Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ACQUIRING, CATEGORIZING AND
DELIVERING MEDIA IN INTERACTIVE MEDIA GUIDANCE
APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of United
States Provisional Application No. 60/849,988, filed
October 6, 2006.
Background of the Invention
[0002] This invention relates generally to media
guidance applications, and in particular, to providing
guidance for media obtained from the Internet.
[0003] The Internet is an increasingly popular
resource for obtaining entertainment media and
information. There are an incredible number of sources
on the Internet that provide various types of media,
such as downloadable television episodes and movies, or
streaming television previews and movie trailers.
Furthermore, nearly all of the media and related
information on the Internet is available on demand.
Therefore, users may be confident that media of
interest is always available.
[0004] The abundance of online media and media
providers, however, also creates difficulty in terms of
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locating media of interest. To locate particular
online media content without guidance, a user may need
to know a significant amount of information about the
media. For example, if a user wants to find media
related to a particular episode of a television show,
the user may need to go directly to the media provider,
which in this case is the website of the television
network. Then, the user may need to know the original
air date of the episode or the title of the episode in
order to effectively locate media on the network
website. Not only is this process inconvenient for the
user, it provides no help for those who are not
searching for a particular media. Thus, guidance for
Internet-delivered media content is necessary to enable
or aid a user to easily and effectively locate media of
interest.
[0005] Some forms of guidance for media content
provided on the Internet are already available. Many
guidance applications for online media are limited to
keyword searching and providing listings of featured
media. Neither of these techniques provide effective
or systematic means for narrowing down the extremely
large amount of media that is available on the
Internet. Thus, users of existing guidance
applications are often bombarded with an overabundance
of listings, many of which may be uninteresting or
irrelevant. Therefore, there is a need for a guidance
application that not only provides keyword searching
and displays featured online media, but also provides a
systematic method for narrowing down the available
online media to a reasonably small set of media that
interests the user.
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[000 6] The media listings generated by existing
guidance applications are often not conducive for
browsing. Video searches may yield results that are
cluttered, unorganized, difficult to navigate, or
unfocused. Different types of videos may be presented
in similar formats, making them virtually
indistinguishable. For example, professionally-
generated media content may be displayed in a similar
format as user-generated media content, and high-
quality media content may displayed in a similar format
as lower-quality media content. Therefore, users may
need to spend a significant amount of time going
through each media listing. Thus, there is a need for
an online media guidance application that enables users
to quickly browse through a set of online media
listings.
[0007] Furthermore, many existing guidance
applications only provide guidance for a limited set of
videos on the Internet. The limited set may,
therefore, not include available online media that a
user is interested in. Some guidance applications are
limited, because they only provide guidance for media
content that they host. Other applications that obtain
media from third-party sites rely on partnerships with
media providers, which again results in a very limited
media data set. Therefore, there is need for a
guidance application that provides guidance for a
comprehensive set of online media content.
Summary of the Invention
[0008] Accordingly, systems and methods are provided
for identifying and obtaining information for a set of
media provided on the Internet, and displaying a subset
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of the identified media in a listing. Systems and
methods are also provided that systematically narrow
down a set of online media listings provided to a user
based on criteria that interests the user.
[0009] In accordance with one principle of the
invention, an online media guidance application
provides selectable criteria elements (e.g.,
action/adventure, comedy, ABC, Comedy Central, etc.) in
a user interface. By receiving one or more selections
of the selectable criteria elements, a set of available
online videos may be systematically narrowed down to a
reasonably-sized set of videos that interest the user.
The selectable criteria elements may be organized into
categories (e.g., genre, channels, shows). The
categories may also be displayed in the user interface,
and the corresponding selectable criteria elements may
be presented in a window near or below the
corresponding category. To keep the user interface
from being cluttered, the criteria elements of one
category may be visible at a given time. When a user
selects a different category, the currently presented
window of criteria elements may be closed, and a new
window of selectable criteria elements corresponding to
the selected category is presented.
[0010] When a user selection of a criteria element is
received by the media guidance application, a set of
videos is identified based on the selected criteria
element and any previously selected criteria elements.
In some embodiments, the set of identified media may
include available media that meet all of the selected
criteria elements. In other embodiments, the set of
identified media may include available media that meet
one or more of the selected criteria elements. The set
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of media may be displayed in a listing, such as in a
video mosaic or a textual listing. In some
embodiments, each listing is displayed within a
selectable frame, and upon receiving user selection of
a frame, the guidance application directs the user to
the website of the corresponding media provider.
[0011] In some embodiments of the present invention,
after narrowing down the number of listings, the
displayed criteria elements may also change to reflect
the new set of identified videos. For instance, when a
new window of selectable criteria elements is
presented, criteria elements may be displayed in the
window only if selecting the criteria element would
produce at least one video in the redefined set. In
some cases, a criteria element may be displayed in the
window if there are videos in the identified set of
videos that meet the criteria element and all
previously selected criteria elements.
[0012] In accordance with another principle of the
present invention, the set of online media that the
guidance application provides guidance for is
determined by crawling through a plurality of websites
and obtaining information on media provided by each
website. The obtained information may include metadata
(e.g., title, runtime, description, etc.) corresponding
to each video.
[0013] For each video obtained from the Internet,
the media guidance application associates video
metadata with media guidance application data from, for
example, a media guidance application database.
Associations may be determined by comparing the video
metadata with guidance data in the guidance application
database. A subset of the available online videos may
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be selected based on the scope narrowing mechanism described
above, keyword searches, user personalization data, or editor's
preference designations. The selected online videos may be
displayed in a media listing, such as in a video mosaic or a
textual listing. Included in the listing for each video is the
associated guidance application data from the guidance
application database.
[0013a] According to an embodiment, there is provided a
method for providing guidance for Internet videos comprising:
automatically comparing a metadata entry corresponding to a
media asset simultaneously transmitted to a plurality of user
equipment with a metadata entry corresponding to an Internet
video to determine whether the Internet video is relevant to
the media asset; determining, based on the comparison, that the
metadata entry corresponding to the Internet video is relevant
to the metadata entry corresponding to the media asset; in
response to determining that the metadata entry corresponding
to the Internet video is relevant to the metadata entry
corresponding to the media asset, linking the metadata entry
corresponding to the Internet video with the metadata entry
corresponding to the media asset by storing a tag in the
metadata entry corresponding to the media asset that links the
metadata entry corresponding to the media asset to the metadata
entry corresponding to the Internet video; and generating a
display that includes an asset identifier for the media asset,
wherein the asset identifier includes (1) guidance data
associated with the media asset, and (2) an indication of the
Internet video.
[0013b] According to another embodiment, there is provided a
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system for providing guidance for Internet videos comprising
circuitry configured to: automatically compare a metadata entry
corresponding to a media asset with a metadata entry
corresponding to an Internet video to determine whether the
Internet video is relevant to a second media asset
simultaneously transmitted to a plurality of user equipment;
determine, based on the comparison, that the metadata entry
corresponding to the Internet video is relevant to the metadata
entry corresponding to the second media asset; in response to
determining that the metadata entry corresponding to the
Internet video is relevant to the metadata entry corresponding
to the second media asset, link the metadata entry
corresponding to the Internet video with the metadata entry
corresponding to the second media asset by storing a tag in the
metadata entry corresponding to the second media asset that
links the metadata entry corresponding to the second media
asset to the metadata entry corresponding to the Internet
video; and generate a display that includes an asset identifier
for the second media asset, wherein the asset identifier
includes (1) guidance data associated with the second media
asset, and (2) an indication of the Internet video.
