Electronic program guide displayed simultaneously with television programming
View Patent ↗A system for displaying an electronic program guide (EPG) to a viewer. The system includes displaying one or more data slices representative of broadcast programming to a viewer. In response to input from the viewer, the displayed number of data slices is increased, for example, from one slice to two slices. In browser mode the viewer can scroll through multiple EPG data slices without selecting to view full mode EPG, while in full mode the EPG can expand from a single column of data slices to multiple columns of data slices based upon viewer selections. The EPGs of the present invention can display programming that a viewer is more likely to watch at a particular time than other programming. A data slice representing the predicted programming can be inserted into the EPG so that the viewer can identify programming that is likely to be of interest.
1. A system for implementing a method for display of electronic program guide information to a viewer while viewing a television program, wherein the electronic program guide information is organized in various slices each containing at least a channel identifier and a program element for a given time element, and wherein the viewer selectively determines how to expand the program guide information when initially presented to the viewer in browse mode so as to present additional program guide information, the system comprising:
a processor;
a computer memory coupled to the processor, wherein the computer memory comprises computer executable instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to perform the following acts:
retrieving from an electronic program guide at least a first slice of program guide information;
displaying in browse mode the retrieved slice in a window that is simultaneously presented for viewing with a displayed television program;
in response to a viewer-activated scrolling command scrolling toward a new slice that is not currently viewable to the viewer while continuing to display the retrieved slice, expanding the displayed number of slices on a slice basis by one or more additional slice of program guide information to said browse mode window corresponding at least to the new slice that is not currently viewable to the viewer; and
selectively continuing to add one or more additional slices of program guide information to said browse mode window using a viewer-activated scrolling command while continuing to display the retrieved slice until a pre-defined number of slices is reached.
2. A system as defined in claim 1 , wherein the computer memory comprises computer executable instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to selectively remove from the browse mode window one or more slices of program guide information in response to a viewer-activated command.
3. A system as defined in claim 1 wherein said electronic program guide is stored in one of a local data source and a remote data source.
4. A system as defined in claim 1 wherein the data slices are displayed in numerical order based on the channel identifier of each data slice added to the browse mode window for display.
5. A system as defined in claim 1 wherein a pre-defined maximum number of data slices that can be added to the browse mode window is defined by viewer-activated input.
6. A system as defined in claim 1 wherein at least one data slice added to the browse mode window in response to a viewer-activated command is selected by predicting that the viewer is more likely to view the program identified by that data slice than others.
7. A system as recited in claim 6 , wherein predicting comprises the act of:
retrieving stored demographic information associated with the viewer;
analyzing the stored demographic information to identify at least one type of program that a viewer is more likely to watch than other types of program; and
based upon the identified type of program, analyzing the available programs to identify at least one program of the plurality of programs that a viewer is more likely to watch at a particular time than others of the plurality of programs at the particular time.
8. A system as recited in claim 6 , wherein predicting comprises the act of:
retrieving stored data associated with viewing preferences of the viewer;
analyzing the stored data to identify at least one type of program that a viewer is more likely to watch than other types of program; and
based upon the identified type of program, analyzing the plurality of data slices to identify at least one program of the plurality of programs that a viewer is more likely to watch at a particular time than others of the plurality of programs at the particular time.
9. A system for display of electronic program guide information to a viewer while viewing a television program, wherein the electronic program guide information is organized in various slices each containing at least a channel identifier and a program element for a given time element, and wherein the viewer selectively determines how to expand the program guide information when initially presented to the viewer in browse mode so as to present additional program guide information, the system comprising:
a processor;
a computer memory coupled to the processor, wherein the computer memory comprises computer executable instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to perform the following acts:
retrieving from an electronic program guide a first slice of program guide information;
displaying in browse mode the first slice in a window that is simultaneously presented for viewing with a displayed television program;
in response to a viewer-activated scrolling command scrolling toward a new time element that is not currently visible to the viewer, expanding the displayed number of time elements on a time period basis by one or more time elements that are simultaneously viewable within said browse mode window in addition to the first slice of program guide information and the time element for said first slice of program guide information; and
selectively adding one or more additional slices of program guide information to said browse mode window using a viewer-activated scrolling command, while continuing to display the retrieved slice, until a pre-defined number of slices is reached, and wherein
each slice of program guide information is added for a particular time element so that the viewer is allowed to scroll the browse mode window on a time period-by-time period basis.
10. A system as defined in claim 9 , wherein the computer memory comprises computer executable instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to selectively remove from the browse mode window one or more slices of program guide information in response to a viewer-activated command.
11. A system as defined in claim 9 wherein said electronic program guide is stored in one of a local data source and a remote data source.
12. A system as defined in claim 9 wherein the data slices are displayed in numerical order based on the channel identifier of each data slice added to the browse mode window for display.
13. A system as defined in claim 9 wherein a pre-defined maximum number of data slices that can be added to the browse mode window is defined by viewer-activated input.
14. A system as defined in claim 9 wherein at least one data slice added to the browse mode window in response to a viewer-activated command is selected by predicting that the viewer is more likely to view the program identified by that data slice than others.
15. A system as recited in claim 14 , wherein predicting comprises acts of:
retrieving stored demographic information associated with the viewer;
analyzing the stored demographic information to identify at least one type of program that a viewer is more likely to watch than other types of program; and
based upon the identified type of program, analyzing the available programs to identify at least one program of the plurality of programs that a viewer is more likely to watch at a particular time than others of the plurality of programs at the particular time.
16. A system as recited in claim 14 , wherein predicting comprises acts of:
retrieving stored data associated with viewing preferences of the viewer;
analyzing the stored data to identify at least one type of program that a viewer is more likely to watch than other types of program; and
based upon the identified type of program, analyzing the plurality of data slices to identify at least one program of the plurality of programs that a viewer is more likely to watch at a particular time than others of the plurality of programs at the particular time.
17. A system as defined in claim 9 wherein said first slice of program guide information is displayed in connection with a single column headed by a given time element.
18. A system as defined in claim 17 wherein each time element that is added is formatted at the head of a separate column that is added to the browse mode window so that each additional slice of program guide information that is added is added to a column headed by a time element.