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 of providing a user access to stored media, the method comprising:
maintaining a list, in memory, associated with a user that includes pointers to stored media in a network;
receiving a request to store an additional media;
determining, in response to the request, that a previously stored instance of the additional media exists at a location in the network; and
updating, using processing circuitry, the list associated with the user with a new pointer that points to the previously stored instance of the additional media instead of storing a new instance of the additional media.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the previously stored instance of the additional media is stored in a centrally located storage device.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the centrally located storage device is accessible by a plurality of users.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the list associated with the user is stored in a personal storage area associated with the user.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising copying the previously stored instance of the additional media to a personal storage area associated with the user.
6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising updating the list associated with the user with another new pointer that points to the copied previously stored instance of the additional media in the personal storage area.
7. The method of claim 5 , further comprising removing the new pointer that points to the previously stored instance of the additional media.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the request to store the additional media is initiated when a reminder is set for the additional media.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the additional media has a scheduled broadcast time, and wherein the request to store the additional media is initiated when a reminder is set for the additional media for a time that is after the scheduled broadcast time.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the request to store additional media is made by the user.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the request to store the additional media is generated automatically by a system operator in accordance with retention criteria.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the previously stored instance of the additional media is associated with a retention-period, and wherein the method further comprises removing the previously stored instance of the additional media at the end of the retention-period.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the location is a first location, the previously stored instance of the additional media is a first previously stored instance of the additional media, and the new pointer is a first new pointer, further comprising determining if a second previously stored instance of the additional media exists at a second location on the network when the previously stored instance of the additional media is removed.
14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising updating the list associated with the user with a second new pointer that points to the second previously stored instance of the additional media of the media at the second location on the network.
15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising removing the first new pointer that points to the previously stored instance of the additional media.
16. A system of providing a user access to stored media, the system comprising:
a processor configured to:
maintain a list associated with a user that includes pointers to stored media in a network;
receive a request to store an additional media;
determine, in response to the request, that a previously stored instance of the additional media exists at a location on the network; and
update the list associated with the user with a new pointer that points to the previously stored instance of the additional media instead of storing a new instance of the additional media.
17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the previously stored instance of the additional media is stored in a centrally located storage device.
18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the centrally located storage device is accessible by a plurality of users.
19. The system of claim 16 , wherein the list associated with the user is stored in a personal storage area associated with the user.
20. The system of claim 16 , wherein the processor is further configured to copy the previously stored instance of the additional media to a personal storage area associated with the user.
21. The system of claim 20 , wherein the processor is further configured to update the list associated with the user with another new pointer that points to the copied previously stored instance of the additional media in the personal storage area.
22. The system of claim 20 , wherein the processor is further configured to remove the new pointer that points to the previously stored instance of the additional media.
23. The system of claim 16 , wherein the request to store the additional media is initiated when a reminder is set for the additional media.
24. The system of claim 16 , wherein the additional media has a scheduled broadcast time, and wherein the request to store the additional media is initiated when a reminder is set for the additional media for a time that is after the scheduled broadcast time.
25. The system of claim 16 , wherein the request to store the additional media is made by the user.
26. The system of claim 16 , wherein the request to store the additional media is generated automatically by a system operator in accordance with retention criteria.
27. The system of claim 16 , wherein the previously stored instance of the additional media is associated with a retention-period, and wherein the processor is further configured to remove the previously stored instance of the additional media at the end of the retention-period.
28. The system of claim 16 , wherein the location is a first location, the previously stored instance of the additional media is a first previously stored instance of the additional media, and the new pointer is a first new pointer, and wherein the processor is further configured to determine if a second previously stored instance of the additional media exists at a second location on the network when the previously stored instance of the additional media is removed.
29. The system of claim 28 , wherein the processor is further configured to update the list associated with the user with a second new pointer that points to the second previously stored instance of the additional media at the second location on the network.
30. The system of claim 28 , wherein the processor is further configured to remove the first new pointer that points to the first previously stored instance of the additional media.