A set-top box, providing video-on-demand services and operatively connected to TV equipment of a TV service subscriber, programmed to perform the steps of: (a) receiving, at the set-top box, via a closed system from a video-on-demand content delivery system comprising one or more computers and computer-readable memory operatively connected to the one or more computers, respective video-on-demand application-readable metadata that is associated with respective video content and is usable to generate a video-on-demand content menu; wherein the respective video content was uploaded to a Web-based content management system by a respective content provider device associated with a respective video content provider via the Internet in a digital video format along with respective specified metadata including respective title information, category information, and subcategory information designated by the respective video content provider to specify a respective hierarchical location of a respective title of the respective video content within the video-on-demand content menu displayed on the TV equipment, wherein the respective video-on-demand application-readable metadata is generated according to the respective specified metadata; (b) providing, to the TV subscriber at the set-top box, the video-on-demand content menu for navigating through titles, including the respective titles of the respective video content, in a drill-down manner by category information and subcategory information in order to locate a particular one of the titles whose associated video content is desired for viewing on the TV equipment, wherein the video-on-demand content menu lists the titles using the same hierarchical structure of respective category information and subcategory information as was designated by the respective video content provider in the respective specified metadata for the respective video content, wherein a plurality of different video display templates are accessible to the set-top box, and wherein the video-on-demand content menu is generated using at least one of the plurality of different video display templates and based at least upon the respective specified metadata; and (c) in response to the TV service subscriber selecting, via a control unit in communication with the set-top box, a first respective title associated with a first video content from the hierarchical structure of respective category information and subcategory information of the video-on-demand content menu using drill-down navigation, transmitting the selection to the set-top box for display on the TV equipment; and (d) receiving, at the set-top box, the first video content for display on the TV equipment of the TV service subscriber, wherein in response to the selection the first video content was retrieved from a video server associated with the video-on-demand content delivery system. view more

The set-top box of claim 1, wherein the set-top box is further programmed to generate, using at least one of the plurality of different video display templates, a templatized video-on-demand display that comprises a background and a template layer having one or more areas for display of metadata provided by the video content provider. view more

The set-top box of claim 1, wherein the video-on-demand content menu comprises a search interface that allows the TV subscriber to search a video content database based on specified characteristics.

A method for dynamic adjustment of an individualized electronic program guide where the adjustment is based at least in part on individual viewer consumption of video-on-demand programs on a subscriber TV system to enable navigating by an individual viewer in a TV subscriber household that may have a plurality of viewers to video-on-demand programs offered on a video-on-demand platform of a digital TV services provider which is at least part of a digital TV services provider system, the method comprising: (a) maintaining, at the digital TV services provider system, an electronic program guide database comprising electronic program guide data, and a usage history database comprising a log of selection data corresponding to the viewer's consumption of the video-on-demand programs using the video-on-demand platform; (b) establishing, at the digital TV services provider system, viewer-individualized electronic program guide data for each of a plurality of individual viewers to enable the generation of viewer-individualized electronic program guides for each of said plurality of individual viewers at the subscriber TV system for use in accessing the video-on-demand programs, and allowing each respective individual viewer to access a display of their respective viewer-individualized electronic program guide through a Log-In step by which the respective individual viewer operating the subscriber TV system can be associated with their respective viewer-individualized electronic program guide; (c) in one or more previous sessions while said respective individual viewer is logged onto their respective viewer-individualized electronic program guide in order to access the video-on-demand programs on the subscriber TV system, tracking, at the digital TV services provider system, said respective individual viewer's consumption of the video-on-demand programs listed in their respective viewer-individualized electronic program guide and saving the selection data in the usage history database; (d) determining, at the digital TV services provider system, an order of relevance of a plurality of category names for said respective individual viewer selection of video-on-demand programs from their respective viewer-individualized electronic program guide based at least in part on said respective individual viewer's selection data from said one or more previous sessions as stored in the usage history database and reflecting said respective individual viewer's preferences for selection of video-on-demand programs from their respective viewer-individualized electronic program guide, and based at least in part on the electronic program guide data in the electronic program guide database; and (e) at the start of each new session when said respective individual viewer logs onto their respective viewer-individualized electronic program guide in order to access video-on-demand programs on the subscriber TV system, reordering a current display listing of the category names for categories of video-on-demand programs on said respective individual viewer's viewer-individualized electronic program guide based at least in part on said determined order of relevance. view more

The method of claim 1, wherein the Log-In step enables said respective individual viewer to register their name, and in a subsequent Log-In step said respective individual viewer only needs to select their name from a list of previously registered viewers. view more

The method of claim 1, further comprising automatically generating an additional category or subcategory based on the log of said respective individual viewer's consumption of the video-on-demand programs maintained in the usage history database.

