Interactive television program guide system with pay program package promotion

• US 6,016,141 A
• Filed: 10/06/1997
• Issued: 01/18/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 10/06/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: UV Corporation (Adeia Inc.)
• Original Assignee: United Video Properties Incorporated (Adeia Inc.)
• Inventors: Ellis, Michael D., Thomas, William L., Knudson, Edward B., Davis, Bruce L.
• Primary Examiner(s): FLYNN, NATHAN J
• Application Number:
  US08/944,153
• Time in Patent Office: 834 Days
• Field of Search: 345/327, 348/6, 348/7, 348/10, 348/12, 348/13, 348/900, 455/3.1, 455/4.2, 455/5.1, 455/6.1, 455/6.2
• US Class Current: 715/721
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44218 Detecting physical presence or behaviour of the user, e.g. using sensors to detect if the user is leaving the room or changes his face expression during a TV program methods or arrangements for recognising human body or animal bodies or body parts G06V40/10; methods or arrangements for acquiring or recognising human faces, facial parts, facial sketches, facial expressions G06V40/16; methods or arrangements for recognising movements or behaviour G06V40/20; arrangements for identifying users in broadcast systems H04H60/45
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44222 Analytics of user selections, e.g. selection of programs or purchase activity monitoring of user selections in data processing systems G06F11/34; arrangements for monitoring the user's behaviour or opinions in broadcast systems H04H60/33
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4668 for recommending content, e.g. movies
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47211 for requesting pay-per-view content payment schemes payment architectures or payment protocols G06Q20/00, G07F
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4826 using recommendation lists, e.g. of programs or channels sorted out according to their score
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6547 comprising parameters, e.g. for client setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8126 involving additional data, e.g. news, sports, stocks, weather forecasts
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

A system is provided that allows a user to select a pay program for purchase from a program guide. The program guide determines whether the selected program is part of a package of pay programs. If the selected program is part of a package, information regarding the package is provided to the user so that the user may decide whether to purchase the package. If the selected program is part of several packages, information for all packages is provided. The system automatically sets reminders for packages containing repetitive programming. The system monitors whether the user has watched any of the programs in such packages. When the user watches a program from the package, the remaining reminders are cancelled. If a user does not watch any programs in a package of any type, purchase of the package is cancelled and the user is provided with the opportunity to reschedule.

Claims

1. An interactive program guide system with which a user may purchase pay television programs, comprising:

means for selecting a program for purchase from an interactive television program guide;

means for determining whether the selected program is part of a package of pay programs;

means for displaying information on the package of which the selected program is a part when the selected program is a part of a package so that the user may decide whether to purchase the package;

means for purchasing the package; and

means for determining whether the purchased package contains repetitive programming.

2. The interactive program guide system defined in claim 1 further comprising means for automatically setting program reminders for all programs in the purchased package when the package is determined not to contain repetitive programming.

3. The interactive program guide system defined in claim 1 further comprising:

means for providing an opportunity to set a reminder for a given one of the programs in the purchased package when the package is determined to contain repetitive programming;

means for automatically setting program reminders for all programs in the purchased package subsequent to the given one of the programs when the package is determined to contain repetitive programming; and

means for monitoring whether the user has watched any of the programs in the purchased package for which the program reminders were automatically set when the package was determined to contain repetitive programming.

4. The interactive program guide system defined in claim 3 further comprising means for displaying a reminder for each program in the package when the user is determined not to have watched any programs in the purchased package for which the program reminders were automatically set when the package was determined to contain repetitive programming.

5. The interactive program guide system defined in claim 3 further comprising means for cancelling the remainder of the automatically-set reminders when the user is determined to have watched one of the programs in the purchased package.

6. An interactive program guide system with which a user may Purchase pay television programs, comprising:

means for selecting a program for purchase from an interactive television program guide;

means for determining whether the selected program is part of a package of pay programs;

means for displaying information on the package of which the selected program is a part when the selected program is a part of a package so that the user may decide whether to purchase the package;

means for purchasing the package;

means for monitoring whether the user has watched any of the programs in the purchased package; and

means for cancelling the purchase of the purchased package when it is determined that the user has not watched any of the programs in the purchased package.

7. The interactive program guide system defined in claim 6 further comprising means for displaying a message informing the user that the user will not be billed for the cancelled package.

8. The interactive program guide system defined in claim 6 further comprising means for offering the user an opportunity to reschedule the cancelled package.

9. A method for providing pay programs for purchase with an interactive television program guide system, comprising the steps of:

providing an opportunity to select a program for purchase from an interactive television program guide;

determining whether the selected program is part of a package of pay programs;

displaying information on the package of which the selected program is a part when the selected program is a part of a package so that the user may decide whether to purchase the package;

providing the user with an opportunity to purchase the package; and

determining whether the purchased package contains repetitive programming.

10. The method defined in claim 9 further comprising the step of automatically setting program reminders for all programs in the purchased package when the package is determined not to contain repetitive programming.

11. The method defined in claim 9 further comprising the steps of:

providing an opportunity to set a reminder for a given one of the programs in the purchased package when the package is determined to contain repetitive programming;

automatically setting program reminders for all programs in the purchased package subsequent to the given one of the programs when the package is determined to contain repetitive programming; and

monitoring whether the user has watched any of the programs in the purchased package for which the program reminders were automatically set when the package was determined to contain repetitive programming.

12. The method defined in claim 11 further comprising the step of displaying a reminder for each program in the package when the user is determined not to have watched any programs in the purchased package for which the program reminders were automatically set when the package was determined to contain repetitive programming.

13. The method defined in claim 11 further comprising the step of cancelling the remainder of the automatically-set reminders when the user is determined to have watched one of the programs in the purchased package.

14. A method for providing pay programs for purchase with an interactive television program guide system, comprising the steps of:

providing an opportunity to select a program for purchase from an interactive television program guide;

determining whether the selected program is part of a package of pay programs;

displaying information on the package of which the selected program is a part when the selected program is a part of a package so that the user may decide whether to purchase the package;

providing the user with an opportunity to purchase the package;

monitoring whether the user has watched any of the programs in the purchased package; and

cancelling the purchase of the purchased package when it is determined that the user has not watched any of the programs in the purchased package.

15. The method defined in claim 14 further comprising the step of displaying a message informing the user that the user will not be billed for the cancelled package.

16. The method defined in claim 14 further comprising the step of offering the user an opportunity to reschedule the cancelled package.