Interactive television systems with digital video recording and adjustable reminders
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 plurality of users access to recordings of a plurality of broadcast television programs having scheduled start-times and end-times, wherein the plurality of broadcast television programs are broadcast to the users, the method comprising:
selectively recording, based on retention criteria, a subset of the plurality of broadcast programs on storage of a server remote to the users;
providing a first user of the plurality of users at a first user device with access to at least a portion of a first recorded broadcast program during a retention-period; and
removing the recorded first broadcast program from the storage at the end of the retention-period.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
tuning the first user device to the first broadcast program at a tune-time, wherein the tune-time is after the scheduled start-time of the first broadcast program;
determining that the start-time of the first broadcast program has elapsed; and
in response to determining, accessing the portion of the recorded first broadcast program provided by the remote server at the first user device, wherein the portion corresponds to a portion of the first broadcast program that was broadcasted by the facility prior to the tune-time.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the portion is accessed before the end of the retention-period.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a request, at the remote server, from the first user device to access the recorded first broadcast program; and
transmitting the portion of the recorded first broadcast program from the remote server to the first user device upon receiving the request.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the transmitting comprises streaming the portion of the recorded first broadcast program from the remote server to the first user device.
6. The method of claim 4 , further comprising downloading the portion of the recorded first broadcast program from the remote server to the first user device.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining, at the remote server, whether the retention-period has elapsed.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the recorded first broadcast program is no longer accessible after the retention-period elapses.
9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising preventing the first user at the first user device from accessing the recorded first broadcast program after the retention-period elapses.
10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying a list of recorded programs including the recorded first broadcast program.
11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising selecting a program from the list to access on the first user device.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the retention criteria is based on collected information associated with the first broadcast program and the recorded first broadcast program.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the collected information relates to how often the recorded first broadcast program is accessed by at least one of the plurality of users.
14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the collected information relates to how often the first broadcast program is recorded by at least one of the plurality of users.
15. A system for providing a plurality of users access to recordings of a plurality of broadcast television programs having scheduled start-times and end-times, wherein the plurality of broadcast television programs are broadcast to the users, the system comprising:
a server remote to the users configured to:
selectively record, based on retention criteria, a subset of the plurality of broadcast programs on storage of the server remote to the users;
remove a first recorded broadcast program from the storage at the end of a retention-period; and
a first user device configured to:
provide a first user of the plurality of users at the first user device with access to at least a portion of the first recorded broadcast program during the retention-period.
16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the first user device is further configured to:
tune to the first broadcast program at a tune-time, wherein the tune-time is after the scheduled start-time of the first broadcast program;
determine that the start-time of the first broadcast program has elapsed; and
in response to determining, access the portion of the recorded first broadcast program provided by the remote server at the first user device, wherein the portion corresponds to a portion of the first broadcast program that was broadcasted by the facility prior to the tune-time.
17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the portion is accessed before the end of the retention-period.
18. The system of claim 15 , wherein the remote server is further configured to:
receive a request from the first user device to access the recorded first broadcast program; and
transmit the portion of the recorded first broadcast program to the first user device upon receiving the request.
19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the remote server is further configured to stream the portion of the recorded first broadcast program to the first user device.
20. The system of claim 18 , wherein the first user device is further configured to download the portion of the recorded first broadcast program from the remote server.
21. The system of claim 15 , wherein the remote server is further configured to determine whether the retention-period has elapsed.
22. The system of claim 21 , wherein the recorded first broadcast program is no longer accessible after the retention-period elapses.
23. The system of claim 21 , wherein the remote server is further configured to prevent the first user from accessing the recorded first broadcast program after the retention-period elapses.
24. The system of claim 15 , wherein the first user device is further configured to display a list of recorded program including the recorded first broadcast program.
25. The system of claim 24 , wherein the first user device is further configured to receive a selection of a program from the list to access on the first user device.
26. The system of claim 17 , wherein the retention criteria is based on collected information associated with the first broadcast program and the recorded first broadcast program.
27. The system of claim 26 , wherein the collected information relates to how often the recorded first broadcast program is accessed by at least one of the plurality of users.
28. The system of claim 26 , wherein the collected information relates to how often the first broadcast program is recorded by at least one of the plurality of users.