Service supply apparatus for supplying a service of a broadcasting program with attribute information of the program

• US 6,262,721 B1
• Filed: 07/03/1997
• Issued: 07/17/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 07/03/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sun Patent Trust
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Fujita, Kenichi, Tsukidate, Ryota, Machida, Kazuhiro, Goto, Yoshimasa, Kaneko, Shigeki, Takeuchi, Yoshiyasu, Harada, Takenosuke
• Primary Examiner(s): FAILE, ANDREW I
• Application Number:
  US08/888,362
• Time in Patent Office: 1,475 Days
• Field of Search: 345/327, 109/219-218, 109/217, 348/1, 348/2-5, 348/7, 348/12, 348/10, 348/13, 455/2
• US Class Current: 715/721
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/106 Receiver-side switching
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/16 Arrangements for broadcast or for distribution of identical information repeatedly
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/28 Arrangements for simultaneous broadcast of plural pieces of information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/30 by a single channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/33 by plural channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/38 Arrangements for distribution where lower stations, e.g. receivers, interact with the broadcast
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/40 Arrangements for broadcast specially adapted for accumulation-type receivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/76 Wired systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/93 which locates resources of other pieces of information, e.g. URL [Uniform Resource Locator]
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/06 Arrangements for scheduling broadcast services or broadcast-related services
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/15 on receiving information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/16 on playing information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/17 on recording information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/21 Billing for the use of broadcast information or broadcast-related information
• 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 60/47 for recognising genres
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/51 of receiving stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/66 for using the result on distributors' side
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 : being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2668 : Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles information retrieval from the Internet by querying with filtering and personalisation G06F16/9535; arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast H04H20/10; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/063
• 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 21/44204 : Monitoring of content usage, e.g. the number of times a movie has been viewed, copied or the amount which has been watched monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; protecting generic digital content where the protection is independent of the precise nature of the content G06F21/10; arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services in broadcast systems H04H60/31
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 : involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/454 : Content or additional data filtering, e.g. blocking advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4755 : for defining user preferences, e.g. favourite actors or genre retrieval personalisation and generation of user profiles for the retrieval of video data G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4758 : for providing answers, e.g. voting
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6582 : Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38
• 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 21/8405 : represented by keywords
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8586 : by using a URL processing chained hypermedia data for information retrieval G06F16/94; information retrieval from the Internet by using URLs G06F16/955; URL in broadcast information H04H20/93; Web-based protocols H04L67/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/0887 : for the transmission of programme or channel identifying signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 : by receiver means only

Abstract

Viewer individual attribute information indicating an attribute of a particular viewer such as an age, male or female, a resident district, a taste, an occupation and a life style is stored in a receiving terminal apparatus of the particular viewer. When a broadcasting program is transmitted from a service supply apparatus to the receiving terminal apparatus, service addition information indicating an attribute of the broadcasting program or an attribute condition required of viewers is transmitted to the receiving terminal apparatus with contents of the broadcasting program. In the receiving terminal apparatus, the service addition information is collated with the viewer individual attribute information of the particular viewer, and it is judged whether or not the broadcasting program is suitable for the particular viewer. In cases where the broadcasting program is suitable for the particular viewer, the broadcasting program is received by the receiving terminal apparatus and is reproduced and displayed. Therefore, the broadcasting program can be received by only a group of particular viewers desired on a side of the service supply apparatus even though the group of particular viewers is not specified.

Claims

1. A broadcast system comprising a service supply apparatus for supplying service content information of a plurality of broadcasting programs one after another and a receiving terminal apparatus for receiving the service content information of each broadcasting program supplied by the service supply apparatus,

the service supply apparatus comprising:

broadcasting data storing means for storing the service content information indicating contents of each of the broadcasting programs as broadcasting data;

service addition information preparing means for preparing service addition information, in which attribute information indicating an attribute of one broadcasting program stored in the broadcasting data storing means and content information indicating contents of an added-service are included as broadcasting data; and

broadcasting data transmitting means for transmitting the service content information of each broadcasting program stored in the broadcasting data storing means and the service addition information of the corresponding broadcasting program prepared by the service addition information preparing means, and

attribute information storing means for storing viewer attribute information indicating a personal attribute of the viewer;

broadcasting data receiving means for receiving the service content information and the service addition information of the broadcasting program transmitted from the broadcasting data transmitting means of the service supply apparatus;

attribute information collating means for collating the service addition information received by the broadcasting data receiving means with the viewer attribute information stored in the attribute information storing means and judging whether or not the attribute of the service content information of the broadcasting program suits the personal attribute of the viewer; and

broadcasting program reproducing means for reproducing the service content information of the broadcasting program received by the broadcasting data receiving means, in cases where it is judged by the attribute information collating means that the attribute of the service content information of the broadcasting program suits the personal attribute of the viewer, and displaying the content information included in the service addition information with the service content information to show the viewer the added-service suiting the viewer.