[0013c]
According to another embodiment, there is provided a
method for providing guidance for Internet videos comprising:
identifying videos available over the Internet; storing
metadata for each of the identified videos; automatically
comparing metadata corresponding to a media asset
simultaneously transmitted to a plurality of user equipment
with the metadata corresponding to the stored identified videos
to determine a set of the stored identified videos that is
relevant to the media asset; linking the set of stored
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identified videos with the media asset by storing a tag in the
metadata corresponding to each of the stored identified videos
in the set of stored identified videos that links each video in
the set of stored identified videos to the media asset; and in
response to a user selection of the media asset, generating for
display a recommendation of an Internet video from the set of
stored identified videos.
[0013d] According to another embodiment, there is provided a
system for providing guidance for Internet videos comprising:
storage; and control circuitry configured to: identify videos
available over the Internet; store, in the storage, metadata
for each of the identified videos; automatically compare
metadata corresponding to a media asset simultaneously
transmitted to a plurality of user equipment with the metadata
corresponding to the stored identified videos to determine a
set of the stored identified videos that is relevant to the
media asset; link the set of stored identified videos with the
media asset by storing a tag in the metadata corresponding to
each of the stored identified videos in the set of stored
identified videos that links each video in the set of stored
identified videos to the media asset; and in response to a user
selection of the media asset, generate for display a
recommendation of an identified video from the set of stored
identified videos.
[0013e] According to another embodiment, there is provided a
method for providing guidance for videos on the Internet,
comprising: accessing a plurality of Internet sites to identify
videos provided by the Internet sites; storing metadata from
the Internet sites for each of the identified videos in an
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Internet video database; in response to storing the metadata
from the Internet sites for each of the identified videos,
automatically comparing the metadata from the Internet sites
for each of the identified videos with metadata from a media
guidance database to create a subset of respective metadata
corresponding to a respective video of the identified videos
that matches respective metadata of the metadata from the media
guidance database; associating each respective metadata of the
subset with the matching respective metadata of the metadata
from the media guidance database based on the comparison by
storing, for each respective metadata of the subset, a
respective tag in the respective metadata of the subset that
links the respective metadata of the subset to guidance
application data from the media guidance database that
corresponds to the matching respective metadata of the metadata
from the media guidance database; selecting a subset of the
videos; and generating a display indicating each video of the
subset of the identified videos to a user, wherein the display
includes the guidance application data associated with each
indicated video and the stored metadata from the Internet sites
associated with each indicated video.
[0013f]
According to another embodiment, there is provided a
system for providing guidance for videos on the Internet,
comprising: communication circuitry; storage; and processing
circuitry configured to: access a plurality of Internet sites
using the communication circuitry to identify videos provided
by the Internet sites; store metadata from the Internet sites
in the storage for each of the identified videos in an Internet
video database; in response to storing the metadata from the
Internet sites for each of the identified videos, automatically
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compare the metadata from the Internet sites for each of the
identified videos with metadata from a media guidance database
to create a subset of respective metadata corresponding to a
respective video of the identified videos that matches
respective metadata of the metadata from the media guidance
database; associate each respective metadata of the subset with
the matching respective metadata of the metadata from the media
guidance database based on the comparison by storing, for each
respective metadata of the subset, a respective tag in the
respective metadata of the subset that links the respective
metadata of the subset to guidance application data from the
media guidance database that corresponds to the matching
respective metadata of the metadata from the media guidance
database; select a subset of the videos; and generate a display
indicating each video of the subset of the identified videos,
wherein the display includes the guidance application data
associated with each indicated video and the stored metadata
from the Internet sites associated with each indicated video.
[0013g]
According to another embodiment, there is provided a
method for providing indications of Internet videos that are
relevant to media, the method comprising: identifying a first
plurality of videos available over the Internet; storing
metadata for each video of the first plurality of videos
available over the Internet; automatically comparing metadata
corresponding to a media asset simultaneously transmitted to a
plurality of user equipment with metadata for each video of the
first plurality of videos available over the Internet; based on
the comparing, determining (1) a second plurality of videos
that are relevant to the media asset and (2) a degree of
relevance between each video of the second plurality of videos
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and the media asset; linking each video of the second plurality
of videos with the media asset, wherein the linking comprises
storing a corresponding degree of relevance to the media asset
in the metadata corresponding to each video of the second
plurality of videos; and generating for display a subset of the
second plurality of videos comprising (1) an indication of each
video in the subset and (2) the corresponding degree of
relevance.
[0013h]
According to another embodiment, there is provided a
system for providing indications of Internet videos that are
relevant to media, the system comprising: storage; and
processing circuitry configured to: identify a first plurality
of videos available over the Internet; store, in the storage,
metadata for each video of the first plurality of videos
available over the Internet; automatically compare metadata
corresponding to a media asset simultaneously transmitted to a
plurality of user equipment with metadata for each video of the
first plurality of videos available over the Internet; based on
the comparing, determine (1) a second plurality of videos that
are relevant to the media asset and (2) a degree of relevance
between each video of the second plurality of videos and the
media asset; link each video of the second plurality of videos
with the media asset, wherein the linking comprises storing a
corresponding degree of relevance to the media asset in the
metadata corresponding to each video of the second plurality of
videos; and generate for display a subset of the second
plurality of videos comprising (1) an indication of each video
in the subset and (2) the corresponding degree of relevance.
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[0013i]
According to another embodiment, there is provided a
method for providing guidance for videos on the Internet,
comprising: accessing a plurality of Internet sites to identify
videos provided by the Internet sites; storing a metadata entry
for each of the identified videos in an Internet video
database; automatically comparing the metadata entries for each
identified video stored in the Internet video database with
metadata entries stored in a media guidance database to
determine whether the metadata entries for each identified
video stored in the Internet video database are relevant to the
metadata entries stored in the media guidance database;
determining, based on the comparison, that a metadata entry
stored in the Internet video database is relevant to a metadata
entry stored in the media guidance database; based on
determining that the metadata entry stored in the Internet
video database is relevant to the metadata entry stored in the
media guidance database, linking the metadata entry stored in
the Internet video database with the metadata entry stored in
the media guidance database by storing a tag in the metadata
entry stored in the Internet video database that links the
metadata entry stored in the Internet video database to
guidance application data stored in the media guidance database
that corresponds to the metadata entry stored in the media
guidance database, wherein the guidance application data is
associated with a second video simultaneously transmitted to a
plurality of user equipment; and generating a display
indicating the second video, wherein the display includes (1)
the guidance application data associated with the second video,
and (2) an indication of the metadata entry stored in the
Internet video database that is linked to the metadata entry
stored in the media guidance database.
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[0013j]
According to another embodiment, there is provided a
system for providing guidance for videos on the Internet,
comprising: communication circuitry; storage; and processing
circuitry configured to: access a plurality of Internet sites
using the communication circuitry to identify videos provided
by the Internet sites; store a metadata entry in the storage
for each of the identified videos in an Internet video
database; automatically compare the metadata entries for each
identified video stored in the Internet video database with
metadata stored in a media guidance database to determine
whether the metadata entries for each identified video stored
in the Internet video database are relevant to the metadata
entries stored in the media guidance database; determine, based
on the comparison, that a metadata entry stored in the Internet
video database is relevant to a metadata entry stored in the
media guidance database; based on determining that the metadata
entry stored in the Internet video database is relevant to the
metadata entry stored in the media guidance database, link the
metadata entry stored Internet video database with the metadata
entry stored in the media guidance database by storing a tag in
the metadata entry stored in the Internet video database that
links the metadata entry stored in the Internet video database
to guidance application data stored in the media guidance
database that corresponds to the metadata entry stored in the
media guidance database, wherein the guidance application data
is associated with a second video simultaneously transmitted to
a plurality of user equipment; and generate a display
indicating the second video, wherein the display includes (1)
the guidance application data associated with the second video,
and (2) the metadata entry stored in the Internet video
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database that is linked to the metadata entry stored in the
media guidance database.
