RECORDATION OF PROGRAM SERIES

• US 20100043030A1
• Filed: 08/15/2008
• Published: 02/18/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/15/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: White, Scott
• Application Number:
  US12/192,697
• Publication Number:
  US 20100043030A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/58
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/105 of operating discs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/322 used signal is digitally coded
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/27 Arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/31 Arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/72 using electronic programme guides [EPG] focusing on identifying broadcast space time H04H60/39 ; menu type display of EPG in television receivers H04N21/47
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4334 Recording operations recording of a television signal H04N5/76; arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4667 Processing of monitored end-user data, e.g. trend analysis based on the log file of viewer selections
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47214 for content reservation or setting reminders; for requesting event notification, e.g. of sport results or stock market stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; notification of incoming messages in packet switching networks H04L51/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/765 Interface circuits between an apparatus for recording and another apparatus

Abstract

Methods, systems and computer-readable media to provide recordation of program series are disclosed. A method of recording programs includes obtaining a record type indication related to a program series from a user via an electronic program guide. The method also includes accessing a watched list of episodes of the program series from a memory of a set top box (STB) device to determine episodes of the program series that the user has not seen. Episodes of the program series that the user has not seen include episodes of the program series that are marked as not watched or episodes that have not been added to the watched list. The method further includes recording at least one episode of the program series based on the determination and updating the watched list to mark that the at least one episode has been recorded.

Claims

1. A method of recording programs via a set top box (STB) device, the method comprising:

obtaining a record type indication related to a program series from a user via an electronic program guide (EPG);

accessing a watched list of episodes of the program series from a memory of the STB device to determine episodes of the program series that the user has not seen, including episodes of the program series that are marked as not watched or episodes that have not been added to the watched list;

recording at least one episode of the program series based on the determination; and

updating the watched list to mark that the at least one episode has been recorded.

2. The method of recording of claim 1, wherein recording at least one episode includes:

adding the at least one episode to a recording schedule associated with the program series; and

recording the at least one episode based on the recording schedule.

3. The method of recording of claim 1, further comprising:

retrieving the watched list from an external storage device when the watched list is unavailable from the memory of the STB device; and

storing the retrieved watched list to the memory of the STB device.

4. The method of recording of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting an episode of the program series marked at least partially watched from the watched list;

re-delivering the selected episode from a content video source when the selected episode is unavailable from the memory of the STB device; and

storing the re-delivered episode to the memory of the STB device.

5. The method of recording of claim 1, further comprising:

adding an entry to the watched list associated with an episode of the program series; and

marking the entry for the episode as added; and

blocking recording of the episode of the program series based on the associated entry of the watched list.

6. The method of recording of claim 3, wherein retrieving the watched list includes retrieving the watched list from a memory of a remote control device.

7. The method of recording of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving from a user a selection of an episode entry in the watched list and an update associated with the episode entry; and

updating the watched list with the update.

8. The method of recording of claim 7, wherein the update includes a delete instruction, and updating the watched list includes deleting the added entry in accordance with the delete instruction.

9. A set top box (STB) device to record a program, the STB device comprising:

a memory to store episodes of a program series, the memory to further store a watched list associated with the episodes of the program series;

an episode manager configured to;

obtain a record type indication related to the program series from a user via an electronic program guide;

access the watched list associated with episodes of the program series from the memory to determine episodes of the program series that the user has not seen, including episodes of the program series that are marked as not watched or episodes that have not been added to the watched list; and

update the watched list to mark at least one episode of the program series when it is recorded; and

a video recording module to record the at least one episode of the program series based on the episode manager determining episodes of the program series that the user has not seen.

10. The STB device of claim 9, wherein the episode manager is further configured to:

retrieve the watched list from a storage device external to the STB device when the watched list is unavailable from the memory; and

store the retrieved watched list to the memory.

11. The STB device of claim 9,

wherein the episode manager is further configured to:

select an episode of the program series marked at least partially watched from the watched list; and

request redelivery of the selected episode when selected episode is unavailable from the memory; and

wherein the STB device further comprises;

an episode redelivery module to redeliver the selected episode from a content video source to the episode manager based on the episode manager requesting redelivery.

12. The STB device of claim 9, further comprising a recording scheduling module to store an indication of the at least one episode of the program series in a recording schedule, wherein the video recording module is to record the at least one episode of the program series indicated in the recording schedule.

13. The STB device of claim 12,

wherein the episode manager is further configured to:

add an entry to the watched list for an episode of the program series; and

mark the entry for the episode as added; and

wherein the recording scheduling module is further configured to block recording of the episode of the program series based on the associated entry in the watched list.

14. The STB device of claim 10, wherein the storage device external to the STB device is a memory of a remote control device.

15. The STB device of claim 12, wherein the episode manager is further configured to:

receive from a user a selection of an episode entry in the watched list and an update associated with the entry; and

update the watched list with the update.

16. The STB device of claim 15, wherein the update includes a delete instruction, wherein the episode manager is further configured to delete the added entry in accordance with the delete instruction.

17. A computer-readable storage medium comprising operational instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

obtain a record type indication related to a program series from a user via an electronic program guide (EPG);

access a watched list of episodes of the program series from a memory of an STB device to determine episodes of the program series that the user has not seen, including episodes of the program series that are marked as not watched or episodes that have not been added to the watched list;

record at least one episode of the program series based on the determination; and

update the watched list to mark that the at least one episode has been recorded.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to record at least one episode further include operational instructions to:

add the at least one episode to a recording schedule associated with the program series; and

record the at least one episode based on the recording schedule.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, further comprising operational instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

retrieve the watched list from an external storage device when the watched list is unavailable from the memory of the STB device; and

store the retrieved watched list to the memory of the STB device.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, further comprising operational instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

select an episode of the program series marked at least partially watched from the watched list;

re-deliver the selected episode from a content video source when the selected episode is unavailable from the memory of the STB device; and

store the re-delivered episode to the memory of the STB device.

21. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, further comprising operational instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

add an entry to the watched list associated with an episode of the program series; and

mark the entry for the episode as added; and

block recording of the episode of the program series based on the associated entry of the watched list.

22. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to retrieve the watched list further include operational instructions to retrieve the watched list from a memory of a remote control device.

23. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 21, further comprising operational instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

receive from the user a selection of an episode entry in the watched list and an update associated with the episode entry; and

update the watched list with the update.

24. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the operational instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to update the watched list further include operational instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to delete the added entry in accordance with the update.