The method of claim 1, further comprising maintaining a user profile database in addition to the usage history database and the electronic program guide database, wherein the step of determining, at the digital TV services provider system, an order of relevance of the category names for said respective individual viewer selection of video-on-demand programs from their respective viewer-individualized electronic program guide is further based at least in part on said individual viewer's user profile maintained in the user profile database. view more

An Internet-connected digital device for receiving, via the Internet, video content to be viewed by a subscriber of a video-on-demand system using a hierarchically arranged electronic program guide, the Internet-connected digital device being configured to obtain and present to the subscriber an electronic program guide as a templatized video-on-demand display, which uses at least one of a plurality of different display templates to which the Internet-connected digital device has access, to enable a subscriber using the Internet-connected digital device to navigate in a drill-down manner through titles by category information in order to locate a particular one of the titles whose associated video content is desired for viewing on the Internet-connected digital device using the same category information as was designated by a video content provider in metadata associated with the video content; wherein the ternplatized video-on-demand display has been generated in a plurality of layers, comprising: (a) a first layer comprising a background screen to provide at least one of a basic color, logo, or graphical theme to display; (b) a second layer comprising a particular display template from the plurality of different display templates layered on the background screen, wherein the particular display template comprises one or more reserved areas that are reserved for displaying content provided by a different layer of the plurality of layers; and (c) a third layer comprising reserved area content generated using the received video content, the associated metadata, and the associated plurality of images to be displayed in the one or more reserved areas in the particular display template as at least one of text, an image, a navigation link, and a button, wherein the navigating through titles in a drill-down manner comprises navigating from a first level of the hierarchical structure of the video-on-demand content menu to a second level of the hierarchical structure to locate the particular one of the titles, and wherein a first template of the plurality of different display templates is used as the particular display template for the templatized display for displaying the first level of the hierarchical structure and wherein a second template of the plurality of different display templates is used as the particular display template for the templatized display for displaying the second level of the hierarchical structure, wherein the received video content was uploaded to a Web-based content management system by a content provider device associated with the video content provider via the Internet in a digital video format, along with associated metadata including title information and category information, and along with an associated plurality of images designated by the video content provider, the associated metadata specifying a respective hierarchical location of a respective title of the video content within the electronic program guide to be displayed on the Internet-connected digital device using the respective hierarchically-arranged category information associated with the respective title, wherein at least one of the uploaded associated plurality of images designated by the video content provider is displayed with the associated respective title in the templatized video-on-demand display. view more

The Internet-connected digital device ofclaim 1, wherein the one or more category terms associated with the first video-on-demand program content correspond to one or more topics that pertain to video-on-demand program content from more than one content provider. view more

The Internet-connected digital device ofclaim 1, wherein the one or more category terms associated with the first video-on-demand program content correspond to one or more content providers and wherein the hierarchically arranged electronic program guide is organized according to the content provider. view more

A video-on-demand application server system comprising one or more computers and computer-readable memory operatively connected to the one or more computers of the video-on-demand application server system, and programmed to perform at least the following steps:(a) receiving, by the video-on-demand application server system from a Web-based content management system, first video-on-demand application-readable metadata associated with first video content and usable to generate a video-on-demand content menu,wherein the first video-on-demand application-readable metadata comprises:(1) first title information comprising a first title, and(2) first content provider designated hierarchically arranged category information and subcategory information to specify a location of the first title information for the video content in a video-on-demand application, the first content provider designated category information and subcategory information associated with the first title information of the first video content using a same hierarchical structure of categories and subcategories as is to be used for placement of the first title information in the video-on-demand content menu;wherein the received first video content was uploaded to the Web-based content management system by a content provider device associated with a first video content provider via the Internet in a digital video format, along with the associated first video-on-demand application-readable metadata including first title information, and first content provider designated hierarchically arranged category information and subcategory information, designated by the first video content provider, to specify a hierarchical location of the first title of the first video content within the video-on-demand content menu using first category information and first subcategory information associated with the first title information, and further including first time information for availability of the first video content for scheduling of viewing of the first video content through the video-on-demand application;(b) generating, by the video-on-demand application server system, video-on-demand content menu information data, including at least the first video-on-demand application-readable metadata associated with the first video content and usable to populate the video-on-demand content menu;(c) sending, from the video-on-demand application server system to a respective set top box operatively connected to respective television equipment of a respective television service subscriber the generated video-on-demand content menu information data;(d) generating, at the respective set-top box, using the video-on-demand content menu information data, the video-on-demand content menu for navigating through titles, including the first title of the first video content, by hierarchically-arranged category information and subcategory information, including at least the first category information and the first subcategory information in order to locate a respective one of the titles whose associated video content is desired for viewing on respective television equipment,wherein the video-on-demand content menu lists the titles using the same hierarchical structure of category information and subcategory information as was designated by one or more video content providers, including the first video content provider, in the uploaded first video-on-demand application-readable metadata for the respective video content, wherein a plurality of different display templates, including a first display template, are accessible,wherein which titles are available for selection from the video-on-demand content menu, at a respective time, is based at least in part on respective time information during which the respective video content associated with the respective time information can be accessed;(e) receiving, by the video-on-demand application server system from the respective set top box, an electronic request for the first video content associated with the selected first title for display on the television equipment of the television service subscriber in response to the respective television service subscriber selecting, via a television control unit in communication with the respective set top box, the respective title associated with the video content from the hierarchically-arranged category information and subcategory information of the video-on-demand content menu;(f) causing, by the video-on-demand application server system, to be transmitted to the respective set top box from a video server, the selected first video content for display on the respective TV equipment. view more

The video-on-demand application server system of claim 1, wherein at least some of the plurality of different display templates correspond to different levels of the hierarchical structure of the respective category information and subcategory information. view more

The video-on-demand application server system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of different display templates is used to generate a templatized video-on-demand display that comprises a background and a template layer having one or more areas for display of the first video-on-demand application-readable metadata provided by the video content provider. view more

A video-on-demand application server system comprising one or more computers and computer-readable memory operatively connected to the one or more computers of the video-on-demand application server system, and programmed to perform at least the following steps:(a) receiving, by the video-on-demand application server system from a Web-based content management system, first video-on-demand application-readable metadata associated with first video content and usable to generate a video-on-demand content menu,wherein the first video-on-demand application-readable metadata comprises:(1) first title information comprising a first title, and(2) first content provider designated hierarchically arranged category information and subcategory information to specify a location of the first title information for the video content in a video-on-demand application, the first content provider designated category information and subcategory information associated with the first title information of the first video content using a same hierarchical structure of categories and subcategories as is to be used for placement of the first title information in the video-on-demand content menu;wherein the received first video content was uploaded to the Web-based content management system by a content provider device associated with a first video content provider via the Internet in a digital video format, along with the associated first video-on-demand application-readable metadata including first title information, and first content provider designated hierarchically arranged category information and subcategory information, designated by the first video content provider, to specify a hierarchical location of the first title of the first video content within the video-on-demand content menu using first category information and first subcategory information associated with the first title information;(b) generating, by the video-on-demand application server system, video-on-demand content menu information data, including at least the first video-on-demand application-readable metadata associated with the first video content and usable to populate the video-on-demand content menu;(c) sending, from the video-on-demand application server system to a respective set top box operatively connected to respective television equipment of a respective television service subscriber the generated video-on-demand content menu information data;(d) generating, at the respective set-top box, using the video-on-demand content menu information data, the video-on-demand content menu for navigating through titles, including the first title of the first video content, by hierarchically-arranged category information and subcategory information, including at least the first category information and the first subcategory information in order to locate a respective one of the titles whose associated video content is desired for viewing on respective television equipment,wherein the video-on-demand content menu lists the titles using the same hierarchical structure of category information and subcategory information as was designated by one or more video content providers, including the first video content provider, in the uploaded first video-on-demand application-readable metadata for the respective video content, wherein a plurality of different display templates, including a first display template, are accessible;(e) receiving, by the video-on-demand application server system from the respective set top box, an electronic request for the first video content associated with the selected first title for display on the television equipment of the television service subscriber in response to the respective television service subscriber selecting, via a television control unit in communication with the respective set top box, the respective title associated with the video content from the hierarchically-arranged category information and subcategory information of the video-on-demand content menu;(f) causing, by the video-on-demand application server system, to be transmitted to the respective set top box from a video server, the selected first video content for display on the respective TV equipment. view more

The video-on-demand application server system of claim 1, wherein the respective category information and subcategory information associated with the first video content correspond to one or more topics that pertain to video content from more than one video content provider. view more

The video-on-demand application server system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of different display templates is used to generate a templatized video-on-demand display that comprises a background and a template layer having one or more areas for display of the first video-on-demand application-readable metadata provided by the video content provider. view more