PROVIDING INFORMATION FOR BROADCAST AND BI-DIRECTIONAL COMMUNICATION SERVICES
The present invention provides methods and systems for accessing services in a television system. In one embodiment, a DHCT presents a subscriber an EPG presentation containing a plurality of selectable bi-directional services that are purchasable for a period of time and rendered to a buying subscriber on an individualized basis as offered by the cable television system. The subscriber navigates an EPG menu presentation with an input device such as a remote control device and selects a purchasable service by choosing the visual representation that corresponds to the desired service. The DHCT receives the user input, translates the selected command into an executable program call that queries service availability and, if the service is available, initiates the selected bi-directional audiovisual service on a personalized session.
1 . A method, comprising:
providing a program guide, the program guide comprising first information corresponding to plural bi-directional communication services, wherein at least one of the plural bi-directional communication services corresponds to a bi-directional audiovisual service (BDAVS); and
providing second information in the program guide associated with the plural bi-directional communication services, the second information of a different type than the first.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first information comprises respective titles of the bi-directional communication services.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the second information comprises an icon in proximity of a title of at least one of the bi-directional communication services, the icon suggesting to a viewer that the title corresponds to a bi-directional communication service.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the program guide further comprises a list of channels, wherein one or more of the channels are mapped to one or more of the bi-directional communication services.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a manner of presenting the first information is user configurable.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the program guide comprises titles corresponding to scheduled broadcast programs.