2. A broadcast system according to claim 1 in which the service content information and the service addition information of the broadcasting program transmitted from the service supply apparatus are received by a plurality of receiving terminal apparatuses of a plurality of viewers,

the service supply apparatus further comprises

viewer attribute information data base for storing a piece of viewer attribute information transmitted from the attribute information storing means of each of the receiving terminal apparatuses; and

service processing means for producing overall viewer attribute information for the viewers from the pieces of viewer attribute information stored in the viewer attribute information data base and selecting a piece of particular service content information of a particular broadcasting program from among the pieces of service content information of the broadcasting programs stored in the broadcasting data storing means, on condition that an attribute of the particular service content information of the particular broadcasting program is most suitable to the overall viewer attribute information, so as to transmit the particular service content information of the particular broadcasting program and particular service addition information of the particular broadcasting program from the broadcasting data transmitting means to each of the receiving terminal apparatuses.

3. A broadcast system according to claim 1 in which the viewer attribute information stored in the attribute information storing means of the receiving terminal apparatus indicates an age of the viewer, the distinction between male and female, a resident district of the viewer, a taste of the viewer, an occupation of the viewer or a life style of the viewer.

4. A broadcast system according to claim 1 in which the service addition information prepared by the service addition information preparing means of the service supply apparatus further includes an age range for the viewer, the distinction between male and female, a resident district of the viewer, tastes of the viewer, an occupation of the viewer or a life style of the viewer.

5. A broadcast system according to claim 1 in which a keyword is attached to each of the broadcasting programs stored in the broadcasting data storing means of the service supply apparatus as the service addition information prepared by the service addition information preparing means to identify a type of each broadcasting program, and the viewer attribute information stored in the attribute information storing means of each receiving terminal apparatus is composed of one keyword and a using number indicating how many times the viewer views one type of broadcasting program to which the keyword is attached.

6. A broadcast system according to claim 1 in which the service addition information prepared by the service addition information preparing means of the service supply apparatus is a coded keyword, and the service content information of the broadcasting program and the coded keyword attached to the broadcasting program are transmitted from the broadcasting data transmitting means.

7. A broadcast system according to claim 5, the service supply apparatus further comprising

code table storing means for storing a code table in which a set of a keyword, a code corresponding to the keyword and a using number corresponding to the keyword is registered for each keyword;

and

keyword coding means for coding the keyword attached to each broadcasting program transmitted by the broadcasting data transmitting means according to the code table stored in the code table storing means by changing the keyword to the code corresponding to the keyword, one using number registered in the code table being incremented each time the keyword corresponding to the using number is coded by the keyword coding means.

8. A broadcast system according to claim 5, the service supply apparatus further comprising

code table storing means for storing a code table in which a set of a keyword, a coded keyword corresponding to the keyword and a using number corresponding to the keyword is registered for each keyword;

keyword coding means for inquiring of the code table storing means a particular coded keyword corresponding to a particular keyword which is attached to a particular broadcasting program stored in the broadcasting data storing means of the service supply apparatus and coding the particular keyword to change the particular keyword to the particular coded keyword in cases where the particular coded keyword is registered in the code table, a particular using number corresponding to the particular keyword in the code table being incremented; and

code table renewing means for adding a set of the particular keyword, the particular coded keyword and the particular using number set to one to the code table stored in the code table storing means in cases where the particular keyword is not registered in the code table.

9. A broadcast system according to claim 5, the service supply apparatus further comprising

code table storing means for storing a code table in which a set of a keyword, a coded keyword corresponding to the keyword and a using number corresponding to the keyword is registered for each keyword;

keyword coding means for coding the keywords attached to the broadcasting programs according to the code table stored in the code table storing means to change the keywords to a plurality of coded keywords, one using number in the code table being incremented each time the keyword corresponding to the using number is coded by the keyword coding means; and

code table renewing means for detecting a predetermined number of particular keywords corresponding to particular using numbers, which are smaller than the other using numbers in the code table, from the code table stored in the code table storing means and deleting a plurality of sets corresponding to the particular keywords from the code table.

