Patent Grant
8028315
This invention relates to interactive television program guides, and more particularly, this invention relates to systems and methods for using an interactive television program guide application to access fantasy sports contests.
In known fantasy sports contests, a user (i.e., a fantasy sports contestant) selects a roster, a team, a particular individual, or a group of individuals in a season-long athletic competition. Fantasy sports contests are typically based on real-life team sports (e.g., football, baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer, rugby, etc.), real-life athletic events in which individuals compete (e.g., golf, tennis, automotive racing, etc.), and real-life sporting events involving animals (e.g., horse and dog racing). The user is given the ability to take on the role of a fictional general manager with powers which may include the ability to draft, trade, dismiss and otherwise manage the user's fantasy sports roster selections.
Known fantasy sports contest systems provide services to users which include providing statistical information for real-life athletic competition and tracking users' standings (i.e., rankings) in fantasy sports contests. Known fantasy sports contest systems typically determine a user's standing (i.e., ranking) in a fantasy sports contest based on the performance of the user's fantasy sports roster selections in real-life athletic competition. For example, a conventional fantasy sports contest system might award five fantasy sports contest points to the user for every goal scored in real-life by a member of the user's fantasy sports contest soccer team. Generally, the user who has accumulated the most fantasy sports contest points by the conclusion of a fantasy sports contest (e.g., the end of a real-life athletic season) is the overall winner of that fantasy sports contest.
Fantasy sports contestants typically track closely real-life athletic events. In particular, because fantasy sports contests are traditionally intimately tied to real-life athletic competition, a user's performance in a contest often hinges on the user's ability to, for example, plan favorable trades and otherwise knowledgeably control the user's fantasy sports team. A fantasy sports contestant traditionally consults with any number of sources including newspapers, sports journals, digests, and television in attempts to maximize the user's personal body of knowledge regarding the user's fantasy sports contest.
Known interactive television program guide systems contribute little to fantasy sports contestants and fantasy sports competition. In particular, despite steady growth in the field of interactive television program guides, known systems have failed to address the issues and concerns of fantasy sports contestants.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide systems and methods for using an interactive television program guide application to access fantasy sports contests.
It is an object of the present invention to provide systems and methods for using an interactive television program guide application to access fantasy sports contests.
This and other objects are accomplished in accordance with the present invention by providing an interactive television program guide application that provides fantasy sports contest information to a user.
Systems and methods for using an interactive television program guide application to provide fantasy sports contest information to a user are provided. In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive television program guide application may determine that a program is related to a fantasy sports contest. For example, the application may determine that a program relates to a real-life competition or one or more real-life sports players that affect a fantasy sports contest using data received from any suitable source. The application may display to the user any suitable information to indicate to the user that the program is related to the fantasy sports contest such as an indicator in a program listings display screen or other suitable information (e.g., information for one or more real-life sports players to which the program relates, etc.). In embodiments in which the user participates in the fantasy sports contest to which the program relates, the interactive television program guide application may display to the user information that indicates the user's performance (e.g., the user's fantasy sports contest point total) in response to, for example, a user indication of the program listing.
In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive television program guide application may provide to the user an opportunity to view a schedule of programs that are related to one or more fantasy sports contests in which the user participates. Such schedules may include, for example, any suitable information such as title, channel, names of real-life athletes that affect fantasy sports competition, or any other suitable information.
In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive television program guide application may schedule fantasy sports-related programs for automatic recording for the user. The application may determine that a program is related to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates (e.g., a fantasy sports contest for which the user has fictitiously selected one or more real-life sports players to the user's fantasy team roster). The application may then, for example, schedule the program for automatic recording without further process, or may consider factors such as a number of the user's fantasy players to which the program relates, the program's position in a user-define record priority (e.g., which may indicate, for example, that programs for the user's fantasy baseball contest are recorded with higher priority than programs of the user's fantasy basketball contest), or based on any other suitable criteria or combination thereof.
In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive television program guide application may display to the user information for events that occur in programs related to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates. An event may correspond to, for example, an accumulation of a statistic by a real-life player that has been fictitiously drafted to the user's fantasy team roster. For example, the application may display to a user a number of fantasy sports contest points that the user receives as a result of the event. In some embodiments of the present invention, the application may, for example, record the event using a suitable recording device such as a personal video recorder (PVR). The interactive television program guide may provide to the user highlight video clips of the events when, for example, playing back a prerecorded data from the PVR.
In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive television program guide application may display fantasy sports information simultaneously with video for a selected program (e.g., a program with which the fantasy sports information is associated). The application may provide to a user the ability to select a program for viewing. In response to determining that the program relates to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates, the application may simultaneously display the video and its corresponding fantasy sports information (e.g., the fantasy score of the user that is affected by events associated with the program).
In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive television program guide may display fantasy sports contest data according to a user's location in, for example, the program guide. In response to a user navigating to a portion of a program guide that includes a program related to a fantasy sports contest, the application may display an advertisement targeted to that fantasy sports contest. The application may also target ads for fantasy sports contests based on a maintained viewing history for the user.
