookmarking
US10419830B2 (en) 2014-10-09 2019-09-17 Thuuz, Inc. Generating a customized highlight sequence depicting an event
US11863848B1 (en) 2014-10-09 2024-01-02 Stats Llc User interface for interaction with customized highlight shows
US10433030B2 (en) 2014-10-09 2019-10-01 Thuuz, Inc. Generating a customized highlight sequence depicting multiple events
US10536758B2 (en) 2014-10-09 2020-01-14 Thuuz, Inc. Customized generation of highlight show with narrative component
WO2016065568A1 (en) 2014-10-30 2016-05-06 Microsoft Technology Licensing, Llc Multi-configuration input device
US9467733B2 (en) * 2014-11-14 2016-10-11 Echostar Technologies L.L.C. Intuitive timer
US20160148126A1 (en) 2014-11-20 2016-05-26 Atom Tickets, LLC Automated event concessions management system
US11159854B2 (en) 2014-12-13 2021-10-26 Fox Sports Productions, Llc Systems and methods for tracking and tagging objects within a broadcast
US11758238B2 (en) 2014-12-13 2023-09-12 Fox Sports Productions, Llc Systems and methods for displaying wind characteristics and effects within a broadcast
US10667008B1 (en) 2014-12-18 2020-05-26 The Directv Group, Inc. Method and system for setting and receiving user notifications for content available far in the future
US20160189173A1 (en) * 2014-12-30 2016-06-30 The Nielsen Company (Us), Llc Methods and apparatus to predict attitudes of consumers
US9571890B1 (en) 2014-12-31 2017-02-14 Google Inc. Methods, systems and media for selectively presenting broadcast content based on user interests
US9756378B2 (en) 2015-01-07 2017-09-05 Echostar Technologies L.L.C. Single file PVR per service ID
US9503791B2 (en) 2015-01-15 2016-11-22 Echostar Technologies L.L.C. Home screen intelligent viewing
WO2016118848A1 (en) * 2015-01-22 2016-07-28 Clearstream. Tv, Inc. Video advertising system
US10116676B2 (en) 2015-02-13 2018-10-30 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Apparatus and methods for data collection, analysis and service modification based on online activity
RU2017128098A (en) * 2015-02-13 2019-03-13 Панасоник Интеллекчуал Проперти Менеджмент Ко., Лтд. CONTENT PLAYBACK SYSTEM, VIDEO RECORDING DEVICE, TERMINAL DEVICE AND CONTENT PLAYBACK METHOD
US10397641B2 (en) * 2015-03-05 2019-08-27 Comcast Cable Communications, Llc Methods and systems for content management
WO2016154134A1 (en) * 2015-03-20 2016-09-29 Scorevision, LLC Method and system for presenting game-related information
CN104703019A (en) * 2015-03-25 2015-06-10 京东方科技集团股份有限公司 TV display method and device
US9980006B2 (en) * 2015-03-26 2018-05-22 Opentv, Inc. Systems and methods of recalling channels and review buffer management
GB2536887B (en) * 2015-03-27 2021-05-05 Sony Europe Bv Video content replay
US9560408B2 (en) * 2015-04-29 2017-01-31 Echostar Technologies L.L.C. Tracking and displaying popular media content
US9716763B2 (en) * 2015-05-13 2017-07-25 Arris Enterprises Llc Content streaming apparatus for transferring a streaming session to another apparatus
EP3298797A4 (en) * 2015-05-22 2019-01-30 Playsight Interactive Ltd. Event based video generation
US20180176655A1 (en) * 2015-05-26 2018-06-21 Fan Unleashed, Inc. Web-based sports replay system equipped with a searchable media database of sporting events
US20160357376A1 (en) * 2015-06-05 2016-12-08 Apple Inc. Ownership-agnostic user interface for media content
US10269390B2 (en) * 2015-06-11 2019-04-23 David M. DeCaprio Game video processing systems and methods
US9883249B2 (en) * 2015-06-26 2018-01-30 Amazon Technologies, Inc. Broadcaster tools for interactive shopping interfaces
US10440436B1 (en) 2015-06-26 2019-10-08 Amazon Technologies, Inc. Synchronizing interactive content with a live video stream
US10021458B1 (en) 2015-06-26 2018-07-10 Amazon Technologies, Inc. Electronic commerce functionality in video overlays
US9973819B1 (en) 2015-06-26 2018-05-15 Amazon Technologies, Inc. Live video stream with interactive shopping interface
US10057659B2 (en) 2015-06-30 2018-08-21 Rovi Guides, Inc. Methods and system for presenting search results
US9998788B1 (en) 2015-07-01 2018-06-12 Comcast Cable Communications, Llc Methods and systems for content storage
US11125566B2 (en) * 2015-07-16 2021-09-21 Ford Global Technologies, Llc Method and apparatus for determining a vehicle ego-position
US10460765B2 (en) 2015-08-26 2019-10-29 JBF Interlude 2009 LTD Systems and methods for adaptive and responsive video
US9729925B2 (en) * 2015-08-31 2017-08-08 Opentv, Inc. Automatically loading user profile to show recently watched channels
US10097867B2 (en) * 2015-09-14 2018-10-09 Disney Enterprises, Inc. Systems and methods for providing a ratings version and a dynamic ad version of a video
US9743133B2 (en) 2015-09-15 2017-08-22 Echostar Technologies L.L.C. Apparatus, systems and methods for satellite system fast channel change
US9635413B2 (en) 2015-09-23 2017-04-25 Echostar Technologies L.L.C. Advance decryption key acquisition for streaming media content
US10838579B2 (en) * 2015-09-24 2020-11-17 International Business Machines Corporation Custom list for keyboard navigation of user interface
US10171872B2 (en) 2015-09-30 2019-01-01 Rovi Guides, Inc. Methods and systems for implementing a locked mode for viewing media assets
US10116976B2 (en) * 2015-10-15 2018-10-30 At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. System and method for distributing media content associated with an event
US10178421B2 (en) * 2015-10-30 2019-01-08 Rovi Guides, Inc. Methods and systems for monitoring content subscription usage
US9813396B2 (en) 2015-10-30 2017-11-07 Rovi Guides, Inc. Methods and systems for managing content subscription data
US10271107B2 (en) * 2015-11-26 2019-04-23 The Nielsen Company (Us), Llc Accelerated television advertisement identification
US20170171616A1 (en) * 2015-12-11 2017-06-15 Sasken Communication Technologies Ltd Control of unsuitable video content
US10645465B2 (en) 2015-12-21 2020-05-05 Centurylink Intellectual Property Llc Video file universal identifier for metadata resolution
US11540009B2 (en) 2016-01-06 2022-12-27 Tvision Insights, Inc. Systems and methods for assessing viewer engagement
EP3400661A4 (en) 2016-01-06 2019-04-24 TVision Insights, Inc. Systems and methods for assessing viewer engagement
KR102428934B1 (en) * 2016-02-04 2022-08-03 삼성전자주식회사 Display apparatus, user terminal apparatus, system and the controlling method
US11012719B2 (en) * 2016-03-08 2021-05-18 DISH Technologies L.L.C. Apparatus, systems and methods for control of sporting event presentation based on viewer engagement
US9894403B2 (en) * 2016-03-14 2018-02-13 The Directv Group, Inc. Method and system for selecting and viewing sports content and a scoreguide in a virtual reality device
US10412438B2 (en) * 2016-03-14 2019-09-10 The Directv Group, Inc. Method and system for viewing sports content within a virtual reality environment
CN105828200A (en) * 2016-03-22 2016-08-03 乐视网信息技术(北京)股份有限公司 Program menu updating method and device
US10469417B2 (en) 2016-03-31 2019-11-05 Atlassian Pty Ltd Systems and methods for providing external content in a messaging interface
US10432983B2 (en) 2016-04-04 2019-10-01 Twitter, Inc. Live video classification and preview selection
US11856271B2 (en) 2016-04-12 2023-12-26 JBF Interlude 2009 LTD Symbiotic interactive video
US10322348B2 (en) 2016-04-27 2019-06-18 DISH Technologies L.L.C. Systems, methods and apparatus for identifying preferred sporting events based on fantasy league data
WO2017190804A1 (en) * 2016-05-06 2017-11-09 Arcelik Anonim Sirketi Image display device with an improved reminder function during a broadcast program
DK201670581A1 (en) 2016-06-12 2018-01-08 Apple Inc Device-level authorization for viewing content
DK201670582A1 (en) 2016-06-12 2018-01-02 Apple Inc Identifying applications on which content is available
USD910648S1 (en) 2016-06-13 2021-02-16 Apple Inc. Display screen or portion thereof with graphical user interface
US10327043B2 (en) * 2016-07-09 2019-06-18 N. Dilip Venkatraman Method and system for displaying interactive questions during streaming of real-time and adaptively assembled video
US20180014037A1 (en) * 2016-07-09 2018-01-11 N. Dilip Venkatraman Method and system for switching to dynamically assembled video during streaming of live video
EP3488618B1 (en) * 2016-07-21 2021-01-13 Twitter, Inc. Live video streaming services with machine-learning based highlight replays
WO2018027237A1 (en) 2016-08-05 2018-02-08 Sportscastr.Live Llc Systems, apparatus, and methods for scalable low-latency viewing of broadcast digital content streams of live events
US9744424B1 (en) * 2016-08-08 2017-08-29 Kavita Ramchandani Snyder Scheduling system
US20180048936A1 (en) 2016-08-12 2018-02-15 Rovi Guides, Inc. Systems and Methods for Performing Adaptive Scheduling of Media Asset Recordings
US20180048940A1 (en) * 2016-08-15 2018-02-15 Rovi Guides, Inc. Systems and methods for using a home security system to alert a user about a media event
US10028016B2 (en) 2016-08-30 2018-07-17 The Directv Group, Inc. Methods and systems for providing multiple video content streams
CN106254780A (en) * 2016-08-31 2016-12-21 宇龙计算机通信科技(深圳)有限公司 A kind of dual camera camera control method, photographing control device and terminal
US10656896B2 (en) 2016-09-20 2020-05-19 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. Display mapping
US20180113579A1 (en) 2016-10-26 2018-04-26 Apple Inc. User interfaces for browsing content from multiple content applications on an electronic device
US20180124444A1 (en) * 2016-11-01 2018-05-03 Netflix, Inc. Systems and methods of predicting consumption of original media items accesible via an internet-based media system
EP3500930A1 (en) * 2016-11-15 2019-06-26 Google LLC Systems and methods for reducing download requirements
CN108074590A (en) * 2016-11-17 2018-05-25 英业达科技有限公司 Repeat playing System and method for
US9924217B1 (en) 2016-11-22 2018-03-20 Echostar Technologies L.L.C. Home screen recommendations determination
US10768800B2 (en) 2016-12-06 2020-09-08 The Directv Group, Inc. Scrolling score guide with quick tune feature
US11050809B2 (en) 2016-12-30 2021-06-29 JBF Interlude 2009 LTD Systems and methods for dynamic weighting of branched video paths
US11503352B2 (en) 2016-12-31 2022-11-15 Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Dynamic scheduling and channel creation based on external data
US10856016B2 (en) 2016-12-31 2020-12-01 Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Publishing disparate live media output streams in mixed mode based on user selection
US11109086B2 (en) 2016-12-31 2021-08-31 Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Publishing disparate live media output streams in mixed mode
US10965967B2 (en) 2016-12-31 2021-03-30 Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Publishing a disparate per-client live media output stream based on dynamic insertion of targeted non-programming content and customized programming content
US10425700B2 (en) * 2016-12-31 2019-09-24 Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Dynamic scheduling and channel creation based on real-time or near-real-time content context analysis
US11134309B2 (en) 2016-12-31 2021-09-28 Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Creation of channels using pre-encoded media assets
US11038932B2 (en) 2016-12-31 2021-06-15 Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. System for establishing a shared media session for one or more client devices
US10645462B2 (en) 2016-12-31 2020-05-05 Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Dynamic channel versioning in a broadcast air chain
US10075753B2 (en) 2016-12-31 2018-09-11 Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Dynamic scheduling and channel creation based on user selection
US11051061B2 (en) 2016-12-31 2021-06-29 Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Publishing a disparate live media output stream using pre-encoded media assets
US11051074B2 (en) 2016-12-31 2021-06-29 Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Publishing disparate live media output streams using live input streams
US10992973B2 (en) 2016-12-31 2021-04-27 Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Publishing a plurality of disparate live media output stream manifests using live input streams and pre-encoded media assets
US10701438B2 (en) 2016-12-31 2020-06-30 Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Automatic content recognition and verification in a broadcast chain
US10694231B2 (en) 2016-12-31 2020-06-23 Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Dynamic channel versioning in a broadcast air chain based on user preferences
US11368752B2 (en) 2017-01-03 2022-06-21 Bliss Point Media, Inc. Optimization of broadcast event effectiveness
US10359993B2 (en) 2017-01-20 2019-07-23 Essential Products, Inc. Contextual user interface based on environment
US10166465B2 (en) 2017-01-20 2019-01-01 Essential Products, Inc. Contextual user interface based on video game playback
US20180213290A1 (en) * 2017-01-20 2018-07-26 Essential Products, Inc. Contextual user interface based on media playback
US11303964B2 (en) 2017-02-13 2022-04-12 DISH Technologies L.L.C. Apparatus, systems and methods for media content event quick access queue
WO2018195391A1 (en) * 2017-04-20 2018-10-25 Tvision Insights, Inc. Methods and apparatus for multi-television measurements
CN107087235B (en) * 2017-04-21 2021-09-10 腾讯科技(深圳)有限公司 Media content recommendation method, server and client
US10057648B1 (en) 2017-05-08 2018-08-21 Sling Media Pvt Ltd. Modified channel surfing based on monitored viewing habits
WO2018213481A1 (en) 2017-05-16 2018-11-22 Sportscastr.Live Llc Systems, apparatus, and methods for scalable low-latency viewing of integrated broadcast commentary and event video streams of live events, and synchronization of event information with viewed streams via multiple internet channels
US10231020B2 (en) 2017-05-16 2019-03-12 The Directv Group, Inc Sports recommender system utilizing content based filtering
US10939169B2 (en) 2017-05-25 2021-03-02 Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Concurrent presentation of non-programming media assets with programming media content at client device
US10820034B2 (en) 2017-05-26 2020-10-27 At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. Providing streaming video from mobile computing nodes
CN108933949B (en) * 2017-05-27 2021-08-31 南宁富桂精密工业有限公司 Multimedia control method, server and computer storage medium
US11606621B2 (en) * 2017-06-15 2023-03-14 At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. Method of providing personalized channel change lists
US10405060B2 (en) 2017-06-28 2019-09-03 At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. Method and apparatus for augmented reality presentation associated with a media program
US11552919B1 (en) 2017-09-28 2023-01-10 Twitter, Inc. User-defined message timelines
US20190110097A1 (en) * 2017-10-05 2019-04-11 Commercial Streaming Solutions Inc. System and method for controlling the presentation of remotely sourced content
US11509942B2 (en) * 2017-10-11 2022-11-22 Bamtech, Llc System and method for live video feed
US10951937B2 (en) * 2017-10-25 2021-03-16 Peerless Media Ltd. Systems and methods for efficiently providing multiple commentary streams for the same broadcast content
JP6580109B2 (en) * 2017-11-09 2019-09-25 株式会社ドワンゴ Post providing server, post providing program, user program, post providing system, and post providing method
US10743070B2 (en) 2017-12-01 2020-08-11 At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. Fast channel change for a set top box based on channel viewing behaviors
US10812847B2 (en) 2017-12-20 2020-10-20 Rovi Guides, Inc. Systems and methods for avoiding spoilers in presenting recording prompts relating to a competition
US11451874B2 (en) * 2017-12-21 2022-09-20 Rovi Guides, Inc. Systems and methods for providing a progress bar for updating viewing status of previously viewed content
US20190200079A1 (en) * 2017-12-21 2019-06-27 Facebook, Inc. Predictive Analysis for Media Encodings
US10735804B2 (en) * 2017-12-28 2020-08-04 Rovi Guides, Inc. Systems and methods for adaptively buffering media content at a digital video recorder
US10257578B1 (en) 2018-01-05 2019-04-09 JBF Interlude 2009 LTD Dynamic library display for interactive videos
US20190244483A1 (en) * 2018-02-08 2019-08-08 Mark Rey Collins System, application, and method of wagering on online games of skill as a third party spectator
US20190268662A1 (en) * 2018-02-27 2019-08-29 Microsoft Technology Licensing, Llc System and method for enhancing live video content streams
EP3534609A1 (en) * 2018-03-02 2019-09-04 Thomson Licensing Methods for processing audiovisual streams and corresponding devices, electronic assembly, system, computer readable program products and computer readable storage media
US10831331B2 (en) * 2018-03-09 2020-11-10 International Business Machines Corporation Window control for simultaneously running applications
CN110399185B (en) * 2018-04-24 2022-05-06 华为技术有限公司 Method, terminal and server for adjusting intelligent recommendation
US20190328287A1 (en) * 2018-04-27 2019-10-31 Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. Entry-exit intervention system, method, and computer-readable medium
US11594028B2 (en) 2018-05-18 2023-02-28 Stats Llc Video processing for enabling sports highlights generation
DK201870354A1 (en) 2018-06-03 2019-12-20 Apple Inc. Setup procedures for an electronic device
USD875743S1 (en) 2018-06-04 2020-02-18 Apple Inc. Display screen or portion thereof with graphical user interface
US11601721B2 (en) 2018-06-04 2023-03-07 JBF Interlude 2009 LTD Interactive video dynamic adaptation and user profiling
US11025985B2 (en) 2018-06-05 2021-06-01 Stats Llc Audio processing for detecting occurrences of crowd noise in sporting event television programming
US11264048B1 (en) 2018-06-05 2022-03-01 Stats Llc Audio processing for detecting occurrences of loud sound characterized by brief audio bursts
TWI684918B (en) * 2018-06-08 2020-02-11 和碩聯合科技股份有限公司 Face recognition system and method for enhancing face recognition
US10924775B2 (en) 2018-06-26 2021-02-16 Qualcomm Incorporated Uplink and downlink methods for efficient operation of live uplink streaming services
US10779032B2 (en) 2018-06-28 2020-09-15 At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. System and method for timing management for digital video recording
CN109151543A (en) * 2018-07-27 2019-01-04 北京优酷科技有限公司 Playing frame, display methods, device and the storage medium of media content
US20200043297A1 (en) * 2018-08-03 2020-02-06 Travis Foelsch System and method for horse race tipping
US11336968B2 (en) * 2018-08-17 2022-05-17 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Method and device for generating content
US10491940B1 (en) 2018-08-23 2019-11-26 Rovi Guides, Inc. Systems and methods for displaying multiple media assets for a plurality of users
US10694250B2 (en) * 2018-08-30 2020-06-23 At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. Audiovisual content screening for locked application programming interfaces
US10684612B2 (en) 2018-10-10 2020-06-16 The Climate Corporation Agricultural management recommendations based on blended model
US11082734B2 (en) 2018-12-21 2021-08-03 Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Publishing a disparate live media output stream that complies with distribution format regulations
USD997952S1 (en) 2018-12-21 2023-09-05 Streamlayer, Inc. Display screen with transitional graphical user interface
US10880606B2 (en) 2018-12-21 2020-12-29 Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Disparate live media output stream playout and broadcast distribution
WO2020132682A1 (en) * 2018-12-21 2020-06-25 Streamlayer Inc. Method and system for providing interactive content delivery and audience engagement
USD947233S1 (en) 2018-12-21 2022-03-29 Streamlayer, Inc. Display screen or portion thereof with transitional graphical user interface
US10873774B2 (en) 2018-12-22 2020-12-22 Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Publishing a disparate live media output stream manifest that includes one or more media segments corresponding to key events
US11087595B2 (en) 2019-01-24 2021-08-10 Igt System and method for wagering on virtual elements overlaying a sports betting field
US11683565B2 (en) 2019-03-24 2023-06-20 Apple Inc. User interfaces for interacting with channels that provide content that plays in a media browsing application
EP3928194A1 (en) 2019-03-24 2021-12-29 Apple Inc. User interfaces including selectable representations of content items
US11467726B2 (en) 2019-03-24 2022-10-11 Apple Inc. User interfaces for viewing and accessing content on an electronic device
USD902947S1 (en) 2019-03-25 2020-11-24 Apple Inc. Electronic device with graphical user interface
US11288582B2 (en) 2019-03-29 2022-03-29 Rovi Guides, Inc. Systems and methods for providing media content recommendations
USD951267S1 (en) 2019-04-09 2022-05-10 Streamlayer, Inc. Display screen with a transitional graphical user interface for an interactive content overlay
US11354979B2 (en) * 2019-04-15 2022-06-07 Igt Gaming system and method with alternative gaming presentations of payouts of sporting event wagers
CN110225380B (en) * 2019-04-28 2023-02-28 百度在线网络技术(北京)有限公司 Display method and device of television desktop
US20230024852A1 (en) * 2019-05-27 2023-01-26 Raymond Anthony Joao Sports betting apparatus and method
USD926781S1 (en) 2019-05-28 2021-08-03 Apple Inc. Display screen or portion thereof with graphical user interface
CN113906380A (en) 2019-05-31 2022-01-07 苹果公司 User interface for podcast browsing and playback applications
US11863837B2 (en) 2019-05-31 2024-01-02 Apple Inc. Notification of augmented reality content on an electronic device
US11069196B2 (en) * 2019-08-26 2021-07-20 Ryan C. Warren Systems and methods for generating personalized wager opportunities based on a fantasy sports contest
EP4005219A4 (en) * 2019-09-17 2023-05-17 Streamlayer Inc. Method and system for providing interactive content delivery and audience engagement
US11222504B2 (en) 2019-09-23 2022-01-11 Igt Gaming system and method providing sports betting related replays
EP4037330A4 (en) * 2019-09-27 2023-05-17 LG Electronics Inc. Display device
WO2021068105A1 (en) * 2019-10-08 2021-04-15 WeMovie Technologies Pre-production systems for making movies, tv shows and multimedia contents
EP4055547A4 (en) * 2019-11-09 2023-11-15 Promptu Systems Corporation User notification for digital content access systems per mutable or fixed selection criteria
US11743155B2 (en) * 2019-11-14 2023-08-29 Trideum Corporation Systems and methods of monitoring and controlling remote assets
US11804105B2 (en) 2019-11-21 2023-10-31 Igt Gaming system with multiple sporting event wagering interfaces for multiple different users
US11620294B2 (en) * 2020-01-30 2023-04-04 Panasonic Avionics Corporation Dynamic media data management
US20210256650A1 (en) * 2020-02-14 2021-08-19 Adrenalineip Artificial intelligence/machine learning enhanced betting odds
US11843838B2 (en) 2020-03-24 2023-12-12 Apple Inc. User interfaces for accessing episodes of a content series
US11284307B2 (en) * 2020-04-09 2022-03-22 Tmobile Usa, Inc. Enhancing telecommunication quality of service
US11393280B2 (en) 2020-04-13 2022-07-19 Igt Sporting event overlays with accumulating symbols
US20210319645A1 (en) * 2020-04-14 2021-10-14 Igt Sporting event wagering overlay messages
US11825131B2 (en) * 2020-05-12 2023-11-21 Sony Group Corporation Using ATSC 3.0 to augment in-stadium video feeds
US11523161B2 (en) * 2020-05-15 2022-12-06 Fast Dog, LLC Exciting moment pre-cognizant notification for live events
US11146844B1 (en) 2020-05-28 2021-10-12 Dish Network L.L.C. Devices, systems and processes for facilitating seamless use of tuners across multiple devices within a local area network
US11218770B2 (en) * 2020-05-28 2022-01-04 Dish Network L.L.C. Devices, systems and processes for facilitating seamless use of timers across multiple devices within a local area network
US11197049B1 (en) 2020-05-28 2021-12-07 Dish Network L.L.C. Devices, systems and processes for facilitating seamless digital video recording of content and use thereof across multiple devices within a local area network
US11899895B2 (en) 2020-06-21 2024-02-13 Apple Inc. User interfaces for setting up an electronic device
US20210406965A1 (en) * 2020-06-29 2021-12-30 Snap Inc. Providing travel-based augmented reality content relating to user-submitted reviews
US11869242B2 (en) 2020-07-23 2024-01-09 Rovi Guides, Inc. Systems and methods for recording portion of sports game
WO2022026688A1 (en) * 2020-07-30 2022-02-03 Arris Enterprises Llc Apparatus and method for biometric control of a set top box
US11741776B2 (en) * 2020-09-22 2023-08-29 Adrenalineip Method of placing wagers through a mobile device through a television wagering platform
US11205320B1 (en) * 2020-09-22 2021-12-21 Adrenalineip Method of using player third party data
US11812121B2 (en) 2020-10-28 2023-11-07 WeMovie Technologies Automated post-production editing for user-generated multimedia contents
WO2022115771A1 (en) * 2020-11-30 2022-06-02 Adrenalineip Method for artificial intelligence-based changes based on deviations from predictions
US20220174345A1 (en) * 2020-12-01 2022-06-02 Rovi Guides, Inc. Systems and methods for storing content items based on consumption history
US11720229B2 (en) 2020-12-07 2023-08-08 Apple Inc. User interfaces for browsing and presenting content
AU2022218220A1 (en) * 2021-02-08 2023-09-21 Sportscastr, Inc. Systems, apparatus and methods for topic extraction from digital media and real-time display of digital content relating to one or more extracted topics
US11843837B2 (en) 2021-05-21 2023-12-12 Dish Network L.L.C. Group televised content viewing interactions
US20220377413A1 (en) * 2021-05-21 2022-11-24 Rovi Guides, Inc. Methods and systems for personalized content based on captured gestures
US11882337B2 (en) 2021-05-28 2024-01-23 JBF Interlude 2009 LTD Automated platform for generating interactive videos
US11616998B2 (en) * 2021-06-29 2023-03-28 Dish Network L.L.C. Temporary television rights scheme grant based on uncertain measurable events
US11330154B1 (en) 2021-07-23 2022-05-10 WeMovie Technologies Automated coordination in multimedia content production
US11729480B2 (en) * 2021-08-27 2023-08-15 Rovi Guides, Inc. Systems and methods to enhance interactive program watching
US11570523B1 (en) 2021-08-27 2023-01-31 Rovi Guides, Inc. Systems and methods to enhance interactive program watching
US11861981B2 (en) 2021-10-19 2024-01-02 Dish Network L.L.C. Experience-adaptive interaction interface for uncertain measurable events engagement
US11457285B1 (en) 2021-10-29 2022-09-27 DraftKings, Inc. Systems and methods for providing notifications of critical events occurring in live content based on activity data
US11321639B1 (en) 2021-12-13 2022-05-03 WeMovie Technologies Automated evaluation of acting performance using cloud services

