METHOD OF COMMON ADDRESSING OF TV PROGRAM CONTENT ON INTERNET AND TV SERVICES PLATFORM OF A DIGITAL TV SERVICES PROVIDER
Items of video content offered for viewing on a video-on-demand (VOD) platform of a digital TV service provider are each assigned a respective title and hierarchical address corresponding to hierarchically-arranged categories and subcategories within which the title for the video content is to be categorized. The title is listed in a location of an electronic program guide (EPG) using the same categories and subcategories as its hierarchical address. Any TV subscriber can access the EPG and navigate through its categories and subcategories to find a title for viewing on the TV. The EPG dynamically adjust its display listings of each level of categories, subcategories, and titles in order to minimize the number of remote control keypresses needed for a viewer to navigate to a title of interest. In one basic form, the EPG display is reordered by listing more frequently visited categories or subcategories first, and other less frequently visited categories or subcategories lower on the listing or out-of-sight on another page of the display.
1 . A method comprising:
(a) receiving, at a TV provider system, an on-demand TV program and associated metadata, wherein the metadata comprises a title and one or more category terms, wherein the metadata is used to populate an electronic program guide available on a set top box including categories based at least in part on the metadata received via the Internet from a video content provider that provided, along with the metadata, a video content via the Internet for an on-demand TV program;
(b) modifying, at the TV provider system, the electronic program guide to include the on-demand TV program hierarchically within a list of available on-demand TV programs according to the metadata, wherein the electronic program guide is to be sent within a closed delivery system to one or more set top boxes;
(c) transmitting, from the TV provider system to the set top box associated with a subscriber, the electronic program guide having a first ordering of categories during a first viewing session for the subscriber;
(d) receiving, at the TV provider system via the electronic program guide at the set top box, a first electronic request for selecting one of the on-demand TV programs from the list of available on-demand TV programs;
(e) tracking, at the TV provider system, the selection of the on-demand TV program that was requested by the subscriber's first electronic request;
(f) transmitting, from the TV provider system, the requested on-demand TV program to the set top box in response to the first electronic request;
(g) receiving, by the TV provider system from the set top box, a second electronic request for the electronic program guide to initiate a second viewing session for the subscriber;
(h) reordering, at the TV provider system, the electronic program guide to be transmitted to the subscriber by category based on the tracking of the selected on-demand TV program to generate a subscriber-specific electronic program guide having a second ordering of categories for a subscriber to select from the list of available on-demand TV programs for the second viewing session; and
(i) transmitting, by the TV provider system, the subscriber-specific electronic program guide having the second ordering of categories.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
(j) receiving, at the TV provider system from the set top box via the subscriber-specific electronic program guide, an additional electronic request for selecting an additional on-demand TV program from the list of available on-demand TV programs;
(k) tracking, at the TV provider system, the selection of the additional on-demand TV program that was requested by the subscriber's additional electronic request;
(l) reordering, at the TV provider system, the subscriber-specific electronic program guide to be transmitted to the subscriber by category based on the tracking of the selected additional on-demand TV program to generate a further updated subscriber-specific electronic program guide for a subscriber to select from the list of available on-demand TV programs; and
(m) transmitting, by the TV provider system, the further updated subscriber-specific electronic program guide upon request by the set top box.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the metadata that is received at the TV provider system is further used to populate a corresponding electronic program guide with the same structure that is available via the Internet on the Internet-connected digital device.
4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving, at the TV provider system, log-in data for the subscriber that is used to associate the tracked selection of the on-demand TV program with the logged-in subscriber for reordering the electronic program guide to generate the subscriber-specific electronic program guide.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the reordering, at the TV provider system, of the electronic program guide to be transmitted to the subscriber based on the tracking comprises:
(i) determining, at the TV services provider, an order of relevance of the categories based at least in part on the subscriber's past history of selection data of on-demand TV programs using the respective categories; and
(ii) reordering a current display listing of the categories of the on-demand programs in the electronic program guide based at least in part on the determined order of relevance.
6 . A method comprising:
(a) receiving, at a TV provider system, an on-demand TV program and associated metadata, wherein the metadata comprises a title, one or more category terms, wherein the metadata is used to populate an electronic program guide available on an Internet-connected digital device including categories based at least in part on the metadata received via the Internet from a video content provider that provided, along with the metadata, a video content via the Internet for an on-demand TV program;
(b) modifying, at the TV provider system, the electronic program guide to include the on-demand TV program hierarchically within a list of available on-demand TV programs according to the metadata, wherein the electronic program guide is to be sent within a closed delivery system to one or more set top boxes;
(c) transmitting, from the TV provider system to the Internet-connected digital device associated with a subscriber, the electronic program guide having a first ordering of categories during a first viewing session for the subscriber;
(d) receiving, at the TV provider system via the electronic program guide at the Internet-connected digital device, a first electronic request for selecting one of the on-demand TV programs from the list of available on-demand TV programs;
(e) tracking, at the TV provider system, the selection of the on-demand TV program that was requested by the subscriber's first electronic request;
(f) transmitting, from the TV provider system, the requested on-demand TV program to the Internet-connected digital device in response to the first electronic request;
(g) receiving, by the TV provider system from the Internet-connected digital device, a second electronic request for the electronic program guide to initiate a second viewing session for the subscriber;
(h) reordering, at the TV provider system, the electronic program guide to be transmitted to the subscriber by category based on the tracking of the selected on-demand TV program to generate a subscriber-specific electronic program guide having a second ordering of categories for a subscriber to select from the list of available on-demand TV programs for the second viewing session; and
(i) transmitting, by the TV provider system, the subscriber-specific electronic program guide having the second ordering of categories.
7 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
(j) receiving, at the TV provider system from the Internet-connected digital device via the subscriber-specific electronic program guide, an additional electronic request for selecting an additional on-demand TV program from the list of available on-demand TV programs;
(k) tracking, at the TV provider system, the selection of the additional on-demand TV program that was requested by the subscriber's additional electronic request;
(l) reordering, at the TV provider system, the subscriber-specific electronic program guide to be transmitted to the subscriber by category based on the tracking of the selected additional on-demand TV program to generate a further updated subscriber-specific electronic program guide for a subscriber to select from the list of available on-demand TV programs; and
(m) transmitting, by the TV provider system, the further updated subscriber-specific electronic program guide upon request by the Internet-connected digital device.
8 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the metadata that is received at the TV provider system is further used to populate a corresponding electronic program guide with the same structure that is available via a closed delivery system on a set top box.
9 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising receiving, at the TV provider system, log-in data for the subscriber that is used to associate the tracked selection of the on-demand TV program reflecting specific categories with the logged-in subscriber for reordering the electronic program guide to generate the subscriber-specific electronic program guide.
10 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the reordering, at the TV provider system, of the electronic program guide to be transmitted to the subscriber based on the tracking comprises
(i) determining, at the TV services provider, an order of relevance of the categories based at least in part on the subscriber's past history of selection data of on-demand TV programs using the respective categories; and
(ii) reordering a current display listing of the categories of the on-demand programs in the electronic program guide based at least in part on the determined order of relevance.