[0013k] According to another embodiment, there is provided a
method for linking Internet videos with videos simultaneously
transmitted to a plurality of user equipment by relying on
third party metadata, the method comprising: identifying
Internet videos available from an Internet media provider over
the Internet; and for each respective Internet video of the
identified Internet videos: receiving metadata corresponding to
the respective Internet video from a third-party source that is
different from the Internet media provider and different from a
media provider, automatically comparing media guidance data
corresponding to a second video simultaneously transmitted to a
plurality of user equipment to the metadata corresponding to
the respective Internet video, determining, based on the
comparing, whether the respective Internet video is relevant to
the second video, and based on determining that the respective
Internet video is relevant to the second video, linking the
respective Internet video with the second video by associating
the metadata corresponding to the respective Internet video
with the media guidance data corresponding to the second video;
and based on a user selection of an identifier corresponding to
the media guidance data, generating for display, using the
linking of the respective Internet video with the second video,
an option to view the respective Internet video.
[00131] According to another embodiment, there is provided a
system for linking Internet videos with videos simultaneously
transmitted to a plurality of user equipment by relying on
third party metadata, the system comprising: communications
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circuitry configured to receive metadata for a set of Internet
videos, wherein the metadata is from a third-party source that
is different from an Internet media provider and different from
a media provider; and control circuitry configured to: identify
the set of Internet videos available from the Internet media
provider over the Internet; and for each respective Internet
video of the identified Internet videos: automatically compare
media guidance data corresponding to a second video
simultaneously transmitted to a plurality of user equipment to
the metadata corresponding to the respective Internet video,
determine, based on the comparing, whether the respective
Internet video is relevant to the second video, and based on
determining that the respective Internet video is relevant to
the second video, link the respective Internet video with the
second video by associating the metadata corresponding to the
respective Internet video with the media guidance data
corresponding to the second video; and based on a user
selection of an identifier corresponding to the media guidance
data, generate for display, using the linking of the respective
Internet video with the second video, an option to view the
respective Internet video.
[0013m]
According to another embodiment, there is provided a
method for providing guidance for videos on the Internet,
comprising: accessing a plurality of Internet sites to identify
videos provided by the Internet sites; storing metadata from
the Internet sites for each of the identified videos;
automatically comparing a metadata entry corresponding to a
media asset simultaneously transmitted to a plurality of user
equipment with a metadata entry corresponding to an Internet
video from one of the Internet sites to determine whether the
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Internet video is relevant to the media asset; determining,
based on the comparison, that the metadata entry corresponding
to the Internet video is relevant to the metadata entry
corresponding to the media asset; in response to determining
that the metadata entry corresponding to the Internet video is
relevant to the metadata entry corresponding to the media
asset, linking the metadata entry corresponding to the Internet
video with the metadata entry corresponding to the media asset
by storing a tag in the metadata entry corresponding to the
media asset that links the metadata entry corresponding to the
media asset to the metadata entry corresponding to the Internet
video; selecting a subset of the videos; and generating a
display indicating each video of the subset of the identified
videos to a user, wherein the display includes (1) guidance
application data associated with each indicated video and (2)
an indication of an Internet video linked with each indicated
video.
[0013n]
According to another embodiment, there is provided a
system for providing guidance for videos on the Internet,
comprising: communication circuitry; storage; and processing
circuitry configured to: access a plurality of Internet sites
using the communication circuitry to identify videos provided
by the Internet sites; store metadata from the Internet sites
in the storage for each of the identified videos; automatically
compare a metadata entry corresponding to a media asset
simultaneously transmitted to a plurality of user equipment
with a metadata entry corresponding to an Internet video from
one of the Internet sites to determine whether the Internet
video is relevant to the media asset; determine, based on the
comparison, that the metadata entry corresponding to the
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Internet video is relevant to the metadata entry corresponding
to the media asset; in response to determining that the
metadata entry corresponding to the Internet video is relevant
to the metadata entry corresponding to the media asset, link
the metadata entry corresponding to the Internet video with the
metadata entry corresponding to the media asset by storing a
tag in the metadata entry corresponding to the media asset that
links the metadata entry corresponding to the media asset to
the metadata entry corresponding to the Internet video; select
a subset of the videos; and generate a display indicating each
video of the subset of the identified videos, wherein the
display includes (1) guidance application data associated with
each indicated video and (2) an indication of an Internet video
linked with each indicated video.
[00130]
According to another embodiment, there is provided a
method for providing guidance for videos on the Internet,
comprising: accessing a plurality of Internet sites to identify
videos provided by the Internet sites; storing metadata from
the Internet sites for each of the identified videos;
automatically comparing a metadata entry corresponding to a
media asset simultaneously transmitted to a plurality of user
equipment with a metadata entry corresponding to an Internet
video from one of the Internet sites to determine whether the
Internet video is relevant to the media asset; determining,
based on the comparison, that the metadata entry corresponding
to the Internet video is relevant to the metadata entry
corresponding to the media asset; in response to determining
that the metadata entry corresponding to the Internet video is
relevant to the metadata entry corresponding to the media
asset, linking the metadata entry corresponding to the Internet
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video with the metadata entry corresponding to the media asset
by storing a tag in the metadata entry corresponding to the
media asset that links the metadata entry corresponding to the
media asset to the metadata entry corresponding to the Internet
video; and generating a display indicating each video of a
subset of the identified videos to a user, wherein the display
includes (1) guidance application data associated with each
indicated video and (2) an indication of an Internet video
linked with each indicated video, and wherein the subset of the
videos are selected according to criteria elements selected by
the user in a scope narrowing mechanism wherein: in response to
the user selecting a first of a plurality of scope narrowing
criteria categories with the scope narrowing mechanism, a first
window is presented in which selectable criteria elements of
the first category are displayed; and in response to the user
selecting a second of a plurality of scope narrowing criteria
categories with the scope narrowing mechanism, a second window
is presented in which selectable criteria elements of the
second category are displayed.
[0013p]
According to another embodiment, there is provided a
system for providing guidance for videos on the Internet,
comprising: communication circuitry; storage; and processing
circuitry configured to: access a plurality of Internet sites
using the communication circuitry to identify videos provided
by the Internet sites, store metadata from the Internet sites
in the storage for each of the identified videos; automatically
compare a metadata entry corresponding to a media asset
simultaneously transmitted to a plurality of user equipment
with a metadata entry corresponding to an Internet video from
one of the Internet sites to determine whether the Internet
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video is relevant to the media asset; determine, based on the
comparison, that the metadata entry corresponding to the
Internet video is relevant to the metadata entry corresponding
to the media asset; in response to determining that the
metadata entry corresponding to the Internet video is relevant
to the metadata entry corresponding to the media asset, link
the metadata entry corresponding to the Internet video with the
metadata entry corresponding to the media asset by storing a
tag in the metadata entry corresponding to the media asset that
links the metadata entry corresponding to the media asset to
the metadata entry corresponding to the Internet video; and
generate a display indicating each video of a subset of the
identified videos, wherein the display includes (1) guidance
application data associated with each indicated video and (2)
an indication of an Internet video linked with each indicated
video, and wherein the subset of the videos are selected
according to the criteria elements selected by a user in a
scope narrowing mechanism wherein: in response to the user
selecting a first of a plurality of scope narrowing criteria
categories with the scope narrowing mechanism, a first window
is presented in which selectable criteria elements of the first
category are displayed; and in response to the user selecting a
second of a plurality of scope narrowing criteria categories
with the scope narrowing mechanism, a second window is
presented in which selectable criteria elements of the second
category are displayed.