Citations (101)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4071697A (en) * 1976-10-18 1978-01-31 Atari, Inc. Interactive video/telephone transmission system
US5224156A (en) * 1990-07-19 1993-06-29 Electronic Modules, Inc. Method and apparatus for facsimile enhancement
US5410344A (en) * 1993-09-22 1995-04-25 Arrowsmith Technologies, Inc. Apparatus and method of selecting video programs based on viewers' preferences
US5412720A (en) * 1990-09-28 1995-05-02 Ictv, Inc. Interactive home information system
US5485197A (en) * 1990-09-28 1996-01-16 Ictv, Inc. Carousel display
US5594661A (en) * 1994-09-23 1997-01-14 U. S. West Marketing Resources Group, Inc. Method for interfacing with a multi-media information system
US5600364A (en) * 1992-12-09 1997-02-04 Discovery Communications, Inc. Network controller for cable television delivery systems
US5617565A (en) * 1994-11-29 1997-04-01 Hitachi America, Ltd. Broadcast interactive multimedia system
US5623613A (en) * 1994-11-29 1997-04-22 Microsoft Corporation System for displaying programming information
US5629733A (en) * 1994-11-29 1997-05-13 News America Publications, Inc. Electronic television program guide schedule system and method with display and search of program listings by title
US5635978A (en) * 1994-05-20 1997-06-03 News America Publications, Inc. Electronic television program guide channel system and method
US5635989A (en) * 1996-02-13 1997-06-03 Hughes Electronics Method and apparatus for sorting and searching a television program guide
US5886746A (en) * 1994-12-13 1999-03-23 Gemstar Development Corporation Method for channel scanning
US6016141A (en) * 1997-10-06 2000-01-18 United Video Properties, Inc. Interactive television program guide system with pay program package promotion
US6061056A (en) * 1996-03-04 2000-05-09 Telexis Corporation Television monitoring system with automatic selection of program material of interest and subsequent display under user control
US6061097A (en) * 1997-05-22 2000-05-09 United Video Properties, Inc. Interactive television program guide with selectable non-program options
US6177931B1 (en) * 1996-12-19 2001-01-23 Index Systems, Inc. Systems and methods for displaying and recording control interface with television programs, video, advertising information and program scheduling information
US6208335B1 (en) * 1997-01-13 2001-03-27 Diva Systems Corporation Method and apparatus for providing a menu structure for an interactive information distribution system
US6216264B1 (en) * 1995-11-17 2001-04-10 Thomson Licensing S.A. Scheduler apparatus employing a gopher agent
US6219839B1 (en) * 1998-05-12 2001-04-17 Sharp Laboratories Of America, Inc. On-screen electronic resources guide
US6226444B1 (en) * 1997-09-30 2001-05-01 Intel Corporation Method and apparatus for recording program data without commercials
US6226618B1 (en) * 1998-08-13 2001-05-01 International Business Machines Corporation Electronic content delivery system
US6239794B1 (en) * 1994-08-31 2001-05-29 E Guide, Inc. Method and system for simultaneously displaying a television program and information about the program
US6247176B1 (en) * 1996-06-14 2001-06-12 Starsight Telecast, Inc. Television schedule system and method of operation for multiple program occurrences
US20020026496A1 (en) * 1997-09-18 2002-02-28 Franklin E. Boyer Electronic-mail reminder for an internet television program guide
US20020035697A1 (en) * 2000-06-30 2002-03-21 Mccurdy Kevin Systems and methods for distributing and viewing electronic documents
US6369840B1 (en) * 1999-03-10 2002-04-09 America Online, Inc. Multi-layered online calendaring and purchasing
US20020042913A1 (en) * 2000-10-11 2002-04-11 United Video Properties, Inc. Systems and methods for building user media lists
US20020056119A1 (en) * 1999-12-23 2002-05-09 Moynihan Michael W. Personal video channel system
US6388714B1 (en) * 1995-10-02 2002-05-14 Starsight Telecast Inc Interactive computer system for providing television schedule information
US20020059621A1 (en) * 2000-10-11 2002-05-16 Thomas William L. Systems and methods for providing storage of data on servers in an on-demand media delivery system
US20020059610A1 (en) * 2000-05-23 2002-05-16 Ellis Michael D. Interactive television application with watch lists
US20020075402A1 (en) * 2000-09-13 2002-06-20 Pace Micro Technology Plc. Television system
US20020078447A1 (en) * 2000-12-15 2002-06-20 Atsushi Mizutome Apparatus and method for data processing, and storage medium
US20020078453A1 (en) * 2000-12-15 2002-06-20 Hanchang Kuo Hub pages for set top box startup screen
US20020112239A1 (en) * 2000-05-08 2002-08-15 Goldman Phillip Y. Modifying an electronic program guide based on viewer statistics
US20030005445A1 (en) * 1995-10-02 2003-01-02 Schein Steven M. Systems and methods for linking television viewers with advertisers and broadcasters
US6532589B1 (en) * 1999-03-25 2003-03-11 Sony Corp. Method and apparatus for providing a calendar-based planner in an electronic program guide for broadcast events
US6536041B1 (en) * 1998-06-16 2003-03-18 United Video Properties, Inc. Program guide system with real-time data sources
US6539548B1 (en) * 1992-12-09 2003-03-25 Discovery Communications, Inc. Operations center for a television program packaging and delivery system
US6542882B1 (en) * 1999-04-22 2003-04-01 Gateway, Inc. System and method for providing a database of content having like associations
US6564378B1 (en) * 1997-12-08 2003-05-13 United Video Properties, Inc. Program guide system with browsing display
US20030093803A1 (en) * 2000-03-28 2003-05-15 Edison Ishikawa Distributed cooperative memory for interactive and scalable video-on-demand system
US20030093792A1 (en) * 2000-06-30 2003-05-15 Labeeb Ismail K. Method and apparatus for delivery of television programs and targeted de-coupled advertising
US6571390B1 (en) * 1995-05-05 2003-05-27 Microsoft Corporation Interactive entertainment network system and method for customizing operation thereof according to viewer preferences
US20030110163A1 (en) * 2001-12-04 2003-06-12 Compaq Information Technologies Group, L.P. System and method for efficiently finding near-similar images in massive databases
US20030110499A1 (en) * 1998-03-04 2003-06-12 United Video Properties, Inc. Program guide system with targeted advertising
US20040003391A1 (en) * 2002-06-27 2004-01-01 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Method, system and program product for locally analyzing viewing behavior
US20040025180A1 (en) * 2001-04-06 2004-02-05 Lee Begeja Method and apparatus for interactively retrieving content related to previous query results
US20040064835A1 (en) * 2002-09-26 2004-04-01 International Business Machines Corporation System and method for content based on-demand video media overlay
US20040068745A1 (en) * 2002-10-08 2004-04-08 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Receiving apparatus and receiving method
US6721956B2 (en) * 2001-07-17 2004-04-13 Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. Interactive information services system and associated method for capturing transaction data
US6721954B1 (en) * 1999-06-23 2004-04-13 Gateway, Inc. Personal preferred viewing using electronic program guide
US20040073918A1 (en) * 2002-09-30 2004-04-15 Ferman A. Mufit Automatic user profiling
US20040096184A1 (en) * 2002-11-19 2004-05-20 Sony Corporation Wish list for television recording
US6742183B1 (en) * 1998-05-15 2004-05-25 United Video Properties, Inc. Systems and methods for advertising television networks, channels, and programs
US20040103437A1 (en) * 2002-11-26 2004-05-27 Concurrent Computer Corporation, A Delaware Corporation Video on demand management system
US20040103434A1 (en) * 2002-11-25 2004-05-27 United Video Properties, Inc. Interactive television systems with conflict management capabilities
US20040117831A1 (en) * 1999-06-28 2004-06-17 United Video Properties, Inc. Interactive television program guide system and method with niche hubs
US20050015405A1 (en) * 2003-07-18 2005-01-20 Microsoft Corporation Multi-valued properties
US20050028208A1 (en) * 1998-07-17 2005-02-03 United Video Properties, Inc. Interactive television program guide with remote access
US20050028218A1 (en) * 1996-09-03 2005-02-03 Starsight Telecast, Inc. Schedule system with enhanced recording capability
US6865746B1 (en) * 1998-12-03 2005-03-08 United Video Properties, Inc. Electronic program guide with related-program search feature
US6868225B1 (en) * 1999-03-30 2005-03-15 Tivo, Inc. Multimedia program bookmarking system
US6898762B2 (en) * 1998-08-21 2005-05-24 United Video Properties, Inc. Client-server electronic program guide
US6897904B2 (en) * 2002-01-04 2005-05-24 Microsoft Corporation Method and apparatus for selecting among multiple tuners
US20050160461A1 (en) * 2004-01-21 2005-07-21 United Video Properties, Inc. Interactive television program guide systems with digital video recording support
US20050166230A1 (en) * 2003-03-18 2005-07-28 Gaydou Danny R. Systems and methods for providing transport control
US20060020973A1 (en) * 2004-07-21 2006-01-26 Hannum Sandra A Method and system for presenting personalized television program recommendation to viewers
US20060026635A1 (en) * 2004-07-30 2006-02-02 Microsoft Corporation Program portals and methods and systems for finding and viewing programs
US20060026648A1 (en) * 2004-08-02 2006-02-02 Pioneer Corporation A display controlling apparatus, method, and computer program
US20060026665A1 (en) * 2000-06-09 2006-02-02 Rodriguez Arturo A Media-on-demand catalog viewing preference system
US7003791B2 (en) * 2000-10-13 2006-02-21 Seiko Epson Corporation Remote accessible programming
US20060053449A1 (en) * 2002-12-10 2006-03-09 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Graded access to profile spaces
US7013478B1 (en) * 1992-12-09 2006-03-14 Sedna Patent Services, Llc Method and apparatus for interactive program suggestion
US7055166B1 (en) * 1996-10-03 2006-05-30 Gotuit Media Corp. Apparatus and methods for broadcast monitoring
US7165098B1 (en) * 1998-11-10 2007-01-16 United Video Properties, Inc. On-line schedule system with personalization features
US20070039023A1 (en) * 2003-09-11 2007-02-15 Mitsuteru Kataoka Content selection method and content selection device
US7185355B1 (en) * 1998-03-04 2007-02-27 United Video Properties, Inc. Program guide system with preference profiles
US20070055989A1 (en) * 2005-09-08 2007-03-08 The Directv Group, Inc. Mosaic channel video stream with interactive services
US20070067271A1 (en) * 2005-09-22 2007-03-22 Larry Lu Facilitating user interaction through cross-promotion of digital assets
US20070074245A1 (en) * 2005-09-26 2007-03-29 Microsoft Corporation Virtual channels
US20070078822A1 (en) * 2005-09-30 2007-04-05 Microsoft Corporation Arbitration of specialized content using search results
US7206892B2 (en) * 2002-06-05 2007-04-17 Lg Electronics Inc. Method for managing recorded streams in a rewritable recording medium
US20070089132A1 (en) * 1998-01-22 2007-04-19 Concert Technology Corporation Network-enabled audio device
US7213089B2 (en) * 2001-04-05 2007-05-01 Fujitsu Limited System and method for displaying a preview indicating a time-based adjustment of image data or sound data
US20070112740A1 (en) * 2005-10-20 2007-05-17 Mercado Software Ltd. Result-based triggering for presentation of online content
US7334195B2 (en) * 2003-10-14 2008-02-19 Microsoft Corporation System and process for presenting search results in a histogram/cluster format
US7343614B1 (en) * 1992-12-09 2008-03-11 Sedna Patent Services, Llc Program delivery system for VOD
US20080092156A1 (en) * 2006-09-29 2008-04-17 United Video Properties, Inc. Systems and methods for automatically identifying a user profile
US20080092155A1 (en) * 2006-09-29 2008-04-17 United Video Properties, Inc. Systems and methods for automatically identifying a user profile
US20080104057A1 (en) * 2006-11-01 2008-05-01 United Video Properties, Inc. Presenting media guidance search results based on relevancy
US20080104127A1 (en) * 2006-11-01 2008-05-01 United Video Properties, Inc. Presenting media guidance search results based on relevancy
US7496941B2 (en) * 1995-02-24 2009-02-24 Smart Vcr Limited Partnership Stored program pay-per-play
US7673314B2 (en) * 1998-07-14 2010-03-02 United Video Properties, Inc. Client-server based interactive television program guide system with remote server recording
US7681217B2 (en) * 2006-01-04 2010-03-16 Hitachi, Ltd. Video system and video selection method thereof
US7689556B2 (en) * 2005-01-31 2010-03-30 France Telecom Content navigation service
US7694319B1 (en) * 1998-11-02 2010-04-06 United Video Properties, Inc. Interactive program guide with continuous data stream and client-server data supplementation
US20100107194A1 (en) * 1998-08-21 2010-04-29 Mckissick Pamela L Electronic program guide with advance notification
US20100131983A1 (en) * 2006-09-29 2010-05-27 Steve Shannon Systems and methods for a modular media guidance dashboard application
US7895624B1 (en) * 2000-04-10 2011-02-22 United Video Properties, Inc. Interactive media guide with media guidance interface

