Menu promotions user interface

1. A computer implemented method comprising:

determining, at a set-top box device, that a plurality of menu items in a menu includes a particular menu item associated with a content item that is to be promoted when displaying the plurality of menu items in the menu;

displaying in a column the plurality of menu items in the menu;

determining, at the set-top box device, whether to display a promotion of the content item, the promotion comprising multiple promotional elements;

retrieving each of the multiple promotional elements of the promotion from a different content source;

displaying the promotion of the content item beside the column of the plurality of menu items in response to determining to display the promotion;

in response to determining to display the promotion, enabling a right command allowing a cursor position to jump directly to the particular menu item from another menu item of the plurality of menu items, the jump performed after a single application of the right command, wherein the another menu item does not have a restriction as to a position of the another menu item in the menu;

in response to determining not to display the promotion, disabling the right command;

receiving the right command when the cursor position is at the another menu item while the promotion is displayed;

displaying the another menu item with a non-cursor-position-indicating visual characteristic when the right command is received; and

displaying a cursor-position-indicating border that encompasses the promotion and encompasses the particular menu item to visually connect the promotion to the particular menu item when the right command is received.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining, at a time after displaying the promotion for the content item beside the plurality of menu items, that the content item is no longer to be promoted when displaying the menu; and

displaying the plurality of menu items in the menu without displaying the promotion for the content item beside the plurality of menu items when the content item is no longer to be promoted.

3. A set-top box device comprising:

a processor;

a computer readable medium coupled to the processor, the computer readable medium configured to store:

a promotion component to determine that a plurality of menu items in a menu includes a particular menu item associated with a content item that is to be promoted when displaying the menu; and

a user interface generator, responsive to the promotion component, to display in a column the plurality of menu items in the menu, to determine whether to display a promotion of the content item, the promotion comprising promotional elements, to retrieve each of the promotional elements of the promotion from a different content source, to display the promotion of the content item beside the column of the plurality of menu items after determining to display the promotion, to enable a right command allowing a cursor position to jump directly to the particular menu item from another menu item of the plurality of menu items in response to determining to display the promotion, the jump performed after a single application of the right command, wherein the another menu item does not have a restriction as to a position of the another menu item in the menu, to disable the right command in response to determining not to display the promotion, to move the cursor position to the particular menu item from the another menu item of the plurality of menu items in response to receiving the right command when the promotion for the content item is displayed, to display the another menu item with a non-cursor-position-indicating visual characteristic in response to receiving the right command, and to display a link between the promotion and the particular menu item to visually connect the promotion to the particular menu item in response to receiving the right command.

4. The set-top box device of claim 3 wherein the user interface generator is to display the plurality of menu items in the menu without displaying the promotion in response to the promotion component determining, at a time after displaying the promotion for the content item beside the plurality of menu items, that the content item is no longer to be promoted when displaying the menu.

5. A computer readable storage medium tangibly embodying a program of operational instructions, the operational instructions executable by a processor to:

determine that a plurality of menu items in a menu includes a particular menu item associated with a content item that is to be promoted when displaying the plurality of menu items in the menu;

display in a column the plurality of menu items in the menu;

determine whether to display a promotion of the content item, the promotion comprising promotional elements;

in response to determining to display the promotion, enable a right command allowing a cursor position to jump directly to the particular menu item from another menu item of the plurality of menu items, the jump performed after a single application of the right command, wherein the another menu item does not have a restriction as to a position of the another menu item in the menu;

in response to determining not to display the promotion, disable the right command;

retrieve each of the promotional elements of the promotion from a different content source;

display the promotion of the content item beside the displayed column in response to determining to display the promotion;

move the cursor position to the particular menu item from the another menu item of the plurality of menu items in response to receiving the right command when the promotion for the content item is displayed; and

display a link between the promotion and the particular menu item to visually connect the promotion to the particular menu item.

6. The computer readable storage medium of claim 5 , further comprising instructions to direct the processor to:

determine, at a time after displaying the promotion for the content item, that the content item is no longer to be promoted when displaying the menu; and

display the plurality of menu items in the menu without displaying the promotion for the content item when the content item is no longer to be promoted.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a left command when the cursor position is at the particular menu item;

displaying the another menu item with a cursor-position-indicating visual characteristic; and

displaying the particular menu item and the promotion with a non-cursor-position-indicating visual characteristic to visually disconnect the promotion from the particular menu item.

8. The set-top box device of claim 3 wherein the user interface generator is to move the cursor position from the particular menu item to the another menu item of the plurality of menu items in response to receiving a left command, display the another menu item of the plurality of menu items with a cursor-position-indicating visual characteristic, and display the particular menu item and the promotion without the link to visually disconnect the promotion from the particular menu item.

9. The computer readable storage medium of claim 5 , further comprising operating instructions executable by the processor to:

receive a left command to move the cursor position from the particular menu item to the another menu item of the plurality of menu items;

display the another menu item with a cursor-position-indicating visual characteristic; and

display the particular menu item and the promotion without the link to visually disconnect the promotion from the particular menu item.

10. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the cursor-position-indicating border has a characteristic that is different from the non-cursor-position-indicating visual characteristic.

11. The computer implemented method of claim 10 , wherein the characteristic is one of a background color, a background pattern, a background shade, a border pattern, a text font, and a text size.

12. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a command to navigate to the content item; and

retrieving the content item.

13. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

identifying a particular content player of a plurality of content players to play the content item based on a content item type; and

playing the content item using the particular content player.

14. The computer implemented method of claim 13 , wherein the content item type is one of a video-on-demand item, a broadcast video item, and an audio item.

15. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the multiple promotional elements include at least one of an image, a headline, and promotional text.