Interactive television systems with digital video recording and adjustable reminders
View Patent ↗An interactive television system is provided in which an interactive television application is used to support network-based or local personal video recorder capabilities. A user may use this application to view lists of program listings. The user may select a program listing of interest. The interactive television application may allow the user to set a reminder for the selected program at the scheduled broadcast time. This application may also allow the user to set a reminder for the selected program at a later time at which the program is not scheduled to be broadcast. The user may be provided with a reminder at this later time. In response, the user may direct the network-based or local personal video recorder to play back the program or may defer the reminder again. The interactive television application may collect information on program usage and popularity to determine how long to retain certain programming.
1. A method comprising:
determining at a server that is remote to a user equipment device, whether a broadcast program matches a criterion, wherein the criterion is not set by a user; and
selecting the broadcast program for storage in response to determining that the broadcast program matches the criterion, wherein the user equipment device can access, during a predefined access-period that is based on a type of the broadcast program, the broadcast program that has been selected for storage once the broadcast program has been stored; and
not selecting the broadcast program for storage in response to determining that the broadcast program does not match the criterion.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the criterion is based on popularity of the broadcast program.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising removing the stored broadcast program from storage at the end of the access-period.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a request from the user equipment device to tune to the broadcast program at a tune-time, wherein the tune-time is after a scheduled start-time of the broadcast program;
determining that the start-time of the broadcast program has elapsed; and
upon determining that the start-time of the broadcast program has elapsed, generating for display a portion of the-stored broadcast program to the user equipment device, wherein the portion of the stored broadcast program corresponds to a portion of the broadcast program that was broadcasted by the facility prior to the tune-time.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the portion is accessed before the end of the access-period.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a request, at the remote server, from the user equipment device to access the stored broadcast program; and
transmitting the stored broadcast program from the remote server to the user equipment device upon receiving the request.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the stored broadcast program is no longer accessible after the access-period elapses.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the criterion is based on popularity of the genre of the broadcast program.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the criterion is based on popularity of a channel that provides the broadcast program.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the type of the broadcast program is a genre of the broadcast program.
11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the predefined access-period based on a type of the broadcast program.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the type of the broadcast program is one of a plurality of types of broadcast programs.
13. A system comprising:
a server remote to users configured to:
determine whether a broadcast program matches a criterion, wherein the criterion is not set by a user; and
select the broadcast program for storage in response to the determining that the broadcast program matches the criterion, wherein a user equipment device can access, during a predefined access-period that is based on a type of the broadcast program, the broadcast program that has been selected for storage once the broadcast program has been stored; and
not select the broadcast program for storage in response to the determining that the broadcast program does not match the criterion.
14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the criterion is based on popularity of the stored broadcast program.
15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the server remote to the users is further configured to remove the stored broadcast program from storage at the end of the access-period.
16. The system of claim 13 , wherein the server remote to the users is further configured to:
receive a request from the user equipment device to tune to the broadcast program at a tune-time, wherein the tune-time is after a scheduled start-time of the broadcast program;
determine that the start-time of the broadcast program has elapsed; and
upon determining that the start-time of the broadcast program has elapsed, generate for display a portion of the stored broadcast program on the user equipment device, wherein the portion of the stored broadcast program corresponds to a portion of the broadcast program that was broadcasted by the facility prior to the tune-time.
17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the portion is accessed before the end of the access-period.
18. The system of claim 13 , wherein the server remote to the users is further configured to:
receive a request from the user equipment device to access the stored broadcast program; and
transmit the stored broadcast program to the user equipment device upon receiving the request.
19. The system of claim 13 , wherein the stored broadcast program is no longer accessible after the access-period elapses.
20. The system of claim 13 , wherein the criterion is based on popularity of the genre of the broadcast program.
21. The system of claim 13 , wherein the criterion is based on popularity of a channel that provides the broadcast program.
22. The system of claim 13 , wherein the storage is remote to the user equipment device.
23. The system of claim 13 , wherein the type of the broadcast program is a genre of the broadcast program.
24. The system of claim 13 , wherein the server remote to the users is further configured to determine the predefined access-period based on a type of the broadcast program.
25. The system of claim 13 , wherein the type of the broadcast program is one of a plurality of types of broadcast programs.