Family Cites Families (590)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3493674A (en) 1965-05-28 1970-02-03 Rca Corp Television message system for transmitting auxiliary information during the vertical blanking interval of each television field
US3440427A (en) 1966-04-12 1969-04-22 Philips Corp Remote control system with a unitary cell bridge circuit
US3492577A (en) 1966-10-07 1970-01-27 Intern Telemeter Corp Audience rating system
US3956745A (en) 1971-12-16 1976-05-11 The Marconi Company Limited Programmable keyboard arrangements
US3833757A (en) 1972-04-10 1974-09-03 Computer Television Inc Electronic bilateral communication system for commercial and supplementary video and digital signaling
US3848193A (en) 1972-12-15 1974-11-12 Gautney & Jones Communications Nationwide system for selectively distributing information
GB1370535A (en) 1973-05-09 1974-10-16 British Broadcasting Corp Transmission of alphanumeric data by television
DE2338380A1 (en) 1973-07-28 1975-02-13 Koerting Radio Werke Gmbh Wireless remote control for radio and TV receivers - has decoder and processor as separate unit for plugging into receiver
GB1486773A (en) 1973-07-30 1977-09-21 Indep Broadcasting Authority Television systems
US4052719A (en) 1973-07-30 1977-10-04 Independent Broadcasting Authority Television receiver system having facility for storage and display of character information selected from digitally encoded broadcast transmissions
US4276597A (en) 1974-01-17 1981-06-30 Volt Delta Resources, Inc. Method and apparatus for information storage and retrieval
US3936868A (en) 1974-03-08 1976-02-03 Rca Corporation Television studio control apparatus
US3893049A (en) 1974-03-25 1975-07-01 Motorola Inc Electronic tuning system for television receivers
JPS5726468B2 (en) 1974-04-19 1982-06-04
US3891792A (en) 1974-06-25 1975-06-24 Asahi Broadcasting Television character crawl display method and apparatus
GB1478695A (en) 1974-09-26 1977-07-06 Texas Instruments Ltd Data handling apparatus
JPS5649035B2 (en) 1974-09-30 1981-11-19
DE2454227C3 (en) 1974-11-15 1979-05-03 Blaupunkt-Werke Gmbh, 3200 Hildesheim Television receiver for receiving and evaluating additional information in a television signal
US4026555A (en) 1975-03-12 1977-05-31 Alpex Computer Corporation Television display control apparatus
US4134127A (en) 1975-06-12 1979-01-09 Indesit Industria Elettrodomestici Italiana S.P.A. Color television signal including auxiliary information
GB1558168A (en) 1975-06-20 1979-12-19 Indep Television Co Systems for broadcasting data simultaneously with but independently of television programmes
GB1554411A (en) 1975-08-09 1979-10-17 Communications Patents Ltd Control systems
GB1560211A (en) 1975-11-13 1980-01-30 Gen Electric Television receivers
DE2628737C3 (en) 1976-06-25 1980-06-26 Deutsche Itt Industries Gmbh, 7800 Freiburg Television receiver with a device for the simultaneous playback of several programs
US4261006A (en) 1976-07-22 1981-04-07 Morton Weintraub Remote control of video
GB1585100A (en) 1976-09-06 1981-02-25 Gen Electric Co Ltd Electronic display apparatus
US4170782A (en) 1976-12-13 1979-10-09 Miller Arthur O Programming and selection monitoring system for television receivers
US4081753A (en) 1976-12-13 1978-03-28 Miller Arthur O Automatic programming system for television receivers
US4156198A (en) 1976-12-27 1979-05-22 The Magnavox Company Keyboard channel selection for television receivers
US4203130A (en) 1977-01-11 1980-05-13 Dial-A-Channel, Inc. Information displaying system
US4189781A (en) 1977-01-25 1980-02-19 International Business Machines Corporation Segmented storage logging and controlling
US4081754A (en) 1977-01-31 1978-03-28 Jackson Joseph N Programmable television receiver controllers
GB1575037A (en) 1977-02-09 1980-09-17 Philips Electronic Associated Data transmission
DE2719827A1 (en) 1977-05-04 1978-11-09 Licentia Gmbh SYSTEM FOR SELECTING AND PLAYING BACK SCREEN TEXT
CA1196082A (en) 1977-08-19 1985-10-29 Seiscom Delta Inc. Displaying seismic sections in isometric view
US4156850A (en) 1977-08-29 1979-05-29 Rca Corporation Display system for facilitating the setup of a tuning system
JPS5443644A (en) 1977-09-13 1979-04-06 Fujitsu Ltd Processing system for deadlock automatic release at exclusive control time
US4162513A (en) 1977-09-30 1979-07-24 Rca Corporation Television system scheduler
US4186413A (en) 1977-11-14 1980-01-29 Sanders Associates, Inc. Apparatus for receiving encoded messages on the screen of a television receiver and for redisplay thereof on the same receiver screen in a readable format
JPS54105920A (en) 1978-02-07 1979-08-20 Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd Picture display device
US4224644A (en) 1978-02-08 1980-09-23 Videodetics Corporation Method and apparatus for controlling a tape player/recorder for retrieving and playing prerecorded information
US4264924A (en) 1978-03-03 1981-04-28 Freeman Michael J Dedicated channel interactive cable television system
WO1979000745A1 (en) 1978-03-13 1979-10-04 Rca Corp Tv graphics and mixing control
US4420769A (en) 1978-03-22 1983-12-13 Novak Albert P Device for the automatic editing, at the receiver, of unwanted program material from broadcast electrical signals
US4228543A (en) 1978-03-24 1980-10-14 Jackson Joseph N Programmable television receiver controllers
IT1159686B (en) 1978-05-22 1987-03-04 Indesit TELEVISION
IT1108410B (en) 1978-09-25 1985-12-09 Indesit TELEVISION
GB2034995A (en) 1978-10-16 1980-06-11 British Broadcasting Corp Control of broadcast radio and television receivers
BE871690R (en) 1978-10-27 1979-02-15 Staar Sa DEVICE FOR MEMORIZING THE INSTANT POSITION OF A MAGNETIC TAPE CONTAINED IN A CASSETTE
GB2035014B (en) 1978-11-06 1982-09-29 British Broadcasting Corp Cyclic redundancy data check encoding method and apparatus
US4233628A (en) 1979-01-11 1980-11-11 Zenith Radio Corporation NTSC receiver useable with Teletext/Viewdata information
US4329684A (en) 1979-01-16 1982-05-11 British Broadcasting Corporation Apparatus using a light sensing system for sensing time modulated information from a light emitting device
FR2448824A1 (en) 1979-02-06 1980-09-05 Telediffusion Fse VIDEOTEX SYSTEM PROVIDED WITH INFORMATION ACCESS CONTROL MEANS
FR2449379A1 (en) 1979-02-15 1980-09-12 Scart AUDIO-VIDEO DYNAMIC INTERCONNECTION SYSTEM
US4598288A (en) 1979-04-16 1986-07-01 Codart, Inc. Apparatus for controlling the reception of transmitted programs
US4305101A (en) 1979-04-16 1981-12-08 Codart, Inc. Method and apparatus for selectively recording a broadcast
DE2918846C3 (en) 1979-05-10 1982-04-08 Grundig E.M.V. Elektro-Mechanische Versuchsanstalt Max Grundig & Co KG, 8510 Fürth Arrangement for the screen listing of pre-programmable recording data from video recording and playback devices
JPS55156485A (en) 1979-05-23 1980-12-05 Sony Corp Character broadcast receiver
JPS5626286A (en) 1979-08-10 1981-03-13 Hitachi Ltd Program timer
US4264925A (en) 1979-08-13 1981-04-28 Michael J. Freeman Interactive cable television system
US4422105A (en) 1979-10-11 1983-12-20 Video Education, Inc. Interactive system and method for the control of video playback devices
GB2062424B (en) 1979-10-31 1983-04-07 British Broadcasting Corp Bradcast teletext system
US4347498A (en) 1979-11-21 1982-08-31 International Business Machines Corporation Method and means for demand accessing and broadcast transmission among ports in a distributed star network
DE2950432A1 (en) 1979-12-14 1981-06-19 Edmond 8031 Gröbenzell Keiser METHOD AND DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING THE OPERATION OF A TELEVISION RECEIVER
US4339798A (en) 1979-12-17 1982-07-13 Remote Dynamics Remote gaming system
WO1981002961A1 (en) 1980-03-31 1981-10-15 Tocom Addressable cable television control system with video format data transmission
US4862268A (en) 1980-03-31 1989-08-29 General Instrument Corporation Addressable cable television control system with video format data transmission
US4355415A (en) 1980-04-29 1982-10-19 Rca Corporation Tuning mode arrangement useful for restricting channel selection to certain channels
NL8003087A (en) 1980-05-29 1982-01-04 Philips Nv RECEIVER WITH A TRANSMITTER SWITCH.
EP0043167B1 (en) 1980-07-01 1985-01-02 ATELIERS DE CONSTRUCTIONS ELECTRIQUES DE CHARLEROI (ACEC) Société Anonyme Method of transmitting information via television networks
JPS6334382Y2 (en) 1980-08-08 1988-09-12
DE3036552C2 (en) 1980-09-27 1985-04-25 Blaupunkt-Werke Gmbh, 3200 Hildesheim Television reception system
JPS5776663A (en) 1980-10-31 1982-05-13 Toshiba Corp Storage and retrieval device for picture information
US4381522A (en) 1980-12-01 1983-04-26 Adams-Russell Co., Inc. Selective viewing
US4388645A (en) 1981-04-13 1983-06-14 Zenith Radio Corporation Teletext communication system with timed multipage local memory
US4425581A (en) 1981-04-17 1984-01-10 Corporation For Public Broadcasting System for overlaying a computer generated video signal on an NTSC video signal
US4425579A (en) 1981-05-22 1984-01-10 Oak Industries Inc. Catv converter with keylock to favorite channels
US4393376A (en) 1981-06-04 1983-07-12 Zenith Radio Corporation Teletext interface for digital storage medium having synthetic video generator
US4375651A (en) 1981-07-27 1983-03-01 Zenith Radio Corporation Selective video reception control system
SE428161B (en) 1981-10-14 1983-06-06 Philips Svenska Ab PLANT FOR DISPLAYING SELECTABLE BACKGROUND INFORMATION COMBINED WITH SELECTABLE OVERLAYING INFORMATION ON A SCREEN DEVICE AND USING A DOUBLE PRESENTATION PLANT
US4694490A (en) 1981-11-03 1987-09-15 Harvey John C Signal processing apparatus and methods
US4965825A (en) 1981-11-03 1990-10-23 The Personalized Mass Media Corporation Signal processing apparatus and methods
US4412244A (en) 1981-11-20 1983-10-25 Rca Corporation Switching circuit for television receiver on-screen display
US5508815A (en) 1981-12-14 1996-04-16 Smart Vcr Limited Partnership Schedule display system for video recorder programming
US4963994A (en) 1981-12-14 1990-10-16 Levine Michael R VCR programmer
US4908713A (en) 1981-12-14 1990-03-13 Levine Michael R VCR Programmer
US4605964A (en) 1981-12-19 1986-08-12 Chard Frederick W Method and apparatus for editing the output of a television set
US4429385A (en) 1981-12-31 1984-01-31 American Newspaper Publishers Association Method and apparatus for digital serial scanning with hierarchical and relational access
US4405946A (en) 1982-02-16 1983-09-20 Rca Corporation Television signal converting apparatus providing an on-screen tuning display
US4510623A (en) 1982-07-23 1985-04-09 General Electric Company Television channel lockout
US4531020A (en) 1982-07-23 1985-07-23 Oak Industries Inc. Multi-layer encryption system for the broadcast of encrypted information
US4520404A (en) 1982-08-23 1985-05-28 Kohorn H Von System, apparatus and method for recording and editing broadcast transmissions
US4605973A (en) 1982-08-23 1986-08-12 Kohorn H Von System, apparatus and method for recording and editing broadcast transmissions
GB2126002A (en) 1982-08-25 1984-03-14 Simon William Breese Automatic control for recording apparatus
US4535333A (en) 1982-09-23 1985-08-13 Chamberlain Manufacturing Corporation Transmitter and receiver for controlling remote elements
US4449249A (en) 1982-09-27 1984-05-15 Price Robert T Televison programming information system
US4496171A (en) 1982-09-29 1985-01-29 Martin Cherry Media guide
US4622545A (en) 1982-09-30 1986-11-11 Apple Computer, Inc. Method and apparatus for image compression and manipulation
US4456925A (en) 1982-10-04 1984-06-26 Zenith Radio Corporation Television/telephone system with automatic dialing
JPS5988612A (en) 1982-11-15 1984-05-22 Toshiba Mach Co Ltd Method and apparatus for detecting absolute position
JPS5994977A (en) 1982-11-24 1984-05-31 Sony Corp Video signal reproducer
DE3243610A1 (en) 1982-11-25 1984-05-30 Philips Patentverwaltung Gmbh, 2000 Hamburg ARRANGEMENT FOR PROGRAMMABLE CONTROL OF A BROADCASTING AND / OR TELEVISION RECEIVING DEVICE
DE3246225C2 (en) 1982-12-14 1985-07-18 ANT Nachrichtentechnik GmbH, 7150 Backnang Broadband distribution system with a large number of channels
US4496976A (en) 1982-12-27 1985-01-29 Rockwell International Corporation Reduced memory graphics-to-raster scan converter
JPS59123373A (en) 1982-12-29 1984-07-17 Sony Corp Timer reserving device
US4547804A (en) 1983-03-21 1985-10-15 Greenberg Burton L Method and apparatus for the automatic identification and verification of commercial broadcast programs
US4495654A (en) 1983-03-29 1985-01-22 Rca Corporation Remote controlled receiver with provisions for automatically programming a channel skip list
US4587520A (en) 1983-04-07 1986-05-06 Rca Corporation Cursor controlled page selection in a video display
US4566034A (en) * 1983-05-02 1986-01-21 Rca Corporation Remote control transmitter arrangement for one or more television devices
US4625080A (en) 1983-05-03 1986-11-25 Scott Michael M Remote video recorder programming apparatus operating over telephone lines
US4554584B1 (en) 1983-07-08 1998-04-07 Browne Lee H Video and audio blanking system
US4527194A (en) 1983-07-27 1985-07-02 Zenith Electronics Corporation Channel assignment for CATV system
US4496804A (en) 1983-08-10 1985-01-29 Porta Systems Corp. Wire contact retention means for rotary switches
DE3337204A1 (en) 1983-09-28 1985-04-25 Telefunken Fernseh Und Rundfunk Gmbh, 3000 Hannover Method for programming a receiver, in particular of a video recorder
US4754326A (en) 1983-10-25 1988-06-28 Keycom Electronic Publishing Method and apparatus for assisting user of information retrieval systems
US4595951A (en) 1983-11-29 1986-06-17 Rca Corporation Teletext decoder using a common memory
US4595952A (en) 1983-11-29 1986-06-17 Rca Corporation Teletext decoder having a register array for operating on pixel words
US4768228A (en) 1983-12-13 1988-08-30 U.S. Computer Systems Data acquisition device
US4608859A (en) 1983-12-28 1986-09-02 Microlytics, Inc. Process and apparatus for analyzing cutting from oil and gas wells
US4641205A (en) 1984-03-05 1987-02-03 Rca Corporation Television system scheduler with on-screen menu type programming prompting apparatus
US4573072A (en) 1984-03-21 1986-02-25 Actv Inc. Method for expanding interactive CATV displayable choices for a given channel capacity
JPS60230774A (en) 1984-04-28 1985-11-16 Sony Corp Picture display device
US4689022A (en) 1984-04-30 1987-08-25 John Peers System for control of a video storage means by a programmed processor
US4868735A (en) 1984-05-08 1989-09-19 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Interruptible structured microprogrammed sixteen-bit address sequence controller
US4626848A (en) 1984-05-15 1986-12-02 General Electric Company Programmable functions for reconfigurable remote control
US4885775A (en) 1984-09-21 1989-12-05 Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. Information display scheme for subscribers of a subscription television system
US4787063A (en) 1984-10-19 1988-11-22 Francis Muguet Acquisition and transmission system for a recorder and a computer center
US4789962A (en) 1984-10-31 1988-12-06 International Business Machines Corporation Methods of displaying help information nearest to an operation point at which the help information is requested
EP0183625B1 (en) 1984-11-29 1990-02-28 Sony Corporation Television signal receiving apparatus
CA1257377A (en) 1984-11-29 1989-07-11 Toshihide Hayashi Receiver for pay television
NL8500047A (en) 1985-01-09 1986-08-01 Philips Nv TELEVISION RECEIVER WITH TELETEXT DECODER LINK AND PAGE NUMBER MEMORY.
DE3505006A1 (en) 1985-02-14 1986-08-14 Grundig E.M.V. Elektro-Mechanische Versuchsanstalt Max Grundig holländ. Stiftung & Co KG, 8510 Fürth METHOD FOR THE AUTOMATIC RECORDING OF TELEVISION PROGRAMS AFTER SELECTION FROM VIDEOTEXT PROGRAM PANELS
US4685131A (en) 1985-03-11 1987-08-04 General Instrument Corp. Program blocking method for use in direct broadcast satellite system
NL8500690A (en) 1985-03-12 1986-10-01 Philips Nv REMOTE CONTROL UNIT FOR OPERATING VARIOUS MODULES.
US4751578A (en) 1985-05-28 1988-06-14 David P. Gordon System for electronically controllably viewing on a television updateable television programming information
US4706121B1 (en) 1985-07-12 1993-12-14 Insight Telecast, Inc. Tv schedule system and process
US4677466A (en) 1985-07-29 1987-06-30 A. C. Nielsen Company Broadcast program identification method and apparatus
DE3527939A1 (en) 1985-08-03 1987-02-12 Westdeutscher Rundfunk Method for transmitting teletext and programme contribution identification signals in a television signal
AU591743B2 (en) 1985-12-28 1989-12-14 Sony Corporation Television receiver
GB2185670B (en) 1986-01-22 1989-10-25 Peter James Callf Improvements in or relating to viewdata systems
JPH0728448B2 (en) 1986-02-07 1995-03-29 アールシーエー トムソン ライセンシング コーポレイシヨン Reconfigurable remote control transmitter
US4718107A (en) 1986-02-14 1988-01-05 Rca Corporation Parental control for CATV converters
US4739406A (en) 1986-04-11 1988-04-19 Morton Richard G Method and apparatus for interacting with television images
US5550579A (en) 1986-05-14 1996-08-27 Radio Telecom & Technology, Inc. Two-way cable tv conversion system
US4750036A (en) 1986-05-14 1988-06-07 Radio Telcom & Technology, Inc. Interactive television and data transmission system
US4750213A (en) 1986-06-09 1988-06-07 Novak Albert P Method and system for editing unwanted program material from broadcast signals
US4812940A (en) 1986-06-20 1989-03-14 Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. Dictation display for displaying present position and cue mark position information
DE3621263A1 (en) 1986-06-25 1988-01-07 Standard Elektrik Lorenz Ag Recording and reproducing apparatus with a recording carrier
US4890321A (en) 1986-07-08 1989-12-26 Scientific Atlanta, Inc. Communications format for a subscription television system permitting transmission of individual text messages to subscribers
DE3623925A1 (en) 1986-07-16 1988-01-21 Grundig Emv VIDEO TEXT DECODER WITH TELEVISION PROGRAM-SPECIFIC VIDEO TEXT STORAGE
DE3623924A1 (en) 1986-07-16 1988-02-11 Grundig Emv MICROCOMPUTER CONTROLLED VIDEO TEXT DECODER
US4841132A (en) 1986-07-21 1989-06-20 Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. Program recording scheduling apparatus using an optical reader
DE3625382C2 (en) 1986-07-26 1994-06-09 Grundig Emv Device for recording satellite television programs
US4847696A (en) 1986-07-28 1989-07-11 Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba System with a timer screen, for reserving the recording of TV programs
JPS6333980A (en) 1986-07-29 1988-02-13 Sony Corp Video display device
JPH0758884B2 (en) 1986-07-31 1995-06-21 ソニー株式会社 TV receiver
EP0255107B1 (en) 1986-08-01 1994-04-20 Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. Program mode setting apparatus
DE3628743C2 (en) 1986-08-23 1994-05-11 Grundig Emv Device for recording and quickly retrieving video signal sections on a magnetic tape
US4908859A (en) 1986-09-19 1990-03-13 M/A-Com Government Systems, Inc. Receiver access interface to service components in television channel
US4775935A (en) 1986-09-22 1988-10-04 Westinghouse Electric Corp. Video merchandising system with variable and adoptive product sequence presentation order
JPH0710091B2 (en) 1986-10-24 1995-02-01 ソニー株式会社 Electronics
JPH0748834B2 (en) 1986-11-04 1995-05-24 松下電器産業株式会社 Video signal processor
US4776038A (en) 1987-01-21 1988-10-04 Rca Licensing Corporation Automatic air/cable mode selection apparatus for a television tuner
US4737993A (en) 1987-01-21 1988-04-12 Rca Corporation Cable broadcast TV receiver with automatic channel search responsive to mode change
US5596419A (en) 1987-06-16 1997-01-21 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Video system using two different kinds of recording media
JPS6410482A (en) 1987-07-03 1989-01-13 Hashimoto Corp Control system for vtr by computer
EP0300562B1 (en) 1987-07-20 1997-11-05 Philips Electronics Uk Limited Television transmission system
US4969209A (en) 1987-07-27 1990-11-06 Prs Corporation Broadcast receiver capable of selecting stations based upon geographical location and program format
US5172111A (en) 1987-08-31 1992-12-15 Olivo Jr John W Stored media screening device
US4888796A (en) 1987-08-31 1989-12-19 Olivo Jr John W Program material screening device
US4930160A (en) 1987-09-02 1990-05-29 Vogel Peter S Automatic censorship of video programs
US5418621A (en) 1987-09-29 1995-05-23 Goldstar Co., Ltd. Circuit for detecting TV/radio broadcasting program, auto-tuning to channel selection and controlling VCR tape in recording operation
KR940010417B1 (en) 1987-09-29 1994-10-22 주식회사 금성사 Detecting program for tv/vcr and auto-tuning circuit
US4821211A (en) 1987-11-19 1989-04-11 International Business Machines Corp. Method of navigating among program menus using a graphical menu tree
US4872005A (en) 1988-01-04 1989-10-03 Motorola, Inc. Paging receiver capable of reminding a user of an important message event
US4841368A (en) 1988-01-21 1989-06-20 North American Philips Corporation Television customer control functions restorer
US4894789A (en) 1988-02-22 1990-01-16 Yee Keen Y TV data capture device
FR2628588A1 (en) 1988-03-14 1989-09-15 Croquet Cie METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ACQUIRING AND TRANSMITTING INFORMATION ON THE AUDIENCE OF TELEVISION PROGRAMS
JPH01246978A (en) 1988-03-28 1989-10-02 Toshiba Corp Picture information receiving and displaying device
GB8808964D0 (en) 1988-04-15 1988-05-18 Rca Licensing Corp Applications for information transmitted in vertical retrace interval of television signal
JP2829962B2 (en) 1988-04-28 1998-12-02 松下電器産業株式会社 Television receiver
GB2218287B (en) 1988-05-02 1992-10-07 Hashimoto Corp Display system for use with a tv program reservation system
EP0344803B1 (en) 1988-06-03 1995-09-13 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Electronic device with calendar function
US4998171A (en) 1988-07-05 1991-03-05 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Automatic shift circuit for a sub-picture screen for picture-in-picture feature
US4977455B1 (en) 1988-07-15 1993-04-13 System and process for vcr scheduling
US5179654C1 (en) 1988-07-20 2001-05-08 Ibm Help provision in a data processing system
US5187589A (en) 1988-07-28 1993-02-16 Pioneer Electronic Corporation Multiprogram video tape recording and reproducing device
JP3002471B2 (en) 1988-08-19 2000-01-24 株式会社日立製作所 Program distribution device
DE3834510A1 (en) 1988-10-11 1990-04-12 Grundig Emv METHOD FOR RECORDING AND REPLAYING THE CONTENTS OF A VIDEO MAGNET TAPE CASSETTE AND VIDEO RECORDER FOR IMPLEMENTING THE METHOD
US4959719A (en) 1988-12-21 1990-09-25 North American Philips Corporation Picture-in-picture television receiver control
US6430358B1 (en) 1988-12-23 2002-08-06 Gemstar Development Corporation Universal remote including apparatus using compressed codes for video recorder control
US4991011A (en) 1988-12-23 1991-02-05 Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. Interactive television terminal with programmable background audio or video
US5307173A (en) 1988-12-23 1994-04-26 Gemstar Development Corporation Apparatus and method using compressed codes for television program record scheduling
CA2005070C (en) 1988-12-23 1999-04-27 Henry C. Yuen Apparatus and method for using encoded video recorder/player timer preprogramming information
US5193009A (en) 1989-01-20 1993-03-09 Goldstar Co., Ltd. Signal switching method of a TV-VCR combination having two tuners
DE3928175A1 (en) 1989-01-21 1990-07-26 Nokia Unterhaltungselektronik VIDEO RECEIVER
JPH02264586A (en) 1989-04-04 1990-10-29 Pioneer Electron Corp Catv system and catv terminal equipment
US4959720A (en) 1989-04-06 1990-09-25 Rca Licensing Corporation Tuner control apparatus having tune-by-label capability
US4914517A (en) 1989-04-06 1990-04-03 Thomson Consumer Electronics, Inc. Tuner control apparatus having tune-by-label capability and using alphabetical label storage
JP2762545B2 (en) 1989-04-19 1998-06-04 ソニー株式会社 Cassette type recording / reproducing device
US4996597A (en) 1989-04-20 1991-02-26 Rca Licensing Corporation User programmable switching arrangement
US5091785A (en) 1989-04-20 1992-02-25 Thomson Consumer Electronics, Inc. Picture-in-picture circuitry using field rate synchronization
US4914516A (en) 1989-04-20 1990-04-03 Thomson Consumer Electronics, Inc. Fast response picture-in-picture circuitry
GB8909114D0 (en) 1989-04-21 1989-06-07 Rca Licensing Corp Improved processing of information transmitted in the vertical retrace interval of a television signal
US5193005A (en) 1989-05-01 1993-03-09 Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba Channel selecting apparatus having a channel skip function
US5045947A (en) 1989-05-31 1991-09-03 Jack Beery Television receiver having memory control for tune-by-label feature
US5068734B1 (en) 1989-05-31 1993-10-26 Beery Jack Apparatus for controlling a television receiver
US5253066C1 (en) 1989-06-01 2001-05-22 United Video Properties Inc Tv recording and viewing control system
US5047867A (en) 1989-06-08 1991-09-10 North American Philips Corporation Interface for a TV-VCR system
DE3921847A1 (en) 1989-07-03 1991-01-17 Grundig Emv DEVICE FOR CHOOSING A PROGRAM BY TELETEXTABLE
US5038211A (en) 1989-07-05 1991-08-06 The Superguide Corporation Method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving television program information
FR2652972B1 (en) 1989-10-06 1996-11-29 Thomson Video Equip METHOD AND DEVICE FOR INTEGRATING SELF-ADAPTIVE COLOR VIDEO IMAGES.
US5023727A (en) 1989-10-12 1991-06-11 Ian A. R. Boyd Method and device for producing a substantially continuous composite video signal
US7748018B2 (en) 1989-10-30 2010-06-29 Starsight Telecast, Inc. Arranging channel indicators in a television schedule system
US5353121A (en) 1989-10-30 1994-10-04 Starsight Telecast, Inc. Television schedule system
US5727060A (en) 1989-10-30 1998-03-10 Starsight Telecast, Inc. Television schedule system
DE69034079T2 (en) 1989-10-30 2004-04-01 Starsight Telecast, Inc., Fremont Apparatus for the unattended recording of television programs
US5005084A (en) 1989-12-19 1991-04-02 North American Philips Corporation Remote control television system using supplementary unit for simplified personalized control
FR2656489B1 (en) 1989-12-22 1995-08-04 France Etat DEVICE FOR INTELLIGIBLE CONSULTATION OF THE NATURE OF RIGHTS OF ACCESS TO A TELEVISION AND / OR PAID RADIO SERVICE.
JPH03253189A (en) 1990-03-02 1991-11-12 Hitachi Ltd Video signal processing unit
JP2822258B2 (en) 1990-03-02 1998-11-11 ソニー株式会社 Television receiver
US5351075A (en) 1990-03-20 1994-09-27 Frederick Herz Home video club television broadcasting system
GB9006415D0 (en) 1990-03-22 1990-05-23 Rca Licensing Corp Providing tv program information
FR2662895B1 (en) 1990-05-29 1992-08-28 Telediffusion Fse INSTALLATION FOR DISTRIBUTING BROADCASTING PROGRAMS WITH A CABLE NETWORK.
US5412377A (en) 1990-06-08 1995-05-02 Evans; Benjamin F. Universal remote control program scheduling system
DE69133588D1 (en) 1990-08-10 2008-01-31 Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd transmission system
US5390027A (en) 1990-08-23 1995-02-14 Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. Television program recording and reproducing system using program data of text broadcast signal
JP2630039B2 (en) 1990-08-23 1997-07-16 松下電器産業株式会社 Image recording and playback device
JPH04200082A (en) 1990-11-29 1992-07-21 Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd Teletext broadcast receiver
CA2499761C (en) 1990-09-10 2005-11-29 Starsight Telecast, Inc. User interface for television schedule system
EP1377049B1 (en) 1990-09-10 2006-08-09 Starsight Telecast, Inc. User interface for television schedule system
US6832385B2 (en) 1990-09-10 2004-12-14 United Video Properties, Inc. Television schedule system
US5808608A (en) 1990-09-10 1998-09-15 Starsight Telecast, Inc. Background television schedule system
US5293357A (en) 1990-09-10 1994-03-08 The Superguide Corporation Method and apparatus for controlling a television program recording device
DE4028942A1 (en) 1990-09-12 1992-03-19 Texas Instruments Deutschland ARRANGEMENT FOR PROCESSING TELETEXT INFORMATION
US5103314A (en) 1990-09-24 1992-04-07 Thomson Consumer Electronics, Inc. Color-coded system for selection of rf input terminals and associated scan lists
US5161023A (en) 1990-09-24 1992-11-03 Thomson Consumer Electronics, Inc. Previous channel feature in a television receiver having multiple rf inputs
US5182646A (en) 1990-09-24 1993-01-26 Thomson Consumer Electronics, Inc. Linkable scan lists for a television receiver
US5797011A (en) 1990-10-23 1998-08-18 International Business Machines Corporation Method for controlling the translation of information on a display screen from a source language to a target language
US5123046A (en) 1990-11-05 1992-06-16 Smart Vcr Limited Partnership Vcr with cable tuner control
KR0178536B1 (en) 1991-03-11 1999-04-15 강진구 Channel selecting method of relative program
US5200823A (en) 1991-03-29 1993-04-06 Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. Virtual channels for a multiplexed analog component (mac) television system
US5940614A (en) 1991-04-18 1999-08-17 International Business Machines Corporation Hypertext control method and apparatus for displaying help information in an interactive data processing system
US6678706B1 (en) 1991-04-18 2004-01-13 International Business Machines Corporation Hypertext marker and method for dynamically displaying help information in an interactive data processing system
JPH07117868B2 (en) 1991-04-30 1995-12-18 インターナショナル・ビジネス・マシーンズ・コーポレイション Method and device for defining touch-type operating keyboard
MY108018A (en) 1991-05-02 1996-07-30 Thomson Consumer Electronics Inc Deletion of entries from the channel mapping list of a videocassette recorder.
US5991498A (en) 1991-05-24 1999-11-23 Starsight Telecast, Inc. VCR programming system
KR930003720A (en) 1991-07-09 1993-02-24 강진구 How to automatically discover PIP channels
US5210611A (en) 1991-08-12 1993-05-11 Keen Y. Yee Automatic tuning radio/TV using filtered seek
US5488409A (en) 1991-08-19 1996-01-30 Yuen; Henry C. Apparatus and method for tracking the playing of VCR programs
JP3341290B2 (en) 1991-09-10 2002-11-05 ソニー株式会社 Video display device
KR930007256A (en) 1991-09-10 1993-04-22 오오가 노리오 A video display device and an television set showing an operation menu
US5404393A (en) 1991-10-03 1995-04-04 Viscorp Method and apparatus for interactive television through use of menu windows
US5546521A (en) 1991-10-15 1996-08-13 International Business Machines Corporation Dynamic presentation of contextual help and status information
US5301028A (en) 1991-11-29 1994-04-05 Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. Method and apparatus for displaying channel identification information
US5477262A (en) 1991-11-29 1995-12-19 Scientific-Altanta, Inc. Method and apparatus for providing an on-screen user interface for a subscription television terminal
MY131285A (en) 1991-12-13 2007-07-31 Thomson Consumer Electronics Vcr control of a cable converter unit
US5253067A (en) 1991-12-16 1993-10-12 Thomson Consumer Electronics, Inc. Channel labeling apparatus for a television receiver wherein graphics and text labels may be selected from a preprogrammed list
US5371550A (en) 1991-12-25 1994-12-06 Casio Computer Co., Ltd. Television receiver with auto-tuning system
US5623282A (en) 1991-12-31 1997-04-22 Microsoft Corporation Method and system for the direct manipulation of cells in an electronic spreadsheet program or the like
US5434678A (en) 1993-01-11 1995-07-18 Abecassis; Max Seamless transmission of non-sequential video segments
JP3328951B2 (en) 1992-02-07 2002-09-30 ソニー株式会社 TV receiver and tuning method
JPH05250119A (en) 1992-03-10 1993-09-28 Hitachi Ltd Animation help guidance method
JP3198486B2 (en) 1992-03-11 2001-08-13 ソニー株式会社 Monitor system for AV system
US5416895A (en) 1992-04-08 1995-05-16 Borland International, Inc. System and methods for improved spreadsheet interface with user-familiar objects
US5554646A (en) 1992-04-29 1996-09-10 Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation Method for reducing body fat in animals
CA2092632C (en) 1992-05-26 2001-10-16 Richard E. Berry Display system with imbedded icons in a menu bar
US5223924A (en) 1992-05-27 1993-06-29 North American Philips Corporation System and method for automatically correlating user preferences with a T.V. program information database
US5623690A (en) 1992-06-03 1997-04-22 Digital Equipment Corporation Audio/video storage and retrieval for multimedia workstations by interleaving audio and video data in data file
US5317403A (en) 1992-06-26 1994-05-31 Thomson Consumer Electronics, Inc. Favorite channel selection using extended keypress
JPH0690139A (en) 1992-09-07 1994-03-29 Uniden Corp Receiver
KR960003880B1 (en) 1992-10-12 1996-03-23 엘지전자주식회사 Caption display control apparatus and the method thereof
US5373288A (en) 1992-10-23 1994-12-13 At&T Corp. Initializing terminals in a signal distribution system
US5359601A (en) 1992-10-30 1994-10-25 Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. Apparatus providing dynamic virtual service selection in a multi-service communications system
US5774887A (en) 1992-11-18 1998-06-30 U S West Advanced Technologies, Inc. Customer service electronic form generating system
US5398074A (en) 1992-11-24 1995-03-14 Thomson Consumer Electronics, Inc. Programmable picture-outside-picture display
DE4240187A1 (en) 1992-11-30 1994-06-01 Siemens Ag Displaying information from video text signals on screen - generating text table representing all TV programmes available from different transmitters without switching between transmitters
US5657414A (en) 1992-12-01 1997-08-12 Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. Auxiliary device control for a subscriber terminal
US5357276A (en) 1992-12-01 1994-10-18 Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. Method of providing video on demand with VCR like functions
US5592551A (en) 1992-12-01 1997-01-07 Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. Method and apparatus for providing interactive electronic programming guide
US5410326A (en) 1992-12-04 1995-04-25 Goldstein; Steven W. Programmable remote control device for interacting with a plurality of remotely controlled devices
US20020104083A1 (en) 1992-12-09 2002-08-01 Hendricks John S. Internally targeted advertisements using television delivery systems
WO1994013107A1 (en) 1992-12-09 1994-06-09 Discovery Communications, Inc. Advanced set top terminal for cable television delivery systems
US5384910A (en) 1992-12-31 1995-01-24 International Business Machines Corporation Method and apparatus for facilitating operator reconfiguration of a graphical user interface in a data processing system
US5355079A (en) 1993-01-07 1994-10-11 Wentworth Laboratories, Inc. Probe assembly for testing integrated circuit devices
US5584525A (en) 1993-03-03 1996-12-17 Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. Automotive seat having robust construction
FR2702619B1 (en) 1993-03-12 1995-04-28 Thomson Consumer Electronics Character display device in a video system.
US5524195A (en) 1993-05-24 1996-06-04 Sun Microsystems, Inc. Graphical user interface for interactive television with an animated agent
US5485221A (en) 1993-06-07 1996-01-16 Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. Subscription television system and terminal for enabling simultaneous display of multiple services
US5579055A (en) 1993-06-07 1996-11-26 Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. Electronic program guide and text channel data controller
US5621456A (en) 1993-06-22 1997-04-15 Apple Computer, Inc. Methods and apparatus for audio-visual interface for the display of multiple program categories
US5583560A (en) 1993-06-22 1996-12-10 Apple Computer, Inc. Method and apparatus for audio-visual interface for the selective display of listing information on a display
US5594509A (en) 1993-06-22 1997-01-14 Apple Computer, Inc. Method and apparatus for audio-visual interface for the display of multiple levels of information on a display
US5355162A (en) 1993-07-13 1994-10-11 Pacific Ray Video Limited Multi-standard cable television system
US5382983A (en) 1993-07-29 1995-01-17 Kwoh; Daniel S. Apparatus and method for total parental control of television use
US5541738A (en) 1994-04-12 1996-07-30 E. Guide, Inc. Electronic program guide
US5585866A (en) 1993-09-09 1996-12-17 Miller; Larry Electronic television program guide schedule system and method including virtual channels
