Systems and methods for presentation of preferred program selections
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- maintaining, by a network terminal, a viewing history associated with a user of the network terminal;
maintaining, by the network terminal, a viewer profile associated with the user, the viewer profile comprising data received from a source external to the network terminal and representing at least one attribute associated with the user;
detecting, by the network terminal, an occurrence of an unforeseen external news event not associated with the user;
determining, by the network terminal, a program score for each of a plurality of video programs accessible via the network terminal by processing metadata associated with each of the video programs with the viewer profile;
determining, by the network terminal, a first program category list corresponding to a first program category and comprising a first ordered list of a first subset of the video programs, wherein each of the video programs in the first subset of the video programs has a first common attribute defined by the metadata, wherein the first ordered list is determined by the program scores of each of the first subset of the video programs and a weighting factor related to the occurrence of the unforeseen external news event;
determining, by the network terminal, a second program category list corresponding to a second program category and comprising a second ordered list of a second subset of the video programs, wherein each of the video programs in the second subset of the video programs has a second common attribute defined by the metadata, wherein the second ordered list is determined by the program scores of each of the second subset of the video programs and a weighting factor related to the occurrence of the unforeseen external news event;
displaying, by the network terminal, the first and second categories in a first column of an electronic program guide in accordance with a presentation order based on the occurrence of the unforeseen external news event, and at least one of the viewing history, a current time, and a current day of week; and
displaying, by the network terminal, the first and second program category lists in a second column of the electronic program guide in accordance with a presentation order based on the occurrence of the unforeseen external news event,wherein one or more of the video programs included in the first or second program category lists have been recorded by the network terminal prior to the current time and day of week, one or more of the video programs included in the first or second program category lists are unrecorded by the network terminal and available at the current time and day of week, and one or more of the video programs included in the first or second program category lists are unrecorded by the network terminal and only available after the current time and day of week.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Preferred systems and methods are disclosed for navigating among a group or lists of programs, such as in a network terminal (such as a set top box) in a video program distribution system which presents a viewer with an electronic program guide comprising a plurality of program titles wherein the order is determined by a program score used to predict a level of interest for the viewer based in part on extrinsic data provided to the network terminal regarding the viewer'"'"'s characteristics and attributes. The extrinsic data could be obtained based on the individual viewer'"'"'s specific attributes, or the demographic attributes of similarly situated viewers. The extrinsic data, as well as intrinsic data is processed to provide an ordered list of program which are more reflective of that viewer'"'"'s interests that a linear listing of programs. The system and method can apply for other applications involving prioritizing selection information.
176 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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maintaining, by a network terminal, a viewing history associated with a user of the network terminal; maintaining, by the network terminal, a viewer profile associated with the user, the viewer profile comprising data received from a source external to the network terminal and representing at least one attribute associated with the user; detecting, by the network terminal, an occurrence of an unforeseen external news event not associated with the user; determining, by the network terminal, a program score for each of a plurality of video programs accessible via the network terminal by processing metadata associated with each of the video programs with the viewer profile; determining, by the network terminal, a first program category list corresponding to a first program category and comprising a first ordered list of a first subset of the video programs, wherein each of the video programs in the first subset of the video programs has a first common attribute defined by the metadata, wherein the first ordered list is determined by the program scores of each of the first subset of the video programs and a weighting factor related to the occurrence of the unforeseen external news event; determining, by the network terminal, a second program category list corresponding to a second program category and comprising a second ordered list of a second subset of the video programs, wherein each of the video programs in the second subset of the video programs has a second common attribute defined by the metadata, wherein the second ordered list is determined by the program scores of each of the second subset of the video programs and a weighting factor related to the occurrence of the unforeseen external news event; displaying, by the network terminal, the first and second categories in a first column of an electronic program guide in accordance with a presentation order based on the occurrence of the unforeseen external news event, and at least one of the viewing history, a current time, and a current day of week; and displaying, by the network terminal, the first and second program category lists in a second column of the electronic program guide in accordance with a presentation order based on the occurrence of the unforeseen external news event, wherein one or more of the video programs included in the first or second program category lists have been recorded by the network terminal prior to the current time and day of week, one or more of the video programs included in the first or second program category lists are unrecorded by the network terminal and available at the current time and day of week, and one or more of the video programs included in the first or second program category lists are unrecorded by the network terminal and only available after the current time and day of week. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A system comprising:
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a video distribution facility that provides a plurality of video programs and associated program metadata indicating attributes of the video programs; a network terminal connected to the video distribution facility, wherein the network terminal; receives and stores extrinsic data and the program metadata from the video distribution facility, the extrinsic data comprising data representative of an occurrence of an unforeseen external news event not associated with the user; processes a subset of the program metadata for each of the video programs with respect to the extrinsic data to develop a plurality of ordered lists of program titles associated with the video programs, wherein each ordered list of program titles corresponds to one of a plurality of program categories and is determined based on a respective program score associated with each of the video programs and a weighting factor related to the occurrence of the unforeseen external news event; displays the program categories in a first column of a program guide; and displays the program category lists in a second column of the program guide, wherein a presentation order of the program categories in the first column is based on an the occurrence of the unforeseen external news event and at least one of a viewing history associated with a user of the program guide, a current time, and a current day of week; wherein a presentation order of the first and second program category lists is based on the occurrence of the unforeseen external news event; wherein one or more of the video programs associated with the program titles included in one or more of the ordered lists have been recorded by the network terminal prior to the current time and day of week, one or more of the video programs associated with the program titles included in one or more of the ordered lists are unrecorded by the network terminal and available at the current time and day of week, and one or more of the video programs associated with the program titles included in one or more of the ordered lists are unrecorded by the network terminal and only available after the current time and day of week. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method comprising:
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maintaining a viewer profile associated with a viewer; determining a program score for each of a plurality of video programs based at least in part on the viewer profile associated with the viewer; determining a plurality of program category lists each corresponding to one of a plurality of program categories and each comprising an ordered list of a subset of the video programs; detecting an occurrence of an unforeseen external news event not associated with the user; displaying the program categories in a first column of an electronic program guide; and displaying the program category lists in a second column of the electronic program guide, wherein a presentation order of the program categories in the first column is based on an the occurrence of the unforeseen external news event and at least one of a viewing history associated with the viewer, a current time, and a current day of week; wherein each ordered list of video programs is determined based on at least one of the program scores and a weighting factor related to the occurrence of the unforeseen external news event and has a presentation order based on the occurrence of the unforeseen external news event; wherein one or more of the video programs included in the program category lists have been recorded by the network terminal prior to the current time and day of week, one or more of the video programs included in the program category lists are unrecorded by the network terminal and available at the current time and day of week, and one or more of the video programs included in the program category lists are unrecorded by the network terminal and only available after the current time and day of week. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification