Enhanced electronic program guide
First Claim
1. A method of providing viewership information to a plurality of television viewers, comprising:
- collecting viewership data of a plurality of viewers;
processing the viewership data to provide on-screen interface information; and
transmitting, to a plurality of end-user receivers, the on-screen interface information, wherein the on-screen interface information is viewable on displays connected to the plurality of end-user receivers.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An on-screen program guide formatted with viewership information is provided. In general, viewership data is collected from a plurality of viewers via, e.g., cable and satellite receivers. The viewership data is then processed to provide viewership information including viewership interest, viewership growth rates, surfing behavior, and other viewership behavior. The viewership interest may also include group member information such as which members of a group are watching a particular program, group ratings of a program, individual member ratings of a program and the like. The viewership information may then be transmitted back to the viewers and displayed as part of an on-screen program guide or other visual interface.
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Citations
47 Claims
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1. A method of providing viewership information to a plurality of television viewers, comprising:
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collecting viewership data of a plurality of viewers;
processing the viewership data to provide on-screen interface information; and
transmitting, to a plurality of end-user receivers, the on-screen interface information, wherein the on-screen interface information is viewable on displays connected to the plurality of end-user receivers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A signal processing unit for processing television signals, comprising:
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a first connector for receiving a video signal transmitted from a remote provider;
a second connector for receiving a viewership signal containing viewership data collected from a plurality of viewers;
a memory containing an on-screen guide interface formatable with the viewership data; and
a processor configured to format the on-screen guide interface with the viewership data. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. An on-screen program guide information provider system, comprising:
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a first network connection with a plurality of devices configured to collect viewership data of a plurality of television viewers;
a second network connection with a plurality of end-user receivers; and
a processor configured to;
(i) process the viewership data to provide on-screen guide formatting information;
(ii) transmit, via the second network connection, the on-screen guide formatting information to the plurality of end-user receivers, wherein the on-screen guide formatting information is used by the end-user receivers to output viewership indicators to displays connected to the plurality of end-user receivers. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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- 39. A computer data signal embodied in a transmission medium, comprising on-screen program guide interface information containing viewership information of a plurality of television viewers, wherein the on-screen interface information is readable by a plurality of receivers having a network connection with a television program provider and wherein viewership information is configured for formatting an on-screen program guide.
Specification