US5822123A (en) 1993-09-09 1998-10-13 Davis; Bruce Electronic television program guide schedule system and method with pop-up hints
US5781246A (en) 1993-09-09 1998-07-14 Alten; Jerry Electronic television program guide schedule system and method
US6418556B1 (en) 1993-09-09 2002-07-09 United Video Properties, Inc. Electronic television program guide schedule system and method
US6275268B1 (en) 1993-09-09 2001-08-14 United Video Properties, Inc. Electronic television program guide with remote product ordering
US5589892A (en) 1993-09-09 1996-12-31 Knee; Robert A. Electronic television program guide schedule system and method with data feed access
US5485518A (en) 1993-09-30 1996-01-16 Yellowstone Environmental Science, Inc. Electronic media program recognition and choice
US5523791A (en) 1993-10-12 1996-06-04 Berman; John L. Method and apparatus for applying overlay images
US5557724A (en) 1993-10-12 1996-09-17 Intel Corporation User interface, method, and apparatus selecting and playing channels having video, audio, and/or text streams
US5425101A (en) 1993-12-03 1995-06-13 Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. System and method for simultaneously authorizing multiple virtual channels
JP3237362B2 (en) 1993-12-27 2001-12-10 松下電器産業株式会社 Program guide display device
US5573244A (en) * 1994-02-28 1996-11-12 International Sports Wagering, Inc. System and method for wagering at fixed handicaps and/or odds on a sports event
EP0952735B2 (en) 1994-04-08 2007-12-26 United Video Properties, Inc. Interactive scroll program guide
US5502504A (en) 1994-04-28 1996-03-26 Prevue Networks, Inc. Video mix program guide
KR100348915B1 (en) 1994-05-12 2002-12-26 마이크로소프트 코포레이션 TV program selection method and system
US5680617A (en) 1994-05-16 1997-10-21 Apple Computer, Inc. Computer-human interface which provides for user customization of object behavior
US6661468B2 (en) 1994-05-20 2003-12-09 United Video Properties, Inc. Electronic television program guide schedule system and method
US5523796A (en) 1994-05-20 1996-06-04 Prevue Networks, Inc. Video clip program guide
US5559548A (en) 1994-05-20 1996-09-24 Davis; Bruce System and method for generating an information display schedule for an electronic program guide
EP2293548A1 (en) 1994-05-20 2011-03-09 United Video Properties, Inc. Improved electronic televison program schedule guide system and method
US5453796A (en) 1994-06-28 1995-09-26 Thomson Consumer Electronics, Inc. Signal swap apparatus for a television receiver having an HDTV main picture signal processor and an NTSC Pix-in-Pix signal processor
JP3513247B2 (en) * 1994-07-11 2004-03-31 キヤノン株式会社 Frequency shifter and optical displacement measuring device using the same
US5528304A (en) 1994-07-22 1996-06-18 Zenith Electronics Corp. Picture-in-picture feedback for channel related features
US5678170A (en) 1994-10-05 1997-10-14 Motorola, Inc. Method and apparatus for monitoring and limiting distribution of data
US5614940A (en) 1994-10-21 1997-03-25 Intel Corporation Method and apparatus for providing broadcast information with indexing
EP0789968B1 (en) 1994-10-27 2003-03-05 Index Systems, Inc. System and method for downloading recorder programming data in a video signal
JP3178278B2 (en) 1994-11-10 2001-06-18 松下電器産業株式会社 FSK receiver
ES2181811T3 (en) 1994-12-13 2003-03-01 Gemstar Dev Corp METHOD FOR EXPLOITATION OF CHANNELS BY SUBJECT.
US5659367A (en) 1994-12-30 1997-08-19 Index Systems, Inc. Television on/off detector for use in a video cassette recorder
US5596373A (en) 1995-01-04 1997-01-21 Sony Corporation Method and apparatus for providing program oriented information in a multiple station broadcast system
CA2166434A1 (en) 1995-01-04 1996-07-05 Fujio Noguchi Method and apparatus for providing programming information
KR0151677B1 (en) 1995-02-08 1998-12-15 권문구 Heating treatment method of conductivity heating element
US5553221A (en) 1995-03-20 1996-09-03 International Business Machine Corporation System and method for enabling the creation of personalized movie presentations and personalized movie collections
US5557338A (en) 1995-04-05 1996-09-17 Thomson Consumer Electronics, Inc. Television receiver using received channel guide information and a secondary video signal processor for displaying secondary channel information
US5880768A (en) * 1995-04-06 1999-03-09 Prevue Networks, Inc. Interactive program guide systems and processes
US5550576A (en) 1995-04-17 1996-08-27 Starsight Telecast Incorporated Method and apparatus for merging television program schedule information received from multiple television schedule information sources
US5677708A (en) 1995-05-05 1997-10-14 Microsoft Corporation System for displaying a list on a display screen
US5699107A (en) 1995-05-05 1997-12-16 Microsoft Corporation Program reminder system
US5805763A (en) 1995-05-05 1998-09-08 Microsoft Corporation System and method for automatically recording programs in an interactive viewing system
US5585838A (en) 1995-05-05 1996-12-17 Microsoft Corporation Program time guide
US5907323A (en) 1995-05-05 1999-05-25 Microsoft Corporation Interactive program summary panel
JP3219644B2 (en) 1995-07-18 2001-10-15 三洋電機株式会社 Surveillance image recording device
US5812066A (en) * 1995-08-16 1998-09-22 Terk Technologies Corporation Antenna tuning control circuit
US5830068A (en) 1995-09-08 1998-11-03 Ods Technologies, L.P. Interactive wagering systems and processes
JP3508796B2 (en) 1995-09-18 2004-03-22 ソニー株式会社 Channel selection and display method in television receiver
US6002394A (en) 1995-10-02 1999-12-14 Starsight Telecast, Inc. Systems and methods for linking television viewers with advertisers and broadcasters
US6323911B1 (en) 1995-10-02 2001-11-27 Starsight Telecast, Inc. System and method for using television schedule information
US5883680A (en) 1995-10-02 1999-03-16 Innoventions, Inc. Remote control of a television receiver with locator feature or the like
EP2288149A3 (en) 1995-10-02 2014-01-01 Starsight Telecast, Inc. Systems and methods for providing television schedule information
EP0886967A4 (en) 1996-02-23 2002-01-23 Guide E Inc Two-way interactive television system
EP2273783A3 (en) 1996-03-15 2011-02-16 Gemstar Development Corporation Combination of VCR index and EPG
US6025837A (en) 1996-03-29 2000-02-15 Micrsoft Corporation Electronic program guide with hyperlinks to target resources
US5940073A (en) 1996-05-03 1999-08-17 Starsight Telecast Inc. Method and system for displaying other information in a TV program guide
US5945988A (en) 1996-06-06 1999-08-31 Intel Corporation Method and apparatus for automatically determining and dynamically updating user preferences in an entertainment system
AU3294997A (en) 1996-06-13 1998-01-07 Starsight Telecast Incorporated Method and apparatus for searching a guide using program characteristics
US6078348A (en) 1996-06-17 2000-06-20 Starsight Telecast Inc. Television schedule system with enhanced features
US5769714A (en) * 1996-06-19 1998-06-23 Wiener; Herbert Methods and apparatus for playing baseball gambling games
US5986650A (en) 1996-07-03 1999-11-16 News America Publications, Inc. Electronic television program guide schedule system and method with scan feature
AU3908297A (en) 1996-08-06 1998-02-25 Starsight Telecast Incorporated Electronic program guide with interactive areas
CA2183280C (en) 1996-08-14 2009-04-14 Rob Menard Centralized broadcast channel real-time search system
EP0827340A3 (en) 1996-08-30 1999-10-06 Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. Terminal apparatus and method for achieving interactive operations
JPH10108135A (en) 1996-09-25 1998-04-24 Sony Corp Edit device and data edit method
US20030093790A1 (en) 2000-03-28 2003-05-15 Logan James D. Audio and video program recording, editing and playback systems using metadata
JP4032402B2 (en) 1996-10-14 2008-01-16 ソニー株式会社 Information providing apparatus and method, display control apparatus and method, information providing system
US6909708B1 (en) * 1996-11-18 2005-06-21 Mci Communications Corporation System, method and article of manufacture for a communication system architecture including video conferencing
US20030066085A1 (en) 1996-12-10 2003-04-03 United Video Properties, Inc., A Corporation Of Delaware Internet television program guide system
WO1998026584A1 (en) 1996-12-10 1998-06-18 United Video Properties, Inc. Internet television program guide system
KR19980063435A (en) 1996-12-11 1998-10-07 포만제프리엘 Method and system for interactively displaying and accessing program information on television
BR9713597A (en) 1996-12-19 2000-04-04 Index Systems Inc Epg with ad supplements
US8635649B2 (en) 1996-12-19 2014-01-21 Gemstar Development Corporation System and method for modifying advertisement responsive to EPG information
US5900916A (en) 1996-12-30 1999-05-04 Mitsubishi Consumer Electronics America, Inc. Apparatus for control of images from multiple sources
US6473903B2 (en) 1996-12-30 2002-10-29 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Method and system for implementing interactive broadcast programs and commercials
US6163316A (en) 1997-01-03 2000-12-19 Texas Instruments Incorporated Electronic programming system and method
US6324267B1 (en) 1997-01-17 2001-11-27 Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. Two-tiered authorization and authentication for a cable data delivery system
WO1998032828A2 (en) 1997-01-24 1998-07-30 The Procter & Gamble Company Photochemical singlet oxygen generators having cationic substantivity modifiers
US5850218A (en) 1997-02-19 1998-12-15 Time Warner Entertainment Company L.P. Inter-active program guide with default selection control
AU6675098A (en) 1997-02-28 1998-09-18 Starsight Telecast Incorporated Television control interface with electronic guide
US6141003A (en) * 1997-03-18 2000-10-31 Microsoft Corporation Channel bar user interface for an entertainment system
US6005565A (en) 1997-03-25 1999-12-21 Sony Corporation Integrated search of electronic program guide, internet and other information resources
GB2325537B8 (en) 1997-03-31 2000-01-31 Microsoft Corp Query-based electronic program guide
US6072535A (en) 1997-06-10 2000-06-06 Kearns; Donovan E. Sidebox display channel loop controller
US5933192A (en) * 1997-06-18 1999-08-03 Hughes Electronics Corporation Multi-channel digital video transmission receiver with improved channel-changing response
IL121230A (en) 1997-07-03 2004-05-12 Nds Ltd Intelligent electronic program guide
DK1036466T3 (en) 1997-07-21 2003-07-14 Guide E Inc Steps to navigate a TV listings with creatives
US6460181B1 (en) 1997-12-29 2002-10-01 Starsight Telecast, Inc. Channels and services display
US6008802A (en) 1998-01-05 1999-12-28 Intel Corporation Method and apparatus for automatically performing a function based on the reception of information corresponding to broadcast data
US7152236B1 (en) 1998-01-05 2006-12-19 Gateway Inc. Integration of internet sources into an electronic program database list
US6289346B1 (en) 1998-03-12 2001-09-11 At&T Corp. Apparatus and method for a bookmarking system
US6563515B1 (en) 1998-05-19 2003-05-13 United Video Properties, Inc. Program guide system with video window browsing
US6813777B1 (en) * 1998-05-26 2004-11-02 Rockwell Collins Transaction dispatcher for a passenger entertainment system, method and article of manufacture
US20050204388A1 (en) 1998-06-11 2005-09-15 Knudson Edward B. Series reminders and series recording from an interactive television program guide
US6614987B1 (en) 1998-06-12 2003-09-02 Metabyte, Inc. Television program recording with user preference determination
WO1999066725A1 (en) 1998-06-16 1999-12-23 United Video Properties, Inc. Interactive television program guide with simultaneous watch and record capabilities
US20020056098A1 (en) * 1998-06-29 2002-05-09 Christopher M. White Web browser system for displaying recently viewed television channels
PT1976283T (en) 1998-07-17 2017-08-03 Rovi Guides Inc Interactive television program guide with remote access
DE69903438T2 (en) 1998-07-17 2003-08-14 United Video Properties Inc Interactive TV guide with multiple devices in one place
US6584153B1 (en) 1998-07-23 2003-06-24 Diva Systems Corporation Data structure and methods for providing an interactive program guide
US6754905B2 (en) 1998-07-23 2004-06-22 Diva Systems Corporation Data structure and methods for providing an interactive program guide
US6505348B1 (en) * 1998-07-29 2003-01-07 Starsight Telecast, Inc. Multiple interactive electronic program guide system and methods
US6324338B1 (en) 1998-08-07 2001-11-27 Replaytv, Inc. Video data recorder with integrated channel guides
US20100325668A1 (en) 1998-08-11 2010-12-23 Starsight Telecast, Inc. Television schedule system
US7254823B2 (en) 1998-08-21 2007-08-07 United Video Properties, Inc. Apparatus and method for constrained selection of favorite channels
US6347086B1 (en) * 1998-09-04 2002-02-12 Richard B. Strachan Pick pools system and method using packet-switched network
TW465235B (en) 1998-09-17 2001-11-21 United Video Properties Inc Electronic program guide with digital storage
US6295646B1 (en) 1998-09-30 2001-09-25 Intel Corporation Method and apparatus for displaying video data and corresponding entertainment data for multiple entertainment selection sources
US6358150B1 (en) * 1998-10-29 2002-03-19 Racetech Llc Methods and apparatus for parimutuel historical gaming
US6384869B1 (en) * 1998-10-30 2002-05-07 Sony Corporation Channel scan function and method of displaying scanned channels
US7313806B1 (en) 1998-10-30 2007-12-25 Intel Corporation Method and apparatus for channel surfing through multiple sources based on user-definable preferences
US7603685B2 (en) 1998-11-03 2009-10-13 United Video Properties, Inc. Program guide system with combination category search
US20040210932A1 (en) 1998-11-05 2004-10-21 Toshiaki Mori Program preselecting/recording apparatus for searching an electronic program guide for programs according to predetermined search criteria
TW499816B (en) * 1998-11-30 2002-08-21 United Video Properties Inc Interactive program guide system and method
US7313805B1 (en) 1998-11-30 2007-12-25 Sony Corporation Content navigator graphical user interface system and method
US7260823B2 (en) 2001-01-11 2007-08-21 Prime Research Alliance E., Inc. Profiling and identification of television viewers
ATE231671T1 (en) 1998-12-03 2003-02-15 United Video Properties Inc ELECTRONIC PROGRAM OVERVIEW WITH ASSOCIATED PROGRAM SEARCH FUNCTION
JP3895547B2 (en) 1998-12-04 2007-03-22 インデックス システムズ インコーポレイテッド System and method for providing news, sports and regional guide services through electronic program guides
US6256071B1 (en) 1998-12-11 2001-07-03 Hitachi America, Ltd. Methods and apparatus for recording video files and for generating a table listing the recorded files and links to additional information
US6282713B1 (en) 1998-12-21 2001-08-28 Sony Corporation Method and apparatus for providing on-demand electronic advertising
US20030131356A1 (en) 1998-12-21 2003-07-10 Andrew M. Proehl Method and apparatus for notification on a broadcast device
US6870573B2 (en) 1999-01-22 2005-03-22 Intel Corporation Method and apparatus for dynamically generating a visual program summary from a multi-source video feed
US6850691B1 (en) 1999-03-30 2005-02-01 Tivo, Inc. Automatic playback overshoot correction system
US6757906B1 (en) 1999-03-30 2004-06-29 Tivo, Inc. Television viewer interface system
AU4186000A (en) 1999-03-30 2000-11-14 Tivo, Inc. Television viewer interface system
US8689265B2 (en) 1999-03-30 2014-04-01 Tivo Inc. Multimedia mobile personalization system
US6847778B1 (en) 1999-03-30 2005-01-25 Tivo, Inc. Multimedia visual progress indication system
US6445306B1 (en) 1999-03-31 2002-09-03 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Remote control program selection by genre
US6281940B1 (en) 1999-03-31 2001-08-28 Sony Corporation Display of previewed channels with rotation of multiple previewed channels along an arc
US6425129B1 (en) 1999-03-31 2002-07-23 Sony Corporation Channel preview with rate dependent channel information
US6243120B1 (en) 1999-04-08 2001-06-05 Gerber Scientific Products, Inc. Replaceable donor sheet assembly with memory for use with a thermal printer
US7458091B1 (en) 2000-01-20 2008-11-25 Sonic Solutions, A California Corporation System, method and article of manufacture for a business layer component in a multimedia synchronization framework
ZA200110153B (en) * 1999-06-11 2003-03-10 Ods Properties Inc Methods and systems for interactive wagering using multiple types of user interfaces.
US6978310B1 (en) 1999-06-11 2005-12-20 Scientific-Atlanta, Inc Media-on-demand catalog viewing preference system
AU762925B2 (en) 1999-06-28 2003-07-10 Rovi Guides, Inc. System and method for utilizing EPG database for modifying advertisements
US6782056B1 (en) 1999-08-03 2004-08-24 Sony Corporation DSS packet reordering function
US20020124247A1 (en) 1999-08-03 2002-09-05 Houghton William C. Polling interactive television viewers
KR20020053804A (en) 1999-08-25 2002-07-05 스폿웨어 테크놀로지즈, 인코포레이티드 System and method for scheduling events related to television previews
WO2001041025A2 (en) 1999-12-06 2001-06-07 Ods Properties, Inc. Systems and methods for interactive wagering
CN1409919A (en) 1999-12-10 2003-04-09 联合视频制品公司 Features for use with advanced set-top applications on interactive television systems
US7933968B1 (en) 2000-06-20 2011-04-26 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Token-based personalization of smart appliances
US6934964B1 (en) 2000-02-08 2005-08-23 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Electronic program guide viewing history generator method and system
US7379886B1 (en) * 2000-03-01 2008-05-27 Ods Properties, Inc. Cellular telephone interactive wagering system
US6712701B1 (en) * 2000-03-01 2004-03-30 Ods Technologies, L.P. Electronic book interactive wagering system
ES2203343A1 (en) 2000-03-08 2004-04-01 General Instrument Corporation Personal versatile recorder and method of implementing and using same
US20020040475A1 (en) 2000-03-23 2002-04-04 Adrian Yap DVR system
AU2001253872A1 (en) * 2000-03-24 2001-10-08 Espn-Starwave Partners, Doing Business As Espn Internet Group Interactive fantasy lottery
US7673315B1 (en) 2000-03-30 2010-03-02 Microsoft Corporation System and method for providing program criteria representing audio and/or visual programming
CN101493919B (en) 2000-03-31 2019-01-04 乐威指南公司 The system and method for meta-data-linked advertisements
US20010053944A1 (en) 2000-03-31 2001-12-20 Marks Michael B. Audio internet navigation system
US7096185B2 (en) 2000-03-31 2006-08-22 United Video Properties, Inc. User speech interfaces for interactive media guidance applications
CA2775674C (en) 2000-03-31 2017-01-24 United Video Properties, Inc. Interactive media system and method for selectively preventing access to trick play functions
JP2003530030A (en) 2000-03-31 2003-10-07 ユナイテッド ビデオ プロパティーズ, インコーポレイテッド Personal video recording system with home surveillance supply
US20020120507A1 (en) 2000-04-04 2002-08-29 George Chanos Feature rich advertisments including consumer requests for additional information
WO2001076706A2 (en) * 2000-04-05 2001-10-18 Ods Properties, Inc. Interactive wagering systems and methods with multiple television feeds
US6674448B1 (en) * 2000-04-05 2004-01-06 Ods Properties, Inc. Interactive wagering system with controllable graphic displays
US6874152B2 (en) 2000-04-19 2005-03-29 Nowavision, Llc System for accessing content by virtual remote control through mapping channel codes to network addresses
US8932136B2 (en) * 2000-08-25 2015-01-13 Opentv, Inc. Method and system for initiating an interactive game
US7292774B1 (en) * 2000-09-26 2007-11-06 Keen Personal Media, Inc. System and method for creating and displaying a preference based menu for a viewing session
ES2488096T3 (en) 2000-10-11 2014-08-26 United Video Properties, Inc. Systems and methods to complement multimedia on demand
US7007294B1 (en) 2000-10-30 2006-02-28 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Method and apparatus for automatic generation of query search terms for a program recommender
US6851090B1 (en) 2000-10-30 2005-02-01 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Method and apparatus for displaying program recommendations with indication of strength of contribution of significant attributes
US6973665B2 (en) 2000-11-16 2005-12-06 Mydtv, Inc. System and method for determining the desirability of video programming events using keyword matching
US7017172B2 (en) 2000-12-06 2006-03-21 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Recommender system using “fuzzy-now” for real-time events
US7172508B2 (en) * 2001-01-23 2007-02-06 Burton Simon Multi-person parimutuel betting games based on sporting events
JP2002246881A (en) 2001-02-16 2002-08-30 Funai Electric Co Ltd Channel selecting device for broadcasting receiver and broadcasting receiver having the same device
EP2265008A1 (en) 2001-02-21 2010-12-22 United Video Properties, Inc. Systems and methods for interactive program guides with personal video recording features
US20020115488A1 (en) * 2001-02-22 2002-08-22 Nicholas Berry System and method for conducting an online competition
US20020151340A1 (en) * 2001-02-27 2002-10-17 Robert Guinn Remote sports wagering system
US20020157099A1 (en) * 2001-03-02 2002-10-24 Schrader Joseph A. Enhanced television service
US20020174428A1 (en) * 2001-03-28 2002-11-21 Philips Electronics North America Corp. Method and apparatus for generating recommendations for a plurality of users
US6947935B1 (en) 2001-04-04 2005-09-20 Microsoft Corporation Training, inference and user interface for guiding the caching of media content on local stores
EP1379078A4 (en) 2001-04-11 2005-07-27 Sony Corp Contour-emphasizing circuit
US6934917B2 (en) 2001-04-20 2005-08-23 Koninklijke Philips Electronics, N.V. Automatic selection of favorite media selections of a user of a media presentation device
US20020165770A1 (en) 2001-05-04 2002-11-07 Individual Network, Inc. Method and system for providing content with an option
US20050005308A1 (en) * 2002-01-29 2005-01-06 Gotuit Video, Inc. Methods and apparatus for recording and replaying sports broadcasts
US6991544B2 (en) * 2001-06-21 2006-01-31 Bally Gaming International, Inc. Method, apparatus and article for hierarchical wagering
US7703119B2 (en) 2001-06-25 2010-04-20 Jlb Ventures Llc Customer self service in interactive TV environment for TV programming packages
US6801262B2 (en) 2001-07-02 2004-10-05 John B. Adrain Variable delay channel scan
US7699701B2 (en) * 2001-07-05 2010-04-20 Dbs Limited Partnership Method and system for providing real time sports betting information
US8677416B2 (en) 2001-07-17 2014-03-18 Ati Technologies, Inc. Method, system and software for display of multiple media channels
US7607975B2 (en) * 2001-07-19 2009-10-27 Sega Corporation Bet control method for race game
US20030046695A1 (en) 2001-08-29 2003-03-06 Digeo, Inc. System and method for enabling focused navigation using filtering and direct-tune buttons
US20030046694A1 (en) 2001-08-29 2003-03-06 Digeo, Inc. System and method for displaying option representations with multiple levels of specificity
US7296284B1 (en) 2001-08-31 2007-11-13 Keen Personal Media, Inc. Client terminal for displaying ranked program listings based upon a selected rating source
US20030066077A1 (en) 2001-10-03 2003-04-03 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Method and system for viewing multiple programs in the same time slot
GB0127234D0 (en) * 2001-11-13 2002-01-02 British Sky Broadcasting Ltd Improvements in receivers for television signals
US20030131355A1 (en) 2001-11-27 2003-07-10 Berenson Richard W. Program guide system
US7283992B2 (en) 2001-11-30 2007-10-16 Microsoft Corporation Media agent to suggest contextually related media content
US20030122966A1 (en) 2001-12-06 2003-07-03 Digeo, Inc. System and method for meta data distribution to customize media content playback
GB0129176D0 (en) 2001-12-06 2002-01-23 Dca Design Int Ltd Improvements in and realting to a medicament cartridge assembly
US6971121B2 (en) 2001-12-06 2005-11-29 Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. Composite buffering
KR100438710B1 (en) * 2001-12-20 2004-07-05 삼성전자주식회사 Channel bookmarking method and arrangements
US6744967B2 (en) 2001-12-20 2004-06-01 Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. Program position user interface for personal video recording time shift buffer
US20030126600A1 (en) 2001-12-27 2003-07-03 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Smart suggestions for upcoming TV programs
US7477954B2 (en) * 2001-12-27 2009-01-13 Scientific Games International, Inc. Wagering interface system and method
US20030149621A1 (en) * 2002-02-07 2003-08-07 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Alternative advertising
US7814511B2 (en) 2002-02-27 2010-10-12 Index Systems, Inc. Systems and methods for digitizing video related to products
AU2003216494A1 (en) 2002-03-01 2003-09-16 Gemstar Development Corporation System and method for preprogrammed purchasing of television offered products
US20030167467A1 (en) 2002-03-04 2003-09-04 Digeo, Inc. User-customized interactive television ticker, including a feature for viewer exclusion of ticker topics
US7136829B2 (en) 2002-03-08 2006-11-14 America Online, Inc. Method and apparatus for providing a shopping list service
US20040078814A1 (en) * 2002-03-29 2004-04-22 Digeo, Inc. Module-based interactive television ticker
KR100454959B1 (en) 2002-04-30 2004-11-06 삼성전자주식회사 Settop box system capable of watching digital broadcasting and watching method thereof
US20030224847A1 (en) * 2002-04-10 2003-12-04 Scott Jaimet Method and apparatus for playing a keno, lottery or bingo-style sports game
US6910965B2 (en) * 2002-04-19 2005-06-28 David W. Downes Pari-mutuel sports wagering system
US7231607B2 (en) 2002-07-09 2007-06-12 Kaleidescope, Inc. Mosaic-like user interface for video selection and display
US20040078817A1 (en) * 2002-05-14 2004-04-22 Steven Horowitz Dynamic program events recording
US7617511B2 (en) 2002-05-31 2009-11-10 Microsoft Corporation Entering programming preferences while browsing an electronic programming guide
US20030225777A1 (en) 2002-05-31 2003-12-04 Marsh David J. Scoring and recommending media content based on user preferences
US20040065731A1 (en) 2002-05-31 2004-04-08 Friedrich Vesterling Automated television/telephone rental system
US7818763B2 (en) 2002-06-25 2010-10-19 Starz Entertainment, Llc Video advertising
US8745689B2 (en) 2002-07-01 2014-06-03 J. Carl Cooper Channel surfing compressed television sign method and television receiver
US20040003394A1 (en) 2002-07-01 2004-01-01 Arun Ramaswamy System for automatically matching video with ratings information
WO2004010694A2 (en) * 2002-07-22 2004-01-29 Intellocity Usa, Inc. Broadcast enhancement database replication
JP2004072543A (en) 2002-08-08 2004-03-04 Pioneer Electronic Corp Broadcasting receiver
US8171514B2 (en) * 2002-08-21 2012-05-01 Bernier Nicklas P Managing favorite channels
US20040049784A1 (en) * 2002-09-06 2004-03-11 General Instrument Corporation Method and apparatus for scrolling television programming data on screen during program viewing
US8220018B2 (en) 2002-09-19 2012-07-10 Tvworks, Llc System and method for preferred placement programming of iTV content
US20040060061A1 (en) 2002-09-20 2004-03-25 Imagictv Inc. Multiple view video feed
JP2006501594A (en) 2002-10-02 2006-01-12 コーニンクレッカ フィリップス エレクトロニクス エヌ ヴィ Method for recording a data stream on a plurality of recording media
JP4257101B2 (en) * 2002-10-31 2009-04-22 株式会社日立製作所 How to display broadcast program information
BR0316028A (en) 2002-11-08 2005-09-13 Koninkl Philips Electronics Nv Method for providing a select list of content items, computer program, and apparatus for providing a select list of content items
US8245251B2 (en) 2002-12-06 2012-08-14 General Instrument Corporation Method and apparatus for predictive tuning in digital content receivers
US20040177370A1 (en) 2002-12-10 2004-09-09 Mydtv, Inc. Storage and use of viewer preference data in a device remote from a set-top box
US7227583B2 (en) 2002-12-11 2007-06-05 Lg Electronics Inc. Digital TV method for switching channel automatically
JP4651263B2 (en) 2002-12-18 2011-03-16 ソニー株式会社 Information recording apparatus and information recording method
US20040210926A1 (en) 2003-01-08 2004-10-21 Avtrex, Inc. Controlling access to content
US8225194B2 (en) 2003-01-09 2012-07-17 Kaleidescape, Inc. Bookmarks and watchpoints for selection and presentation of media streams
US7885963B2 (en) 2003-03-24 2011-02-08 Microsoft Corporation Free text and attribute searching of electronic program guide (EPG) data
WO2004091187A2 (en) 2003-04-03 2004-10-21 Sedna Patent Services, Llc Content notification and delivery
US20060051059A1 (en) 2004-09-08 2006-03-09 Krakirian Haig H Video recorder having user extended and automatically extended time slots
US6906643B2 (en) 2003-04-30 2005-06-14 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. Systems and methods of viewing, modifying, and interacting with “path-enhanced” multimedia
US7640564B2 (en) * 2003-05-01 2009-12-29 Microsoft Corporation Recording resources indicators
JP4712712B2 (en) 2003-05-29 2011-06-29 イーエイティー.ティーブイ、インコーポレイテッド System for presenting multimedia content
KR100513050B1 (en) 2003-06-02 2005-09-06 엘지전자 주식회사 Apparatus and Method for Moving slot in multiple Picture Out Picture of TV system
KR100526544B1 (en) 2003-06-02 2005-11-03 삼성전자주식회사 Optical transmission network and method for providing broadcasting services
JP2005032455A (en) 2003-07-07 2005-02-03 Canon Inc Heating device and image forming apparatus
US7458093B2 (en) * 2003-08-29 2008-11-25 Yahoo! Inc. System and method for presenting fantasy sports content with broadcast content
JP4902861B2 (en) 2003-09-15 2012-03-21 ユナイテッド ビデオ プロパティーズ インク Method and system for exporting digital content using interactive television applications
US7460050B2 (en) 2003-09-19 2008-12-02 Universal Electronics, Inc. Controlling device using cues to convey information
US7825987B2 (en) 2003-10-03 2010-11-02 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Information processor, TV system, control method and program
US7840112B2 (en) 2003-10-08 2010-11-23 Intel Corporation Gradually degrading multimedia recordings
US7380263B2 (en) 2003-10-17 2008-05-27 Sony Corporation Apparatus and method for use in television channel mapping
US7984468B2 (en) 2003-11-06 2011-07-19 United Video Properties, Inc. Systems and methods for providing program suggestions in an interactive television program guide
CN1918905A (en) 2003-11-07 2007-02-21 汤姆森许可公司 Automatic display of new program information during current program viewing
US20050108754A1 (en) 2003-11-19 2005-05-19 Serenade Systems Personalized content application
JP4047267B2 (en) * 2003-11-21 2008-02-13 キヤノン株式会社 Program selection method and program selection control apparatus
KR100627047B1 (en) 2003-12-02 2006-09-25 삼성테크윈 주식회사 Digital camera and file management method of the digital camera
KR20060103909A (en) * 2003-12-03 2006-10-04 코닌클리케 필립스 일렉트로닉스 엔.브이. Enhanced collaborative filtering technique for recommendation
KR20050075546A (en) * 2004-01-15 2005-07-21 삼성전자주식회사 Apparatus for changing channel using channel map sorted in terms of program genre and method thereof
TWI343750B (en) * 2004-03-02 2011-06-11 Hon Hai Prec Ind Co Ltd System and method for controlling favorite television channels with a single knob
US8842175B2 (en) * 2004-03-26 2014-09-23 Broadcom Corporation Anticipatory video signal reception and processing
US7793319B2 (en) 2004-04-27 2010-09-07 Gateway, Inc. System and method for improved channel surfing
US7458891B2 (en) * 2004-04-29 2008-12-02 Cfph, Llc System and method for pari-mutuel gaming based on sporting event results
US20050246732A1 (en) 2004-05-02 2005-11-03 Mydtv, Inc. Personal video navigation system
JP4124159B2 (en) 2004-05-07 2008-07-23 ソニー株式会社 Information processing apparatus and method, and program
US7366546B2 (en) * 2004-05-28 2008-04-29 Microsoft Corporation Sports channel
JP4032256B2 (en) * 2004-06-25 2008-01-16 船井電機株式会社 Broadcast receiver
JP2006033708A (en) * 2004-07-21 2006-02-02 I-O Data Device Inc Television program recording reproducing program, and television program recording reproducing device
US20060026625A1 (en) 2004-07-28 2006-02-02 Krakirian Haig H Search engine for a video recorder
KR101134753B1 (en) 2004-09-24 2012-04-13 엘지전자 주식회사 Method for recording service dada according to service type in Digital TV complex
WO2006041784A2 (en) 2004-10-04 2006-04-20 Wave7 Optics, Inc. Minimizing channel change time for ip video
AU2005295772B2 (en) 2004-10-15 2009-10-29 Opentv, Inc. Speeding up channel change
US7984467B2 (en) 2004-11-23 2011-07-19 Stmicroelectronics, Inc. Method and system for providing an electronic program guide
US7546623B2 (en) 2005-01-05 2009-06-09 Microsoft Corporation Methods and systems for providing multi-source content in electronic program guides
WO2006074305A2 (en) 2005-01-05 2006-07-13 Yahoo! Inc. Framework for delivering content
US7974962B2 (en) 2005-01-06 2011-07-05 Aptiv Digital, Inc. Search engine for a video recorder
US20070060380A1 (en) * 2005-02-11 2007-03-15 The Score Line Channel, Llc Fantasy sports television programming systems and methods
DK2632152T3 (en) * 2005-03-02 2017-09-11 Rovi Guides Inc PLAYLISTS AND BOOKLETS IN AN INTERACTIVE MEDIA GUIDE USE SYSTEM
US20060218573A1 (en) 2005-03-04 2006-09-28 Stexar Corp. Television program highlight tagging
US8028322B2 (en) 2005-03-14 2011-09-27 Time Warner Cable Inc. Method and apparatus for network content download and recording
US20060253874A1 (en) 2005-04-01 2006-11-09 Vulcan Inc. Mobile interface for manipulating multimedia content
US8387089B1 (en) 2005-05-06 2013-02-26 Rovi Guides, Inc. Systems and methods for providing a scan
US20070009229A1 (en) * 2005-05-16 2007-01-11 Toshiba America Consumer Products, Llc User interface for consumer electronic product
JP2006330536A (en) 2005-05-30 2006-12-07 Sanyo Epson Imaging Devices Corp Liquid crystal display device
KR20060134395A (en) 2005-06-22 2006-12-28 엘지전자 주식회사 Cable broadcasting receiver and firmware upgrading method
US20060294073A1 (en) 2005-06-28 2006-12-28 Microsoft Corporation Constrained exploration for search algorithms
US20070016875A1 (en) 2005-07-12 2007-01-18 International Business Machines Corporation Method and system for partial sizing adjacency constraint in a multi-pane window frame
US20070214118A1 (en) 2005-09-27 2007-09-13 Schoen Michael A Delivery of internet ads
WO2007036891A2 (en) 2005-09-30 2007-04-05 Koninklijke Philips Electronics, N.V. Maturity rating enforcement via rf-tags
US20070083895A1 (en) * 2005-10-12 2007-04-12 Sbc Knowledge Ventures, L.P. System and method of managing television information
US7783632B2 (en) 2005-11-03 2010-08-24 Microsoft Corporation Using popularity data for ranking
TW200723151A (en) 2005-12-07 2007-06-16 Era Digital Media Co Business website method
US20070157242A1 (en) * 2005-12-29 2007-07-05 United Video Properties, Inc. Systems and methods for managing content
US20070162502A1 (en) 2005-12-29 2007-07-12 United Video Properties, Inc. Media library in an interactive media guidance application
US20100153885A1 (en) 2005-12-29 2010-06-17 Rovi Technologies Corporation Systems and methods for interacting with advanced displays provided by an interactive media guidance application
US20070162850A1 (en) 2006-01-06 2007-07-12 Darin Adler Sports-related widgets
EP1994746A1 (en) 2006-02-02 2008-11-26 The DIRECTV Group, Inc. Interactive mosaic channel video stream with additional programming sources
CN101395559A (en) * 2006-03-01 2009-03-25 Tivo有限公司 Recommended recording and downloading guides
MX2008011585A (en) 2006-03-10 2008-11-28 Directv Group Inc Dynamic determination of video channels by selection of video cells in a mosaic on-screen display.
US8069461B2 (en) 2006-03-30 2011-11-29 Verizon Services Corp. On-screen program guide with interactive programming recommendations
US20070277218A1 (en) 2006-05-24 2007-11-29 Sharp Laboratories Of America, Inc. Interactive television system
US20070291175A1 (en) 2006-06-19 2007-12-20 Mediatek, Inc. Display system, tv receiver, and method for reminding a schedule
CA2658519A1 (en) 2006-07-31 2008-02-07 United Video Properties, Inc. Systems and methods for providing media guidance planners
US20080127261A1 (en) * 2006-09-21 2008-05-29 International Business Machines Corporation Method and apparatus for maintaining a cache of previously viewed television shows
US20100107184A1 (en) * 2008-10-23 2010-04-29 Peter Rae Shintani TV with eye detection
US8751488B2 (en) 2011-08-24 2014-06-10 Waypart, Inc. Part number search method and system

