Method and apparatus for providing interactive electronic programming guide

Claims

We claim:

1. A subscription television system for supplying television signals to a plurality of subscribers, said subscription television system comprising:

an electronic programming guide listing a plurality of television programs by date, time and channel in a grid format, said plurality of television programs including at least one of a pay-per-view and a near-video-on-demand television program and another television program, said grid format having slots for identifying said television programs;

a first and a second transmitting means, said first transmitting means for transmitting the television signals comprising said plurality of television programs to said subscribers on a plurality of television channels, said first transmitting means also transmitting to said subscribers said electronic programming guide;

a subscriber terminal for receiving the television signals and providing the television signals to a user of said subscription television system, said subscriber terminal including:

means for displaying said electronic programming guide in said grid format and for providing a cursor to highlight said slots for identifying said television programs said cursor being activated by a remote control;

a first and a second selecting means, said first selecting means for directly selecting said television programs from said displayed programming guide by highlighting said television program slot, said first selecting means including means for directly purchasing after said user highlights said television slot said at least one of said pay-per-view or said near video-on-demand television program from said electronic programming guide by activating said highlighted television slot via said remote control; and

tuning means connected to said display means to tune to said highlighted television program.

2. A subscription television system according to claim 1, wherein said subscriber terminal includes providing means for providing at least one of a pay-per-view or near-video-on-demand program to said subscriber in response to a purchase of said television program through said first selecting means.

3. A subscription television system according to claim 2, wherein said providing means includes storing means for storing an indication that said television program has been purchased.

4. A subscription television system according to claim 3, wherein said second transmitting means in said subscriber terminal transmits the contents of said storing means to a billing computer.

5. A subscription television system according to claim 4, wherein said second transmitting means in said subscriber terminal transmits the contents of said storing means over a telephone network to said billing computer.

6. A subscription television system according to claim 4, wherein said second transmitting means in said subscriber terminal transmits the contents of said storing means to said billing computer over a transmission line.

7. A subscription television system according to claim 1, wherein said first transmitting means receives electronic programming guide data from an electronics programming guide data provider and selects a portion said electronic programming guide data to transmit to said subscribers as said electronic programming guide.

8. A subscription television system according to claim 1, wherein said first transmitting means receives electronic programming guide data from an electronic programming guide data provider and supplements said data with locally generated data to form said electronic programming guide transmitted to said subscribers.

9. A subscription television system according the claim 1, wherein said subscriber terminal provides said second selecting means for selecting a subset of said channels provided by said subscription television system, said subscriber terminal includes means for displaying only a portion of said electronic programming guide corresponding to programs appearing on said subset of channels.

10. A subscription television system according to claim 1 wherein said electronic programming guide is transmitted to said subscribers by inserting data representing said electronic programming guide into the television signals.

11. A subscription television system according to claim 10 wherein said electronic programming guide is transmitted to said subscribers by inserting said data into vertical blanking intervals present in the television signals.

12. A subscription television system according to claim 10 wherein said electronic programming guide is transmitted to said subscribers by amplitude modulating said data onto at least one audio carrier associated with said television signals.

13. A subscription television system according to claim 1 where said programming guide is transmitted to said subscribers by modulating said data on an out-of-band carrier for transmission to said subscribers.

14. A subscription television system according to claim 11 where said subscriber terminal includes means for removing said data inserted in said vertical blanking intervals and storing said data in memory means in said subscriber terminal, wherein said means for displaying said electronic programming guide includes means for reading data from said memory means and displaying said data.

15. A subscription television system according to claim 12 where said subscriber terminal includes means for demodulating said data modulated on said at least one audio carrier and storing said data in memory means in said subscriber terminal, wherein said means for displaying said electronic programming guide includes means for reading data from said memory means and displaying said data.

16. A subscription television system according to claim 13 where said subscriber terminal includes means for demodulating said data modulated on said out-of-band carrier and storing said data in memory means in said subscriber terminal, wherein said means for displaying said electronic programming guide includes means for reading data from said memory means and displaying said data.

17. A subscription television system according to claim 1, where said means for transmitting said electronic programming guide to said subscribers includes means for transmitting data representing the electronic programming guide tagged to indicate the date, time and channel to which the data pertains.

