Telecasting service for providing video programs on demand with an interactive interface for facilitating viewer selection of video prog

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. For use in an interactive telecasting system for telecasting programing to viewers, the interactive telecasting system including a telecasting facility capable of providing immediate response to subscription requests and program selections from viewers, wherein:

each viewer is identified bv an identifier,

a subscribing viewer can, without resubscribing, select from among a plurality of programs for immediate viewing on a display, and

a non-subscribing viewer can immediately become a subscribing viewer, a program selection system comprising:

memory for storing (1) a list of programs available for selection, (2) a respective segment of each of said programs in said list, and (3) a list of identifiers corresponding to subscribing viewers;

a display generator for displaying on said display (1) said list and (2) representations of viewer actuators for manipulating said list and selecting a program from said list;

a viewer control unit for transmitting said viewer identifier and for engaging at viewer command a desired one of said actuators; wherein:

at least a first one of said actuators selects one of said programs from said list;

a second one of said actuators causes said selected one of said programs to be displayed; and

a third one of said actuators causes one of said segments, corresponding to said selected one of said programs, to be displayed; whereby:

after selecting one of said programs from said list using said first actuator, and before causing said selected one of said programs to be displayed using said second actuator, both subscribing and non-subscribing viewers can preview said selected one of said programs by using said third actuator to cause said one of said segments, corresponding to said selected one of said programs, to be displayed, and

while said list is being displayed or while said one of said segments, corresponding to said selected one of said programs, is being displayed, each subscribing viewer can use said second actuator to cause said selected one of said programs to be displayed:

a validator for comparing said transmitted identifier to said list of identifiers corresponding to subscibing viewers and for preventing display of said selected one of said programs when said transmitted identifier fails to match any identifier on said list of identifiers, wherein said validator generates a reject signal when a viewer is not a subscribing viewer;

an interceptor for displaying a message on said display, responsive to said reject signal, for informing a non-subscribing viewer that only a subscribing viewer can initiate display of said selected one of said programs and instructing said non-subscribing viewer to actuate said viewer control unit to become a subscribing viewer, and when said viewer control unit is actuated according to said message, said viewer control unit transmits a subscription signal and an identifier corresponding to said non-subscribing viewer; and

a subscription processor for receiving said subscription signal and said identifier corresponding to a non-subscribing viewer, and for adding said identifier to said list of identifiers identifying said subscribing viewers.

2. The program selection system of claim 1 wherein:

said memory further stores a respective still image representative of each of said programs; and

after selection of said selected one of said programs, and before actuation of one of said second and third actuators for display of one of (a) said selected one of said programs and (b) said segment corresponding to said selected one of said programs, said display generator displays on said display one of said still images representative of said selected one of said programs.

3. For use in an interactive telecasting system for telecasting programming to a plurality of viewers, wherein:

the interactive telecasting system includes a telecasting facility capable of providing immediate response to program selections from viewers,

each of said viewers is identified by an identifier, and

a subscribing viewer can, without resubscribing, select from among a plurality of programs for immediate viewing on a display, a program selection system comprising:

memory for storing (1) a list of programs available for selection, (2) a segment of each of said programs in said list, and (3) a list of identifiers corresponding to subscribing viewers;

a display generator for displaying said list of programs on said display;

a viewer control unit for:

(a) selecting one of said programs from said list,

(b) initiating display of said selected one of said programs,

(c) initiating display of one of said segments, corresponding to said selected one of said programs, and

(d) transmitting an identifier corresponding to a viewer using said control unit; and

a validator for comparing said transmitted identifier to said list of identifiers identifying said subscribing viewers and for preventing display of said selected one of said programs when said transmitted identifier fails to match any identifier on said list of identifiers; whereby:

after selecting one of said programs from said list, any viewer can preview said selected one of said programs by initiating display of said one of said segments, corresponding to said selected one of said programs, but only a subscribing viewer can initiate display of said selected one of said programs.

4. The program selection system of claim 3 wherein said validator generates a reject signal when said viewer is not a subscribing viewer, said system further comprising an interceptor for displaying a first message on said display, responsive to said reject signal, for informing said viewer that only a subscribing viewer can initiate display of said selected one of said programs.

5. The program selection system of claim 4 wherein:

said interceptor further displays a second message on said display instructing said viewer to actuate said viewer control unit to become a subscribing viewer; and

when said viewer control unit is actuated according to said second message, said viewer control unit transmits a subscription signal and an identifier corresponding to said viewer; said program selection system further comprising:

a subscription processor for receiving said subscription signal and said identifier corresponding to said viewer and adding said identifier to said list of identifiers identifying said subscribing viewers.

