Daypart based navigation paradigm
First Claim
1. A method of providing information regarding media programs received by a receiver, comprising the steps of:
- accepting a command to select an active channel from a plurality of selectable channels wherein the active channel is one of the selectable channels to which the receiver is tuned;
accepting a command to provide a menu guide selected from a plurality of menu guides together defining a media program information space segmented by daypart, wherein a daypart is a period of time during which viewers characteristically view media programs, the media programs being related so as to infer which other media programs the viewers would be interested in viewing, and wherein the menu guide is associated with a first daypart; and
providing the menu guide, the menu guide comprising a menu guide content portion presenting media program information regarding media programs consisting of all of the media programs scheduled to be available during the first daypart on a channel consisting of the active channel.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method, apparatus, article of manufacture, and a memory structure for providing media program information to a user is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of accepting a command to provide a menu guide from a plurality of menu guides defining a media program information space segmented by a daypart, wherein the menu guide is associated with a first daypart, and providing a menu guide comprising a menu guide content portion presenting at least some of the media program information. The apparatus comprises a receiver having a tuner for receiving the media program and the media program information, a processor, communicatively coupled to the tuner for providing a menu guide having a menu guide content portion presenting at least some of the media program information, wherein the menu guide is selectable from a plurality of menu guides together defining a program information space segmented by a daypart. The foregoing daypart-based presentation of the media program information provides for an efficient use of display space by initially providing information programs the user is likely to be interested in, while still permitting the user to intuitively navigate to other media program information as well.
-
Citations
114 Claims
-
1. A method of providing information regarding media programs received by a receiver, comprising the steps of:
-
accepting a command to select an active channel from a plurality of selectable channels wherein the active channel is one of the selectable channels to which the receiver is tuned; accepting a command to provide a menu guide selected from a plurality of menu guides together defining a media program information space segmented by daypart, wherein a daypart is a period of time during which viewers characteristically view media programs, the media programs being related so as to infer which other media programs the viewers would be interested in viewing, and wherein the menu guide is associated with a first daypart; and providing the menu guide, the menu guide comprising a menu guide content portion presenting media program information regarding media programs consisting of all of the media programs scheduled to be available during the first daypart on a channel consisting of the active channel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 85)
-
-
41. An apparatus for providing media program information describing media programs, comprising:
a receiver, having; a tuner for receiving the media program and the media program information, a processor, communicatively coupled to the tuner, for accepting a command via an input device to select an active channel from a plurality of selectable channels the active channel being one of the selectable channels to which the receiver is tuned; for accepting a command via the input device to provide a menu guide selected from a plurality of menu guides together defining a media program information space segmented by daypart, wherein a daypart is a period of time during which viewers characteristically view media programs, the media programs related to as to infer which other media programs the viewers would be interested in viewing, and wherein the menu guide is associated with a first daypart; and for providing the menu guide, the menu guide having a menu guide content portion presenting media program information regarding media programs consisting of all of the media programs scheduled to be available during the first daypart on the active channel. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 86)
-
81. A method of presenting advertising in a menu guide, comprising the steps of:
-
accepting advertising media content and a media program from a media content provider; and providing the media program information to a subscriber on an active channel; and providing a menu guide selected from a plurality of menu guides together defining a media program information space segmented by daypart, wherein a daypart is a period of time during which viewers characteristically view media programs, the media programs related to as to infer which other media programs the viewers would be interested in viewing, and wherein the menu guide includes a menu guide content portion presenting media program information for media programs consisting of all of the media programs scheduled to be available on the active channel during a daypart selected from a current daypart and a selected daypart.
-
-
82. A menu guide for presenting media program information, comprising:
-
a menu guide content portion presenting media program information regarding media programs consisting of all of the media programs scheduled to be available during a first daypart on a selected channel; and wherein the menu guide is selected from a plurality of menu guides together defining a media program information space segmented by a daypart wherein the daypart is a period of time during which viewers characteristically view media programs, the media programs related to as to infer which other media programs the viewers would be interested in viewing.
-
-
83. A method of presenting media program information describing at least one media program according to daypart, wherein a daypart is a period of time during which viewers characteristically view media programs, the media programs being related so as to infer which other media programs the viewers would be interested in viewing, the method comprising the steps of:
-
accepting a command to access the media program information at a time of day; determining a first daypart selected from the group comprising a current daypart defined from the time of day and a selected daypart; and providing a menu guide having menu guide content including media program information, the media program information describing media programs consisting of all of the media programs scheduled to be available during the first daypart on a selected channel. - View Dependent Claims (84, 87)
-
-
88. A method of providing information regarding media programs received by a receiver, comprising the steps of:
-
accepting a command via an input device to select an active channel from a plurality of selectable channels, wherein the active channel is a channel to which the receiver is tuned; accepting a command via the input device to provide a menu guide selected from a plurality of menu guides together defining a media program information space segmented by daypart, wherein the menu guide is associated with a first daypart selected from a group consisting of; a morning daypart from 6 AM to 10 AM; a daytime daypart from 10 AM to 4 PM; a fringe daypart from 4 PM to 8 PM; a primetime daypart from 8 PM to 12 PM; a late night daypart from 12 PM to 2 AM; and an early morning daypart from 2 AM to 6 AM; and providing the menu guide, the menu guide comprising a menu guide content portion presenting media program information regarding media programs consisting of all of the media programs scheduled to be available during the first daypart on a channel consisting of the active channel. - View Dependent Claims (89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101)
-
-
102. An apparatus for providing media program information describing media programs, comprising:
a receiver, having; a tuner for receiving the media program and the media program information, a processor, communicatively coupled to the tuner; for accepting a command via an input device to select an active channel from a plurality of selectable channels wherein the active channel is a channel to which the receiver is tuned, and for accepting a command via the input device to provide a menu guide selected from a plurality of menu guides together defining a media program information space segmented by daypart, wherein the menu guide is associated with a first daypart selected from a group comprising a morning daypart from 6 AM to 10 AM, a daytime daypart from 10 AM to 4 PM, a fringe daypart from 4 PM to 8 PM, a primetime daypart from 8 PM to 12 PM and a late night daypart from 12 PM to 2 AM, and for providing the menu guide, the menu guide having a menu guide content portion presenting media program information regarding media programs consisting of all of the media programs scheduled to be available during the first daypart on the active channel. - View Dependent Claims (103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113)
-
114. A method of presenting advertising in a menu guide, comprising the steps of:
-
accepting advertising media content and a media program from a media content provider; providing the media program information to a subscriber on an active channel to which a receiver is currently tuned; and providing a menu guide selected from a plurality of menu guides together defining a media program information space segmented by daypart selected from a group consisting of; a morning daypart from 6 AM to 10 AM; a daytime daypart from 10 AM to 4 PM; a fringe daypart from 4 PM to 8 PM; a primetime daypart from 8 PM to 12 PM; a late night daypart from 12 PM to 2 AM; and an early morning daypart from 2 AM to 6 AM; wherein the menu guide includes a menu guide content portion presenting media program information for media programs consisting of all of the media programs scheduled to be available on the active channel during a daypart selected from a current daypart and a selected daypart.
-
Specification