Dynamic adjustment of electronic program guide displays based on viewer preferences for minimizing navigation in VOD program selection

• US 9,584,868 B2
• Filed: 06/26/2007
• Issued: 02/28/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Broadband iTV, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Broadband iTV, Inc.
• Inventors: Diaz Perez, Milton
• Primary Examiner(s): Flynn, Nathan
• Assistant Examiner(s): TELAN, MICHAEL R
• Application Number:
  US11/768,895
• Publication Number:
  US 20070250864A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,535 Days
• Field of Search: 725 37- 61
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2541 Rights Management protecting software against unauthorised usage in a vending or licensing environment G06F21/10; security in data switching network management H04L41/28; security management or policies for network security H04L63/20; access security in wireless networks H04W12/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2547 Third Party Billing, e.g. billing of advertiser
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25875 involving end-user authentication restricting access to computer systems by authenticating users using a predetermined code G06F21/33; arrangements for secret or secure communication including means for verifying the identity or authority of a user of the system H04L9/32; networks authentication protocols H04L63/08; authentication in wireless network security H04W12/06
• 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 21/2743 Video hosting of uploaded data from client
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4122 additional display device, e.g. video projector digital output for controlling a plurality of local displays G06F3/1423
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4312 involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations
• 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 21/44224 Monitoring of user activity on external systems, e.g. Internet browsing
• 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 21/4627 Rights management associated to the content security in data switching network management H04L41/28; security management or policies for network security H04L63/20; access security in wireless networks H04W12/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4722 for requesting additional data associated with the content
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/478 Supplemental services, e.g. displaying phone caller identification, shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4821 using a grid, e.g. sorted out by channel and broadcast time
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6125 involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• 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 21/858 : Linking data to content, e.g. by linking an URL to a video object, by creating a hotspot
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 : Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

Items of video content offered for viewing on a video-on-demand (VOD) platform of a digital TV service provider are each assigned a respective title and hierarchical address corresponding to hierarchically-arranged categories and subcategories within which the title for the video content is to be categorized. The title is listed in a location of an electronic program guide (EPG) using the same categories and subcategories as its hierarchical address. Any TV subscriber can access the EPG and navigate through its categories and subcategories to find a title for viewing on the TV. The EPG dynamically adjust its display listings of each level of categories, subcategories, and titles in order to minimize the number of remote control keypresses needed for a viewer to navigate to a title of interest. In one basic form, the EPG display is reordered by listing more frequently visited categories or subcategories first, and other less frequently visited categories or subcategories lower on the listing or out-of-sight on another page of the display.

Claims

1. A method for dynamic adjustment of an individualized electronic program guide including individual TV viewer selection of video-on-demand program content for viewing on a subscriber TV system in order to enable convenient navigating by an individual viewer in a TV subscriber household that may have a plurality of viewers to video-on-demand program content offered on a video-on-demand platform of a digital TV services provider which is at least part of a digital TV services provider system, the method comprising:

(a) maintaining, at the digital TV services provider system, a listing of at least category names for respective categories of video-on-demand programs to which a viewer can navigate using the electronic program guide for the video-on-demand platform;

(b) establishing, at the digital TV services provider system, a viewer-individualized electronic program guide for each of a plurality of individual viewers in order to access video-on-demand programs and requiring each individual viewer to access a display of their respective viewer-individualized electronic program guide through a Log-In step by which the individual viewer currently operating the subscriber TV system can be uniquely identified in association with their respective viewer-individualized electronic program guide;

(c) in each previous session while said individual viewer is logged onto their respective viewer-individualized electronic program guide in order to access video-on-demand programs on the subscriber TV system, tracking, at the digital TV services provider system, said individual viewer'"'"'s selections of category names for video-on-demand programs listed in their respective viewer-individualized electronic program guide and saving the selection data as representing a past history of said individual viewer'"'"'s preferences for the selected category names for video-on-demand programs;

(d) determining, at the digital TV services provider system, an order of relevance of the category names for said individual viewer selection of video-on-demand programs from their respective viewer-individualized electronic program guide based at least in part on said viewer'"'"'s past history of selection data representing said individual viewer'"'"'s preferences for selection of video-on-demand programs from corresponding category names on their respective viewer-individualized electronic program guide; and

(e) at the start of each new session when said individual viewer logs onto their respective viewer-individualized electronic program guide in order to access video-on-demand programs on the subscriber TV system, reordering a current display listing of the category names for categories of video-on-demand programs preferred by each viewer on their viewer-individualized electronic program guide based at least in part on said determined order of relevance.

2. A method for dynamic adjustment of an individualized electronic program guide according to claim 1, wherein the order of relevance is determined by frequency of selection of category names based at least in part on the viewer'"'"'s past history of category name selection.

3. A method for dynamic adjustment of an individualized electronic program guide according to claim 1, wherein the order of relevance is determined based at least in part on a parameter of viewer selection from the group consisting of:

time-of-day;

weekday or weekend; and

preference indicated by past selections of TV program titles.

4. A method for dynamic adjustment of an individualized electronic program guide according to claim 1, wherein the current display listing of category names is reordered by listing a predetermined number of category names of higher relevance on the display listing, and maintaining all other category names of lower relevance out-of-sight on a following display.

5. A method for dynamic adjustment of an individualized electronic program guide according to claim 4, wherein the other category names of lower relevance are accessed by activating a “

More”

button on the display listing.