[0013q] According to another embodiment, there is provided a
method for providing guidance for Internet videos comprising:
accessing a plurality of metadata corresponding to Internet
videos from an Internet video database; identifying a metadata
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corresponding to at least one Internet video of the Internet
videos that is related to a metadata corresponding to a
broadcast video; in response to identifying the metadata
corresponding to the at least one Internet video that is
related to the metadata corresponding to the broadcast video,
linking the metadata corresponding to the at least one Internet
video with the metadata corresponding to the broadcast video;
and generating a display that includes an asset identifier for
the broadcast video, wherein the asset identifier includes (1)
guidance data associated with the broadcast video, and (2) an
indication of the at least one Internet video.
[0013r] According to another embodiment, there is provided a
system for providing guidance for Internet videos comprising:
circuitry configured to: access a plurality of metadata
corresponding to Internet videos from an Internet video
database; identify a metadata corresponding to at least one
Internet video of the Internet videos that is related to a
metadata corresponding to a broadcast video; in response to
identifying the metadata corresponding to the at least one
Internet video that is related to the metadata corresponding to
the broadcast video, link the metadata corresponding to the at
least one Internet video with the metadata corresponding to the
broadcast video; and generate a display that includes an asset
identifier for the broadcast video, wherein the asset
identifier includes (1) guidance data associated with the
broadcast video, and (2) an indication of the at least one
Internet video.
[0013s] According to another embodiment, there is provideda
method for providing guidance for videos on the Internet,
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comprising: accessing a plurality of Internet sites to identify
videos provided by the Internet sites; storing metadata from
the Internet sites for each of the identified videos; comparing
metadata from the Internet sites for each of the identified
videos with metadata from a media guidance database, which
includes data related to broadcast media; associating the
stored metadata from the Internet sites for each of the
identified videos with guidance application data from the media
guidance database based on the comparison; selecting a subset
of the videos; and generating a display indicating each video
of the subset of the identified videos to a user, wherein the
display includes the guidance application data associated with
each indicated video and the stored metadata from the Internet
sites associated with each indicated video.
[0013t] According to another embodiment, there is provideda
system for providing guidance for videos on the Internet,
comprising: communication circuitry; storage; and processing
circuitry configured to: access a plurality of Internet sites
using the communication circuitry to identify videos provided
by the Internet sites; store metadata from the Internet sites
in the storage for each of the identified videos; compare
metadata from the Internet sites for each of the identified
videos with metadata from a broadcast media guidance database,
which includes data related to broadcast media; associate the
stored metadata from the Internet sites for each of the
identified videos with guidance application data from the media
guidance database based on the comparison; select a subset of
the videos; and generate a display indicating each video of the
subset of the identified videos, wherein the display includes
the guidance application data associated with each indicated
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-6p-
video and the stored metadata from the Internet sites
associated with each indicated video.
Brief Description of the Figures
[0014] The above and other objects and advantages of the
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:
[0015] FIG. 1 shows an illustrative display screen using a
grid format that may be used to provide guidance for online
video and other types of media;
[0016] FIG. 2 shows an illustrative display screen using a
mosaic that may be used to provide guidance for online video;
[0017] FIG. 3 shows a more detailed view of a listing in the
mosaic of FIG. 2;
[0018] FIGS. 4-5 are two illustrative embodiments of a
portion of the display screen of FIG. 2;
[0019] FIG. 6 shows an illustrative display screen for
viewing and updating user favorites and preferences;
[0020] FIG. 7 shows a Venn diagram of available online
videos used by FIGS. 8A-AC, 9A, and 9B.
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[0021] FIG. 8A-8C are illustrative stages of a
portion of the display screen in FIG. 2 in a typical
usage scenario;
[0022] FIGS. 9A and 98 are illustrative stages of a
portion of the display screen in FIG. 2 in a typical
usage scenario;
[0023] FIG. 10 shows an illustrative user equipment
device in accordance with one embodiment of the
invention;
[0024] FIG. 11 shows an illustrative user equipment
device in accordance with one embodiment of the
invention;
[0025] FIG. 12-13 show detailed views of an
illustrative media guidance source;
[0026] FIG. 14 shows an illustrative flow diagram
for obtaining, selecting, and displaying listings;
[0027] FIG. 15 shows an illustrative flow diagram
for directing a user to the provider of online media
content;
[0028] FIG. 16 shows an illustrative flow diagram
for obtaining, selecting, and displaying listings based
on user-selected criteria elements;
[0029] FIG. 17 shows an illustrative flow diagram
for displaying criteria elements and identifying online
media; and
[0030] FIG. 18 shows an illustrative flow diagram
for choosing criteria elements based on user-entered
search terms.
Detailed Description
[0031] The amount of media available to users in any
given media delivery system can be substantial.
Consequently, many users desire a form of media
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guidance through an interface that allows users to
efficiently navigate media selections and easily
identify media that they may desire. An application
which provides such guidance is referred to herein as
an interactive media guidance application or,
sometimes, a media guidance application or a guidance
application. Similarly, a media guidance application
that provides guidance for Internet content, and
possibly other types of content, is referred to herein
as an online media guidance application or online
guidance application.
[0032] Various forms of interactive media guidance
applications may provide guidance for media content on
the Internet (e.g., streaming media, downloadable
media, Webcasts, etc.). One typical type of media
guidance application that provides guidance for online
media is an interactive television program guide.
Interactive television program guides (sometimes
referred to as electronic program guides) are well-
known guidance applications that, among other things,
allow users to navigate among and locate many types of
media content. Other than online media, such content
may include conventional television programming
(provided via traditional broadcast, cable, satellite,
or other means), as well as pay-per-view programs, on-
demand programs (as in video-on-demand (VOD) systems),
and other types of media or video content. Guidance
applications also allow users to navigate among and
locate content related to the video content including,
for example, video clips, articles, advertisements,
chat sessions, games, etc.
[0033] With the advent of the Internet, mobile
computing, and high-speed wireless networks, users are
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accessing media on personal computers (PCs) and other
devices on which they traditionally did not, such as
hand-held computers, personal digital assistants
(PDAs), mobile telephones, or other mobile devices. On
these devices users are able to navigate among and
locate the same media available through a television.
Consequently, media guidance is necessary on these
devices, as well. The guidance provided may be for
media content available only through a television, for
media content available only through one or more of-
these devices, or for media content available both
through a television and one or more of these devices.
The media guidance applications may be provided as on-
line applications (i.e., provided on a web-site), or as
stand-alone applications or clients on hand-held
computers, PDAs, mobile telephones, or other mobile
devices. The various devices and platforms that may
implement media guidance applications are described in
more detail below.
