An interactive television program guide with remote access is provided. The interactive television program guide is implemented on interactive television program guide equipment. A remote program guide access device is connected to the interactive television program guide equipment by a remote access link to provide a user with remote access to program guide functions. An interactive television program guide system based on multiple user television equipment devices in a single household is provided. The system provides a user with an opportunity to adjust program guide settings with a given one of the interactive television program guides. Program guide setting include features related to setting program reminders, profiles, program recording features, messaging features, favorites features, parental control features, program guide set up features (e.g., audio and video and language settings), etc.

Interactive television program guide with remote access

An interactive television program guide system is provided. An interactive television program guide provides users with an opportunity to select programs for recording on a remote media server. Programs may also be recorded on a local media server. The program guide provides users with VCR-like control over programs that are played back from the media servers and over real-time cached copies of the programs. The program guide also provides users with an opportunity to designate gift recipients for whom programs may be recorded.

Client-server based interactive television program guide system with remote server recording

An interactive entertainment system enables presentation of supplemental interactive content along side traditional broadcast video programs, such as television shows and movies. The programs are broadcast in a conventional manner. The supplemental content is supplied as part of the same program signal over the broadcast network, or separately over another distribution network. A viewer computing unit is located at the viewer's home to present the program and supplemental content to a viewer. When the viewer tunes to a particular channel, the viewer computing unit consults an electronic programming guide (EPG) to determine if the present program carried on the channel is interactive. If it is, the viewer computing unit launches a browser. The browser uses a target specification stored in the EPG to activate a target resource containing the supplemental content for enhancing the broadcast program. The target resource contains display layout instructions prescribing how the supplemental content and the video content program are to appear in relation to one another when displayed. When the data from the target resource is downloaded, the viewer computing unit is responsive to the layout instructions obtained from the target resource to display the supplemental content concurrently with the video content program. Embedding the layout instructions in the supplemental content advantageously places control of the presentation to the content developers. The developers are free to arrange the data and video in any manner they choose.

Interactive entertainment system for presenting supplemental interactive content together with continuous video programs

An electronic program schedule system with access to both stored television program schedule information and data feeds containing status information for live programs such as sporting events. The system includes a data processor for receiving program schedule information for a plurality of programs and data feeds containing status information for certain of the programs, and a video display generator for generating a display signal simultaneously comprising information from both the stored schedule information and the received data feed. The system is further provided with user control means such as a remote controller for generating user control commands and transmitting signals to the data processor in response thereto so as to control the content of the display signal. The display signal may be displayed on a display apparatus such as a television receiver. In addition, the program schedule system of the present invention utilizes category-specific user interfaces providing access to multiple services including television programs, received data feeds, home shopping services, and video games as well as the stored program schedule information.

Electronic television program guide schedule system and method with data feed access

The present invention provides systems and methods for providing television schedule information to a viewer, and for allowing the viewer to link, search, select and interact with information in a remote database, e.g., a database on the internet. The television schedule information can be displayed on a variety of viewer interfaces, such as televisions screens, computer monitors, PCTV screens and the like. The television schedule information may be stored on the viewer's computer, television, PCTV, or a remote server (e.g., a website), or the television schedule information may be downloaded from a remote database to the viewer's computer, television or PCTV.

Systems and methods for linking television viewers with advertisers and broadcasters

An apparatus and method for presenting a viewer with an overall representation of the present number of entertainment programs available for selection given one week of program schedule data for 300 or more channels and one or more filtering criteria to limit the number of items represented in the overall representation. Sequentially applied filters will filter the group of program schedule data items that has at least 100,000 half hour time slots offered by 300 channels each week into a smaller subgroup where individual consideration of each item of the subgroup can be made in a reasonable time. A set top box drives the display of overall representations or results of filtering criteria on a commercial TV set. Once a reasonable sized subgroup is obtained, other displays provide specific information of the program offerings of the subgroup. Selection of the filtering criteria and selection from within a subgroup is interactively made by a viewer through the use of a controller that looks and operates very much like a TV remote control. This makes the interaction familiar, easy and predictable.

Program category selection with filtered data and displayed cascaded cards

Method and Apparatus for Finding and Selecting a Desired Data Item from a Large Schedule of Data Items Using a TV Set and a Controller Similar to a TV-Remote-Control

Rebecca Anne Walpole

Papers

Program category selection with filtered data and displayed cascaded cards

Method and Apparatus for Finding and Selecting a Desired Data Item from a Large Schedule of Data Items Using a TV Set and a Controller Similar to a TV-Remote-Control