6. For use in an interactive telecasting system for telecasting programing to a plurality of viewers, wherein:

the interactive telecasting system includes a telecasting facility capable of providing immediate response to program selections from viewers,

each of said viewers is identified by an identifier, and

a subscribing viewer can, without resubscribing, select from among a plurality of programs for viewing on a display, a program selection system comprising:

memory for storing (1) a list of programs available for selection, (2) a respective segment of each of said programs in said list, and (3) a list of identifiers corresponding to subscribing viewers;

a display generator for displaying on said display (1) said list of programs and (2) representations of viewer actuators for manipulating said list and selecting a program from said list;

a viewer control unit for engaging at viewer command a desired one of said actuators and for transmitting an identifier corresponding to a viewer using said control unit; and

a validator for comparing said transmitted identifier to said list of identifiers identifying said subscribing viewers and for preventing display of said selected one of said programs when said transmitted identifier fails to match any identifier on said list of identifiers; wherein:

at least a first one of said actuators selects one of said programs from said list,

a second one of said actuators causes said selected one of said programs to be displayed when said validator determines that said transmitted identifier matches an identifier on said list of identifiers, and

a third one of said actuators causes one of said segments, corresponding to said selected one of said programs, to be displayed; whereby:

after selecting one of said programs from said list using said first actuator, any viewer can preview said selected one of said programs by initiating display of said one of said segments corresponding to said selected one of said programs using said third actuator, but only a subscribing viewer can initiate display of said selected one of said programs using said second actuator.

7. The program selection system of claim 6 wherein said validator generates a reject signal when a viewer who is not a subscribing viewer actuates said second actuator, said system further comprising an interceptor for displaying a first message on said display, responsive to said reject signal, for informing said viewer that only a subscribing viewer can initiate display of said selected one of said programs.

8. The program selection system of claim 7 wherein:

said interceptor further displays a second message on said display instructing said viewer to again actuate said second actuator to become a subscribing viewer; and

when said second actuator is again actuated, said viewer control unit transmits a subscription signal and an identifier corresponding to said viewer; said program selection system further comprising:

a subscription processor for receiving said subscription signal and said identifier corresponding to said viewer and adding said identifier to said list of identifiers identifying said subscribing viewers.

9. For use in an interactive telecasting system for telecasting programing to viewers, the interactive telecasting system including a telecasting facility capable of providing immediate response to subscription requests and program selections from viewers, wherein each viewer is identified by an identifier, a subscribing viewer can, without resubscribing, select from among a plurality of programs for immediate viewing on a display, and a non-subscribing viewer can immediately become a subscribing viewer, a program selection system comprising:

memory for storing (1) a list of programs available for selection, (2) a segment of each of said programs in said list, and (3) a list of identifiers corresponding to subscribing viewers;

a display generator for displaying on said display, at any one time, one of:

(1) said list,

(2) a selected one of said segments, and

(3) a selected one of said programs;

a viewer control unit for transmitting said viewer identifier and:

(a) selecting a list display mode for displaying said list,

(b) when said list is displayed, selecting one of said programs from said list,

(c) selecting a program display mode for displaying said selected one of said programs,

(d) selecting a preview mode for displaying one of said segments, corresponding to said selected one of said programs,

(e) moving among said programs within any one of said list mode and said preview mode, and

(f) moving among said list display mode, said program display mode and said preview mode; whereby:

a subscribing viewer in preview mode, displaying one of said segments corresponding to one of said programs, can perform a function selected from the group consisting of:

(a) moving to said list mode,

(b) sequentially displaying additional ones of said segments corresponding to said programs, and

(c) displaying a program corresponding to whichever one of said segments is being displayed; and

a non-subscribing viewer in preview mode, displaying one of said segments corresponding to one of said programs, can perform a function selected from the group consisting of:

(a) moving to said list mode, and

(b) sequentially displaying additional ones of said segments corresponding to said programs;

a validator for comparing said transmitted identifier to said list of identifiers identifying said subscribing viewers and for preventing display of said selected one of said programs when said transmitted identifier fails to match any identifier on said list of identifiers, wherein said validator generates a reject signal when a viewer is not a subcribing viewer;

an interceptor for displaying a message on said display, responsive to said reject signal, for informing a non-subscribing viewer that only a subscribing viewer can initiate display of said selected one of said programs and instructing said non-subscribing viewer to actuate said viewer control unit to become a subscribing viewer, and when said viewer control unit is actuated according to said message, said viewer control unit transmits a subscription signal and an identifier corresponding to said non-subscribing viewer; and

a subscription processor for receiving said subscription signal and said identifier corresponding to a non-subscribing viewer, and for adding said identifier to said list of identifiers identifying said subscribing viewers.