[0034] One of the functions of the media guidance
application is to provide media listings and media
information to users. FIGS. 1-2 show illustrative
display screens that may be used to provide media
guidance, and in particular media listings. The
display screens shown in FIGS. 1-2 may be implemented
on any suitable device or platform. While the displays
of FIGS. 1-2 and are illustrated as full screen
displays, they may also be fully or partially overlaid
over media content being displayed. A user may
indicate a desire to access media information by
selecting a selectable option provided in a display
screen (e.g., a menu option, a listings option, an
icon, a hyperlink, etc.) or pressing a dedicated button
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(e.g., a GUIDE button) on a remote control or other
user input interface or device. In response to the
user's indication, the media guidance application may
provide a display screen with media information
organized in one of several ways, such as by time and
channel in a grid, by time, by channel, by media type,
by category (e.g., movies, sports, news, children, or
other categories of programming), or other predefined,
user-defined, or other organization criteria.
[0035] FIG. 1 shows illustrative grid program
listings display 100 arranged by time and channel that
also enables access to different types of media content
(e.g., online video) in a single display. Display 100
may include grid 102 with: (1) a column of
channel/media type identifiers 104, where each
channel/media type identifier (which is a cell in the
column) identifies a different channel or media type
available; and (2) a row of time identifiers 106, where
each time identifier (which is a cell in the row)
identifies a time block of programming. Grid 102 also
includes cells of program listings, such as program
listing 108, where each listing provides the title of
the program provided on the listing's associated
channel and time. With a user input device, a user can
select program listings by moving highlight region 110.
Information relating to the program listing selected by
highlight region 110 may be provided in program
information region 112. Region 112 may include, for
example, the program title, the program description,
the time the program is provided (if applicable), the
channel the program is on (if applicable), the
program's rating, and other desired information.
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[0036] In addition to providing access to linear
programming provided according to a schedule, the media
guidance application also provides access to non-linear
programming which is not provided according to a
schedule. Non-linear programming may include content
from different media sources including Internet content
(e.g., streaming media, downloadable media, etc.) from
various online sources, on-demand media content (e.g.,
VOD), locally stored media content (e.g., video content
stored on a digital video recorder (DVR), digital video
disc (DVD), video cassette, compact disc (CD), etc.),
or other time-insensitive media content. On-demand
content may include both movies and original media
content provided by a particular media provider (e.g.,
HBO On Demand providing "The Sopranos" and "Curb Your
Enthusiasm"). HBO ON DEMAND, THE SOPRANOS, and CURB
YOUR ENTHUSIASM are trademarks owned by the Home Box
Office, Inc. Internet content may include web events,
such as a chat session or Webcast, or content available
on-demand as streaming media or downloadable media
through an Internet web site or other Internet access
(e.g. FTP).
[0037] Grid 102 may provide listings for non-linear
programming including on-demand listing 114, recorded
media listing 116, and Internet content listing 118. A
display combining listings for content from different
types of media sources is sometimes referred to as a
"mixed-media" display. The various permutations of the
types of listings that may be displayed that are
different than display 100 may be based on user
selection or guidance application definition (e.g., a
display of only recorded and broadcast listings, only
on-demand and broadcast listings, etc.). As
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illustrated, listings 114, 116, and 118 are shown as
spanning the entire time block displayed in grid 102 to
indicate that selection of these listings may provide
access to a display dedicated to on-demand listings,
recorded listings, or Internet listings, respectively.
As shown in FIG. 1, information region 112 may display
information on the type of display that may be provided
when accessing such a listing. In other embodiments,
listings for these media types may be included directly
in grid 102. Additional listings may be displayed in
response to the user selecting one of the navigational
icons 120. (Pressing an arrow key on a user input
device may affect the display in a similar manner as
selecting navigational icons 120.)
[0038] Display 100 may also include video
region 122, advertisement 124, and options region 126.
Video region 122 may allow the user to view and/or
preview programs that are currently available, will be
available, or were available to the user. The content
of video region 122 may correspond to, or be
independent from, one of the listings displayed in
grid 102. Grid displays including a video region are
sometimes referred to as picture-in-guide (PIG)
displays. PIG displays and their functionalities are
described in greater detail in Satterfield et al. U.S.
Patent No. 6,564,378, issued May 13, 2003 and Yuen et
al. U.S. Patent No. 6,239,794, issued May 29, 2001.
PIG displays may be included in
other media guidance application display screens of the
present invention.
[0039] Advertisement 124 may provide an
advertisement for media content that, depending on a
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viewer's access rights (e.g., for subscription
programming), is currently available for viewing, will
be available for viewing in the future, or may never
become available for viewing, and may correspond to or
be unrelated to one or more of the media listings in
grid 102. Advertisement 124 may also be for products
or services related or unrelated to the media content
displayed in grid 102. Advertisement 124 may be
selectable and provide further information about media
content, provide information about a product or a
service, enable purchasing of media content, a product,
or a service, provide media content relating to the
advertisement, etc. Advertisement 124 may be targeted
based on a user's profile/preferences, monitored user
activity, the type of display provided, or on other
suitable targeted advertisement bases.
[0040] While advertisement 124 is shown as
rectangular or banner shaped, advertisements may be
provided in any suitable size, shape, and location in a
guidance application display. For example,
advertisement 124 may be provided as a rectangular
shape that is horizontally adjacent to grid 102. This
is sometimes referred to as a panel advertisement. In
addition, advertisements may be overlaid over media
content or a guidance application display or embedded
within a display. Advertisements may also include
text, images, rotating images, video clips, or other
types of media content. Advertisements may be stored
in the user equipment with the guidance application, in
a database connected to the user equipment, in a remote
location (including streaming media servers), or on
other storage means or a combination of these
locations. Providing advertisements in a media
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guidance application is discussed in greater detail in,
for example, Knudson et al., U.S. Patent Application
No. 10/347,673, filed January 17, 2003, Ward, III
et al. U.S. Patent No. 6,756,997, issued June 29, 2004,
and Schein et al. U.S. Patent No. 6,388,714, issued
May 14, 2002. It will be
appreciated that advertisements may be included in
other media guidance application display screens of the
present invention.
[0041] Options region 126 may allow the user to
access different types of media content (e.g. Internet
content), media guidance application displays, and/or
media guidance application features. Options region
126 may be part of display 100 (and other display
screens of the present invention), or may be invoked by
a user by selecting an on-screen option or pressing a
dedicated or assignable button on a user input device.
The selectable options within options region 126 may=
concern features related to program listings in grid
102 or may include options available from a main menu
display. Features related to program listings may
include searching for other air times or ways of
receiving a program, recording a program, enabling
series recording of a program, setting program and/or
channel as a favorite, purchasing a program, or other
features. Options available from a main menu display
may include search options, VOD options, parental
control options, access to various types of listing
displays, subscribe to a premium service, edit a user's
profile, access a browse overlay, or other options.
(00421 Another display arrangement for providing
guidance is shown in FIG. 2. Display 200 provides
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guidance for Internet-delivered videos, and may be
provided as a display in an online media guidance
application, or as a display in a client-server or
stand-alone (e.g., set-top box based) guidance
application. In some examples herein, Internet-
delivered television programs are provided, although
the disclosed embodiments may provide guidance for
movies, user-generated content, or any other types of
media content. In some embodiments, display 200 is
displayed a result of user selection of listing 118 in
display 100 (FIG. 1). For clarity and organization,
display 200 may be split into three columns. Center
column 204 contains media listings arranged in mosaic
208. Left column 202 allows a user to define criteria
(e.g. a particular genre, show, etc.) for the videos
provided in mosaic 208. Right column 206 provides
recommendations to the user. Each of these columns
will be discussed in more detail below in connection
with FIGS. 2-7, 8A-8C, and 9A-9B.