Patent Citations (102)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4071697A (en) * 1976-10-18 1978-01-31 Atari, Inc. Interactive video/telephone transmission system
US5224156A (en) * 1990-07-19 1993-06-29 Electronic Modules, Inc. Method and apparatus for facsimile enhancement
US5412720A (en) * 1990-09-28 1995-05-02 Ictv, Inc. Interactive home information system
US5485197A (en) * 1990-09-28 1996-01-16 Ictv, Inc. Carousel display
US6539548B1 (en) * 1992-12-09 2003-03-25 Discovery Communications, Inc. Operations center for a television program packaging and delivery system
US5600364A (en) * 1992-12-09 1997-02-04 Discovery Communications, Inc. Network controller for cable television delivery systems
US7343614B1 (en) * 1992-12-09 2008-03-11 Sedna Patent Services, Llc Program delivery system for VOD
US7013478B1 (en) * 1992-12-09 2006-03-14 Sedna Patent Services, Llc Method and apparatus for interactive program suggestion
US5410344A (en) * 1993-09-22 1995-04-25 Arrowsmith Technologies, Inc. Apparatus and method of selecting video programs based on viewers' preferences
US5635978A (en) * 1994-05-20 1997-06-03 News America Publications, Inc. Electronic television program guide channel system and method
US6239794B1 (en) * 1994-08-31 2001-05-29 E Guide, Inc. Method and system for simultaneously displaying a television program and information about the program
US5594661A (en) * 1994-09-23 1997-01-14 U. S. West Marketing Resources Group, Inc. Method for interfacing with a multi-media information system
US5623613A (en) * 1994-11-29 1997-04-22 Microsoft Corporation System for displaying programming information
US5629733A (en) * 1994-11-29 1997-05-13 News America Publications, Inc. Electronic television program guide schedule system and method with display and search of program listings by title
US5617565A (en) * 1994-11-29 1997-04-01 Hitachi America, Ltd. Broadcast interactive multimedia system
US5886746A (en) * 1994-12-13 1999-03-23 Gemstar Development Corporation Method for channel scanning
US7496941B2 (en) * 1995-02-24 2009-02-24 Smart Vcr Limited Partnership Stored program pay-per-play
US6571390B1 (en) * 1995-05-05 2003-05-27 Microsoft Corporation Interactive entertainment network system and method for customizing operation thereof according to viewer preferences
US20030005445A1 (en) * 1995-10-02 2003-01-02 Schein Steven M. Systems and methods for linking television viewers with advertisers and broadcasters
US6388714B1 (en) * 1995-10-02 2002-05-14 Starsight Telecast Inc Interactive computer system for providing television schedule information
US6216264B1 (en) * 1995-11-17 2001-04-10 Thomson Licensing S.A. Scheduler apparatus employing a gopher agent
US5635989A (en) * 1996-02-13 1997-06-03 Hughes Electronics Method and apparatus for sorting and searching a television program guide
US6061056A (en) * 1996-03-04 2000-05-09 Telexis Corporation Television monitoring system with automatic selection of program material of interest and subsequent display under user control
US6247176B1 (en) * 1996-06-14 2001-06-12 Starsight Telecast, Inc. Television schedule system and method of operation for multiple program occurrences
US20050028218A1 (en) * 1996-09-03 2005-02-03 Starsight Telecast, Inc. Schedule system with enhanced recording capability
US7055166B1 (en) * 1996-10-03 2006-05-30 Gotuit Media Corp. Apparatus and methods for broadcast monitoring
US6756997B1 (en) * 1996-12-19 2004-06-29 Gemstar Development Corporation Systems and methods for displaying and recording control interface with television programs, video, advertising information and program scheduling information
US6177931B1 (en) * 1996-12-19 2001-01-23 Index Systems, Inc. Systems and methods for displaying and recording control interface with television programs, video, advertising information and program scheduling information
US6208335B1 (en) * 1997-01-13 2001-03-27 Diva Systems Corporation Method and apparatus for providing a menu structure for an interactive information distribution system
US6061097A (en) * 1997-05-22 2000-05-09 United Video Properties, Inc. Interactive television program guide with selectable non-program options
US20020026496A1 (en) * 1997-09-18 2002-02-28 Franklin E. Boyer Electronic-mail reminder for an internet television program guide
US6226444B1 (en) * 1997-09-30 2001-05-01 Intel Corporation Method and apparatus for recording program data without commercials
US6016141A (en) * 1997-10-06 2000-01-18 United Video Properties, Inc. Interactive television program guide system with pay program package promotion
US6564378B1 (en) * 1997-12-08 2003-05-13 United Video Properties, Inc. Program guide system with browsing display
US20070089132A1 (en) * 1998-01-22 2007-04-19 Concert Technology Corporation Network-enabled audio device
US7185355B1 (en) * 1998-03-04 2007-02-27 United Video Properties, Inc. Program guide system with preference profiles
US20030110499A1 (en) * 1998-03-04 2003-06-12 United Video Properties, Inc. Program guide system with targeted advertising
US6219839B1 (en) * 1998-05-12 2001-04-17 Sharp Laboratories Of America, Inc. On-screen electronic resources guide
US6742183B1 (en) * 1998-05-15 2004-05-25 United Video Properties, Inc. Systems and methods for advertising television networks, channels, and programs
US6536041B1 (en) * 1998-06-16 2003-03-18 United Video Properties, Inc. Program guide system with real-time data sources
US7673314B2 (en) * 1998-07-14 2010-03-02 United Video Properties, Inc. Client-server based interactive television program guide system with remote server recording
US20050028208A1 (en) * 1998-07-17 2005-02-03 United Video Properties, Inc. Interactive television program guide with remote access
US6226618B1 (en) * 1998-08-13 2001-05-01 International Business Machines Corporation Electronic content delivery system
US6898762B2 (en) * 1998-08-21 2005-05-24 United Video Properties, Inc. Client-server electronic program guide
US20100107194A1 (en) * 1998-08-21 2010-04-29 Mckissick Pamela L Electronic program guide with advance notification
US7694319B1 (en) * 1998-11-02 2010-04-06 United Video Properties, Inc. Interactive program guide with continuous data stream and client-server data supplementation
US7165098B1 (en) * 1998-11-10 2007-01-16 United Video Properties, Inc. On-line schedule system with personalization features
US6865746B1 (en) * 1998-12-03 2005-03-08 United Video Properties, Inc. Electronic program guide with related-program search feature
US6369840B1 (en) * 1999-03-10 2002-04-09 America Online, Inc. Multi-layered online calendaring and purchasing
US6532589B1 (en) * 1999-03-25 2003-03-11 Sony Corp. Method and apparatus for providing a calendar-based planner in an electronic program guide for broadcast events
US6868225B1 (en) * 1999-03-30 2005-03-15 Tivo, Inc. Multimedia program bookmarking system
US6542882B1 (en) * 1999-04-22 2003-04-01 Gateway, Inc. System and method for providing a database of content having like associations
US6721954B1 (en) * 1999-06-23 2004-04-13 Gateway, Inc. Personal preferred viewing using electronic program guide
US20040117831A1 (en) * 1999-06-28 2004-06-17 United Video Properties, Inc. Interactive television program guide system and method with niche hubs
US20020056119A1 (en) * 1999-12-23 2002-05-09 Moynihan Michael W. Personal video channel system
US20030093803A1 (en) * 2000-03-28 2003-05-15 Edison Ishikawa Distributed cooperative memory for interactive and scalable video-on-demand system
US7895624B1 (en) * 2000-04-10 2011-02-22 United Video Properties, Inc. Interactive media guide with media guidance interface
US20020112239A1 (en) * 2000-05-08 2002-08-15 Goldman Phillip Y. Modifying an electronic program guide based on viewer statistics
US20020059610A1 (en) * 2000-05-23 2002-05-16 Ellis Michael D. Interactive television application with watch lists
US20060026665A1 (en) * 2000-06-09 2006-02-02 Rodriguez Arturo A Media-on-demand catalog viewing preference system
US20030093792A1 (en) * 2000-06-30 2003-05-15 Labeeb Ismail K. Method and apparatus for delivery of television programs and targeted de-coupled advertising
US20020035697A1 (en) * 2000-06-30 2002-03-21 Mccurdy Kevin Systems and methods for distributing and viewing electronic documents
US20020075402A1 (en) * 2000-09-13 2002-06-20 Pace Micro Technology Plc. Television system
US20020042913A1 (en) * 2000-10-11 2002-04-11 United Video Properties, Inc. Systems and methods for building user media lists
US20020059621A1 (en) * 2000-10-11 2002-05-16 Thomas William L. Systems and methods for providing storage of data on servers in an on-demand media delivery system
US7003791B2 (en) * 2000-10-13 2006-02-21 Seiko Epson Corporation Remote accessible programming
US20020078453A1 (en) * 2000-12-15 2002-06-20 Hanchang Kuo Hub pages for set top box startup screen
US20020078447A1 (en) * 2000-12-15 2002-06-20 Atsushi Mizutome Apparatus and method for data processing, and storage medium
US7213089B2 (en) * 2001-04-05 2007-05-01 Fujitsu Limited System and method for displaying a preview indicating a time-based adjustment of image data or sound data
US20040025180A1 (en) * 2001-04-06 2004-02-05 Lee Begeja Method and apparatus for interactively retrieving content related to previous query results
US6721956B2 (en) * 2001-07-17 2004-04-13 Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. Interactive information services system and associated method for capturing transaction data
US20030110163A1 (en) * 2001-12-04 2003-06-12 Compaq Information Technologies Group, L.P. System and method for efficiently finding near-similar images in massive databases
US6897904B2 (en) * 2002-01-04 2005-05-24 Microsoft Corporation Method and apparatus for selecting among multiple tuners
US7206892B2 (en) * 2002-06-05 2007-04-17 Lg Electronics Inc. Method for managing recorded streams in a rewritable recording medium
US20040003391A1 (en) * 2002-06-27 2004-01-01 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Method, system and program product for locally analyzing viewing behavior
US20040064835A1 (en) * 2002-09-26 2004-04-01 International Business Machines Corporation System and method for content based on-demand video media overlay
US20040073918A1 (en) * 2002-09-30 2004-04-15 Ferman A. Mufit Automatic user profiling
US20040068745A1 (en) * 2002-10-08 2004-04-08 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Receiving apparatus and receiving method
US20040096184A1 (en) * 2002-11-19 2004-05-20 Sony Corporation Wish list for television recording
US20040103434A1 (en) * 2002-11-25 2004-05-27 United Video Properties, Inc. Interactive television systems with conflict management capabilities
US20040103437A1 (en) * 2002-11-26 2004-05-27 Concurrent Computer Corporation, A Delaware Corporation Video on demand management system
US20060053449A1 (en) * 2002-12-10 2006-03-09 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Graded access to profile spaces
US20050166230A1 (en) * 2003-03-18 2005-07-28 Gaydou Danny R. Systems and methods for providing transport control
US20050015405A1 (en) * 2003-07-18 2005-01-20 Microsoft Corporation Multi-valued properties
US20070039023A1 (en) * 2003-09-11 2007-02-15 Mitsuteru Kataoka Content selection method and content selection device
US7334195B2 (en) * 2003-10-14 2008-02-19 Microsoft Corporation System and process for presenting search results in a histogram/cluster format
US20050160461A1 (en) * 2004-01-21 2005-07-21 United Video Properties, Inc. Interactive television program guide systems with digital video recording support
US20060020973A1 (en) * 2004-07-21 2006-01-26 Hannum Sandra A Method and system for presenting personalized television program recommendation to viewers
US20060026635A1 (en) * 2004-07-30 2006-02-02 Microsoft Corporation Program portals and methods and systems for finding and viewing programs
US20060026648A1 (en) * 2004-08-02 2006-02-02 Pioneer Corporation A display controlling apparatus, method, and computer program
US7689556B2 (en) * 2005-01-31 2010-03-30 France Telecom Content navigation service
US20070055989A1 (en) * 2005-09-08 2007-03-08 The Directv Group, Inc. Mosaic channel video stream with interactive services
US20070067271A1 (en) * 2005-09-22 2007-03-22 Larry Lu Facilitating user interaction through cross-promotion of digital assets
US20070074245A1 (en) * 2005-09-26 2007-03-29 Microsoft Corporation Virtual channels
US20070078822A1 (en) * 2005-09-30 2007-04-05 Microsoft Corporation Arbitration of specialized content using search results
US20070112740A1 (en) * 2005-10-20 2007-05-17 Mercado Software Ltd. Result-based triggering for presentation of online content
US7681217B2 (en) * 2006-01-04 2010-03-16 Hitachi, Ltd. Video system and video selection method thereof
US20080092155A1 (en) * 2006-09-29 2008-04-17 United Video Properties, Inc. Systems and methods for automatically identifying a user profile
US20080092156A1 (en) * 2006-09-29 2008-04-17 United Video Properties, Inc. Systems and methods for automatically identifying a user profile
US20100131983A1 (en) * 2006-09-29 2010-05-27 Steve Shannon Systems and methods for a modular media guidance dashboard application
US20080104127A1 (en) * 2006-11-01 2008-05-01 United Video Properties, Inc. Presenting media guidance search results based on relevancy
US20080104057A1 (en) * 2006-11-01 2008-05-01 United Video Properties, Inc. Presenting media guidance search results based on relevancy

