Virtual channels

1. A method comprising:

at a computer device including one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs, the one or more processors executing the one or more programs to perform the operations of:

responsive to a user selection of a plurality of time-bounded multimedia events, wherein at least a subset of the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events is displayed on a display in a first portion of the display and wherein the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events is obtained in response to an alphanumeric search query provided by the user:

(i) formatting for display a first virtual channel that is displayed in a second portion of the display concurrent with the display of the subset of the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events in the first portion of the display, wherein the first virtual channel includes representations of time-bounded multimedia events in the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events;

(ii) filling a first time slot in the first virtual channel with overlapping time-bounded multimedia events from the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events;

(iii) formatting for display, in the first time slot, a single representation that indicates the number of overlapping time-bounded multimedia events in the first time slot from the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events; and

(iv) updating the first virtual channel by performing the search on the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events in accordance with a saved user query uniquely associated with the first virtual channel.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events includes one of: television shows, radio shows, video shows, sporting events, motion pictures, and events referenced by metadata site summaries, and events referenced by multimedia messaging services.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events includes:

a first set of results that satisfy search terms of the alphanumeric search query provided by the user, and

a second set of results related to the first set of results.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the second set of results is based on content similarity when compared to content associated with the first set of results.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the second set of results is obtained in accordance with a user profile of the user.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein the second set of results is obtained in accordance with a group profile of a group of which the user is a member.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

performing one or more operations on the first virtual channel, wherein the one or more operations is one of: a delete operation, an add operation, and a re-arrange operation.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

arranging a list of virtual channels, including the first virtual channel, in accordance with any one of: arranging alphabetically, arranging based on a user-specified order, arranging based on genre, and arranging based on relevance to the search query.

9. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs that are executable by a computing device so as to perform a process, the one or more programs of the computer readable storage medium comprising instructions which when executed cause the computing device to perform the operation of:

responsive to a user selection of a plurality of time-bounded multimedia events, wherein at least a subset of the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events is displayed on a display in a first portion of the display and wherein the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events is obtained in response to an alphanumeric search query provided by the user:

(i) formatting for display a first virtual channel that is displayed in a second portion of the display concurrent with the display of the subset of the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events in the first portion of the display, wherein the first virtual channel includes representations of time-bounded multimedia events in the plurality of time-bounded multimedia event;

(ii) filling a first time slot in the first virtual channel with overlapping time-bounded multimedia events from the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events;

(iii) formatting for display, in the first time slot, a single representation that indicates the number of overlapping time-bounded multimedia events in the first time slot from the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events; and

(iv) updating the first virtual channel by performing the search on the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events in accordance with a saved user query uniquely associated with the first virtual channel.

10. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events include one of: television shows, radio shows, video shows, sporting events, motion pictures, and events referenced by metadata site summaries, and events referenced by multimedia messaging services.

11. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events includes:

a first set of results that satisfy search terms of the alphanumeric search query provided by the user, and

a second set of results related to the first set of results.

12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the second set of results is based on content similarity when compared to content associated with the first set of results.

13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the second set of results is obtained in accordance with a user profile of the user.

14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the second set of results is obtained in accordance with a group profile of a group of which the user is a member.

15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9 , the one or more programs of the computer readable storage medium further comprising instructions to arrange a list of virtual channels, including the first virtual channel, in accordance with any one of: arranging alphabetically, arranging based on a user-specified order, arranging based on genre, and arranging based on relevance to the search query.

16. A system, comprising:

one or more processors;

memory coupled to the one or more processors; and

one or more programs stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for:

responsive to a user selection of a plurality of time-bounded multimedia events, wherein at least a subset of the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events is displayed on a display in a first portion of the display and wherein the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events is obtained in response to an alphanumeric search query provided by the user:

(i) formatting for display a first virtual channel that is displayed in a second portion of the display concurrent with the display of the subset of the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events in the first portion of the display, wherein the first virtual channel includes representations of time-bounded multimedia events in the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events;

(ii) filling a first time slot in the first virtual channel with overlapping time-bounded multimedia events from the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events; and

(iii) formatting for display, in the first time slot, a single representation that indicates the number of overlapping time-bounded multimedia events in the first time slot from the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events; and

(iv) updating the first virtual channel by performing the search on the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events in accordance with a saved user query uniquely associated with the first virtual channel.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein at least one time-bounded multimedia event in the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events includes content created by the user.

18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events includes one of: television shows, radio shows, video shows, sporting events, motion pictures, and events referenced by metadata site summaries, and events referenced by multimedia messaging services.

19. The system of claim 16 , wherein the one or more programs further comprise instructions for:

formatting for display in a row corresponding to the virtual channel:

a first set of results that satisfy search terms in the search query, and

a second set of results that are related to the first set of results.

20. The system of claim 16 , the one or more programs further comprising instructions to arrange a list of virtual channels, including the first virtual channel, in accordance with any one of: arranging alphabetically, arranging based on a user-specified order, arranging based on genre, and arranging based on relevance to the search query.