[0043] Left column 202 allows a user to select
videos based on criteria of interest. Left column 202
provides a list of selectable categories 210. The
categories may include genre, channels, shows,
hotlists, type (e.g., television episode, movies,
etc.), or any other such category. One of the
categories may be in a selected state. The category
may be selected based on user indication or may default
to being selected. In the selected state, there may be
a window 214 of selectable criteria elements 212
corresponding to the selected category. The window may
be situated under the name of the category to indicate
which category is selected. With a user input device,
a user may select a criteria element 212 in window 214
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(e.g., by moving highlighted region 216 to a desired
criteria element and pressing a key or by directly
clicking the desired criteria element). Once selected,
in addition to being displayed within window 214, the
selected criteria element may appear at 218. That is,
it may appear below its corresponding category 210 and
above window 214. This indicates to the user that the
criteria element has been successfully selected. When
multiple criteria elements are selected within the same
category, each criteria element may be listed below the
category in some order (e.g., in the order the criteria
elements were selected, in alphabetical order, etc.).
A selected criteria element may be listed below its
corresponding category even when the category is not
selected, as indicated by selected criteria element
222. Selectable buttons 220 may be provided next to
each selected criteria element 218 and 222. Selecting
button 220 may deselect the corresponding selected
criteria element.
[0044] An alternative way for a user to select
criteria elements is to manually enter search
terms/keywords. A user may enter one or more keywords
into search bar 224 using a user input device.
Selectable button 226 may be selected to initiate a
search using the entered keywords. Search bar 224 may
be used in conjunction with left column 202, if desired
(e.g., a user may define criteria elements based on
selected criteria elements in column 202 and keywords
entered into search bar 224).
[0045] Center column 204 may display a set of videos
in mosaic 208, where the set of videos is determined
based on receiving user input of search bar 224 and/or
left column 202. Unlike the listings from FIG. 1, the
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listings in display 200 are not limited to simple text
(e.g., the program title) and icons to describe media.
Rather, in display 200 the listings may provide
graphical images including cover art, still images from
the media content, video clip previews, live video from
the media content, or other types of media that
indicate to a user the media content being described by
the listing. Each of the graphical listings may also
be accompanied by text to provide further information
about the media content associated with the listing.
To avoid over-complicating the figure, a more detailed
view of a listing 228 in mosaic 208 is shown in FIG.3.
[0046] FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of media
listing 228 in mosaic 208 (FIG. 2). A video may be
represented by graphical identifier 302 (e.g., a
thumbnail/screenshot of the video, a preview of the
video, the video itself, etc.). A rating 304 for the
video may be overlaid on part of graphical identifier
302. The rating may reflect rating designations from
all users who have rated the video from their
respective media guidance applications or a
related/affiliate program. The visual indicator may
also be accompanied by text box/overlay 306 to provide
further information about the media content. For
example, textual description 308 may include the media
title, the date the video became available, and the
length of the video. Also, text box may include simple
icons 310 and/or 312. Icon 310, a simple dollar sign,
may be present if the media costs some amount of money
to download or stream from the media provider. If icon
310 is not present, then the video is free. Similarly,
an icon such as check mark 312 may be present if the
video is a video recommended by an editor (e.g.,
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television or movie critic). Otherwise, checkmark 310
may not be present.
[0047] Returning to FIG. 2, the number of total
identified videos after applying selected or entered
criteria is shown in region 230. Region 230 is shown
to be in left column 202 but may be displayed anywhere
on user interface 200. If more videos are identified
than those currently visible in mosaic 208, selectable
arrows 234 and 236 may be used to view more available
videos. Selectable arrow 234 allows a user to view a
new subset of identified videos, and selectable arrow
236 returns the user to the previously viewed subset of
identified videos. The user may change the order in
which the videos are presented by selecting one of sort
links 238. The identified videos may be sorted
according to the date that the video became available
(e.g. most recent first or oldest first), the
popularity of the video (e.g. based on the total number
of times the video has been selected by other users),
in a random order, or using any other mechanism for
sorting a set of videos.
[0048] User interface 200 also allows users to
indicate a desired maximum video length and desired
newness using sliders 240 and 242. Slider 240 sets a
maximum video length. When slider 240 is to the far
right, there is no restriction on video length. As the
slider is moved to the left, only shorter and shorter
videos may be included in the results. For example, if
slider 240 is at the midpoint of the scale, only video
clips that are less than thirty minutes are included in
the results. If the slider is at the far left, only
video clips that are less than five minutes are
included in the results. Similarly, slider 242 sets a
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maximum date range. When slider 242 is to the far
right, there is no restriction how old the video may
be. As the slider is moved to the left, only more and
more recent videos may be included in the resulting
display.
[0049] Mosaic 208 is a two by two grid of listings
228. However, any other arrangement may be used, such
as a three by three or two by three grid. Furthermore,
although each listing 228 is shown to be the same size,
they may also be different sizes. Listings may be of
different sizes or graphically accentuated to indicate
degrees of interest to the user, the relevance of each
identified video following a search, or to emphasize
certain content, as desired by the media provider or
based on user preferences. Various systems and methods
for graphically accentuating media listings are
discussed in, for example, Yates, U.S. Patent
Application No. 11/324,202, filed December 29, 2005,
[0050] Each listing 228 may be a selectable frame.
In one embodiment of the invention, upon a user
selection of a selectable frame, the user is directed
to the website where the corresponding video may be
downloaded or streamed. The website may be displayed
in an overlay or in a new screen. In another
embodiment of the invention, upon user selection of
listing 228, additional information about the video,
such as the description of the program, may be
presented to the user in an overlay or in right column
206. Based on the additional information, the user may
choose to be directed to the website where the video is
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provided, may add the video to a My Favorite Videos
list, or may add the video to view queue 244.
[0051] View queue 244 displays a list of videos that
a user has chosen to view at a later time. Each video
may be represented by a graphical identifier, such as a
screenshot/thumbnail, a preview of the video, or the
video itself. In one embodiment of the invention, each
video identifier 246 is selectable, which provides the
user with easy access to the videos that the user
intends to watch. When a video from the view queue is
selected, the user may be directed to the website where
the video is provided. The video may be removed from
the view queue automatically when the video is
selected, or the user may manually remove the video
from the view queue. In another embodiment of the
invention, view queue 244 acts as a "playlist." When
the user is ready to watch a video from the view queue,
the user is directed to the website of the first video
in the view queue.
[0052] Right column 206 may display two types of
information. It may (1) present recommended videos to
the user, or (2) display additional information about a
selected video. FIGS. 2 and 4 show rightmost column
206 performing the former function of displaying
recommendations to the user. The latter function will
be described in detail below in connection with FIG. 5.
Heading 250 of column 206 reads "TODAY'S TOP PICKS,"
indicating that the recommendations are chosen based on
the most popular videos for the day. Other ways to
provide recommendations to the user will be discussed
in detail below in connection with FIG. 4. The
recommended videos may be presented to the user by
providing a format similar to listing 228, discussed
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above and in connection with FIG. 3. Alternatively, a
recommended video may be displayed by listing the title
of the video 252, a graphical identifier for the video
254 with a ratings overlay 256, and a brief program
description 258 of the video. Other information may be
provided for each video in column 202.
[0053] When a user initially enters the guidance
application, the top picks may be based on the most
popular videos of all available videos in any category.
As the user defines video types of interest by
searching for keywords or selecting criteria elements
in left column 202, the recommended videos in right
column 206 may change to reflect the user's actions.
For example, if the user chooses the "Action/Adventure"
criteria element in window 214, the videos under
"TODAY'S TOP PICKS" may be changed to include the top
one or more of the most popular action/adventure videos
of the day.