18. A subscription television system according to claim 17, wherein said subscriber terminal receives said data tagged to indicate the date, time and channel to which the data pertains and loads said data into memory associated with said date, time and channel.

19. A subscription television system according to claim 1, wherein said means for transmitting said electronic programming guide to said subscribers includes means for tagging said data as short term data or long term data, depending on the difference between the current time and date and the time and date to which the data pertains, the difference in the current date and time and the date and time associated with said short term data being shorter than the difference associated with said long term data, and said means for transmitting said electronic programming guide transmitting said short term data more frequently than said long term data.

20. A subscription television system according to claim 1, wherein said grid comprises:

horizontal slots indicating the date and the time,

vertical slots indicating the television channel, wherein said television program associated with a corresponding horizontal time slot and a vertical television channel slot is indicated.

21. A subscriber terminal for receiving television signals comprising a plurality of television programs and an electronic programming guide, from a subscription television provider, at least one of said television programs being one of a pay-per-view or a near-video-on-demand television program provided only to subscribers who purchase said program, said subscriber terminal comprising:

means for displaying said electronic programming guide listing said television programs by date, time and television channel in a grid format having slots for identifying said television programs including at least one of said pay-per-view or near-video-on-demand television program;

a first and a second selecting means, said first selecting means for directly selecting said television programs from said displayed programming guide by highlighting said television program slot, said first selecting means including means for directly purchasing by after highlighting said television slot, said at least one of said pay-per-view and said near video-on-demand program from said electronic programming guide.

22. A subscriber terminal according to claim 21, further including providing means for providing one of a pay-per-view and near-video-on-demand program to said user in response to said user purchasing said program through said first selecting means.

23. A subscriber terminal according to claim 22, wherein said providing means includes storing means for storing an indication that said program has been purchased through said first selecting means.

24. A subscriber terminal according to claim 23, wherein said subscriber terminal includes transmitting means for transmitting the contents of said storing means to a billing computer associated with the subscription television provider.

25. A subscriber terminal according to claim 24, wherein said transmitting means in said subscriber terminal transmits the contents of said storing means over a telephone network.

26. A subscriber terminal according to claim 24, wherein said transmitting means in said subscriber terminal transmits the contents of said storing means to said billing computer through a transmission line.

27. A subscriber terminal according to claim 21 wherein said second selecting means selects a subset of the channels provided by said subscription television system, said subscriber terminal including means for displaying a only a portion of said electronic programming guide corresponding to programs appearing on said subset of channels.

28. A subscriber terminal according to claim 21 wherein said electronic programming guide is transmitted to said subscribers by inserting data representing said electronic programming guide into vertical blanking intervals present in said television signals, said subscriber terminal including means for removing said data inserted in said vertical blanking intervals and storing said data in memory means in said subscriber terminal, wherein said means for displaying said electronic programming guide includes means for reading data from said memory means and displaying said data.

29. A subscription television system according to claim 21 wherein data representing said electronic programming guide is transmitted to said subscribers by amplitude modulating said data onto at least one audio carrier associated with said television signals, said subscriber terminal further including means for demodulating said data modulated on said at least one audio carrier and storing said data in memory means in said subscriber terminal, wherein said means for displaying said electronic programming guide includes means for reading data from said memory means and displaying said data.

30. A subscription television system according to claim 21 where said programming guide is transmitted to said subscribers by modulating data representing said electronic programming guide on an out-of-band carrier for transmission to said subscribers, said subscriber terminal further including means for demodulating said data modulated on said out-of-band carrier and storing said data in memory means in said subscriber terminal, wherein said means for displaying said electronic programming guide includes means for reading data from said memory means and displaying said data.

31. A subscriber terminal according to claim 21, where data representing said electronic programming guide is sequentially transmitted to said subscribers and includes data tags to indicate the date, time and channel to which the data pertains, and said subscriber terminal receiving said data tags to indicate the date, time and channel to which the data pertains and loading said data into memory within said subscriber terminal associated with said date, time and channel.

32. The method of selecting one of a pay-per-view and near-video-on-demand program in a subscription television system, including the following steps:

displaying an electronic programming guide transmitted by a subscription television provider wherein said programming guide list television programs by date, time, and television channel in a grid format, said grid format having slots for identifying said television programs including at least one of a pay-per-view or near-video-on-demand television program;

using a user interface to select and purchase directly said pay-per-view or said near video-on-demand program from said electronic programming guide.