10. A broadcast system according to claim 1 in which a communication line for the service content information of the broadcasting program transmitted from the broadcasting data transmitting means differs from a communication line for the service addition information transmitted from the broadcasting data transmitting means.

11. A broadcast system according to claim 1 in which the service content information of the broadcasting program transmitted from the broadcasting data transmitting means is sent to the receiving terminal apparatus on an image channel broadcast, and the service addition information transmitted from the broadcasting data transmitting means is sent to the receiving terminal apparatus through a two-way data communication line.

12. A broadcast system according to claim 1 in which the content information of the service addition information prepared by the service addition information preparing means is superimposed on the service content information of the broadcasting program digitalized by the broadcasting data transmitting means and is sent with the service content information of the broadcasting program through the same communication path.

13. A broadcast system according to claim 1 in which the service content information of the broadcasting program transmitted from the broadcasting data transmitting means is sent on analog-broadcast, and the service addition information transmitted from the broadcasting data transmitting means is sent on digital-broadcast.

14. A broadcast system according to claim 1 in which a keyword is attached to each of a plurality of broadcasting programs stored in the broadcasting data storing means of the service supply apparatus as the service addition information prepared by the service addition information preparing means to identify a type of each broadcasting program, a set of one keyword and a using number indicating how many times the current viewer views one type of broadcasting program to which the keyword is attached is listed for each keyword as the viewer attribute information stored in the attribute information storing means,

the receiving terminal apparatus further comprises:

operation record storing means for detecting the reproduction of one broadcasting program performed by the broadcasting program reproducing means and storing an operation record composed of one particular keyword attached to the broadcasting program and one using number set to one, a particular using number corresponding to the particular keyword listed as the viewer attribute information of the attribute information storing means being incremented according to the operation record.

15. A broadcast system according to claim 1 in which a keyword is attached to each of a plurality of broadcasting programs stored in the broadcasting data storing means of the service supply apparatus as the service addition information prepared by the service addition information preparing means to identify a type of each broadcasting program, a set of one keyword and a using number indicating how many times the current viewer views one type of broadcasting program to which the keyword is attached is listed for each keyword as the viewer attribute information stored in the attribute information storing means,

the receiving terminal apparatus further comprises:

operation record storing means for detecting the reproduction of one broadcasting program performed by the broadcasting program reproducing means and storing an operation record composed of one particular keyword attached to the broadcasting program and one using number set to one each time the reproduction of one broadcasting program is detected, and

the attribute information storing means of the receiving terminal apparatus comprises;

a fixed attribute holding unit for holding one or more fixed attributes of the viewer;

a short-term attribute holding unit for holding the operation records stored in the operation record storing means as a plurality of short-term attributes;

a long-term attribute holding unit for holding one or more long-term attributes of the viewer;

a long-term attribute renewing unit for changing the short-term attributes held in the short-term attribute holding unit to a plurality of new long-term attributes at prescribed time intervals and adding the new long-term attributes to the long-term attributes stored in the long-term attribute holding unit to renew the long-term attributes stored in the long-term attribute holding unit; and

a synthetic attribute outputting unit for generating a synthetic attribute from one fixed attribute stored in the fixed attribute holding unit, one short-term attribute stored in the short-term attribute holding unit and one long-term attribute stored in the long-term attribute holding unit for each keyword while weighting the short-term attribute with a weighting factor, the synthetic attributes being output to the attribute information collating means as the viewer attribute information.

16. A broadcast system according to claim 1 in which a plurality of receiving terminal apparatuses of a plurality of viewers receive the service content information of the broadcasting program and the service addition information of the broadcasting program from the service supply apparatus, the service addition information of the broadcasting program prepared in the service addition information preparing means includes examined viewer condition information indicating a group of viewers from which viewing records are collected,

each receiving terminal apparatus further comprises:

viewer recognizing means for recognizing a personal attribute of the corresponding viewer according to the viewer attribute information stored in the attribute information storing means;

viewer applicability estimating means for estimating a viewer applicability for the broadcasting program received by the broadcasting data receiving means by collating the personal attribute of the corresponding viewer recognized by the viewer recognizing means with a viewer condition indicated by the examined viewer condition information of the service addition information of the broadcasting program;