[0054] Recommendations provided in right column 206
may be based on criteria other than popularity. For
example, recommendations may be based on an editor's
recommendation, as shown in column 400 of FIG. 4.
Heading 402 reads "EDITOR'S PICKS" to reflect the way
in which the recommended videos are chosen. The editor
may be a famous movie or television critic or any other
personality that a user may identify with. Consistent
with one embodiment of the present invention, column
400 may provide more information about each recommended
video than the listings in mosaic 208 (FIG. 2). For
example, for each recommended video, title 404,
graphical identifier (e.g., thumbnail/screenshot, etc.)
406 with ratings 408 overlay, and brief description 410
are displayed. Rating 406 for each video may be based
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on user-entered ratings. Other information about the
video may include network symbol 412 (e.g. FOX) from
the network that the video was originally broadcast,
the genre (e.g. action/adventure, drama, etc.) or type
414 (e.g. television episode, movie, etc.), length of
the video 416, and cost 418 to download or stream the
video. FOX is a registered trademark owned by FOX
Broadcast Company. Column 400 is merely illustrative,
and therefore, more or less information about a video
than the above-mentioned may be displayed.
[0055] Techniques may be used for choosing
recommendations for a user other than based on
popularity or an editor's picks. The recommendations
may be based on the user's interest. The user's
interest may be obtained by monitoring user behavior on
the media guidance application, by express user
designations, or from a user profile. For example, if
the user does not like action/adventure videos, the
recommended videos may be the most popular two or three
videos excluding action/adventure videos. If the user
typically watches videos highlighted by Roger Ebert,
the recommended videos may be two or three videos that
were most recently highlighted by Roger Ebert.
[0056] When a user selects a video from either
mosaic 208 or the recommended videos, right column 206
(FIG. 2) may display options to the user for the
selected video, as shown in FIG. 5. In addition, more
information about the video may be displayed. FIG. 5
shows the result of selecting the first video in FIG. 4
or one of the videos of mosaic 208. In addition to
informational content about the selected video,
selectable options 504, 506, 508, 510, 516, and 518 are
presented to the user. Selectable button 504 opens a
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new display or overlay and directs the user to the
website where the video is provided. Selectable button
506 adds the current video to view queue 244 (FIG. 2),
and selectable button 508 adds the video to a user's
favorites list.
[0057] Options 510 provide links related to the
currently displayed video. Thus, if the user enjoys
the video, the user may be directed to related videos.
Related videos are presented to the user as keywords
512. Keywords 512 may be actors or other celebrities
associated with the video, the network the program is
on, related networks, or any other keywords associated
with the video. Next to each keyword in the list is a
number 514 that corresponds to the number of available
videos related to the keyword. For example, in FIG. 5,
Kiefer Sutherland is an actor in the selected show, and
there are 392 available videos with that actor. If the
user chooses selectable link 520, mosaic 208 (FIG. 2)
is reflected to include the 392 videos. Rightmost
column 206 may then revert to providing recommendations
to the user based on the selected keyword (FIG. 4).
[0058] Column 500 may present other options related
to the selected video, including "Send to Friend" 516
and "Blog about this Video" 518 features. Feature 516
allows a user to notify a friend about the current
video. In one embodiment of the invention, the URL of
the website that provides the video may be sent to the
e-mail address of a friend or may be sent to a friend
using any other suitable means. In another embodiment
of the invention, the video may be added to a
recommended list in the friend's user profile, which
the friend may access when he or she accesses his or
her account on the media guidance application. An e-
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mail, or any other method for distributing information,
may also be sent to the friend to notify the friend
that a new recommendation has been added.
[0059] Feature 518 may direct the user to a new
display screen (not pictured). The display screen may
allow the user to enter his or her thoughts or comments
about a video after viewing the video. These thoughts
may be saved in a blog associated with the user. The
blog may contain various entries, where each entry
corresponds to a particular video or related media
information about the video (e.g., a particular genre,
show, channel, actor, etc.). In some embodiments, by
selecting option 518, an entry about the video may be
automatically started. The blog may be stored in a
user profile. The blog may be saved on the user's
device and may be only accessible to the user.
Alternatively, the blog may be saved remotely, and the
blog may be accessible to users designated as a friend
or may be open to the public to read.
[0060] Other features that may be provided to a user
by column 500, but are not shown to avoid cluttering
the figure, are options to rate the video, visit a
forum about the video, or go to a wiki-able page about
the video. If desired, the user may be directed to a
forum to discuss the video or a topic related to the
video (e.g., the television show, the network providing
the video, actors in the video, etc.). The user may
also go to a wiki-able page about the video or a topic
related to the video to share information with other
guidance application users.
[0061] A media guidance application, such as an
application that provides display screen 200 of FIG. 2,
may be personalized based on a user's preferences. A
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personalized media guidance application allows a user
to customize displays and features to create a
personalized "experience" with the media guidance
application. This personalized experience may be
created by allowing a user to input these
customizations and/or by the media guidance application
monitoring user activity to determine various user
preferences. Users may access their personalized
guidance application by logging in or otherwise
identifying themselves to the guidance application.
Customization of the media guidance application may be
made in accordance with a user profile. The
customizations may include varying presentation schemes
(e.g., color scheme of displays, font size of text,
etc.), aspects of media content listings displayed
(e.g., recommended media content, etc.), aspects of
criteria elements displayed (e.g., ordering of
categories or criteria elements, etc.), parental
control settings, and other desired customizations.
[0062] The media guidance application may allow a
user to provide user profile information or may
automatically compile user profile information. The
media guidance application may, for example, monitor
the media the user accesses and/or other interactions
the user may have with the guidance application.
Additionally, the media guidance application may obtain
all or part of other user profiles that are related to
a particular user (e.g., from other web sites on the
Internet the user accesses, such as www.tvguide.com,
from other media guidance applications the user
accesses, from other interactive applications the user
accesses, from a handheld device of the user, etc.),
and/or obtain information about the user from other
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sources that the media guidance application may access.
As a result, a user can be provided with a unified
guidance application experience across the user's
different devices. This type of user experience is
described in greater detail below in connection with
FIG. 11. Additional personalized media guidance
application features are described in greater detail in
Ellis et al., U.S. Patent Application No. 11/179,410,
filed July 11, 2005, Boyer et al., U.S. Patent
Application No. 09/437,304, filed November 9, 1999, and
Ellis et al., U.S. Patent Application No. 10/105,128,
filed February 21, 2002.
[0063] A user may enter preferences to customize the
display provided by a guidance application, such as
through display 600 in FIG. 6. The user preferences
may be saved in a user profile associated with the
user. User interface 600 may display the user's
favorite videos, the user's display preferences, and
may allow the user to add or remove preferences. My
Favorite Videos list 602 is a list of videos, where
each video has been marked as a favorite by the user
by, for example, selecting the "Add to My Favorites"
selectable button 508 (FIG. 5). Each entry in the list
may be identified by a graphical identifier 604 (e.g.
screenshot/thumbnail) and textual information 606.
Textual information 606 may include the title of the
video, the length of the video, the date that the video
became available, and any other relevant information.
The "close" indicator 608 next to each video in list
602 allows the user to remove any individual video from
the list. My Favorite Videos list 602 may be different
from view queue 246 for at least the reason that the
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favorites list is saved more permanently (e.g., in a
user profile). The user may therefore leave the
guidance application and return to the application at a
later time without losing the information saved in
display 600. Below favorites list 602 is "Send to
Friend" link 610. Link 610 allows the user to send the
videos in the user's favorites list to a friend.
Favorites list 602 may be sent to a friend using any of
the techniques described in connection with link 516 in
FIG. 5.