10. The program selection system of claim 1 wherein:

said memory further stores a respective textual description of each of said programs; and

after selection of said selected one of said programs, actuation of a fourth actuator causes said display generator to display on said display said textual description of said selected one of said programs.

11. The program selection system of claim 1 wherein:

said memory further stores a plurality of said lists of said programs available for selection, each one of said plurality of said lists corresponding to a respective one of a plurality of program categories; whereby:

actuation of a fifth actuator causes a next one of said plurality of said lists to be displayed, and

actuation of a sixth actuator causes a previous one of said plurality of said lists to be displayed.

12. The program selection system of claim 11 wherein:

said memory further stores a plurality of pointers, each said pointer corresponding to a most recently selected one of said programs from each respective previously displayed one of said plurality of said lists; whereby:

when a viewer actuates said sixth actuator, said previous one of said plurality of said lists is displayed and most recently selected one of said programs from said previous one of said plurality of said lists is selected.

13. The program selection system of claim 2 wherein said respective still image representative of said selected one of said programs is displayed simultaneously with said list of programs available for selection.

14. The program selection system of claim 9 wherein:

said memory further stores a respective textual description of each of said programs;

said display generator further displays on said display, at any one time, a selected one of said textual descriptions; and

said viewer control unit further provides for selecting an information mode for displaying said textual description, corresponding to said selected one of said programs, and for moving among said list display mode, said program display mode, said preview mode, and said information mode.

15. The program selection system of claim 14 wherein any viewer can further perform a function selected from the group of:

(a) moving to said information mode, and

(b) sequentially displaying additional ones of said textual descriptions corresponding to said programs.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to telecasting systems and particularly to telecasting systems that provide video programs which may be viewed on conventional televisions or other suitable video monitors. More particularly, this invention is directed toward a telecasting service that provides video programs upon viewer demand, and which includes an interactive interface for facilitating viewer selection of video programs.

Television viewing has become an increasingly popular pastime over the past several decades. Commercial and public broadcasting stations and cable networks provide viewers with entertainment programming, educational programming, as well as programming dedicated to news, weather, and commercial advertising. But programming variety is not the only reason for the popularity of television--the convenience of television also contributes substantially to its popularity. Indeed, nearly every household in the United States is equipped with at least one (and commonly several) television sets. It is not surprising that many people take advantage of the convenience of television instead of wasting valuable time seeking out other forms of entertainment.

Early telecasting systems relied almost exclusively on aerial transmissions to deliver video programs to the viewers' television sets. Many difficulties led to the demise of aerial broadcasting as the dominant video delivery system. For example, the quality of aerial broadcasts varies considerably depending on atmospheric conditions and the viewer's geographic location. But more importantly, aerial broadcasting systems could not keep up with viewer demands for increased variety, because of the limited bandwidth available for aerial transmissions.

In response to the difficulties associated with aerial broadcasting systems, cable telecasting systems have been developed, and they have become the telecasting systems of choice in areas where they are available. Cable telecasting systems provide consistent, high quality transmissions of video programming. They also offer greater variety than aerial systems because more bandwidth is available on cable networks. For example, whereas most viewers receive only a few aerial programming channels, typical cable telecasting systems currently provide 30-75 different programming channels, and systems with even greater channel capacity have been launched in certain areas.

In most cable telecasting systems, a central telecasting facility is coupled to the subscribing viewers' television sets through a communication network. Most current networks use coaxial cable as the communication medium. However, an increasing number of cable telecasting systems are migrating to fiber optic networks. Fiber optic networks offer substantially greater bandwidth than coaxial networks, which has created the opportunity for even more programming variety than is currently available. Indeed, a cable telecasting system based on a fiber optic network can support hundreds of programming channels, as compared to the typical few dozen channels offered by coaxial cable-based systems.

The increased program variety offered by modern cable telecasting systems is advantageous because it gives the viewer a wider selection of video programs to choose from at any given time. However, no matter how many different programs are available, the viewer's selection has to date been limited to the programs that are being exhibited at any particular time. The viewer thus has been constrained by a predetermined program schedule, which may be undesirable in some situations. For example, television viewers are frequently forced to choose between watching a program of particular interest or engaging in an activity that temporally conflicts with the program of interest. Of course, the viewer may choose to record the program, but this is often a cumbersome task, especially if a video recorder is not immediately available.