information utilization judging means for judging according to the viewer applicability estimated by the viewer applicability estimating means whether or not the collection of a viewing record for the reproduction of the broadcasting program in the broadcasting program reproducing means is performed; and

viewing record collecting means for collecting the viewing record for the reproduction of the broadcasting program in cases where it is judged by the information utilization judging means that the collection of the viewing record is performed, and

the service supply apparatus further comprises;

viewing record receiving means for receiving a plurality of viewing records transmitted from the viewing record collecting means of the receiving terminal apparatuses;

viewer attribute information data base for storing pieces of viewer attribute information transmitted from the attribute information storing means of the receiving terminal apparatuses; and

viewer applicability estimating means for estimating an overall viewer applicability for the broadcasting program by collating the pieces of viewer attribute information of the viewers stored in the viewer attribute information data base with the viewing records received in the viewing record storing means.

17. A broadcast system according to claim 1 in which the pieces of service addition information of the broadcasting programs and the pieces of service content information of the broadcasting programs are transmitted to each of a plurality of receiving terminal apparatuses one after another, each piece of service addition information includes broadcasting program identification information identifying a specific broadcasting program for which a viewing record is planned to be collected,

each receiving terminal apparatus of the current viewer further comprises:

information utilization judging means for judging according to the broadcasting program identification information whether or not the collection of a viewing record for the reproduction of a particular broadcasting program received by the broadcasting program receiving means is performed; and

viewing record collecting means for collecting the viewing record for the reproduction of the particular broadcasting program in cases where the particular broadcasting program agrees with the specific broadcasting program identified by the broadcasting program identification information and it is judged by the information utilization judging means that the collection of the viewing record is performed, and

the service supply apparatus further comprises;

viewing record receiving means for receiving a plurality of viewing records for the specific broadcasting program transmitted from the viewing record collecting means of the receiving terminal apparatuses;

viewer attribute information data base for storing pieces of viewer attribute information transmitted from the attribute information storing means of the receiving terminal apparatuses; and

viewer applicability estimating means for estimating an overall viewer applicability for the specific broadcasting program by collating the pieces of viewer attribute information of the viewers stored in the viewer attribute information data base with the viewing records received in the viewing record storing means.

18. A broadcast system according to claim 1 in which each of a plurality of receiving terminal apparatuses of a plurality of viewers receives the service content information of a particular broadcasting program and the pieces of service addition information of the particular broadcasting program from the service supply apparatus, and

the service supply apparatus further comprises:

viewer attribute information receiving means for receiving pieces of viewer attribute information transmitted from the attribute information storing means of the receiving terminal apparatuses; and

viewer applicability simulating means for simulating a viewer applicability of each viewer for the particular broadcasting program according to the pieces of viewer attribute information of the viewers received by the viewer attribute information receiving means and estimating a viewer condition for the particular broadcasting program according to the viewer applicabilities, the viewer condition indicating whether or not the added-service indicated by the content information of the service addition information suits the viewer.

19. A broadcast system according to claim 16 in which the service addition information of each broadcasting program prepared in the service addition information preparing means further includes viewing record collection schedule information indicating a collecting time of the viewing record collected by the viewing record collecting means of each receiving terminal apparatus, and the viewing record of one receiving terminal apparatus of a particular viewer is transmitted to the service supply apparatus during a particular time period determined by the viewing record collection schedule information and terminal identification information included in the viewer attribute information of the particular viewer.

20. A broadcast system according to claim 17 in which the service addition information of each broadcasting program prepared in the service addition information preparing means further includes viewing record collection schedule information indicating a collecting time of the viewing record collected by the viewing record collecting means of each receiving terminal apparatus, and the viewing record of one receiving terminal apparatus of a particular viewer for each broadcasting program is transmitted to the service supply apparatus during a particular time period determined by the viewing record collection schedule information and terminal identification information included in the viewer attribute information of the particular viewer.

21. A broadcast system according to claim 16 in which a group of receiving terminal apparatuses receive the service content information of one broadcasting program and the service addition information of the broadcasting program from one of a plurality of service supply apparatuses respectively identified by an access point, the service addition information of the broadcasting program prepared in the service addition information preparing means further includes access point information indicating a particular access point, the service addition information including the access point information is received by the broadcasting data receiving means of a particular group of receiving terminal apparatuses, and the viewing records of the particular group of receiving terminal apparatuses is transmitted to a particular service supply apparatus identified by the particular access point.

