Methods and apparatus for presenting supplemental information in an electronic programming guide

• US 8,572,651 B2
• Filed: 09/22/2008
• Issued: 10/29/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/22/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dish Technologies LLC (Dish Network Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Echostar Technologies LLC (Echostar Corporation)
• Inventors: VanDuyn, Luke, White, James Matthew
• Primary Examiner(s): DUFFIELD, JEREMY S
• Application Number:
  US12/235,476
• Publication Number:
  US 20100077432A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,863 Days
• Field of Search: 725/43
• US Class Current: 725/43
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4314 for fitting data in a restricted space on the screen, e.g. EPG data in a rectangular grid
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4316 for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4438 Window management, e.g. event handling following interaction with the user interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• 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 21/4821 using a grid, e.g. sorted out by channel and broadcast time
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02

Abstract

The various embodiments described herein facilitate the display of television guide information to a user simultaneously with supplemental content related to the guide information. An electronic programming guide is initially displayed in first and second portions of a display menu. Responsive to a user selection, the size of the display menu devoted to the electronic programming guide data is modified to free space for the display of supplemental content. Thus, the supplemental content is presented in a first portion of the display menu previously devoted to the electronic programming guide, and the electronic programming guide is simultaneously presented in a second portion of the display menus

Claims

1. A method for displaying television guide information, the method comprising:

initially displaying a programming guide grid that provides information about a plurality of television programs in a programming guide window, the programming guide grid comprising a first row comprising a plurality of time slots and a first column comprising the plurality of television programs, where each television program of the plurality of television programs in the first column is associated with one time slot of the plurality of time slots in the first row;

initially displaying live television programming content adjacent to the programming guide grid;

receiving a user input selecting a region of the programming guide grid within the first column corresponding to a particular television program of the plurality of television programs; and

in response to receiving the user input, displaying supplemental content corresponding to the particular television program in a supplemental content window within a smaller portion of the programming guide window that was previously occupied by the programming guide grid while simultaneously resizing the programming guide grid so that a re-sized programming guide grid that is smaller than the previous programming guide but that provides all of the same information about the plurality of television programs as the previous programming guide grid is displayed in a portion of the programming guide window next to the supplemental content during display of the television guide information, wherein the combined space occupied by the supplemental content window and the re-sized programming guide grid is smaller than the previous programming guide grid, wherein the supplemental content window comprises;

1) an advertisement for an upcoming event related to the particular television program;

2) a video preview icon, wherein a user input selecting the video preview icon causes a video regarding the upcoming event to be played in the supplemental content window; and

3) a trigger control element associated with recording of the upcoming event, wherein a user input selecting the trigger control element causes the setting of a recording timer for recording the upcoming event, responsive to the user input.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a second user input requesting to exit the supplemental content; and

again displaying the programming guide grid in a manner that spans the entire programming grid window, responsive to the second user input.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the supplemental content further comprises:

identifying the supplemental content based on the particular television program selected in the programming guide.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the region of the programming guide corresponds with a particular television channel, and wherein displaying the supplemental content further comprises:

identifying the supplemental content based on the particular television channel selected in the programming guide.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the resizing comprises shrinking the programming guide grid so that the same information previously displayed in the program guide window is presented as the re-sized programming guide grid within only the smaller portion of the programming guide window.

5. A television receiver comprising:

a tuner that receives television programming from a programming source;

an input interface communicatively coupled to an input device; and

a processor configured to;

output a display menu, for display by an associated display device, the display menu including a programming guide that spans both first and second portions of the display menu and that provides information about a plurality of television programs in a grid format, the programming guide grid comprising a first row comprising a plurality of time slots and a first column comprising the plurality of television programs, where each television program of the plurality of television programs in the first column is associated with one time slot of the plurality of time slots in the first row;

output live television programming content adjacent to the programming guide grid

process user input, received from the input device via the input interface, the user input selecting a region of the programming guide within the first column corresponding to a particular one of the plurality of television programs;

identify supplemental content associated with the particular television program for display in the display menu based on the region of the programming guide selected by the user; and

output simultaneously, for display in the display menu, a supplemental content window comprising supplemental content in an area that is smaller than the first portion of the display menu and a re-sized programming guide in a grid format that contains all of the same information about the plurality of television programs as the previous programming guide, but that is shrunken to fit in only in an area that is smaller than the second portion of the display menu next to the display of the supplemental content associated with the particular television program during display of the electronic programming guide, wherein the combined space occupied by the supplemental content window and the re-sized programming guide grid is smaller than the previous programming guide grid, wherein the supplemental content window comprises;

