MULTI-PANEL TELEVISION BROWSING
A method includes displaying program content from a subscription television service on a display and receiving a signal to initiate a multi-panel browsing mode on the display. The method further includes sending, to a server, a top program request for the subscription television service and receiving top program information from the server based on the top program request, the top program information including a channel number for a top program at a time associated with the top program request. The method also includes displaying a multi-panel view on the display, the multi-panel view including a panel with the program content and a panel with the top program based on the top program information received from the server. Additional panels included in the multi-panel view may include interactive games or other content available from the subscription television service.
1 . A method, comprising:
displaying program content from a subscription television service on a display;
receiving a signal to initiate a multi-panel browsing mode on the display;
sending, to a server, a top program request for the subscription television service;
receiving top program information from the server based on the top program request, the top program information including a channel number for a top program at a time associated with the top program request; and
displaying a multi-panel view on the display, the multi-panel view including a panel with the program content and a panel with the top program based on the top program information received from the server.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a user command for a panel selection to activate an audio signal for the selected panel.
3 . The method of claim 1 , where the multi-panel view further comprises a panel with game-related content.
4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
sending, to the server, a request for game information for the subscription television service; and
receiving the game information from the server based on the request for game information, where the multi-panel view further includes a panel with the game information.
5 . The method of claim 1 , where a signal to initiate the multi-panel browsing mode is received from a remote control.
6 . The method of claim 1 , where the top program is a most-watched program during the time of the top program request.
7 . The method of claim 1 , where the top program request indicates a programming content category.
8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving input from a user to identify criteria for one or more panels of the multi-panel view.
9 . A system, comprising:
a server to distribute multimedia content and viewing data for a subscription television service over a network;
a television to display the multimedia content;
a set-top box to receive the multimedia content and the viewing data, the set-top box including a processor to:
send, to the server, a request to identify a top program at the time of the request, receive top program information from the server based on the request, and
display a multi-panel view on the television, the multi-panel view including a panel to display a top program based on the top program information and a panel to display a separate program.
10 . The system of claim 9 , where the request to identify the top program at the time of the request is initiated based on a user command to activate a multi-panel browsing mode.
11 . The system of claim 9 , where the processor further:
sends, to the server, a request to for game-related content,
receives the game-related content from the server based on the request for the game-related content, and
displays a panel that includes the game-related content.
12 . The system of claim 9 , further comprising:
a remote control configured to send a signal to the set-top box to initiate the multi-panel view.
13 . The system of claim 9 , where the remote control is further configured to send a user command for a panel selection that activates an audio signal for the selected panel.
14 . The system of claim 9 , where the top program is a most-watched program at the time of the request.
15 . The system of claim 9 , where the processor further:
receives user input to identify criteria for the top program, where the request to identify the top program is based on the criteria.
16 . The system of claim 15 , where the set-top box further comprises:
a memory to store the user input to identify criteria for the top program.
17 . The system of claim 9 , where the multi-panel view further includes a panel to display one of randomly generated channels or previews for video-on-demand programming.
18 . A system, comprising:
means for displaying program content from a subscription television service;
means for receiving a signal to initiate a multi-panel browsing mode on the means for displaying;
means for sending, to a server, a top program request for the subscription television service;
means for receiving top program information from the server based on the top program request, the top programming information including a channel number for a top program at a time associated with the top program request;
means for generating game-related content; and
means for displaying a multi-panel view on the display, the multi-panel view including a panel with the program content, a panel with the top program, and a panel with a game based on the game-related content.
19 . The system of claim 17 , further comprising:
means for receiving user input to identify criteria for a category of the top program.
20 . The system of claim 19 , further comprising:
means for storing the user input, where the top program request is based on the user input.