Patent Application
20080276277
The present invention relates to television program guide presentation, and in particular, to presenting television (TV) program guide information based on viewer usage patterns.
A typical television program guide screen includes multiple pages, and many (often more than fifty) pages of information.
Devices that present program guide information typically display the information in a pre-determined order; either in numerical order of channel numbers, or in alphabetical order of channel names. In either case, information for channels of interest to a viewer often appear on pages and in sequence in the program guide that have no correlation to the viewer's interest. This forces the viewer to frequently navigate to the pages of interest either by scrolling through screens or by typing in channel numbers. Neither of these navigation methods is convenient, and both methods are time consuming.
Though in some applications a viewer is allowed to edit the order of channel display, such listings require manual editing whenever the viewer desires to change the display order. There is, therefore, a need for a method and a system for presenting television program guide information based on viewer usage patterns.
The present invention provides a method and system for presenting television program guide information. In one embodiment this involves obtaining a program guide, monitoring program viewing patterns of a viewer, and selectively presenting information from the program guide to the viewer based on the viewing patterns. In one example, selectively presenting information from the program guide further includes displaying a listing of channels viewed more frequently on a guide screen in descending order of viewing frequency.
In another embodiment, monitoring program viewing patterns further includes monitoring viewing pattern changes, such that selectively presenting information from the program guide includes selectively presenting information from the program guide to the viewer based on the viewing pattern changes.
In another embodiment, channels of more interest to the viewer appear first on the guide screen relative to other channels, wherein selectively presenting information from the program guide further includes showing program guide information for viewer preferred channels regardless of watching time.
These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become understood with reference to the following description, appended claims and accompanying figures.
With the proliferation of television programming, typically, there are several hundred channels available for viewing. Most viewers have a few frequently watched favorite channels. The list of preferred channels can be different for each viewer and further may change per viewer over time. For example, a viewer may watch more sports channels during the weekend than weekdays.
The present invention provides a method and a system for presenting television program guide information based on viewer usage patterns. A presentation system monitors viewing patterns of television programs and selectively displays program guide information on a guide screen for channels based on the viewing patterns. The channels watched more often are user preferred channels, and therefore presented to the viewer first, relative to other channels. If the viewing pattern changes, such changes are used to selectively display program guide information for channels based on the viewing pattern changes.
The viewing patterns are used for presenting channel listings to a viewer without requiring manual selection by the viewer. As such, the viewer can watch preferred channel information simply and quickly, without needing to engage in manual entry of channel preferences on the guide screen.
In one embodiment, frequently watched favorite channels for each viewer appear at the beginning of the program guide display. The usage pattern for each viewer is used in presenting the program guide information for that viewer, such that channels of more interest to the user appear first without requiring manual configuration change. In this description, the term “configuration” means a set of parameters that can be modified by users based on their preferences. For example, a television may allow users to utilize a menu screen for editing channel display order on a guide screen.
In one example, the TV usage patterns of a viewer or a group of viewers are monitored. The usage/viewing patterns are used for customizing program guide information display per viewer. The channels watched more often move to the front pages of the guide screen. If the viewing pattern changes either because of a viewer change or a viewing time slot change, the new usage pattern is used for dynamically customizing the display of the guide screen. As such, the viewers can quickly and easily access information for their preferred channels, without manual editing for channel information display preference on the guide screen.
In
The audio content is decoded by the audio decoder 103 to generate audio sound played through speakers (e.g., TV speakers).
The video content is decoded by the video decoder 104 to generate a video signal that is processed by the graphics engine 108. The processed video information is then displayed on an electronic display screen (e.g., a TV screen).
The data content is decoded by the data decoder 106 and processed by the TV control module 110. Program information is processed by the PIM 120 and stored in the program information database 112.
When a viewer inputs a request (e.g., using TV buttons, a remote control, etc.), the request is received by the UIM 118 to determine the type of user request. Based on the user request, the UIM 118 operates to generate a visual feedback that is delivered to the graphics engine 108 for combination with a video signal from the video decoder 104, before display on the display screen.
If the user request involves a channel change, then the UIM 118 records the viewer's usage data (e.g., channel number, tuning time, etc.) to the usage history database 114.
If the user request is to display program guide information, then the UIM 118 sends a request to the PIM 120 to obtain program guide information. The PIM 120 retrieves program information from the program information database 112, and delivers the program information to the UIM 118. Then, the UIM 118 generates visuals that are delivered to the graphics engine 108 for display on the TV screen.
The system 100 and the process 200 can be implemented as logical modules (hardware, software, application specific integrated circuit, etc.) in existing devices (e.g., set-top-box (STB), TV, etc.) or as stand-alone devices.
In one example implementation, the system 100 maintains a list 300 (
Preferably, but not necessarily, if a viewer tunes to a channel and does not remain tuned to that channel for a certain period of time (e.g., 5 seconds), that channel is not included in the list 300. This is to exclude the channels that the viewer is not really intended to tune to. The value of N can be either pre-selected by the system designer or to be selectable by the viewer. Smaller values for N are suited for those users whose viewing pattern changes in shorter-term (more quickly), while larger values for N are suited for those users whose viewing pattern is consistent over longer periods of time.
The interest factor F(x) is calculated for each channel number x in the list 300. Whenever the viewer displays the guide screen, the program guide information for each channel on the list 300 is displayed to the viewer in the order of the interest factor F(x). Channels with higher interest factors are displayed first. The channels that do not appear in the list 300 may be displayed after those channels in the list 300.
The interest factor F may be calculated by different algorithms. Some examples of the algorithms are described below, but other algorithms may also be used, as recognized by those skilled in the art. Example algorithms for calculating the interest factor F(x) for a channel x in the list 300 include:
The present invention can be utilized even if full program guide information is unavailable, wherein a subset of program guide information, or a channel list, is displayed.
In another implementation, program guide display according to the present invention can be selectively utilized, or be a viewer-selectable option. For example, a TV or a STB implementing the present invention, may display the first five entries or the first page of the guide screen as described above, and then display the remainder of the guide screen based on other methods such as numerical order of the channel numbers, alphabetical order of the channel names, etc.
As is known to those skilled in the art, the aforementioned example architectures described above, according to the present invention, can be implemented in many ways, such as program instructions for execution by a processor, as logic circuits, as an application specific integrated circuit, as firmware, etc.
The present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred versions thereof; however, other versions are possible. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred versions contained herein.