The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:
Systems and methods for using an interactive television program guide to access fantasy sports contests are presented.
Illustrative interactive television program guides are described, for example, in Knee et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,589,892, Knudson et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/070,555, filed Apr. 30, 1998, and Knudson et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/357,941, filed Jul. 16, 1999, which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.
Illustrative fantasy sports contests are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,918,603 (Hughes, et al.), 5,846,132 (Junkin), 5,971,854 (Junkin) and 6,193,610 (Junkin), as well as Hughes et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/428,991, filed Oct. 29, 1999, Hughes et al. U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/329,587, filed Oct. 15, 2001, and Hughes U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/338,916, filed Nov. 5, 2001, which are all hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.
Fantasy sports contests of the present invention may include any suitable sports contest in which the user is given the ability to make decisions that may affect the standing of the user in the sports contest. For example, in typical team-oriented fantasy sports contests, the user may participate in the capacity of a fictional general manager. In this situation, the user may be have responsibilities such as creating a team roster (e.g., drafting players), selecting player positions, selecting starters, selecting relievers, making trades, and otherwise maintaining the composition of the user's team roster. It will be understood that any other suitable decision-making capability may be given to the user in a fantasy sports contest in addition to or in place of those indicated above.
Fantasy sports contests of the present invention need not be limited or restricted in time. For example, a fantasy sports contest may last an entire season, a portion of a season, multiple seasons, a definite period of time (e.g., one month, two weeks, three days, one hour, etc.), the duration of a particular event (e.g., Wimbledon, etc.), a portion of a particular event, or any other suitable period of time.
In one suitable approach, fantasy sports contests of the present invention may include contests in which the user is not necessarily playing the role of a fictional general manager. For example, fantasy sports contests may involve the user determining or guessing (i.e., blindly or with calculation) whether particular outcomes will occur (e.g., whether a particular golfer will make the next putt). Any such suitable decision-making may be the basis of a fantasy sports contest or a part of a fantasy sports contest.
Fantasy sports contests of the present invention may use any suitable one or more scoring systems. For example, existing fantasy scoring systems include straight point systems (e.g., points are awarded and subtracted based on real-life plays without regard to the performance of other players on other fantasy teams in a league), rotisserie systems (e.g., points are awarded based on the user's relative ranking against other users), and head-to-head systems (e.g., users in a league are matched against one another in a round-robin series of one-on-one contests during the course of a season). These are merely illustrative scoring systems. Any other suitable scoring system may be used in the fantasy sports contests of the present invention.
It will be understood that the above are merely illustrative elements of fantasy sports contests. Any other suitable arrangement or approach may be used. It will further be understood that the nature of the fantasy sports contests may vary depending on which activity or sport is involved or based on any other suitable criteria.
The present invention is primarily described herein in terms of an interactive television program guide application. The interactive television program guide application may be any suitable software, hardware, or both that may be used to implement the features of present invention. It will be understood that any other suitable software, hardware, or both (e.g., a fantasy sports contest application) may be used in conjunction with the interactive television program guide application or in place of the interactive television program guide application to implement some or all of the features of the present invention.
Program guide data may include, for example, titles, channels, and times of scheduled programs, descriptions of scheduled programs, pay-per-view program data, on-demand media data, and any other data for the interactive television program guide (e.g., data indicating a list of programs scheduled for automatic recording or reminding, a list of programs that are related to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates, advertisements, etc.).
Fantasy sports contest data may include, for example, rules data, statistics data, contest data, and any other data for one or more fantasy sports contests and fantasy sports contestants. For example, fantasy sports contest data may include rules data that governs user participation in fantasy sports contests (e.g., data indicating a maximum number of fantasy sports contests that a user may participate in, a maximum number of fantasy sports contest trades that may be made in a week or other duration of time, whether a user is permitted to participate in fantasy sports contests that award cash or non-cash prizes, other fantasy sports contest options, etc.). As another example, fantasy sports contest data may include statistics data for real-life athletic events and athletes (e.g., data indicating real-life sports scores and other outcomes of real-life athletic events, trades of real-life athletes, real-life athletes that are disabled or ineligible due to injury or expulsion, a real-life athlete's statistics for an athletic season, portion of an athletic season, or multiple athletic seasons, etc.). The real-life statistics data may be used to, for example, determine various fantasy sports contest options and settings (e.g., the fantasy players available for roster selection, the salaries of fantasy sports roster selections, a fantasy sports contestant's fantasy point total, etc.). Fantasy sports contest data may also include contest data that indicates, for example, a list of fantasy sports contestants of a particular fantasy sports contest league, fantasy sports contest standings, a list of roster selections (e.g., sports players) of a particular fantasy sports contestant, or any other data specific to one or more fantasy sports contests or fantasy sports contestants.