1) an advertisement for an upcoming event related to the particular television program;

2) a video preview icon, wherein a user input selecting the video preview icon causes a video regarding the upcoming event to be played in the supplemental content window; and

3) a trigger control element associated with recording of the upcoming event, wherein a user input selecting the trigger control element causes the setting of a recording timer for recording the upcoming event, responsive to the user input.

6. The television receiver of claim 5, wherein:

the input interface receives second user input from the input device, the second user input requesting to exit the supplemental content; and

the processor again outputs the programming guide in a manner that spans both the first and the second portions of the display menu, responsive to the second user input.

7. The television receiver of claim 5, wherein the processor identifies the supplemental content based on the particular television program selected in the programming guide.

8. The television receiver of claim 5, wherein the processor identifies the supplemental content based on the particular television channel selected in the programming guide.

9. The television receiver of claim 5 further comprising:

a storage medium that stores the video preview prior to reception of the user input.

11. A method for displaying television guide information, the method comprising:

initially displaying a television program on a display device;

receiving a first user input indicating a request to display an electronic programming guide;

in response to receiving the first user input, displaying the television program and the electronic programming guide simultaneously on the display device, wherein the electronic programming guide is displayed as a programming guide grid that provides information about a plurality of television programs in a programming guide window on the display device, the programming guide grid comprising a first row comprising a plurality of time slots and a first column comprising the plurality of television programs, where each television program of the plurality of television programs in the first column is associated with one time slot of the plurality of time slots in the first row, and wherein supplemental content regarding the television program is excluded from display on the display device;

receiving a second user input selecting a region of the programming guide grid within the first column corresponding to a particular television program of the plurality of television programs;

in response to receiving the second user input, displaying a supplemental content window comprising supplemental content corresponding to the particular television program within a smaller portion of the programming guide window that was previously occupied by the programming guide grid while simultaneously continuing to display the television program and resizing the programming guide grid so that a re-sized programming guide grid that is smaller than the previous programming guide but that provides all of the same information about the plurality of television programs as the previous programming guide grid is displayed in the remainder of the programming guide window next to the supplemental content during display of the television guide information, wherein the combined space occupied by the supplemental content window and the re-sized programming guide grid is smaller than the previous programming guide grid, wherein the supplemental content window comprises;

1) an advertisement for an upcoming event related to the particular television program;

2) a video preview icon, wherein a user input selecting the video preview icon causes a video regarding the upcoming event to be played in the supplemental content window; and

3) a trigger control element associated with recording of the upcoming event, wherein a user input selecting the trigger control element causes the setting of a recording timer for recording the upcoming event, responsive to the user input;

receiving a third user input selecting the video preview icon;

in response to the third user input, playing within the supplemental content window a preview video regarding the upcoming event;

receiving a fourth user input selecting the trigger control element;

in response to the fourth user input, setting a recording timer for recording the upcoming event and recording the upcoming event according to the recording timer;

receiving a fifth user input requesting to exit the supplemental content; and

in response to the fifth user input, discontinuing the display of any supplemental content on the display device while continuing to display the programming guide grid and the television program.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the preview video had been previously locally received and stored prior to receiving the third user input.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein in further response to receiving the third user input, querying a remote server for data comprising the preview video and receiving the data from the remote server.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising receiving a sixth user input requesting to tune to the particular television program;

and

in response to the sixth user input, tuning to the particular television program and displaying the particular television program on the display device in place of the initially displayed television program.