33. A method for supplying television signals to a plurality of subscribers of a subscription television system and selecting a television program comprising the steps of:

transmitting television signals to said subscribers on a plurality of television channels wherein the television signals comprises a plurality of television programs and further transmitting to said subscribers an electronic programming guide;

receiving the television signals by a subscriber terminal and providing the television signals to a user of said subscription television system;

displaying said electronic programming guide in a grid format wherein said grid format has slots for identifying said television programs and displaying a cursor wherein said cursor moves about said programming guide and highlights said television program slots, said cursor being activated by a remote control;

listing said plurality of television programs by date, time and channel in said grid format on said electronic programming guide, said plurality of television programs including at least one of a pay-per-view and a near-video-on-demand television program and another television program;

selecting said television programs directly from said displayed programming guide by highlighting said television program slot; and

purchasing, by activating said highlighted slot via said remote control after said user highlights said television program slot, said at least one of said pay-per-view and said near video-on-demand program directly from said electronic programming guide.

34. The method according to claim 33 further comprising the step of:

providing at least one of said pay-per-view or said near-video-on-demand television program to said subscriber in response to a purchase of said television program.

35. The method according to claim 34 further comprising the step of:

storing an indication that said television program has been purchased.

36. The method according to claim 35 further comprising the step of:

transmitting the contents stored to a billing computer.

37. The method according to claim 36 further comprising the step of:

transmitting the contents stored over a telephone network to said billing computer.

38. The method according to claim 36 further comprising the step of:

transmitting the contents stored to said billing computer over a transmission line.

39. The method according to claim 33 wherein said transmitting television signals and said electronic programming guide step further comprises the steps of:

receiving electronic programming guide data from an electronic programming guide data provider; and

selecting a portion of said electronic programming guide data to transmit to said subscribers as said electronic programming guide.

40. The method according to claim 33, wherein said transmitting television signals and said electronic programming guide step further comprises the steps of:

receiving electronic programming guide data from an electronic programming guide data provider; and

supplementing said data with locally generated data to form said electronic programming guide transmitted to subscribers.

41. The method according to claim 33 further comprising the steps of

selecting a subset of said channels provided by said subscription television system; and

displaying only a portion of said electronic programming guide corresponding to programs appearing on said subset of channels.

42. The method according to claim 33 wherein said transmitting said electronic programming guide step further comprises the step of:

inserting data representing said electronic programming guide into the television signals.

43. The method according to claim 42 wherein said transmitting said electronic programming guide step further comprises the step of:

inserting said data into vertical intervals present in the television signals.

44. The method according to claim 42 wherein said transmitting said electronic programming guide step further comprises the step of:

amplitude modulating said data on at least on audio carrier associated with the television signals.

45. The method according to claim 33 wherein said transmitting said electronic programming guide step further comprises the step of:

modulating said data on an out-of-band carrier for transmission to said subscribers.

46. The method according to claim 43 further comprising the steps of:

removing said data inserted in said vertical blanking intervals;

storing said data in memory in said subscriber terminal, wherein said displaying said electronic programming guide step further comprises the steps of:

reading data from said memory; and

displaying said data.

47. The method according to claim 44 further comprising the steps of:

demodulating said data modulated on said at least one audio carrier;

storing said data in memory of said subscriber terminal, wherein said displaying said electronic programming guide step further comprises the steps of:

reading data from said memory; and

displaying said data.

48. The method according to claim 45 further comprises the steps of:

demodulating said data modulated on said out-of-band carrier;

storing said data in memory of said subscriber terminal, wherein said displaying said electronic programming guide step further comprises the steps of:

reading data from said memory; and

displaying said data.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Related Application

This application is related by subject matter to application Ser. No. 08/229,805, entitled "Subscription Television System and Terminal for Enabling Simultaneous Display of Multiple Services" and application Ser. No. 08/229,717, entitled "System and Method for Providing Subscriber-Interactivity in a Television System, both filed Apr. 19, 1994.