The above description of program guide data and fantasy sports contest data is merely illustrative. Program guide and fantasy sports contest data of the present invention may include any suitable data that is used by the interactive television program guide to provide to the user the ability to access one or more of fantasy sports contests and the interactive television program guide. It will be understood that, in some instances, the distinction between program guide data and fantasy sports contest data may be in name only (e.g., in instances in which the same data may be used to, for example, determine the list of real-life players that have been fictitiously selected to the user's fantasy team roster and to determine which programs are related to a fantasy sports contest of the user).
In some embodiments of the present invention, data sources may be located at facilities separate from main facility 102. For example, external data service 110 may provide data to main facility 102 via communications path 112 for distribution. External data service 110 may be any facility suitable for providing data for the interactive television program guide application to main facility 102 over communications path 112. External data service 110 may provide, for example, fantasy sports contest data (e.g., contest data that indicates a list of athletic players that are available for selection by a user). As another example, external data service may provide advertisement data (e.g., data for advertisements that are targeted to current or potential fantasy sports contestants). Still another example, external data service may provide statistics data (e.g., statistics data for real-life athletic events and athletes), news data (e.g., for sports events related to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates), or any other data for the interactive television program guide application. External data service 110 may be, for example, a television network or cable system headend. In some embodiments of the present invention, external data service 110 may provide data relevant to a particular locality, such as a local newspaper that distributes local news such as local sports scores or a weather station that reports local weather data.
External data service 110 may contain external data source 114. External data source 114 may be any suitable computer or computer-based system for generating, storing, or obtaining data for the interactive television program guide application (e.g., manually from an operator, electronically via a computer network or other connection, or via storage media) and putting the data into electronic form for distribution to main facility 102 or other facility.
Multiple external data services 110 and multiple communications paths 112 may provide data to main facility 102. Only one external data service 110 and one communications path 112 have been shown in
Communications paths 108 and 112 may be satellite communications paths, fiber-optic paths, coaxial cable paths, radio frequency paths, electromagnetic communications paths, microwave communications paths, Internet paths, or any other suitable wired or wireless communications path or combination of such paths. Communications paths 108 and 112 may have sufficient bandwidth to transmit video signals.
Main facility 102 may transmit program guide and fantasy sports contest data to interactive application equipment 106 using any suitable approach or combination of approaches. For example, main facility 102 may distribute program guide and fantasy sports contest data periodically, continuously, or using any other suitable approach. As another example, real-life sports scores and sports updates (e.g., a recap of the events for a particular sports game) may be transmitted to interactive application equipment 106 in a time-delayed fashion. In some embodiments of the present invention, certain portions of the program guide and fantasy sports contest data may be transmitted using a first approach, whereas certain other portions of the program guide and fantasy sports contest data may be transmitted using a second approach. For example, advertisements for programs related to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates and sports scores for real-life athletic events related the fantasy sports contest may be transmitted to the user continuously (e.g., in real-time when the real-life athletic events are taking place), whereas program listings data and fantasy sports contest rules data may be transmitted to the user periodically. Program guide and fantasy sports contest data may be distributed discretely as separate files or packets, or may be distributed in a continuous data stream (e.g., using a carousel-based approach).
In some embodiments of the present invention, main facility 102 may transmit fantasy sports contest data separate from program guide data. Fantasy sports contest data and program guide data may be provided by main facility 102 using different approaches. For example, main facility 102 may provide certain portions of the fantasy sports contest data (e.g., real-life sports scores, data indicating a user's performance in a fantasy sports contest, etc.) in a continuous data stream (e.g., using a carousel-based approach) while providing program guide data (e.g., program listings) periodically or on-demand using a client-server based approach. Any suitable combination of approaches may be used.
In some embodiments of the present invention, main facility 102 may, for example, provide program guide and fantasy sports contest data to interactive application equipment 106 as part of schedule localizations. Examples of systems that utilize schedule localizations are described in Borges et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,760,821, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Periodic schedule localizations may update program listings, fantasy sports scores, real-life athletic scores, and other data for the interactive television program guide application with any suitable frequency (e.g., daily, weekly, continuously, etc.), allowing information from a central facility, such as main facility 102, to be received and processed at local facilities, such as those of interactive application equipment 106. Schedule localizations may be utilized to provide program guide and fantasy sports contest application data to interactive application equipment 106 when the frequency of schedule localization permits.
Main facility 102 may store reusable interactive application equipment lists. The lists may include identifiers of multiple installations of interactive application equipment 106 (e.g., cable headends, individual subscriber units, etc.) that occupy a common locality, region or coverage area, or that receive data for the same set of television channels (e.g., via satellite). The lists may also include identifiers of multiple installations of interactive application equipment 106 that receive data for the same one or more fantasy sports contests (e.g., each of the installations of interactive application equipment 106 providing the data to at least one member of the one or more fantasy sports contests).