Many viewers overcome scheduling conflicts by renting video programs. Although video rental establishments typically offer a wide variety of programs to choose from, the process of renting video programs is rather inconvenient. As a result, a large number viewers may forego viewing a particular program of interest until it is scheduled on one of the program channels--which may not occur until sometime in the distant future, if at all.

In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide a demand telecasting service which allows a viewer to select a video program from a plurality of available programs, and which telecasts the selected program substantially at the time the viewer makes the program selection.

It would also be desirable to provide a telecasting service that includes an interactive interface which allows a viewer to review a list of available video programs and which facilitates the viewer's selection of a desired program.

It would further be desirable to provide a telecasting service that allows a viewer to preview a segment of a video program before viewing the entire video program.

It would even further be desirable to provide a telecasting service that distinguishes subscribers from non-subscribers, which allows even non-subscribers to preview a segment of a video program, but allows only subscribers to view the entire video program.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to provide a demand telecasting service which allows a viewer to select a video program from a plurality of available programs, and which telecasts the selected program substantially at the time the viewer makes the program selection.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a telecasting service that includes an interactive interface which allows a viewer to review a list of available video programs and which facilitates the viewer's selection of a desired program.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a telecasting service that allows a viewer to preview a segment of a video program before viewing the entire video program.

It is even a further object of this invention to provide a telecasting service that distinguishes subscribers from non-subscribers, which allows even non-subscribers to preview a segment of a video program, but allows only subscribers to view the entire video program.

In accordance with this invention, there is provided a demand telecasting service for telecasting video programs for display on a television or other suitable video display. The demand telecasting service allows a viewer to select from among a plurality of programs that are available substantially at the time of viewer selection. The demand telecasting service provides an interactive interface for facilitating viewer selection of a program. The interactive interface includes a memory for storing a list of available programs and a segment of each program in the list, a display generator for displaying the list on the display, and a viewer control unit that is used by the viewer to select one of the programs on the list, to initiate display of the selected program, and to initiate display of one of the segments corresponding to the selected program. After selecting one of the programs from the list and before initiating display of the selected program, the viewer can preview the selected program by initiating display of the segment corresponding to the selected program.

In order to distinguish subscribers from non-subscribers, the memory of the interactive interface can further store a list of identifiers corresponding to subscribing viewers. The viewer control unit transmits an identifier corresponding to a viewer using the viewer control unit. The interactive interface further comprises a validator for comparing the transmitted identifier to the list of identifiers corresponding to subscribing viewers. When the transmitted identifier does not match any identifier on the list of identifiers, the validator prevents display Of the selected program, but allows the viewer to preview the segment corresponding to the selected program.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a cable telecasting network within which the demand telecasting service of the present invention may be implemented;

FIG. 2 is a more detailed block diagram of the telecasting facility shown in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are tables containing lists of data items stored in the mass storage system shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a more detailed block diagram of one of the viewing stations shown in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 6-8 are sample screen displays which illustrate the operation of the interactive interface of the present invention; and

FIGS. 9A-9H are logic flow diagrams representing a control program used to implement the interactive interface of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring first to FIG. 1, a cable telecasting network 10 is described, within which the demand telecasting service of the present invention may be implemented. The network 10 includes a telecasting facility 12, and a plurality of viewing stations 14. A communication medium 16 couples the telecasting facility 12 to the viewing stations 14. The communication medium 16 may be any medium that is suitable for delivering signals over long distances between the telecasting facility 12 and the viewing stations 14. Preferably, the communication medium 16 is fiber optic cable, although other media (such as coaxial cable) may be used instead.

In many respects, the network 10 operates in a conventional manner to make video programs available for viewing on the viewing stations 14. The telecasting facility 12 preferably includes a central transmitting station that transmits video programs to the viewing stations 14 via the communication medium 16. The viewing stations 14 are typically located in the viewers' homes or other locations that are convenient for viewing video programs. Each of the viewing stations 14 preferably includes a conventional television monitor or other suitable video display.

The telecasting facility 12 preferably telecasts a plurality of video programs simultaneously over a plurality of programming channels on the communication medium 16. All of the viewing stations 14 on the network 10 have access to the plurality of programs that are telecast by the telecasting facility 12. A viewer can view a particular video program by tuning one of the viewing stations 14 to the programming channel that is carrying the program of interest.

However, unlike conventional telecasting networks, the network 10 permits bi-directional communication between the telecasting facility 12 and each of the viewing stations 14 over the communication medium 16. Preferably, at least one of th