Series reminders and series recording from an interactive program guide
View Patent ↗An interactive media guidance system with program series reminder and recording capabilities is provided. The system allows a user to set a reminder or schedule a recording for a single episode or for each episode of a program series. Options may be provided that allow the user to schedule reminders/recordings for episodes on all or selected channels for some or all episodes including reruns new episodes, network or syndicated episodes, on all days or only on selected days.
1. A method for displaying programs on user equipment using an interactive media guidance application implemented at least partially on control circuitry configured for:
receiving, with the interactive media guidance application, program listing data for a plurality of programs, wherein the program listing data includes series information indicating which of the programs are episodes of a series of programs;
displaying on a display device a program listing for a program;
determining, using the interactive media guidance application, based on the series information, whether the program corresponding to the program listing is an episode of the series of programs; and
after determining that the program is an episode of the series of programs, displaying at the user equipment a first option to record only first run episodes of the series of programs and a second option to record all episodes of the series of programs.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising displaying at least one of:
an option to cancel a recording of the program; and
an option to update the program.
3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
after determining that the program is an episode of the series of programs, displaying at least one of:
an option to cancel a recording of the series of programs;
an option to update the recording of the series of programs;
an option to record re-run episodes of the series of programs;
an option to record network episodes of the series of programs;
an option to record syndicated episodes of the series of programs; and
an option to record previously unrecorded episodes of the series of programs.
4. The method of claim 1 further comprising displaying an option to schedule a recording for particular episodes that are part of the series and scheduled to be broadcast on one of:
a specific channels on which the program is to be broadcast; all channels;
a specific day of the week on which the program is to be broadcast; and
all days of the week.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving a user selection of the first option and searching the program listing data to identify a program that is a first run episode of the series.
6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising recording the identified program.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving a user selection of the second option and searching the program listing data for all programs that are episodes of the series.
8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising recording the identified programs.
9. A system for displaying programs on user equipment, the system comprising:
a display device;
a user interface;
an interactive media guide implemented at least partially on circuitry, wherein the interactive media guide is configured to:
receive program listing data for a plurality of programs, wherein the program listing data includes series information indicating which of the programs are episodes of a series of programs;
display on the display device a program listing for a program;
determine, based on the series information, whether the program that corresponds to the program listing is an episode of the series of programs; and
after determining that the program is an episode of the series of programs, display on the display device a first option to record only first run episodes of the series of programs and a second option to record all episodes of the series of programs.
10. The system of claim 9 wherein the interactive media guide is further configured to display at least one of:
an option to cancel a recording of the program; and
an option to update the program.
11. The system of claim 9 wherein the interactive media guide is further configured to:
after determining that the program is an episode of the series of programs, display at least one of:
an option to cancel a recording of the series of programs;
an option to update the recording of the series of programs;
an option to record re-run episodes of the series of programs;
an option to record network episodes of the series of programs;
an option to record syndicated episodes of the series of programs; and
an option to record previously unrecorded episodes of the series of programs.
12. The system of claim 9 wherein the interactive guide is further configured to display an option to schedule a recording for particular episodes that are part of the series and scheduled to be broadcast on one of:
a specific channels on which the program is to be broadcasts; all channels;
a specific day of the week on which the program is to be broadcast; and
all days of the week.
13. The system of claim 9 , wherein the interactive media guide is further configured to receive a user selection of the first option and search the program listing data for a program that is a first run episode of the series.
14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the interactive media guide is further configured to record the identified program.
15. The system of claim 9 , wherein the interactive media guide is further configured to receive a user selection of the second option and search the program listing data for a all programs that are episodes of the series.
16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the interactive media guide is further configured to record the identified programs.