Main facility 102 may use stored interactive application equipment lists to specify the scope of schedule localization transmissions. For example, main facility 102 may utilize an interactive application equipment list to localize program guide and fantasy sports contest data to the installations of interactive application equipment 106 specified by the list. In addition, main facility 102 may create new interactive application equipment lists in the event that no existing list satisfies the desired scope of a schedule localization transmission (e.g., when a new fantasy sports contest includes contestants whose corresponding interactive application equipment had not previously been grouped in the same list). Main facility 102 may also update existing interactive application equipment lists (e.g., to include a user that enters a fantasy sports contest mid-season, to identify that the list addresses contestants of a new fantasy sports contest league that had previously been contestants of another fantasy sports contest league, etc.). Main facility 102 may also delete interactive application equipment lists once they have become obsolete or are no longer needed (e.g., when a fantasy sports contest has concluded).
An illustrative arrangement for interactive application equipment 106 is shown in
Distribution facility 202 may receive program guide and fantasy sports contest data from main facility 102 (
Distribution facility 202 may include distribution equipment 206. Distribution equipment 206 may be any equipment suitable for distributing program guide data to user television equipment 204. Distribution equipment 206 may include, for example, suitable transmission hardware for distributing program guide data on a television channel sideband, in the vertical blanking interval of a television channel, using an in-band digital signal, using an out-of-band digital signal, or by any other suitable data transmission technique. Distribution equipment 206 may transmit analog or digital signals comprising programming guide data to user television equipment 204 on multiple television channels.
In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive television program guide application may be at least partially implemented by distribution facility 202. For example, portions of the interactive television program guide application that implement features involved in the processing of user equipment requests and in the tracking of the performance of fantasy sports contestants may be implemented by distribution facility 202. In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive television program guide application may be at least partially implemented by user television equipment 204. For example, portions of the interactive television program guide application that implement features involved in user interaction may be implemented by user television equipment 204. The two portions of the interactive television program guide application may communicate using any suitable peer-to-peer communications scheme (e.g., messaging, remote function calls, etc.) and may perform interactive application functions distributively between distribution facility 202 and user television equipment 204.
Distribution facility 202 may provide one or more of program guide data, fantasy sports contest data, video media, and television programming to user television equipment 204 over communications path 208. Communications path 208 may be a satellite communications path, a fiber-optic path, a coaxial cable path, a radio frequency path, an electromagnetic communications path, a microwave communications path, an Internet path, or any other suitable wired or wireless path or combination of such paths.
In some embodiments of the present invention, distribution facility 202 may periodically transmit one or more of program guide and fantasy sports contest data to user equipment 204. For example, program guide and fantasy sports contest data may be updated at user television equipment 204 daily, weekly, or with any other suitable frequency. In some embodiments of the present invention, distribution facility 202 may transmit program guide and fantasy sports contest data to user television equipment 204 in a real-time data stream. For example, fantasy sports contest data such as a sports score for a real-life athletic event related to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates and data indicating a user's performance in the fantasy sports contest may be transmitted to user television equipment 204 in real time (i.e., while the event is in progress). As another example, one or more of program guide and fantasy sports contest data may be transmitted to user television equipment 204 in a time-delayed fashion (e.g., sports scores and other data delayed 30 minutes from real-time events).
In some embodiments of the present invention, distribution facility 202 may transmit program guide data to user television equipment 204 continuously in a carousel-based approach, in which portions of program guide and fantasy sports contest data (e.g., listings, pay-per-view data, fantasy sports contest standings, etc.) are continuously broadcasted in a time-division multiplexed fashion. In some embodiments of the present invention, main facility 102 (
In some embodiments of the present invention, interactive application equipment 106 may obtain program guide and fantasy sports contest data from main facility 102 (
Another illustrative Internet-based approach for interactive application equipment 106 (
Internet service system 302 of
Internet service system 302 may provide video, program guide data, and fantasy sports contest data from data sources on the Internet to user television equipment 204. For example, a news data source may provide sports news data related to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates to user equipment 204 using Internet service system 302. In some embodiments of the present invention, main facility 102 (
In some embodiments of the present invention, an interactive television program guide application may run at least partially on one or more of user television equipment 204, distribution facility 202, main facility 102 (
An illustrative client-server arrangement of interactive application equipment 106 (
In some embodiments of the present invention, server 502 may request or otherwise receive program guide and fantasy sports contest data from program guide data and fantasy sports contest data source 104 of main facility 102 (
In some embodiments of the present invention, server 502 may receive program guide and fantasy sports contest data from an external data service such as external data service 110 (
In some embodiments of the present invention, server 502 may, in response to client requests, transmit program guide and fantasy sports contest data via communications path 208 to user equipment 204 for subsequent processing and application display screen generation. For example, server 502 may provide application data to user television equipment 204 and user television equipment 204 may subsequently process the data to provide an interactive television program guide that provides access to one or more fantasy sports contests. Server 502 may store various media (e.g., highlight video clips for events related to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates) and provide the media to user television equipment 204 in response to program guide client requests or using a push methodology. In other embodiments, sometimes referred to as a “thin client” approach, program guide server 502 may generate program guide application display screens which are downloaded by the program guide client. If desired, server 502 may be located at main facility 102 (
Another illustrative client-server arrangement is shown in
User television equipment 204 of
An illustrative arrangement for user television equipment 204 (
During normal television viewing, a user may tune set-top box 804 to a desired television channel. The signal for that television channel may then be provided at video output 806. The signal supplied at output 806 is typically either a radio-frequency (RF) signal on a predefined channel (e.g., channel 3 or 4), or an analog demodulated video signal, but may also be a digital signal provided on an appropriate digital bus (e.g., a bus using the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394 standard (not shown)). The video signal at output 806 may be received by secondary storage device 808, which may be an optional component in the embodiment of
Set-top box 804 may have memory 810. Memory 810 may be any memory or other storage device, such as a random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), flash memory, a hard disk drive, a combination of such devices, or any memory suitable for storing application instructions and application data for use by the interactive television program guide application.