2. Technical Field

This application relates to the field of subscription television systems, and more particularly, to providing an electronic program schedule to a user of a subscription television system, and allowing the user to select programs, including pay-per-view or video-on-demand programs, directly from the electronic program schedule.

3. Description of the Relevant Art

Cable, satellite, and over-the-air subscription television systems, generally referred to herein as subscription television systems, are known. Relatively recently, pay-per-view events were added as available choices on many subscription television systems. These events are available for purchase individually for a fee. The user selects the event, and there is a charge assessed against his account. The subscriber's equipment (normally referred to as a subscriber terminal or set top terminal) then tunes the event and performs any necessary descrambling. The user is then able to view the event.

In order to view a program, the subscriber must inform his service provider that he wishes to view the program. In many prior art systems, this has been complicated and inconvenient for the subscriber. In early systems, it was necessary for the subscriber to either mail a card or telephone the provider well in advance of the event and request that his terminal be authorized to view the event. This required significant preparation on the part of the subscriber. Unless the event was of very special interest to the subscriber, he was unlikely to engage in such preparation. Further, such systems did not provide for persons who, for example, found themselves unexpectedly home on a given night, and wanted to watch a pay-per-view movie. Responding to dissatisfaction over such systems, providers have more recently offered more sophisticated telephone authorization services, requiring a minimum of preparation time and/or cable return authorization services. Also, so-called impulse-pay-per-view systems have been introduced that allow a subscriber to choose an event directly from his subscriber terminal for immediate viewing.

However, even with the sophisticated phone authorization systems or impulse-pay-per-view systems, choosing a pay-per-view event has not proved to be a simple matter. With the phone authorization systems, the user must know a telephone number to call. He must then enter a series of seemingly meaningless numbers indicating the program choice, a customer identification number, and typically, a security number of some sort. With impulse-pay-per-view systems, the user must frequently work his way through long menus and also enter event codes and security numbers. The problem with such systems is that users are often intimidated by them. Many of the subscribers are unsophisticated and find it difficult to remember the steps necessary to purchase the events. Other subscribers are recalcitrant and unwilling to learn the complex steps required for pay-per-view operations. Such users do not purchase pay-per-view events, and accordingly, reduce the revenue the service provider would otherwise obtain. Moreover, these complicated systems have a degenerative effect because the subscribers become frustrated with their systems and in the future are unwilling to try new services offered by the cable company, dismissing them as too complex. As with all services provided on a fee basis, there is a drive in the industry to make purchase of pay-per-view events as easy as possible.

Recently, some companies have begun offering electronic television schedules for purchase by subscription television providers, who, in turn, provide the schedules to their customers. The schedules contain a listing of television programs by time and channel, and are typically displayed as a grid on the television screen. Such a system is shown in PCT Publication No. WO 92/04801, applied for by Insight Telecast, Inc. (hereinafter "the Insight system"). That publication describes a display system for maneuvering a cursor through a television schedule. The system also describes that a subscriber can choose a program for recording by moving a cursor to the selected program; the system will automatically program the customer's video cassette recorder. The Insight system provides week-long television schedule information. That information is downloaded into a subscriber terminal for use by the subscriber. Accordingly, the subscriber terminal must have significant memory. Further, most users of the guide are not seeking information one week in advance of the broadcast. The significant memory expense imposed by the Insight system is frequently not justified by the extra performance allowed by the one-week display.

Also recently, so-called near-video-on-demand services have been introduced. These services provide a simulation of the videotape rental experience. One such system is described in Walter, U.S. Pat. No. 5,168,353. Walker describes in column 4, lines 18-27 that a converter may be enabled to descramble two channels carrying the same program at staggered intervals. This allows returning to the same portion of the video after a pause equal to the staggered time interval. The Walker patent gives as an example a subscriber ordering a program that begins at 8:00 p.m. The converter unscrambles the 8:00 showing as well as the 8:15 showing so that the viewer may return to the same point in the program after a fifteen minute break. However, if the near-video-on-demand feature is to effectively compete with video rental stores, it must have additional features such as multiple pause features, rewind features and fast-forward features. In addition, the subscriber should find such a service to be user-friendly and easy to use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the invention, a television system is provided that includes an electronic program guide giving a schedule of programs available on the television system, including pay-per-view and video-on-demand programs. The user may select programs for watching or recording directly from the electronic program guide. The selected programs may include pay-per-view and video-on-demand programs, which may be purchased directly from the guide. The programs may be purchased without entry of event codes or the like. Near video-on-demand features may be purchased for finite periods of time, and allow pause, rewind and fast-forward functions.