22. A broadcast system according to claim 17 in which each of a plurality of receiving terminal apparatuses receive the pieces of service content information of the broadcasting programs and the pieces of service addition information of the broadcasting programs one after another from one of a plurality of service supply apparatuses respectively identified by an access point, the service addition information of the specific broadcasting program prepared in the service addition information preparing means further includes access point information indicating a particular access point, the service addition information including the access point information is received by the broadcasting data receiving means of a particular group of receiving terminal apparatuses, and the viewing records of the particular group of receiving terminal apparatuses is transmitted to a particular service supply apparatus identified by the particular access point.

23. A broadcast system according to claim 16 in which information indicating that the collection of the viewing record is performed is displayed by the broadcasting program reproducing means in cases where it is judged by the information utilization judging means that the collection of the viewing record is performed.

24. A broadcast system according to claim 17 in which information indicating that the collection of the viewing record is performed is displayed by the broadcasting program reproducing means in cases where it is judged by the information utilization judging means that the collection of the viewing record is performed.

25. A broadcast system according to claim 16 in which the service supply apparatus further comprises

assessed charge managing means for managing an assessed charge for the viewing of the broadcasting program according to the viewing records received by the viewing record receiving means.

26. A broadcast system according to claim 17 in which the service supply apparatus further comprises

assessed charge managing means for managing an assessed charge for the viewing of the broadcasting program according to the viewing records received by the viewing record receiving means.

27. A broadcast system according to claim 16 in which the examined viewer condition information included in the service addition information is changed by the service addition information according to the overall viewer applicability estimated by the viewer applicability estimating means.

28. A broadcast system according to claim 17 in which the service supply apparatus further comprises

viewing record analyzing means for analyzing the viewing records received by the viewing record receiving means;

and

broadcasting program schedule managing means for changing a schedule of the broadcasting programs transmitted from the service supply apparatus to each receiving terminal apparatus according to the viewing records analyzed by the viewing record analyzing means.

29. A broadcast system according to claim 17 in which the service supply apparatus further comprises

viewing record analyzing means for analyzing the viewing records received by the viewing record receiving means to find out an unpopular broadcasting program for which a program rating is low;

and

broadcasting program schedule managing means for automatically put a particular advertising broadcast for the unpopular broadcasting program found out by the viewing record analyzing means in a schedule of advertising broadcasts.

30. A broadcast system according to claim 17 in which the service supply apparatus further comprises

viewing record analyzing means for analyzing the viewing records received by the viewing record receiving means to find out a high-rated viewer who frequently views the broadcasting programs, wherein a coupon indicating a discount on services of the broadcasting programs for the high-rated viewer found out by the viewing record analyzing means is included in particular service addition information in the service addition information preparing means and the particular service addition information is transmitted to a particular receiving terminal apparatus of the high-rated viewer.

31. A broadcast system according to claim 17 in which the service supply apparatus further comprises

viewing record analyzing means for analyzing the viewing records received by the viewing record receiving means to find out a new specific broadcasting program for which a viewing record is planned to be collected, wherein new broadcasting program identification information identifying the new specific broadcasting program for which a viewing record is planned to be collected is included in particular service addition information of the new specific broadcasting program by the service addition information preparing means and the particular service addition information is transmitted to the receiving terminal apparatuses.

32. A broadcast system according to claim 1 in which the receiving terminal apparatus further comprises:

operation record storing means for detecting the reproduction of one broadcasting program performed by the broadcasting program reproducing means and storing the reproduction of the broadcasting program as an operation record, and

the service supply apparatus further comprises;

viewer attribute information storing means for storing the viewer attribute information of the current viewer;

viewer attribute information renewing means for renewing the viewer attribute information of the current viewer stored in the operation record storing means to renewed viewer attribute information according to the operation record stored in the operation record storing means of the receiving terminal apparatus; and

viewer attribute information transmitting means for transmitting the renewed viewer attribute information obtained in the viewer attribute information renewing means to the attribute information storing means of the receiving terminal apparatus to replace the viewer attribute information of the current viewer stored in the attribute information storing means with the renewed viewer attribute information.