Set-top box 804 may have communications device 812 for communicating directly with distribution facility 202 (
Secondary storage device 808 may be any suitable type of analog or digital program storage device or player. For example, secondary storage device 808 may be a videocassette recorder (VCR) or a digital versatile disc (DVD) player. As another example, secondary storage device 808 may be a personal video recorder (PVR) or any other suitable analog or digital program storage device or player. Illustrative media recording systems including personal video recorder systems are described in Ellis et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/821,005 which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
In some embodiments of the present invention, application data may be stored in secondary storage device 808. Program recording and other features may be controlled by set-top box 804 using control path 816. If secondary storage device 808 is a videocassette recorder or a personal video recorder, for example, a typical control path 816 may involve the use of an infrared transmitter coupled to the infrared receiver in the recorder that normally accepts commands from a remote control such as remote control 818. Remote control 818 may be used to control set-top box 804, secondary storage device 808, and television 814.
An interactive television program guide application may run on set-top box 804, television 814 (provided that television 814 has suitable processing circuitry and memory), a suitable analog or digital receiver (not shown) connected to television 814, or digital storage device 820 if digital storage device 820 has suitable processing circuitry and memory. The interactive television program guide application may also run cooperatively on a suitable combination of these devices. Interactive television application systems in which a cooperative interactive television program guide application runs on multiple devices are described, for example, in Ellis U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/186,598, filed Nov. 5, 1998, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
If desired, a user may record programming (e.g., television programs, pay-per-view programs, video-on-demand (VOD) programs, non-video-on-demand programs, etc.) in digital form on digital storage device 820. Digital storage device 820 may also record program guide and fantasy sports contest data including, for example, fantasy sports contest standings and rules, real-life sports scores and statistics, and highlight video clips for events related to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates. Digital storage device 820 may be contained in set-top box 804 or it may be an external device connected to set-top box 804 via an input/output port and appropriate interface. Digital storage device 820 may be a writeable optical storage device (such as a DVD player capable of handling recordable DVD discs), a magnetic storage device (such as a disk drive or digital tape), or any other digital storage device. Interactive television program guide application systems that have digital storage devices are described, for example, in Hassell et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/157,256, filed Sep. 17, 1998, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Processing circuitry in set-top box 804 may format received video, audio and data signals into a digital file format. The file format may be an open file format such as the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) MPEG-2 standard or the Moving Joint Photographic Experts Group (MJPEG) standard. The resulting data may be streamed to and stored in digital storage device 820, secondary storage device 808, or other storage device via an appropriate bus (not shown) (e.g., a bus using the Institute Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394 standard). In some embodiments of the present invention, an MPEG-2 data stream or series of files may be received from distribution facility 202 (
Television 814 may receive video signals from secondary storage device 808 via communications path 822. The video signals on communications path 822 may either be generated by secondary storage device 808 when playing back a prerecorded storage medium (e.g., a videocassette or a recordable digital video disc), by digital storage device 820 when playing back a pre-recorded digital medium, may be passed through from set-top box 804, may be provided directly to television 814 from set-top box 804 if secondary storage device 808 is not included in user television equipment 204 (
Control circuitry 902 may include a processor or processing circuitry for receiving and processing program guide instructions. Control circuitry 902 may include any suitable processor, such as a microprocessor or group of microprocessors, and other processing circuitry such as caching circuitry, direct memory access (DMA) circuitry, input/output (I/O) circuitry, etc. For example, control circuitry 902 may process application instructions to generate program guide application display screens. As another example, control circuitry 902 may process program guide and fantasy sports contest data to provide record commands to a suitable storage device (e.g., record commands for programs related to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates). Still another example, control circuitry 902 may maintain a user viewing history and process program guide data to generate a list of program recommendations or to provide targeted advertisements to a user (e.g., providing an ad to join a fantasy football contest to a user that has a history of viewing real-life football programming). The functions of control circuitry 902 may be integrated into an advanced television receiver, personal computer television (PC/TV), or any other suitable arrangement. If desired, a combination of such arrangements may be used.
