Claims
- 1. A system in which an interactive television program guide is implemented on user television equipment comprising:
means for determining when a user selects a non-programming program guide option; and means for presenting an advertisement as part of a program guide screen in the program guide based on which program guide non-programming option is selected.
- 2. The system defined in claim 1 wherein the means for presenting the advertisement further comprises means for presenting a selectable advertisement.
- 3. The system defined in claim 1 further comprising:
a television distribution facility for distributing television programming to the user television equipment; and a video server located in the television distribution facility for providing advertisements containing video to the user television equipment.
- 4. The system defined in claim 1 further comprising:
a television distribution facility for distributing television programming to the user television equipment; a plurality of network nodes for use in providing the television programming to the user television equipment; and video servers located at some of the networks nodes for providing advertisements containing video to the user television equipment.
- 5. The system defined in claim 1 wherein the non-programming option is a music option, the means for presenting the advertisement further comprising means for presenting an advertisement related to music as part of a program guide screen when the user selects the music option.
- 6. The system defined in claim 1 wherein the non-programming option is a messages option, the means for presenting the advertisement further comprising means for presenting an advertisement related to messages as part of a program guide screen when the user selects the messages option.
- 7. The system defined in claim 1 wherein the non-programming option is a parental control option, the means for presenting the advertisement further comprising means for presenting an advertisement related to parental control as part of a program guide screen when the user selects the parental control option.
- 8. The system defined in claim 1 wherein the non-programming option is a setup option, the means for presenting the advertisement further comprising means for presenting an advertisement related to a setup feature as part of a program guide screen when the user selects the setup option.
- 9. The system defined in claim 1 further comprising:
means for determining when a user selects a program guide function button in the program guide; and means for presenting an advertisement as part of a program guide screen based on which program guide function button is selected.
- 10. The system defined in claim 1 further comprising means for taking a targeted program guide action in the program guide based on which program guide non-programming option is selected.
- 11. A method for using an interactive television program guide implemented on user television equipment comprising the steps of:
determining when a user selects a non-programming program guide option; and presenting an advertisement as part of a program guide screen in the program guide based on which program guide non-programming option is selected.
- 12. The method defined in claim 11 wherein the step of presenting the advertisement further comprises the step of presenting a selectable advertisement.
- 13. The method defined in claim 11 further comprising the steps of:
distributing television programming to the user television equipment using a television distribution facility; and providing advertisements containing video to the user television equipment using a video server located in the television distribution facility.
- 14. The method defined in claim 11 further comprising the steps of:
distributing television programming to the user television equipment using a television distribution facility; providing the television programming to the user television equipment using a plurality of network nodes; and providing advertisements containing video to the user television equipment using video servers located at some of the networks nodes.
- 15. The method defined in claim 11 wherein the non-programming option is a music option, the step of presenting the advertisement further comprising the step of presenting an advertisement related to music as part of a program guide screen when the user selects the music option.
- 16. The method defined in claim 11 wherein the non-programming option is a messages option, the step of presenting the advertisement further comprising the step of presenting an advertisement related to messages as part of a program guide screen when the user selects the messages option.
- 17. The method defined in claim 11 wherein the non-programming option is a parental control option, the step of presenting the advertisement further comprising the step of presenting an advertisement related to parental control as part of a program guide screen when the user selects the parental control option.
- 18. The method defined in claim 11 wherein the non-programming option is a setup option, the step of presenting the advertisement further comprising the step of presenting an advertisement related to a setup feature as part of a program guide screen when the user selects the setup option.
- 19. The method defined in claim 11 further comprising the steps of:
determining when a user selects a program guide function button in the program guide; and presenting an advertisement as part of a program guide screen based on which program guide function button is selected.
- 20. The method defined in claim 11 further comprising the step of taking a targeted program guide action in the program guide based on which program guide non-programming option is selected.
CROSS REFERENCE TO A RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/070,700, filed Apr. 30, 1998, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09070700 |
Apr 1998 |
US |
Child |
10821450 |
Apr 2004 |
US |