Cited By (83)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US10027998B2 (en) 1998-07-14 2018-07-17 Rovi Guides, Inc. Systems and methods for multi-tuner recording
US10298973B2 (en) 1998-07-14 2019-05-21 Rovi Guides, Inc. Client-server based interactive television program guide system with remote server recording
US9554163B2 (en) 1998-07-14 2017-01-24 Rovi Guides, Inc. Client-server based interactive television program guide system with remote server recording
US9479806B2 (en) 2007-03-03 2016-10-25 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Methods and apparatus for implementing guides and using recording information in determining program to communications channel mappings
US8732734B2 (en) 2007-03-03 2014-05-20 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Methods and apparatus supporting the recording of multiple simultaneously broadcast programs communicated using the same communications channel
US20080216119A1 (en) * 2007-03-03 2008-09-04 Howard Pfeffer Methods and apparatus for implementing guides and using recording information in determining program to communications channel mappings
US20080216136A1 (en) * 2007-03-03 2008-09-04 Howard Pfeffer Methods and apparatus supporting the recording of multiple simultaneously broadcast programs communicated using the same communications channel
US8910222B2 (en) * 2007-03-03 2014-12-09 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Methods and apparatus for implementing guides and using recording information in determining program to communications channel mappings
US20080216135A1 (en) * 2007-03-03 2008-09-04 Howard Pfeffer Methods and apparatus for improved content delivery including content delivery streams dynamically populated in response to user requests
US8081089B2 (en) 2007-03-28 2011-12-20 Intellectual Ventures Holding 32 Llc Digital windshield information system employing a recommendation engine keyed to a map database system
US20080238723A1 (en) * 2007-03-28 2008-10-02 Fein Gene S Digital Windshield Information System Employing a Recommendation Engine Keyed to a Map Database System
US7796056B2 (en) 2007-03-28 2010-09-14 Fein Gene S Digital windshield information system employing a recommendation engine keyed to a map database system
US20080256453A1 (en) * 2007-04-10 2008-10-16 Fein Gene S Integrated digital media projection and personal digital data processing system
US7908303B2 (en) * 2007-04-10 2011-03-15 Intellectual Ventures Holding 32 Llc Integrated digital media projection and personal digital data processing system
US20110016491A1 (en) * 2007-05-08 2011-01-20 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Method and apparatus for selecting one of a plurality of video channels for viewings
US8613025B2 (en) * 2007-05-08 2013-12-17 TP Vision Holding B.V Method and apparatus for selecting one of a plurality of video channels for viewings
US20090049469A1 (en) * 2007-08-17 2009-02-19 Att Knowledge Ventures L.P. Targeted online, telephone and television advertisements based on cross-service subscriber profiling
US8505046B2 (en) * 2007-08-17 2013-08-06 At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. Targeted online, telephone and television advertisements based on cross-service subscriber profiling
US20150208110A1 (en) * 2007-08-17 2015-07-23 At&T Intellectual Property I, Lp Targeted online, telephone and television advertisements based on cross-service subscriber profile
US9860579B2 (en) * 2007-08-17 2018-01-02 At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. Targeted online, telephone and television advertisements based on cross-service subscriber profile
US10567695B2 (en) 2007-08-28 2020-02-18 Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. Method of automatically switching television channels
US20090064221A1 (en) * 2007-08-28 2009-03-05 Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. Method of automatically switching television channels
US9848157B2 (en) * 2007-08-28 2017-12-19 Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. Method of automatically switching television channels
US20090133078A1 (en) * 2007-11-16 2009-05-21 United Video Properties, Inc Systems and methods for automatically purchasing and recording popular pay programs in an interactive media delivery system
US8856844B2 (en) 2007-11-16 2014-10-07 United Video Properties, Inc. Systems and methods for automatically purchasing and recording popular pay programs in an interactive media delivery system
US8938766B2 (en) * 2007-12-19 2015-01-20 General Instrument Corporation Method and apparatus for deferring transmission of an SDV program to conserve network resources
US20090165072A1 (en) * 2007-12-19 2009-06-25 General Instrument Corporation Method and apparatus for deferring transmission of an sdv program to conserve network resources
US20100325666A1 (en) * 2007-12-21 2010-12-23 Wiser Philip R System for content delivery
US8544048B2 (en) * 2007-12-21 2013-09-24 Kustin Corp. System for content delivery
US8464293B2 (en) * 2008-01-04 2013-06-11 Rovi Guides, Inc. Systems and methods for selecting media assets for display in a screen of an interactive media guidance application
US20090178083A1 (en) * 2008-01-04 2009-07-09 Guideworks, Llc Systems and methods for selecting media assets for display in a screen of an interactive media guidance application
US8793718B2 (en) * 2008-01-10 2014-07-29 At&T Intellectual Property I, Lp System and method for collecting opinion data
US20090183204A1 (en) * 2008-01-10 2009-07-16 At&T Knowledge Ventures,L.P. System and method for collecting opinion data
US9294792B2 (en) 2008-03-25 2016-03-22 International Business Machines Corporation Dynamic rebroadcast scheduling of videos
US8689266B2 (en) 2008-03-25 2014-04-01 International Business Machines Corporation Dynamic rebroadcast scheduling of videos
US20090249409A1 (en) * 2008-03-25 2009-10-01 International Business Machines Corporation Dynamic rebroadcast scheduling of videos
US20090249397A1 (en) * 2008-03-25 2009-10-01 International Business Machines Corporation Video episode order adherence
US8561108B2 (en) * 2008-03-25 2013-10-15 International Business Machines Corporation Video episode order adherence
US20110179434A1 (en) * 2008-05-14 2011-07-21 Joerg Thomas Selection and personalisation system for media
US20090327182A1 (en) * 2008-06-27 2009-12-31 International Business Machines Corporation Calendar based personalized recommendations
US8041716B2 (en) * 2008-10-03 2011-10-18 At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. Apparatus, methods and computer products for selection of content based on transcript searches
US20100088293A1 (en) * 2008-10-03 2010-04-08 At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. Apparatus, methods and computer products for selection of content based on transcript searches
US20100125868A1 (en) * 2008-11-17 2010-05-20 At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. System and Method for Content Delivery
US8713601B2 (en) * 2008-11-17 2014-04-29 At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. System and method for content delivery
US8639762B2 (en) 2009-03-23 2014-01-28 Google Inc. Providing access to a conversation in a hosted conversation system
US9294421B2 (en) 2009-03-23 2016-03-22 Google Inc. System and method for merging edits for a conversation in a hosted conversation system
US8700776B2 (en) 2009-03-23 2014-04-15 Google Inc. System and method for editing a conversation in a hosted conversation system
US20100241749A1 (en) * 2009-03-23 2010-09-23 Jens Eilstrup Rasmussen System and Method for Editing a Conversation in a Hosted Conversation System
US20100241718A1 (en) * 2009-03-23 2010-09-23 Jens Eilstrup Rasmussen Providing Access to a Conversation in a Hosted Conversation System
US20100241700A1 (en) * 2009-03-23 2010-09-23 Jens Eilstrup Rasmussen System and Method for Merging Edits for a Conversation in a Hosted Conversation System
US8984139B2 (en) 2009-03-23 2015-03-17 Google Inc. System and method for editing a conversation in a hosted conversation system
US8949359B2 (en) 2009-03-23 2015-02-03 Google Inc. Systems and methods for searching multiple instant messages
US8930278B2 (en) * 2009-04-13 2015-01-06 International Business Machines Corporation Method and system of preserving purchased on-demand transportation entertainment services across different journey segments or separate trips
US20100262509A1 (en) * 2009-04-13 2010-10-14 International Business Machines Corporation Method and system of preserving purchased on-demand transportation entertainment services across different journey segments or separate trips
US9166939B2 (en) 2009-05-28 2015-10-20 Google Inc. Systems and methods for uploading media content in an instant messaging conversation
US8527602B1 (en) * 2009-05-28 2013-09-03 Google Inc. Content upload system with preview and user demand based upload prioritization
US9021386B1 (en) 2009-05-28 2015-04-28 Google Inc. Enhanced user interface scrolling system
US9602444B2 (en) 2009-05-28 2017-03-21 Google Inc. Participant suggestion system
US20100333137A1 (en) * 2009-06-30 2010-12-30 Gemstar Development Corporation Methods and systems for content scheduling across multiple devices
US9445036B2 (en) 2009-06-30 2016-09-13 Rovi Guides, Inc. Methods and systems for content scheduling across multiple devices
US8131132B2 (en) * 2009-12-04 2012-03-06 United Video Properties, Inc. Systems and methods for providing interactive content during writing and production of a media asset
US20110135278A1 (en) * 2009-12-04 2011-06-09 Rovi Technologies Corporation Systems and methods for providing interactive content during writing and production of a media asset
US20110138417A1 (en) * 2009-12-04 2011-06-09 Rovi Technologies Corporation Systems and methods for providing interactive content with a media asset on a media equipment device
US20110162020A1 (en) * 2009-12-29 2011-06-30 Kahn Raynold M Method and system for operating a multi-room digital video recording system
US8510399B1 (en) 2010-05-18 2013-08-13 Google Inc. Automated participants for hosted conversations
US8996635B1 (en) 2010-05-18 2015-03-31 Google Inc. Automated participants for hosted conversations
US9380011B2 (en) 2010-05-28 2016-06-28 Google Inc. Participant-specific markup
US9026935B1 (en) 2010-05-28 2015-05-05 Google Inc. Application user interface with an interactive overlay
US9185326B2 (en) 2010-06-11 2015-11-10 Disney Enterprises, Inc. System and method enabling visual filtering of content
US8719879B2 (en) 2010-06-11 2014-05-06 Kuautli Media Investment Zrt. Method and apparatus for content delivery
US10958979B2 (en) 2010-06-21 2021-03-23 DISH Technologies L.L.C. Systems and methods for history-based decision making in a television receiver
US9363464B2 (en) * 2010-06-21 2016-06-07 Echostar Technologies L.L.C. Systems and methods for history-based decision making in a television receiver
US8732776B2 (en) 2010-07-01 2014-05-20 Kuautli Media Investment Zrt. End of show handling
US8984554B2 (en) * 2010-11-19 2015-03-17 Microsoft Technology Licensing, Llc Hybrid tuner control
US20120131605A1 (en) * 2010-11-19 2012-05-24 Microsoft Corporation Hybrid tuner control
WO2013184720A1 (en) * 2012-06-08 2013-12-12 The Directv Group, Inc. Method and system for displaying content or conflicts from multiple receiving devices on a second screen device
US10368126B2 (en) 2012-06-08 2019-07-30 The Directv Group, Inc. Method and system for displaying content or conflicts from multiple receiving devices on a second screen device
CN104869463A (en) * 2014-02-21 2015-08-26 中兴通讯股份有限公司 Set top box alarming method and set top box
US20220264186A1 (en) * 2015-08-31 2022-08-18 Opentv, Inc. Systems and methods for enabling a user to generate a plan to access content using multiple content services
US11831958B2 (en) * 2015-08-31 2023-11-28 Opentv, Inc. Systems and methods for enabling a user to generate a plan to access content using multiple content services
US10187689B2 (en) * 2017-03-16 2019-01-22 The Directv Group, Inc Dynamic advertisement insertion
US10812856B2 (en) 2017-03-16 2020-10-20 Direct Tv Group, Inc. Dynamic advertisement insertion
EP4300977A1 (en) * 2022-07-01 2024-01-03 Google LLC Network-connected television devices with knowledge-based media content recommendations and unified user interfaces that present upcoming media content