6. A method for dynamic adjustment of an individualized electronic program guide according to claim 1, wherein the video content offered for viewing on the video-on-demand platform is accessed by navigation through hierarchically-arranged categories and subcategories down to individual titles for individual items of video content.

7. A method for dynamic adjustment of an individualized electronic program guide according to claim 6, wherein the hierarchical arrangement of categories and subcategories down to an individual title for an individual item of video content is indicative of a unique hierarchical address for the item of video content.

8. A method for dynamic adjustment of an individualized electronic program guide according to claim 7, wherein the hierarchical address comprises a string of category and subcategory terms and the title delimited by standard delimiters.

9. A method for dynamic adjustment of an individualized electronic program guide according to claim 1, wherein the reordering of category names is provided upon transition of the viewer from a generalized electronic program guide for all viewers on the video-on-demand platform to a viewer-individualized electronic program guide.

10. A method for dynamic adjustment of an individualized electronic program guide according to claim 1, wherein the Log-In step enables a viewer to register their name and a personal identification number (PIN), and in a subsequent Log-In step the viewer only needs to select their name from a list of previously registered viewers and enter their selected PIN.

11. A method for dynamic adjustment of an individualized electronic program guide according to claim 9, wherein a top level display of the viewer-individualized electronic program guide displays a reordered listing of category names of top level categories for the TV programs offered for viewing on demand.

12. A method for dynamic adjustment of an individualized electronic program guide according to claim 11, wherein each subsequent level display of the viewer-individualized electronic program guide displays a reordered listing of subcategory names of subcategories for the TV programs offered for viewing on demand.

13. A method for dynamic adjustment of an individualized electronic program guide according to claim 9, wherein upon access by a current viewer to the viewer-individualized electronic program guide, the categories and subcategories on which the viewer clicks are tracked until the viewer logs off or the TV viewing session is ended, and the tracking of viewer clicks is added to the viewer'"'"'s past history.

14. A method for dynamic adjustment of an individualized electronic program guide according to claim 9, wherein upon access by a current viewer to the viewer-individualized electronic program guide, the categories and subcategories for video content on which the viewer clicks are tracked and used to create automatically a new category for TV programs of the type most frequently clicked on by the viewer.

15. A method for dynamic adjustment of an individualized electronic program guide comprising:

(a) maintaining, at a digital TV services provider system comprising a video-on-demand platform, a listing of at least category names for respective categories of video-on-demand programs to which a viewer can navigate using the individualized electronic program guide for the video-on-demand platform;

(b) establishing, at the digital TV services provider system, the individualized electronic program guide for each of a plurality of subscribers in order to access video-on-demand programs;

(c) receiving, at the digital TV services provider system, an electronic request for a first video-on-demand program associated with at least a first category, via the individualized electronic program guide from a set-top box;

(d) storing, in memory operatively connected to the digital TV services provider system, selection data associated with the individualized electronic program guide including information related to said first video-on-demand program and said first category;

(e) determining, at the digital TV services provider system, an order of relevance of the category names associated with the respective individualized electronic program guide based at least in part on said selection data;

(f) generating, at the digital TV services provider system, an updated individualized electronic program guide, based at least in part on said determining step, including category information and/or title information for video-on-demand programs, which are ordered in accordance with a higher relevance to viewers of the individualized electronic program guide; and

(g) transmitting, from the digital TV services provider system to the set-top box, the updated electronic program guide.

16. A method for dynamic adjustment of an individualized electronic program guide according to claim 15, wherein the order of relevance is determined in order of frequency of selection of category names based at least in part on the viewers past history of category name selection.

17. A method for dynamic adjustment of an individualized electronic program guide according to claim 15, wherein the order of relevance is determined based at least in part on a parameter of viewer selection from the group consisting of:

time-of-day;

weekday or weekend; and

preference indicated by past selections of TV program titles.

18. A method for dynamic adjustment of an individualized electronic program guide according to claim 15, wherein the current display listing of category names is reordered by listing a predetermined number of category names of higher relevance on the display listing, and maintaining all other category names of lower relevance out-of-sight on a following display.

19. A method for dynamic adjustment of an individualized electronic program guide according to claim 18, wherein the other category names of lower relevance are accessed by activating a “

More”

button on the display listing.

20. A method for dynamic adjustment of an individualized electronic program guide according to claim 15, wherein the video content offered for viewing on the video-on-demand platform is accessed by navigation through hierarchically-arranged categories and subcategories down to individual titles for individual items of video content.

21. A method for dynamic adjustment of an individualized electronic program guide according to claim 15, wherein a top level display of the viewer-individualized electronic program guide displays a reordered listing of category names of top level categories for the TV programs offered for viewing on demand.

22. A method for dynamic adjustment of an individualized electronic program guide according to claim 21, wherein each subsequent level display of the viewer-individualized electronic program guide displays a reordered listing of subcategory names of subcategories for the TV programs offered for viewing on demand.

23. A method for dynamic adjustment of an individualized electronic program guide according to claim 15, wherein upon access by a current viewer to the viewer-individualized electronic program guide, the categories and subcategories on which the viewer clicks are tracked until the viewer logs off or the TV viewing session is ended, and the tracking of viewer clicks is added to the viewer'"'"'s past history.

24. A method for dynamic adjustment of an individualized electronic program guide according to claim 15, wherein upon access by a current viewer to the viewer-individualized electronic program guide, the categories and subcategories for video content on which the viewer clicks are tracked and used to create automatically a new category for TV programs of the type most frequently clicked on by the viewer.