U.S. patent application number 10/401301 was filed with the patent office on 2003-10-02 for method and system for displaying advertisements between schedule listings.
This patent application is currently assigned to StarSight Telecast, Inc.. Invention is credited to Kwoh, Daniel S., Leung, Elsie Y., Mankovitz, Roy J., Yuen, Henry C..
Application Number | 20030188311 10/401301 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 28456489 |
Filed Date | 2003-10-02 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030188311 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Yuen, Henry C. ; et
al. |
October 2, 2003 |
Method and system for displaying advertisements between schedule
listings
Abstract
In one embodiment, the invention is a system and method for
simultaneously displaying advertisements with an electronic program
guide (EPG). The system displays television schedule information in
rows of schedule information items including the time and channel
for at least a portion of the displayed television schedule
information items. An advertisement is selected for display from a
plurality of advertisements, and the selected advertisement is
displayed between two rows of the schedule information items
simultaneously with the displayed television schedule information
items.
Inventors: |
Yuen, Henry C.; (Pasadena,
CA) ; Mankovitz, Roy J.; (Calabasas, CA) ;
Kwoh, Daniel S.; (La Canada/Flintridge, CA) ; Leung,
Elsie Y.; (South Pasadena, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
CHRISTIE, PARKER & HALE, LLP
P.O. BOX 7068
PASADENA
CA
91109-7068
US
|
Assignee: |
StarSight Telecast, Inc.
|
Family ID: |
28456489 |
Appl. No.: |
10/401301 |
Filed: |
March 27, 2003 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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10401301 |
Mar 27, 2003 |
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09284894 |
Jul 13, 1999 |
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09284894 |
Jul 13, 1999 |
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PCT/US97/23852 |
Dec 19, 1997 |
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60034784 |
Dec 19, 1996 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
725/42 ;
348/E5.104; 348/E5.105; 348/E5.112; 386/E5.07; 725/34; 725/47 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N 21/4316 20130101;
H04N 21/47 20130101; H04N 5/45 20130101; G06Q 30/0241 20130101;
H04N 5/775 20130101; H04N 5/44543 20130101; H04N 21/812
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
725/42 ; 725/34;
725/47 |
International
Class: |
H04N 007/025; H04N
007/10; G06F 003/00; H04N 005/445; G06F 013/00 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method for simultaneously displaying channel advertisements
with an electronic program guide (EPG), comprising: displaying a
plurality of television schedule information in a plurality of rows
of schedule information items and displaying the time and channel
for at least a portion of the displayed television schedule
information items; selecting an advertisement for display from a
plurality of advertisements; displaying the selected advertisement
between two rows of the plurality rows of schedule information
items simultaneously with the displayed plurality of television
schedule information items.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the displayed channel
advertisement is interactive.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the displayed channel
advertisement includes text.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the displayed channel
advertisement is related to a product.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the displayed channel
advertisement is related to a service.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: highlighting a row of
displayed television program listings with a cursor; displaying a
detail window in a second area of the screen; and displaying a
description corresponding to the highlighted row of television
program listings in a second area of the screen.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: highlighting the
displayed channel advertisement with a cursor; and displaying
information relating to the highlighted channel advertisement in a
second area of the screen.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the displayed channel
advertisement has substantially the same horizontal width of each
of the displayed plurality of television schedule information
items.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the displayed channel
advertisement has substantially the same vertical height of each of
the displayed plurality of television schedule information
items.
10. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting the
advertising data and the EPG data in a vertical blanking interval
of a television signal.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein the advertising data is
displayed independent of the displayed EPG data.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the advertising data is
displayed independent of user selections of the displayed EPG
data.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein the advertising data contains
information other than a channel name, channel number, and a
program title.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein the EPG data is displayed for a
user selectable time and the advertising data is displayed
independent of the user selected time.
15. An apparatus for simultaneously displaying channel
advertisements with an electronic program guide (EPG), comprising:
means for displaying a plurality of television schedule information
in a plurality of rows of schedule information items and displaying
the time and channel for at least a portion of the displayed
television schedule information items; means for selecting an
advertisement for display from a plurality of advertisements; means
for displaying the selected advertisement between two rows of the
plurality rows of schedule information items simultaneously with
the displayed plurality of television schedule information
items.
16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the displayed channel
advertisement is interactive.
17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the displayed channel
advertisement includes text.
18. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the displayed channel
advertisement is related to a product.
19. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the displayed channel
advertisement is related to a service.
20. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising: means for
highlighting a row of displayed television program listings with a
cursor; means for displaying a detail window in a second area of
the screen; and means for displaying a description corresponding to
the highlighted row of television program listings in a second area
of the screen.
21. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising: means for
highlighting the displayed channel advertisement with a cursor; and
means for displaying information relating to the highlighted
channel advertisement in a second area of the screen.
22. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the displayed channel
advertisement has substantially the same horizontal width of each
of the displayed plurality of television schedule information
items.
23. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the displayed channel
advertisement has substantially the same vertical height of each of
the displayed plurality of television schedule information
items.
24. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising means for
transmitting the advertising data and the EPG data in a vertical
blanking interval of a television signal.
25. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the advertising data is
displayed independent of the displayed EPG data.
26. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the advertising data is
displayed independent of user selections of the displayed EPG
data.
27. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the advertising data
contains information other than a channel name, channel number, and
a program title.
28. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the EPG data is displayed
for a user selectable time and the advertising data is displayed
independent of the user selected time.
29. A system for displaying channel advertisements in an electronic
program guide (EPG), comprising: a memory for storing EPG data and
a plurality of advertising data; a display monitor having a screen;
a microprocessor for accessing the memory to retrieve a portion of
the EPG data and accessing the memory to retrieve a selected
advertising data from the stored plurality of advertising data; and
a video processor for displaying on the display monitor the
retrieved portion of the EPG data in a plurality of rows of
schedule information items and displaying the time and channel for
at least a segment of the displayed television schedule information
items and for displaying on the display monitor the selected
retrieved advertisement between two rows of the plurality rows of
schedule information items simultaneously with the displayed
retrieved portion of the EPG data.
30. The system of claim 29, wherein the displayed channel
advertisement is interactive.
31. The system of claim 29, wherein the displayed channel
advertisement includes text.
32. The system of claim 29, wherein the displayed channel
advertisement is related to one or more of a product and
service.
33. The system of claim 29, wherein the advertising data is
displayed independent of the displayed EPG data.
34. The system of claim 29, wherein the advertising data is
displayed independent of user selections of the displayed EPG
data.
35. The system of claim 29, wherein the advertising data contains
information other than a channel name, channel number, and a
program title.
36. The system of claim 29, wherein the EPG data is displayed for a
user selectable time and the advertising data is displayed
independent of the user selected time.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 09/284,894, filed on Jul. 13, 1999, which is a
371 of PCT International Application No. PCT/US97/23852, filed on
Dec. 19, 1997, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Application No. 60/034,784, filed Dec. 19, 1996.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates to electronic program guides that
incorporate advertising messages or words.
[0003] As the number of television channels available on cable and
by satellite expands, an on-screen electronic program guide (EPG)
become more indispensable. Such an EPG permits the user to sort the
available present and future programming by theme, time, and
channel. As a result, the user can find a program of interest more
easily.
[0004] It is costly to collect EPG data for display and to transmit
such data to the consumer. Thus, there is a need to find a way to
recover the cost of these activities.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] According to the invention, advertisements are inserted in
an EPG on the screen of a display monitor between the individual
television program listings. Specifically, a memory stores EPG data
and advertising data. A microprocessor is programmed to recover EPG
data corresponding to a number of television programs and
advertising data-from the memory. The microprocessor controls the
monitor to display the recovered EPG data on the screen in lines of
television program listings, each television program listing being
displayed in a separate line, and to display the recovered
advertising data in a line on the screen instead of one of the
television program listings.
[0006] In a preferred embodiment, the EPG and advertising data are
displayed in a first area of the screen and a detail window is
displayed in a second area of the screen. One of the lines of EPG
data is highlighted with a cursor. A description of the television
program listing highlighted by the cursor is inserted in the second
area. When the line of advertising data is highlighted with the
cursor, a description relating to the advertising data is inserted
in the second area.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of apparatus for
carrying out the invention; and
[0008] FIG. 2 is a screen format produced by the apparatus of FIG.
1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] The disclosures of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/475,395,
filed on Jun. 7, 1995, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,239,794, May 29,
2001, and application Ser. No. 08/728,614, filed on Oct. 10, 1996,
issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,028,599, Feb. 22, 2000, are incorporated
fully herein by reference. As illustrated in the former
application, a source of television signals 10 in FIG. 1 such as a
terrestrial antenna, or a cable is connected to a television tuner
11. The output of tuner 11 is a modulated intermediate frequency
signal containing video and audio television information. Tuner 11
is connected by an intermediate frequency amplifier (IF AMP) 12 to
a picture detector (PICTURE DET) 13 and a sound detector (SOUND
DET) 14, which produce base band video and audio signals,
respectively. The audio signal is coupled by a sound amplifier
(SOUND AMP) 15 to a loudspeaker 16. The video signal is coupled by
a video amplifier not shown to one input of a switch 18. Sound
detector 14 and picture detector 13 are connected to the audio and
video inputs, respectively, of a video cassette recorder (VCR) 17.
(Alternatively, television signal source 10 could be directly
connected to the RF input of VCR 17, if its internal turner and
demodulating circuitry is to be utilized.) The output of VCR 17 is
connected to the other input of switch 18. The output of switch 18
is connected to one input of a conventional picture-in-picture
(PIP) integrated circuit chip 19. The output of PIP chip 19 is
connected to the video input of a television receiver or monitor
(TV) 20 having a screen (not shown).