33. A broadcast system according to claim 32 in which a keyword is attached to each of the broadcasting programs stored in the broadcasting data storing means of the service supply apparatus as the service addition information prepared by the service addition information preparing means to identify a type of each broadcasting program, and the viewer attribute information stored in the attribute information storing means of each receiving terminal apparatus is composed of one keyword and a using number indicating how many times the viewer views one type of broadcasting program to which the keyword is attached.

34. A broadcast system according to claim 1 in which each of a plurality of receiving terminal apparatuses of a plurality of viewers receive the pieces of service content information of the broadcasting programs and the pieces of service addition information of the broadcasting programs one after another from the service supply apparatus,

each receiving terminal apparatus further comprises:

operation record storing means for detecting the reproduction of one broadcasting program performed by the broadcasting program reproducing means and storing the reproduction of the broadcasting program as an operation record, and

the service supply apparatus further comprises;

operation record receiving means for receiving the operation record from the operation record storing means of each receiving terminal apparatus;

viewer type information preparing means for generating an attribute distribution of the viewers from the operation records received by the operation record receiving means as viewer type information indicating attribute types of the viewers;

viewer attribute information preparing means for determining a taste position indicated by the operation record of one viewer in the taste distribution for each viewer and preparing new viewer attribute information indicating an attribute type of one viewer according to the taste position of the viewer for each viewer; and

viewer attribute information transmitting means for transmitting the new viewer attribute information of one viewer prepared by the viewer attribute information preparing means to the viewer attribute information storing unit of one receiving terminal apparatus of the viewer for each viewer to replace the viewer attribute information stored in the viewer attribute information storing unit with the new viewer attribute information.

35. A broadcast system according to claim 34 in which the pieces of service addition information of the broadcasting programs are prepared according to the viewer type information generated by the viewer type information preparing means to reflect the attributes of the viewers on the pieces of service addition information.

45. A broadcast system according to claim 1 in which a message or an image denoting the contents of the added-service indicated by the content information of the service addition information is displayed by the broadcasting program reproducing means in place of a message or an image included in the service content information.

36. A service supply apparatus, comprising:

broadcasting data storing means for storing service content information indicating contents of a broadcasting program as broadcasting data;

service addition information preparing means for preparing service addition information, in which attribute information indicating an attribute of the service content information of the broadcasting program stored in the broadcasting data storing means and content information indicating contents of an added-service are included as broadcasting data; and

broadcasting data transmitting means for transmitting the service content information of the broadcasting program stored in the broadcasting data storing means and the service addition information prepared by the service addition information preparing means to one or more receiving terminal apparatuses of one or more viewers to display the content information of the service addition information with the service content information in a particular receiving terminal apparatus of a particular viewer to show the particular viewer the added-service suiting the particular viewer in cases where the attribute of the service content information indicated by the attribute information of the service addition information suits an attribute of the particular viewer.

37. A service supply apparatus according to claim 36 in which a plurality of pieces of service content information of a plurality of broadcasting programs are stored in the broadcasting data storing means of the service supply apparatus, and

the service supply apparatus further comprises:

data receiving means for receiving pieces of viewer attribute information transmitted from the receiving terminal apparatuses of the viewers;

viewer attribute information data base for storing the pieces of viewer attribute information received by the data receiving means; and

service processing means for producing overall viewer attribute information for the viewers from the pieces of viewer attribute information stored in the viewer attribute information data base and selecting a piece of particular service content information of a particular broadcasting program from among the pieces of service content information of the broadcasting programs, on condition that an attribute of the particular service content information of the particular broadcasting program is most suitable to the overall viewer attribute information, so as to transmit the particular service content information of the particular broadcasting program and service addition information indicating the attribute of the particular service content information of the particular broadcasting program from the broadcasting data transmitting means to each of the receiving terminal apparatuses.

38. A service supply apparatus according to claim 36, further comprising

code table storing means for storing a code table in which a set of a keyword, a code corresponding to the keyword and a using number corresponding to the keyword is registered for each keyword;

and

keyword coding means for coding one keyword attached to each broadcasting program stored in the broadcasting data storing means as the service addition information prepared by the service addition information preparing means according to the code table stored in the code table storing means by changing the keyword to the code corresponding to the keyword.

39. A service supply apparatus according to claim 36, further comprising

viewing record receiving means for receiving a viewing record of the broadcasting program from each of the receiving terminal apparatuses;

and

viewing record analyzing means for analyzing the viewing records received by the viewing record receiving means to find out a high-rated viewer who frequently views the broadcasting program.