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
US20190020846A1 (en) 2019-01-17
US8799954B1 (en) 2014-08-05
US20130167168A1 (en) 2013-06-27
EP2475166A1 (en) 2012-07-11
US7985134B2 (en) 2011-07-26
US20210368128A1 (en) 2021-11-25
US20080066111A1 (en) 2008-03-13
US20140229992A1 (en) 2014-08-14
WO2008016611A3 (en) 2008-07-24
US8640165B2 (en) 2014-01-28
EP2050270A2 (en) 2009-04-22
US9544526B2 (en) 2017-01-10
US20160366362A9 (en) 2016-12-15
US20080059884A1 (en) 2008-03-06
WO2008016611A2 (en) 2008-02-07
US20150026734A1 (en) 2015-01-22
US20230130517A1 (en) 2023-04-27
US20080064490A1 (en) 2008-03-13
WO2008016617A2 (en) 2008-02-07
US9407854B2 (en) 2016-08-02
JP2009545921A (en) 2009-12-24
US9215397B2 (en) 2015-12-15
CA2658519A1 (en) 2008-02-07
US20080062318A1 (en) 2008-03-13
WO2008016617A3 (en) 2008-07-24
US8281341B2 (en) 2012-10-02
US20140229996A1 (en) 2014-08-14
US20140229887A1 (en) 2014-08-14
US8745661B2 (en) 2014-06-03