[0010] An updatable data base of the schedule of program listings
of all the available channels for a prescribed period of time, e.g
a day or a week, is electronically stored in a program schedule
memory 22. These program listings typically include for each
program the title, a program description, the day of the week, the
start time of the day, the program length, and the channel on which
the program is transmitted and thus available for reception at
source 10. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the period
of time for which the program listings are stored is different for
the guides, depending upon viewer priorities and preferences. For
example, the information needed to display the time specific
program guide (TISPG) and channel specific program guide (CSPG) may
be stored for one or two days and the information needed to display
the theme specific program guide (THSPG) may be stored for a week
or more. The data base can be updated by a continuous data link in
the vertical blanking interval (VBI) of one television channel
broadcast to the television receiver in well known fashion.
Alternatively, the data base can be updated by unplugging memory 22
and replacing it with a memory having the updated data base. Memory
22 is connected to a microprocessor 24 that is programmed to
control the operation of the described equipment. An operating
program for microprocessor 24 is stored in a read only memory (ROM)
26. A viewer input device 28, preferably in the form of a remote IR
controller, is coupled to microprocessor 24 to provide commands
from the viewer. A video processor 30 is coupled to microprocessor
24. When the viewer wishes to see television program listings,
microprocessor 24 recalls a portion of the program schedule data
base from memory 22 and couples it to video processor 30, where the
program listings are formatted for display. Preferably, the
information stored in video processor 30 is a bit map of what is
displayed on the screen of television receiver 20. Video processor
30 is connected to the other input of PIP chip 19. Preferably,
viewer input device 28 controls microprocessor 24 by cursor
movement on the screen of television receiver 20. To this end,
microprocessor 24 and video processor 30 are coupled to a cursor
position register 32. (Alternatively, the viewer can select items
of information displayed on the screen by keying into viewer input
device 28 code numbers assigned to these items.) Microprocessor 24
is also coupled to tuner 11 for channel change, to VCR 17 for
play/record selection and start/stop, to switch 18 for selection
for one of its inputs, and to PIP chip 19 for selection of the mode
of PIP operation.
[0011] The format of the electronic program guide is shown in FIGS.
2. The format has a background area 40 and an overlaid PIP window
42 in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. The real time,
i.e., 5:11 p.m., is displayed in a sub-area 42a of PIP window 42.
Background area 40 includes a banner and message prompting area 43
at the top of the screen, a program description area 44 in the
upper right-hand corner of the screen adjacent to PIP window 42,
and a program schedule area 46 below areas 42 and 44. Program
description area 44 includes the start time and length (duration)
of the program being described. In area 46, EPG data retrieved from
memory 22 is displayed in lines, each program listing being
displayed in a separate line. The viewer can move a cursor 48
vertically to highlight one of the lines of program listings
displayed in area 46. The highlighted background of cursor 48 and
the background of program description area 44 are preferably the
same color or shade. The complete, moving images of a currently
broadcast television program in real time and the current time are
displayed in PIP window 42 and the audio portion of the television
program displayed in PIP window 42 is reproduced by the sound
system of monitor 20.
[0012] Advertising inserts are displayed on the screen between the
lines of program listings in program schedule area 46 and related
information or announcements are displayed in description area 44.
With reference to FIG. 1, the advertising inserts are preferably
transmitted in the VBI as part of the program schedule information
and stored at the television receiver in RAM, represented
functional as an advertising insert memory 34. Preferably the
inserts are transmitted as part of the packets of information about
the programs, i.e. show information packages (SIPs), with which the
advertising inserts are displayed. The apparatus of FIG. 1
functions as described in Ser. No. 08/475,395, the advertising
inserts being treated as part of the program listings displayed in
area 46 and the brief program descriptions displayed in area
44.
[0013] In practice, memory 34 and memory 22 could be physically
incorporated in a single RAM. Addresses for the advertising inserts
could be stored as part of the pre-established time lists for the
programs with which the advertising inserts are displayed. Thus,
the addresses link the time lists to the advertising inserts, and
each advertising insert is only stored once in memory 34. By
linking the advertising inserts to the time lists, the displayed
advertising insert becomes time dependent. Thus, the content of the
displayed advertisements can, to some extent, be directed to the
interests of the viewers. Advertisements of interest to housewives
would be displayed in the morning and advertisements of interest to
children would be displayed in the early evening.
[0014] As illustrated in FIG. 2, an advertising insert 50 is
preferably displayed as a line below the listing, "NBC 4 NEWS" of
the television program that the advertiser, e.g., Coca Cola,
sponsors. However, it is not necessary that there be a relationship
between the position of the advertiser and the television program,
depending on the circumstances. To obtain more information about
the subject of advertising insert 50, the viewer highlights the
line with cursor 48; then such information is displayed in area 44,
instead of information about a television program. For example, the
announcement in area 44 could inform the viewer that the advertised
product is on sale in articular retail establishment at a
particular price or give an more detailed product description.
* * * * *