Patent Application
20070288962
The present invention will be better understood and its advantages will become more apparent to those skilled in the art by reference to the following drawings, in conjunction with the accompanying specification, in which:
The present invention is a method, apparatus, and computer program product for selecting a programming channel based upon its popularity or ranking. More specifically, the present invention allows a user to tune into a programming channel based upon numerous factors that will result in a listing of the receivable programs in the order of relevance to certain factors (e.g., popularity).
Reference now being made to
The communication medium 160 can be any medium (e.g., fiber optic cable) that is suitable for delivering signals over long distances between the broadcasting facility 120 and the viewing stations 140-140N. The communication medium 160 can be wired or wireless (e.g., satellite reception) or any combination thereof (e.g., satellite with a phone line or DSL connection). In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the communication medium 160 supports bi-directional communication between each of the viewing stations 140-N and the broadcasting facility 120.
The broadcasting network 100 telecasts a plurality of video and audio programs simultaneously over a plurality of programming channels on the communication medium 160. All of the viewing stations 140-N have access to these programs. A viewer can view a particular broadcast by tuning one of the viewing stations 140-N to the programming channel that is carrying the program of interest.
The viewing stations 140-N are typically located in the homes of viewers or other locations that are capable of receiving the content programming. Each of the viewing stations 140-N preferably includes a conventional television monitor or other suitable viewing device. For example, a viewing station 140-N can be an entertainment system such as that illustrated in
Reference now being made to
The communication unit 104a is coupled to or communicates with the broadcasting facility 120 using medium 160 which can be wired to the broadcasting facility 120 or alternatively receive wireless signals from a satellite or other wireless communication device or any combination thereof (e.g., wireless and wired).
Viewing device 104b can be any device capable of providing visual and/or audio information to a viewer. For example, viewing device 104b can be a TV, computer monitor, cell phone, radio, MP3 player and the like.
Depending upon the type of viewing device 104b, remote control 104c can be part of the viewing device 104b itself or, as illustrated, a separate device. The function and operation of remote control 104c with viewing device 104b is implemented using well-known and understood techniques.
Information displayed on the viewing device 104b is typically shown in a list type format according to channel numbers or the like. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the broadcasting channels are ranked according to popularity and listed accordingly. Alternatively, the viewer can indicate additional criteria to further limit the size of the list or ranking according to selective criteria as explained below.
Reference now being made to
Reference now being made to
The gathering of this information can be accomplished by the broadcasting facility 120 polling the viewing stations 104-N via the communication unit 104a (
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the broadcasting facility 120 dedicates one or more channels to view the ranked programs (Step 406). The programs provided on these dedicated channels are updated according to their ranking during a predetermined time period (e.g., every 15 minutes) (step 408). In this preferred embodiment, the user has the ability to tune into the ranked program(s) by selecting the dedicated channel(s) (e.g., top 10 shows and/or bottom 10 shows) (step 412).
In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the user is provided with the ability to indicate their desire to view either the most or least popular program via a remote control or other indicating means. Upon the selection of the desired ranked program, the viewing device 104b is tuned to the selected program (steps 410 and 412).
Reference now being made to
For example, as illustrated in
The user is provided with the ability to generate additional lists of the rankings based upon other factors such as theme, demographics, location, gender, popularity of commercial, and the like. For example, the ranked listing 600 of
In contrast, when the chosen gender is female, the ranked listing 600 of
The complete listing of the rankings and their filter alternatives are preferably stored at each of the viewing stations 104-N (Step 506). Alternatively, the non-filtered rankings can be stored at the viewing stations 104-N and the filtered versions provided upon request from the broadcasting facility 120 or any combination thereof. Upon the selection of a channel from the ranked listing, the viewing device 104b is tuned to the selected channel (Steps 508-510).
The present invention, including the alternative preferred embodiments, can be provided as a computer program product, included on a machine-readable medium having stored on it machine executable instructions used to program computer system to perform a process according to the teachings of the present invention.
The term “machine-readable medium” as used in the specification includes any medium that participates in providing instructions to a processor or other components of a computer system for execution. Such a medium can take many forms including, but not limited to, non-volatile media, and transmission media. Common forms of non-volatile media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, a hard disk, magnetic tape, or any other magnetic medium, a Compact Disk ROM (CD-ROM), a Digital Video Disk-ROM (DVD-ROM) or any other optical medium whether static or rewriteable (e.g., CDRW and DVD RW), punch cards or any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically EPROM (EEPROM), a flash memory, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other medium from which a computer system can read and which is suitable for storing instructions.
It is thus believed that the operation and construction of the present invention will be apparent from the foregoing description. While the method and system shown and described has been characterized as being preferred, it will be readily apparent that various changes and/or modifications could be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined in the following claims.
