Systems and methods for managing television tuners

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a television receiving system, a request to tune to a first channel of a plurality of television channels including one or more local channels and one or more satellite channels;

determining whether the first channel is one of the one or more local channels;

if it is determined that the first channel is one of the one or more local channels, then tuning to the first channel, using a tuner selected from one or more local tuners and one or more satellite tuners according to a hierarchy that prioritizes the one or more local tuners over the one or more satellite tuners, by:

determining whether at least one of the one or more local tuners is available for tuning;

if it is determined that at least one local tuner is available for tuning, then tuning to the first channel using an available one of the one or more local tuners; and

only if it is determined that none of the one or more local tuners are available for tuning, then tuning to the first channel using an available one of one or more satellite tuners.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, if it is determined that none of the one or more local tuners are available, determining whether at least one of the one or more satellite tuners is available for tuning.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising generating an error signal if it is determined that none of the one or more local tuners and none of the one or more satellite tuners are available for tuning.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

if it is determined that the first channel is not one of the one or more local channels, determining whether at least one of the one or more satellite tuners is available for tuning; and

if it is determined that the first channel is not one of the one or more local channels and at least one of the one or more satellite tuners is available for tuning, tuning to the first channel using an available one of the one or more satellite tuners.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising generating an error signal if it is determined that the first channel is not one of the one or more local channels and none of the one or more satellite tuners are available for tuning.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, if the first channel is one of the one or more local channels and the available one of the one or more satellite tuners is used to tune to the first channel, logging in memory the use of the available one of the one or more satellite tuners to tune to the first channel.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving the one or more local channels from an over-the-air antenna;

receiving the one or more local channels and the one or more satellite channels from a satellite antenna; and

generating an electronic program guide for display on a display device, the electronic program guide including a plurality of selectable options for displaying program guide data related to the plurality of television channels, the one or more local channels received from the over-the-air antenna and the satellite antenna being associated with a common set of the plurality of selectable options.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

receiving a first set of program guide data for the one or more local channels received from the over-the-air antenna;

receiving a second set of program guide data for the one or more local channels and the one or more satellite channels received from the satellite antenna; and

determining a set of collective program guide data based on the first set and the second set of program guide data, the collective program guide data combining or de-duplicating the first set and second set of program guide data for like ones of the one or more local channels received from the over-the-air antenna and the one or more local channels received from the satellite antenna, the plurality of selectable options displaying the collective program guide data.

9. A system for television tuner management comprising:

one or more satellite tuners configured to receive a plurality of television channels from a satellite antenna, the plurality of television channels including one or more local channels and one or more satellite channels;

one or more local tuners configured to receive the one or more local channels from an over-the-air antenna;

one or more processors; and

one or more memory storing program instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to:

receive a request to tune to a first channel of the plurality of television channels;

determine whether the first channel is one of the one or more one local channels; and

if it is determined that the first channel is one of the one or more local channels, tune to the first channel using a tuner selected from one or more local tuners and one or more satellite tuners according to a hierarchy that prioritizes the one or more local tuners over the one or more satellite tuners,

wherein, to tune to the first channel, the instructions further cause the system to:

determine whether the at least one of the one or more local tuners is available for tuning;

if it is determined that at least one local tuner is available for tuning, then tune to the first channel using an available one of the one or more local tuners; and

only if it is determined that none of the one or more local tuners are available for tuning, then tune to the first channel using an available one of the one or more satellite tuners.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the instructions further cause the system to determine whether at least one of the one or more satellite tuners is available for tuning if it is determined that none of the one or more local tuners are available.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the instructions further cause the system to generate an error signal if it is determined that none of the one or more local tuners and none of the one or more satellite tuners are available for tuning.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the instructions further cause the system to:

if it is determined that the first channel is not one of the one or more local channels, determine whether at least one of the one or more satellite tuners is available for tuning; and

if it is determined that the first channel is not one of the one or more local channels and at least one of the one or more satellite tuners is available for tuning, tune to the first channel using an available one of the one or more satellite tuners.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the instructions further cause the system to generate an error signal if it is determined that the first channel is not one of the one or more local channels and none of the one or more satellite tuners are available for tuning.

14. The system of claim 9 , wherein the instructions further cause the system to log, in the one or more memories, the use of the available one of the one or more satellite tuners to tune to the first channel if the first channel is one of the one or more local channels and the available one of the one or more satellite tuners is used to tune to the first channel.

15. The system of claim 9 , wherein the instructions further cause the system to:

receive the one or more local channels from an over-the-air antenna;

receive the one or more local channels and the one or more satellite channels from a satellite antenna; and

generate an electronic program guide for display on a display device, the electronic program guide including a plurality of selectable options for displaying program guide data related to the plurality of television channels, the one or more local channels received from the over-the-air antenna and the satellite antenna being associated with a common set of the plurality of selectable options.

16. The system of claim 9 , wherein the over-the-air antenna is incorporated into the same device as the satellite antenna.

17. The system of claim 9 , wherein the one or more satellite tuners are disposed in a first set-top-box and the one or more local tuners are disposed in a peripheral device that is communicatively coupled to the first set-top-box.

18. A system for television tuner management comprising:

one or more subscription tuners configured to receive a plurality of television channels from a first television broadcast system, the plurality of television channels including one or more local channels and one or more subscription channels;

one or more local tuners configured to receive the one or more local channels from a second television broadcast system different from the first television broadcast system;

one or more processors; and

one or more memory storing program instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to:

receive a request to tune to a first channel of the plurality of television channels;

determine whether the first channel is one of the one or more one local channels;

responsive to a determination that the first channel is one of the one or more local channels, determine whether at least one of the one or more local tuners is available for tuning;

responsive to a determination that at least one local tuner is available for tuning, then tune to the first channel using an available one of the one or more local tuners;

responsive to a determination that none of the one or more local tuners are available for tuning, then determine whether at least one of the one or more subscription tuners is available for tuning;

responsive to a determination that none of the one or more local tuners are available and at least one of the one or more subscription tuners is available for tuning, then tune to the first channel using an available one of the one or more subscription tuners; and

responsive to a determination that none of the one or more local tuners and none of the one or more subscription tuners is available for tuning, then generate an error signal,

wherein the system does not tune to the first channel via the one or more subscription tuners if at least one of the one or more local tuners is available for tuning to the first channel.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the first television broadcast system is a cable television system, the one or more subscription channels are one or more cable channels, and the one or more subscription tuners are one or more cable tuners.

20. The system of claim 18 , wherein the error signal causes one or more selectable options to be displayed on a display device to allow at least one of the one or more local tuners and the one or more subscription tuners to be made available.