40. A service supply apparatus according to claim 36, further comprising

viewer attribute information receiving means for receiving pieces of viewer attribute information indicating attributes of the viewers from the receiving terminal apparatuses;

and viewer applicability simulating means for simulating a viewer applicability of each viewer for the broadcasting program according to the pieces of viewer attribute information of the viewers received by the viewer attribute information receiving means and estimating a viewer condition for the broadcasting program according to the viewer applicabilities, the viewer condition indicating whether or not the added-service indicated by the content information of the service addition information suits the viewer.

46. A service supply apparatus according to claim 36 in which a message or an image denoting the contents of the added-service indicated by the content information of the service addition information is displayed in place of a message or an image included in the service content information in the particular receiving terminal apparatus.

41. A receiving terminal apparatus of a current viewer comprising:

attribute information storing means for storing viewer attribute information indicating a personal attribute of the current viewer;

broadcasting data receiving means for receiving service content information indicating contents of a broadcasting program and service addition information, in which attribute information indicating an attribute of the broadcasting program and content information indicating contents of an added-service are included, from a service supply apparatus;

attribute information collating means for collating the service addition information received by the broadcasting data receiving means with the viewer attribute information stored in the attribute information storing means and judging whether or not the attribute of the service content information of the broadcasting program suits the personal attribute of the viewer; and

broadcasting program reproducing means for reproducing the service content information of the broadcasting program received by the broadcasting data receiving means, in cases where it is judged by the attribute information collating means that the attribute of the service content information of the broadcasting program suits the personal attribute of the viewer, and displaying the content information included in the service addition information with the service content information to show the current viewer the added-service suiting the current viewer.

42. A receiving terminal apparatus according to claim 41, further comprising:

operation record storing means for detecting the reproduction of the broadcasting program performed by the broadcasting program reproducing means and storing the reproduction of the broadcasting program as an operation record; and

data transmitting means for transmitting the operation record stored in the operation record storing means to the service supplying apparatus.

43. A receiving terminal apparatus according to claim 41, further comprising:

operation record storing means for detecting the reproduction of the broadcasting program performed by the broadcasting program reproducing means and storing the reproduction of the broadcasting program as an operation record each time the reproduction of the broadcasting program is reproduced, and

the attribute information storing means comprises;

a fixed attribute holding unit for holding one or more fixed attributes of the viewer;

a short-term attribute holding unit for holding the operation records stored in the operation record storing means as a plurality of short-term attributes of the current viewer;

a long-term attribute holding unit for holding one or more long-term attributes of the current viewer;

a long-term attribute renewing unit for changing each short-term attribute held in the short-term attribute holding unit to a new long-term attribute when a holding time period of the short-term attribute reaches a prescribed value and adding the new long-term attribute to the long-term attributes stored in the long-term attribute holding unit to renew the long-term attributes stored in the long-term attribute holding unit; and

a synthetic attribute outputting unit for generating a plurality of synthetic attributes from the fixed attributes stored in the fixed attribute holding unit, the short-term attributes stored in the short-term attribute holding unit and the long-term attribute stored in the long-term attribute holding unit while weighting the short-term attributes with a weighting factor, the synthetic attributes being output to the attribute information collating means as the viewer attribute information.

44. A receiving terminal apparatus according to claim 41, further comprising:

viewer recognizing means for recognizing a personal attribute of the current viewer according to the viewer attribute information stored in the attribute information storing means;

viewer applicability estimating means for estimating a viewer applicability for the broadcasting program received by the broadcasting data receiving means by collating the personal attribute of the current viewer recognized by the viewer recognizing means with a viewer condition indicated by examined viewer condition information included in the service addition information;

information utilization judging means for judging according to the viewer applicability estimated by the viewer applicability estimating means whether or not the collection of a viewing record for the reproduction of the broadcasting program performed in the broadcasting program reproducing means is performed;

viewing record collecting means for collecting the viewing record for the reproduction of the broadcasting program in cases where it is judged by the information utilization judging means that the collection of the viewing record is performed; and

data transmitting means for transmitting the viewing record collected by the viewing record collecting means to the service supply apparatus.

47. A receiving terminal apparatus according to claim 41 in which a message or an image denoting the contents of the added-service indicated by the content information of the service addition information is displayed by the broadcasting program reproducing means in place of a message or an mage included in the service content information.