In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the program schedule information is obtained from a data provider specializing in providing that information, such as Insight Telecast, Inc. The headend then selects portions of that data for transmission to the subscribers. The headend can select portions to satisfy the needs of its subscribers taking into consideration other factors, such as terminal costs. The headend may also reformat the data in such a way as to provide it in a more useful format to its subscribers or add additional information of special interest to its subscribers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a subscription television system in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 2 is a detailed block diagram of a subscription television system in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a decoder in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 4A is a screen illustrating an electronic programming guide in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 4B illustrates the loading of the subscriber terminal memory with electronic programming guide data.

FIG. 5 is a screen illustrating an electronic programming guide in accordance with the invention, including time, channel and program data highlighted.

FIG. 6 is a screen illustrating an electronic programming guide displaying a pay-per-view event in accordance with the invention.

FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate a purchase sequence for a pay-per-view event in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 9 illustrates an informational green for a subscription television event in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 10 illustrates a channel listing for a subscription television system in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 11 illustrates a favorite channel list for a subscription television system in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 12 illustrates a confirmation screen for use with a favorite channel list in a subscription television system in accordance with the invention.

FIGS. 13-17A illustrate a purchase sequence for a near-video-on-demand feature of a subscription television system in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 17B illustrates a pause sequence for a near-video-on-demand feature of a subscription television system in accordance with the invention.

FIGS. 18 and 19 illustrate pay-per-view selection options in a subscription television system in accordance with the invention.

FIGS. 20 and 21 illustrate a purchased pay-per-view events review option in a subscription television system in accordance with the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows a generalized block diagram of a subscription television system according to the instant invention. The system of FIG. 1 is for example only and should not be construed as limiting the invention. A central control center 10 orchestrates the operation of the subscription television system. Central control center 10 is often associated with the central office of a multi-service operator and may communicate with and control headends in many cities. Headend 12 provides subscription service to a local area, e.g., one city or a region including one or more cities or towns. A subscriber terminal 14 is also shown and would be located in a subscriber's home or business. Of course, in a typical subscription television system, there would be hundreds or thousands of such subscriber terminals. Finally, an electronic programming guide data provider 16 is shown. Electronic programming guide data provider 16 supplies television schedule information to headend 12. The lines connecting central control center 10 to headend 12 and electronic programming guide data provider 16 to headend 12 indicate communication paths. Data may be communicated along those paths by any known means including telephone networks, satellite transmissions, optical fibers or other transmission lines, etc. A distribution system connects headend 12 to each subscriber terminal 14. Frequently, the distribution system consists of transmission lines and line extenders, but may include coaxial cables, optical fibers, satellite uplinks and downlinks, other broadband transmission paths and combinations thereof.

FIG. 2 is a more detailed diagram of the system shown in FIG. 1. On the left side of the dotted line is shown electronic programming guide ("EPG") data provider 16 and central control center 10. In the center portion of FIG. 2 is shown headend 12 in detail. Finally, in the right portion of FIG. 2 is shown a subscriber terminal 14 and associated equipment (VCR 18 and television 20).

In this preferred embodiment the EPG data provider 16 transmits EPG data by satellite to headend 12. This data includes program information arranged by time and channel. One such service is offered by Insight Telecast Inc. The Insight service provides extensive television program listings. Subscription television system operators can purchase this data and provide it to their subscribers.

Central control center 10 includes a system manager 22 that directs the other components of central control center 10. Once example of a system manager 22 is Scientific-Atlanta's System Manager 10 network controller. Central control center 10 may, for example, provide billing services for the provider, including billing for pay-per-view events. A billing computer 24 stores billing data and may also format and print bills. Modems 26 and 38 allow data transmissions between system manager 22 and headend controller ("HEC") 28. For example, authorization data may be transmitted from system manager 22 to HEC 28. HEC 28 formats the authorization data and transmits it to subscriber terminals either in-band