Digital storage device 906 and secondary storage device 908 may record media and store program guide and fantasy sports contest data. Secondary storage device 908 may be any suitable type of analog or digital program storage device (e.g., a videocassette recorder (VCR), a personal video recorder (PVR), a digital versatile disc (DVD), etc.). Digital storage device 906 may be, for example, a writeable optical storage device (such as a DVD player capable of handling recordable DVD discs), a magnetic storage device (such as a disk drive or digital tape), or any other digital storage device. Program recording and other features may be controlled by control circuitry 902. For example, control circuitry 902 may instruct secondary storage device 908 and digital storage device 906 to record television programming or any other suitable media.
Memory 910 may be any memory or other storage device, such as a random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), flash memory, a hard disk drive, a combination of such devices, etc., that is suitable for storing application data for use by control circuitry 902.
Communications device 904 may support communications between user television equipment 204 and distribution equipment 202 (
User input device 912 may be any suitable input device for allowing a user to communicate to the interactive television program guide application. For example, a user may select a program listing from a program guide listings display screen or order a pay-per-view program using user input device 912. As another example, a user may make fantasy sports contest roster selections or select a program for automatic recording or reminding using user input device 912.
User input device 912 may be a pointing device, wireless remote control, keyboard, touch-pad, voice recognition system, or any other suitable user input device. User-entered instructions from user input device 912 may instruct control circuitry 902 to direct an audio device (not shown) to provide audio (e.g., music, talk-radio, television audio, etc.). During normal television viewing, user-entered instructions from user input device 912 may instruct control circuitry 902 to direct display device 914 to display a desired television channel on display device 914. Display device 914 may be any suitable television, monitor, or other suitable display device. To provide a user with program guide and fantasy sports contest options, the program guide application running on user television equipment 204 (
In some embodiments of the present invention, the program guide application may, based on program guide and fantasy sports contest data supplied to user television equipment 204, generate control data that governs the recording of programs related to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates on digital storage device (820, 906), secondary storage device (808, 908), or any other storage device used in user television equipment 204. The program guide application may, for example, use program guide and fantasy sports contest data to determine which programs are related to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates and may instruct digital storage device (820, 906) or secondary storage device (808, 908) to record those programs. As another example, the program guide application may determine for the user which programs are related to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates and may allow the user to select one or more of those programs for recording. Still another example, the program guide application may generate control data that commands secondary storage device (808, 908) or digital storage device (820, 906) to record a second program related to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates when a first related program that was designated for recording is no longer available (e.g., due to a program blackout).
In some embodiments of the present invention, the program guide application may provide to the user the ability to define a default fantasy sports contest for which related programs will be automatically recorded (e.g., by digital storage device (820, 906)). For example, in embodiments in which the user participates in multiple fantasy sports contests, the user may attribute a record priority to each of the fantasy sports contests. The interactive television program guide may use such priorities to determine which program or programs to record when multiple programs related to the user's fantasy sports contests are simultaneously showing. The interactive television program guide application may also provide to the user the ability to attribute record priorities to programs for real-life athletic events related to a particular fantasy sports contest (e.g., attributing a higher record priority to real-life Baltimore Orioles games related to the user's fantasy Major League Baseball contest than the record priority for real-life New York Mets games). The program guide may instruct communications device (812, 904) to selectively receive or tune such a program and may instruct a recording device (e.g., digital storage device (820, 906), secondary storage device (808, 908), etc.) to record the program based on the attributed priorities. In some embodiments of the present invention, the program guide application may determine for the user record priorities that govern automatic recording of programs. For example, when more than one program related to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates is simultaneously showing, the interactive television program guide application may determine which of the programs to record based on the relevance of the programs to the user's fantasy sports contest (e.g., determining for each of the programs how many of user's fantasy sports contest roster selections are involved or scheduled to participate, determining whether one or more of the programs is a re-run of a sporting event and therefore its relevant outcomes and statistics already having been incorporated to affect the user's fantasy sports contest standing, etc.).
In some embodiments of the present invention, the program guide application may display a list of programs related to one or more fantasy sports contests in which the user participates. The program guide may provide to the user the ability to set record or remind options for one or more of the programs. In some embodiments of the present invention, the program guide application may display to a user (e.g., in an information display screen) information that indicates which of a user's fantasy sports contest roster selections are involved or scheduled to participate in the related programs.
Program guide data and fantasy sports contest data may be integrated to provide an at least partially unified presentation at user equipment 120. For example, program guide data may be displayed in a first region of a display screen and fantasy sports contest data may be displayed in a second region of the display screen. As another example, program guide data may be displayed in a first display screen that includes a user-selectable option to view fantasy sports contest data in a second display screen. Still another example, program guide and fantasy sports contest data may be fully integrated and inter-mingled in the same display screens.
