Virtual channels

1. A method comprising:

at a computer system 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 search query for time-bounded multimedia events:

a set of search results including a set of time-bounded multimedia events relevant to the search query, wherein

a time-bounded multimedia event, in the set of time-bounded multimedia events, is a broadcasting event associated with a broadcast time including: a start time and an end time; and

information identifying a start time and an end time of a respective time-bounded multimedia event in the set of time-bounded multimedia events

a user selection of a plurality of time-bounded multimedia events in the set of time-bounded multimedia events included in the search results:

(i) formatting for display information representing the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events as a plurality of rows on a grid having a first axis and a second axis, wherein:

the first axis corresponds to units of time;

one row of the plurality of rows displays time-bounded multimedia events in a virtual channel at positions in the row corresponding to respective scheduled broadcast times of the time-bounded multimedia events in the virtual channel; and

the virtual channel comprises the plurality of the time-bounded multimedia events selected by a user;

(ii) enabling the user to fill a first time slot in the virtual channel with overlapping time-bounded multimedia events without requiring modification to the overlapping time-bounded multimedia events; and

(iii) formatting for display, in the first time slot, a representation of a numeric count of the overlapping time-bounded multimedia events.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the 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.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of search results includes:

a first set of results that satisfy search terms of the search query, 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 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 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. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

formatting for display information associated with the set of search results as objects displayed on a two-dimensional display bar, wherein a first axis of the display bar is associated with units of time and a second axis of the display bar is associated with numbers of search results for different times, and wherein multiple search results that are associated with a respective time are displayed as stacked objects at the respective time.

10. 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 search query for time-bounded multimedia events:

obtaining a set of search results including a set of time-bounded multimedia events relevant to the search query, wherein

a time-bounded multimedia event, in the set of time-bounded multimedia events, is a broadcasting event associated with a broadcast time including: a start time and an end time; and

the set of search results also information identifying a start time and an end time of a respective time-bounded multimedia event in the set of time-bounded multimedia events; and

responsive to a user selection of a plurality of time-bounded multimedia events in the set of time-bounded multimedia events included in the search results:

(i) formatting for display information representing the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events as a plurality of rows on a grid having a first axis and a second axis, wherein:

the first axis corresponds to units of time;

one row of the plurality of rows displays time-bounded multimedia events in a virtual channel at positions in the row corresponding to respective scheduled broadcast times of the time-bounded multimedia events in the virtual channel; and

the virtual channel comprises the plurality of the time-bounded multimedia events selected by a user;

(ii) enabling the user to fill a first time slot in the virtual channel with overlapping time-bounded multimedia events without requiring modification to the overlapping time-bounded multimedia events; and

(iii) formatting for display, in the first time slot, a representation of a numeric count of the overlapping time-bounded multimedia events.

11. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the 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.

12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the one or more programs further comprise instructions for:

formatting for display information associated with the set of search results as objects displayed on a two-dimensional display bar, wherein a first axis of the display bar is associated with units of time and a second axis of the display bar is associated with numbers of search results for different times, and wherein multiple search results that are associated with a respective time are displayed as stacked objects at the respective time.

13. 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:

responsive to a search query for time-bounded multimedia events:

obtaining a set of search results including a set of time-bounded multimedia events relevant to the search query, wherein

a time-bounded multimedia event, in the set of time-bounded multimedia events, is a broadcasting event associated with a broadcast time including: a start time and an end time; and

the set of search results also includes information identifying a start time and an end time of a respective time-bounded multimedia event in the set of time-bounded multimedia events; and

responsive a user selection of a plurality of time-bounded multimedia events in the set of time-bounded multimedia events included in the search results:

(i) formatting for display information representing the plurality of time-bounded multimedia events as a plurality of rows on a grid having a first axis and a second axis, wherein:

the first axis corresponds to units of time;

one row of the plurality of rows displays time-bounded multimedia events in a virtual channel at positions in the row corresponding to respective scheduled broadcast times of the time-bounded multimedia events in the virtual channel; and

the virtual channel comprises the plurality of the time-bounded multimedia events selected by a user;

(ii) enabling the user to fill a first time slot in the virtual channel with overlapping time-bounded multimedia events without requiring modification to the overlapping time-bounded multimedia events; and

(iii) formatting for display, in the first time slot, a representation of a numeric count of the overlapping time-bounded multimedia events.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein at least one time-bounded multimedia event in the set of search results includes content created by the user.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein at least one row of the plurality of rows displays time-bounded multimedia events in a broadcast channel.

16. The system of claim 13 , wherein the 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.

17. The system of claim 13 , wherein the one or more programs further comprise instructions for:

formatting for display in the 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.

18. The system of claim 13 , wherein the one or more programs further comprise instructions for:

formatting for display information associated with the set of search results as objects displayed on a two-dimensional display bar, wherein a first axis of the display bar is associated with units of time and a second axis of the display bar is associated with numbers of search results for different times, and wherein multiple search results that are associated with a respective time are displayed as stacked objects at the respective time.