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US8281341B2 (en) Systems and methods for providing media guidance planners
US9477666B2 (en) Method and system for providing “what's next” data
CN101390390B (en) Systems and methods for episode tracking in an interactive media environment
CN102098537B (en) Systems and methods for episode tracking in an interactive media environment
US8495679B2 (en) Method and apparatus for delivery of television programs and targeted de-coupled advertising
KR100752993B1 (en) Client-server electronic program guide
CN102231859B (en) Interactive television systems with digital video recording and adjustable reminders
US8683518B2 (en) Integrated media viewing environment
EP1492348A2 (en) Context-sensitive television tags
US20070074245A1 (en) Virtual channels

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
AS Assignment

Owner name: GUIDEWORKS, LLC, PENNSYLVANIA

Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:ELLIS, MICHAEL D.;CRANER, MICHAEL L.;REEL/FRAME:019689/0748

Effective date: 20070731

AS Assignment

Owner name: ROVI GUIDES, INC.,CALIFORNIA

Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:GUIDEWORKS, LLC;REEL/FRAME:024088/0138

Effective date: 20100226

Owner name: ROVI GUIDES, INC., CALIFORNIA

Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:GUIDEWORKS, LLC;REEL/FRAME:024088/0138

Effective date: 20100226

AS Assignment

Owner name: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT, NE

Free format text: SECURITY INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:APTIV DIGITAL, INC., A DELAWARE CORPORATION;GEMSTAR DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, A CALIFORNIA CORPORATION;INDEX SYSTEMS INC, A BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS COMPANY;AND OTHERS;REEL/FRAME:027039/0168

Effective date: 20110913

STCB Information on status: application discontinuation

Free format text: ABANDONED -- FAILURE TO RESPOND TO AN OFFICE ACTION

AS Assignment

Owner name: ROVI CORPORATION, CALIFORNIA

Free format text: PATENT RELEASE;ASSIGNOR:JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT;REEL/FRAME:033396/0001

Effective date: 20140702

Owner name: ROVI GUIDES, INC., CALIFORNIA

Free format text: PATENT RELEASE;ASSIGNOR:JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT;REEL/FRAME:033396/0001

Effective date: 20140702

Owner name: ALL MEDIA GUIDE, LLC, CALIFORNIA

Free format text: PATENT RELEASE;ASSIGNOR:JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT;REEL/FRAME:033396/0001

Effective date: 20140702

Owner name: UNITED VIDEO PROPERTIES, INC., CALIFORNIA

Free format text: PATENT RELEASE;ASSIGNOR:JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT;REEL/FRAME:033396/0001

Effective date: 20140702

Owner name: TV GUIDE INTERNATIONAL, INC., CALIFORNIA

Free format text: PATENT RELEASE;ASSIGNOR:JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT;REEL/FRAME:033396/0001

Effective date: 20140702

Owner name: APTIV DIGITAL, INC., CALIFORNIA

Free format text: PATENT RELEASE;ASSIGNOR:JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT;REEL/FRAME:033396/0001

Effective date: 20140702

Owner name: GEMSTAR DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, CALIFORNIA

Free format text: PATENT RELEASE;ASSIGNOR:JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT;REEL/FRAME:033396/0001

Effective date: 20140702

Owner name: STARSIGHT TELECAST, INC., CALIFORNIA

Free format text: PATENT RELEASE;ASSIGNOR:JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT;REEL/FRAME:033396/0001

Effective date: 20140702

Owner name: INDEX SYSTEMS INC., CALIFORNIA

Free format text: PATENT RELEASE;ASSIGNOR:JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT;REEL/FRAME:033396/0001

Effective date: 20140702

Owner name: ROVI TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION, CALIFORNIA

Free format text: PATENT RELEASE;ASSIGNOR:JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT;REEL/FRAME:033396/0001

Effective date: 20140702

Owner name: ROVI SOLUTIONS CORPORATION, CALIFORNIA

Free format text: PATENT RELEASE;ASSIGNOR:JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT;REEL/FRAME:033396/0001

Effective date: 20140702