An interactive television program guide application implemented on interactive application equipment 106 (
Icon 1108 is merely illustrative and any other suitable indicator may be used to indicate that a television program (e.g., program 1104) is related to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates. For example, other suitable indicators may include a text indicator, a graphic indicator, displaying a guide listing in a different color than guide listings for programs unrelated to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates, or any other suitable indicator or combination thereof. In embodiments in which the user participates in multiple fantasy sports contests, the interactive television program guide application may associate a different indicator with each of the fantasy sports contests to allow the user to easily determine to which contest a program is related. In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive television program guide application may display indicators in guide listings for programs that are unrelated to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates to, for example, alert the user that a fantasy sports contest exists in connection with that program and to encourage the user to participate in that contest.
In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive television program guide application may display targeted advertisements to current or potential fantasy sports contestants (e.g., promotional videos, advertisements that encourage a user to participate in fantasy sports contests, etc.). For example, in response to a user navigating to a guide display screen that includes information for a program related to a fantasy sports contest (e.g., in which the user does or does not participate), the interactive television program guide application may display an advertisement that encourages the user to participate in that fantasy sports contest. As another example, the interactive television program guide application may display advertisements that encourage the user to participate in fantasy sports contests based on a maintained viewing history that indicates the user's interests (e.g., displaying an advertisement to join a fantasy NBA Basketball contest to a user that frequently views NBA Basketball events).
In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive television program guide application may provide to a user the ability to view more detailed information for programs than the information listed in, for example, program listings display screens. Referring to
In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive television program guide application may display to a user a list of programs related to one or more fantasy sports contests in which the user participates. Referring to
Display screen 1300 may also include a list of fantasy sports-related programs that will be available for viewing by the user at some time in the future such as program “Mariners Game” 1306. As shown, program 1306 may be a pay-per-view program that is scheduled to occur at a later date 1308. The user may be permitted to order program 1306 in response to a user selection of option “Purchase Now!” 1310. Arrows 1312 and 1314 may indicate that additional information for fantasy sports-related programs (e.g., for one or more of currently available programs and programs available in the future, information for real-life players that have been fictitiously selected to the user's fantasy sports contest team roster) is available for viewing by the user in response to, for example, a user selection of a “Down” button from remote control 818 (
In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive television program guide application may automatically record programs related to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates. Referring to
In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive television program guide application may schedule for the user programs related to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates for automatic recording. The interactive television program guide application may, for example, determine in which one or more fantasy sports contests the user participates, determine which programs are related to those fantasy sports contests, and subsequently schedule those fantasy-sports related programs for recording. In the event that the number of simultaneously showing fantasy sports-related programs exceeds the recording capability of the interactive television program guide application system (e.g., when two fantasy sports related programs are simultaneously showing and the system is capable of recording only one program at a time), the application may, for example, schedule only the program or programs that are the most relevant to a fantasy sports contest of the user for recording (e.g., scheduling for recording the one or more programs having involved the highest percentage of players on a user's fantasy sports contest team roster).
In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive television program guide application may provide to a user the ability to define a record priority that governs automatic recording of programs related to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates.
In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive television program guide application may provide to the user the ability to define record priorities for program types unrelated to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates. For example, display screen includes program type “Purchased Pay-Programs” 1514 having a priority level “N/A” 1516. The user may have chosen to exclude program type “Purchased Pay-Programs” 1514 from automatic recording based on the user-defined priority because, for example, the user intends to watch purchased programs when they are broadcast to the user.
In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive television program guide application may provide to the user the ability to disable automatic recording based on the user-defined priority. For example, the interactive television program guide application may disable automatic recording of programs based on the user-defined priority in response to a user selection of option 1518. When the user-defined priority is disabled, automatic recording of programs may be determined, for example, for the user by the interactive television program guide application (e.g., as previously described) or by the user on a program by program basis (e.g., scheduling automatic recording of a program by pressing a button of remote control 818 (
In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive television program guide application may automatically remind users of programs related to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates. Referring to
The interactive television program guide application may display reminders for programs of display screen 1600 in, for example, an overlay, an information display screen (e.g., similar to display screen 1200 (FIG. 12)), or in any other suitable application display screen.
In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive television program guide application may schedule programs related to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates for automatic reminding for the user. The interactive television program guide application may, for example, determine in which one or more fantasy sports contests the user participates, determine which programs are related to those fantasy sports contests, and subsequently schedule those fantasy-sports related programs for reminding. As another example, fantasy sports-related programs may be scheduled for automatic recording by a user on a program by program basis (e.g., scheduling automatic reminding of a program by pressing a button of remote control 818 (
In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive television program guide may determine which programs related to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates to schedule for reminding based on which of the programs are scheduled for recording or based on any other suitable criteria. For example, the interactive program guide application may schedule for reminding only those fantasy sports-related programs that cannot be recorded (e.g., because the system can record only one program at a time and there is a simultaneously showing fantasy sports-related program having a higher priority). As another example, the interactive television program guide application may schedule fantasy sports-related programs that are only minimally relevant to a user's fantasy sports contest (e.g., programs having associated therewith only one or more real-life players that have been fictitiously selected to the user's fantasy sports contest team roster) for automatic reminding (e.g., whereas more relevant programs are scheduled for automatic recording).
In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive television program guide application may remove a program from one or more of the user's remind or record list if the program is no longer related to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates. For example, referring to
In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive television program guide application may display to the user information related to one or more fantasy sports contests in which the user participates.
Overlay 1902 may include fantasy sports contest information such as a name of a fantasy sports contest 1904 in which the user participates, the user's fantasy score 1906 for contest 1904, the user's fantasy sports standing 1908 for contest 1904, a boxscore 1910 for one or more programs that are related to contest 1904, and any other suitable fantasy sports contest information (e.g., information for the user's fantasy sports roster selections for contest 1904 or other fantasy sports contest in which the user participates). The interactive television program guide may display fantasy sports contest information in overlay 1902 to allow the user to, for example, navigate through the guide and view television programs without losing track of the user's performance in fantasy sports contest 1904. The interactive television program guide application may remove overlay 1902 from display screen 1900 in response to a user selection of “Remove” option 1912. In other examples, the interactive television program guide application may provide to the user the ability to view fantasy sports contest information (e.g., information for fantasy sports contest trades) in any other suitable display arrangement (e.g., in an information display screen such as display screen 1200 (
In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive television program guide application may display to the user update information for real-life events related to one or more fantasy sports contests in which the user participates.
In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive television program guide may provide to the user the ability to view highlight video clips (e.g., using a personal video recorder) for real-life events related to one or more fantasy sports contests in which the user participates. The highlight video clips may include real-life athletic events (e.g., a real-life baseball player hitting a home run, a real-life football player scoring a touchdown or intercepting a pass, etc.) that may or may not affect the user's standing in a fantasy sports contest. In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive television program guide application may provide to the user the ability to view highlight video clips for only real-life events that affect the user's standing in a fantasy sports contest.
For example, referring to
The interactive television program guide application may display program guide and fantasy sports contest information to a user in any suitable display arrangement.
Flip display region 2202 may include various program guide information such as tuned program 2204, tuned channel 2206, and any other program guide information (e.g., program description). Flip display region may also include various fantasy sports-related program information such as boxscore 2208 for real-life program “Yankees Game” 2204, the user's fantasy sports contest score 2210, the user's standing 2212 in the fantasy sports contest 2212, and any other fantasy sports-related information (e.g., a list of the user's fantasy sports contest team selections that are involved in program 2204). In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive television program guide application may provide to the user the ability to view a recap (e.g., text summary) of events of, for example, a televised sports event related to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates. For example, the interactive television program guide application may display information for the events that have occurred in program 2204 (e.g., information such as information 2008 (
The interactive television program guide may also provide to the user the ability to view video highlights for program 2204 (e.g., for events that affect the user's standing in a fantasy sports contest) in response to a user selection of option 2216.
In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive television program guide application may provide to the user the ability to propose trades of the user's fantasy sports contest roster selections.
Referring to
In response to a user selection of contestant “Dave” 2306 using pull-down menu 2308, the interactive television program guide application may display a list of current roster selections 2310 of contestant 2306. A current list of the user's roster selections 2312 may also be displayed (e.g., in response to a user selection of contest 2302). The user may, for example, select fantasy players “Grace” 2314 and “Counsell” 2316 from the user's team roster as the proposed trade for fantasy player “Piazza” 2318 from the roster of contestant 2306. The interactive television program guide may provide data for the trade proposal to contestant 2306 in response to a user selection of option 2320. In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive television program guide application may deliver (e.g., with or without the trade proposal) a message 2322 from the user to contestant 2306.
In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive television program guide application may provide to the user the ability to determine which of the user's fantasy sports contestants will affect the user's standing in the fantasy sports contest (e.g., for a given week, game, for a portion of the fantasy contest, etc.).
The interactive television program guide application may display information indicating that the program is related to a fantasy sports contest at step 2604. For example, the application may display a program listing that includes a suitable indicator (e.g., program listing 1402 having icon 1406), information for one or more real-life players that are related to the fantasy sports contest and that are included in the program (e.g., names of players 1204 and 1206 (FIG. 12)), or any other suitable information.
In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive television program guide application may determine whether to schedule the program for automatic recording for the user based on the relevance of the program to the user's fantasy sports contest.
In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive television program guide application may provide the user with the ability to define a record priority for programs related to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates (e.g., the record priority shown in display screen 1500 (
Thus it is seen that systems and methods for using an interactive television program guide application to access fantasy sports contests are provided. Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can be practiced by other than the described embodiments, which are presented for purposes of illustration rather than of limitation, and the present invention is limited only by the claims that follow.
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