[0064] A user may enter viewing preferences in My
Preferences list 612. My Preferences list 612 may
include one or more of the user's favorite editors 614.
My Preferences list 612 may include one or more
favorite types of videos 616. Any of the selectable
criteria elements available in left column 202 (FIG. 2)
(e.g., a criteria element within genre, channels,
shows, hotlists, video type, etc.) of user interface
200 may be included in My Preferences list. Any of the
preferences entered by the user may be removed by
selecting button 618 corresponding to the preference,
and preferences may be added by selecting link 620.
Link 620 may bring the user to a new screen (not
pictured) or overlay where the user is allowed to
choose additional options to include in My Preferences.
[0065] Link 622 may be used to set up alerts when
new videos of interest to the user are available. The
user may be notified when a new video becomes available
that meets one or more criteria elements in My
Preferences list 612. The user may set up the alerts
so that any or all of the criteria elements are used to
trigger an alert. The alerts may be in e-mail, text-
message, or other suitable form for delivering the news
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that new videos of interest to the user have become
available.
[0066] User interface 200 (FIG. 2) may be customized
based on the preferences entered into lists 624 and
626. List 624 excludes any videos from being displayed
that do not possess a property of at least one of the
criteria elements in the list. For example, in
illustrative user interface 600, the user has
designated that he or she only wants to view results
that are in the genre of action/adventure. The
filtering effect of list 624 may only occur if at least
one criteria element is selected.
[0067] List 626 may exclude videos that satisfy any
of the criteria elements in the list to be presented to
the user. Therefore, if list 620 is empty, then list
620 has no effect on the videos that are presented to
the user. By using either list 624 or list 626, the
user has significant control over what types of videos
may or may not be returned in any searches. Display
600 may also include other options for customizing user
interface 200. In some embodiments, a user may change
the format or options of left column 202. The user may
include or exclude categories from being displayed.
The user may choose the order in which the categories
or criteria elements are displayed.
[0068] FIG. 7 shows illustrative Venn diagram 700 of
available videos in the News category. As shown in
Venn diagram 700, 2000 videos are available for display
to the user in the genre of news 702. Of the 2000 news
videos, 139 videos are related to the channel, Comedy
Central 704. Also, 518 of the 2000 news videos are
related to the channel, C-SPAN 706. There are more
videos related to the two channels than those shown in
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the Venn diagram, but these are not in the news genre.
This is indicated by dotted lines 710 that extend
outside of news box 702. Finally, 30 videos in the
news genre, as indicated by box 708, are related to
both Comedy Central and C-SPAN.
(0069) The example display screens shown in
FIGS. 8A-8C and 9A-9B illustrate typical usage
scenarios of user interface 200 and in particular, left
column 202 (FIG. 2). The scenarios are described with
reference to Venn diagram 700 in FIG. 7. At various
stages, column 202 (FIG. 2) may take the form of
columns 800A-800C in FIGS. 8A-8C. In this scenario,
column 202 (FIG. 2) is used as a scope narrowing
mechanism, whereby the number of identified videos
decreases with each selected criteria element.
Initially, column 202 may include categories for genre,
channels, shows, and hotlists. The genre category may
default to being selected, and criteria elements of the
genre category are displayed. (See FIG. 2) Upon user
selection of the criteria element, "News" 802, in the
genre category, the criteria element is listed below
the genre category heading and above the window of
selectable elements. Next to selected criteria element
804 is "close" button 806, which may be used to
deselect the criteria element, and remove the criteria
element from its position above window 812. Following
user selection of the news genre, available online
videos in the news genre are identified. The number of
identified videos, or 2000, is displayed at 708, which
is consistent with the number of available news videos
in Venn diagram 700.
[0070] If a user selection of the category, channels
810, is received, window 812 of selectable elements
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corresponding to the genre category is closed. Window
814, corresponding to the channels category, is
presented below the channels category heading. The
criteria elements in window 814 each have videos in the
news genre. Channels that do not have videos in the
news genre are not included in window 814. When a user
selection of criteria element 816 (Comedy Central) is
received, as before, the criteria element 818 is moved
to below the category heading, and "close" button 820
is provided next to the criteria element. Following
user selection of the Comedy Central channel criteria
element, available online videos are identified that
are both in the news genre and related to Comedy
Central. The number of identified videos, or 139, is
shown at 822. Thus, of the 2000 videos in the news
genre, only 139 of them are related to Comedy Central,
and the scope of the video set is narrowed accordingly.
This is consistent with 704 in Venn diagram 700.
[0071] Following a selection of C-SPAN in the
channels category, the remaining number of videos, or
30, is displayed in 824 of FIG. 8C. Thus, of the 139
videos meeting both the news and Comedy Central
criteria, only 30 of the videos are also related to C-
SPAN. This number is consistent with 708 in Venn
diagram 700. If the show category is selected, window
814 is closed and a new window corresponding to
television shows, window 826, is presented below the
shows category heading. Note that only one show, The
Daily Show, is listed in the window. This indicates
that all 30 of the videos that are news-based, related
to Comedy Central, and related to C-SPAN are on, or at
least related to, The Daily Show.
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[0072] If a user indication is received to remove
the Comedy Central criteria element (e.g. if user
selection of button 820 is received), the identified
videos only need to meet the news and C-SPAN criteria,
which, according to Venn diagram 700, would result in
818 videos. This may then be reflected on the user
interface (not pictured). The criteria elements would
change accordingly, and would include shows that have
available videos that meet both the news and C-SPAN
criteria.
[0073] Column 202 (FIG. 2) may also take on the
forms of 900A and 900B in FIGS. 9A and 9B. In this
usage scenario, the scope narrowing mechanism may at
times increase the set of identified videos with
subsequent selections of criteria elements. The steps
involved in reaching the configuration shown in FIG. 9A
may be achieved by the steps discussed above in
connection with FIGS. 8A and 8B. Thus, for
convenience, FIG. 8B is reproduced as FIG. 9A. In FIG.
9A, the news criteria element of the genre category and
the Comedy Central criteria element of the channels
category have been selected, and criteria elements of
the channel category are displayed. This results in
139 videos, as is consistent with Venn diagram 700.
[0074] Following a selection of C-SPAN in the
channels category, the identified videos are expanded
to include news-related videos in either Comedy Central
or C-SPAN. Accordingly, the number of identified
videos, shown at 904, is increased from 139 to 627
videos. As can be seen from viewing a window 906 of
selectable criteria elements in the shows category
(e.g., by selecting the shows category), news-related
shows from both Comedy Central and C-SPAN are listed.
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Note that in window 906, videos from each channel are
separated (shows 908 are from Comedy Central and shows
910 are from C-SPAN) to show that they meet different
criteria elements in another category. In some
embodiments, the criteria elements are displayed
together (e.g., alphabetically) without regard to the
selected criteria elements in other categories.
[0075] If a user indication is received to remove
the Comedy Central criteria element (e.g. if user
selection of button 914 is received), the set of videos
may be narrowed. In this case, the identified videos
would need to meet the news and C-SPAN criteria, which,
according to Venn diagram 700, would reduce the set of
videos from 627 to 518. This may then be reflected in
the user interface (not pictured). The criteria
elements would change accordingly, and would include
shows that have available videos that meet both the
news and C-SPAN criteria.
[0076] Users may access media content and the media
guidance application (and its display screens described
above) from one or more of their user equipment
devices. FIG. 10 shows a generalized embodiment of
illustrative user equipment device 1000. More specific
implementations of user equipment devices are discussed
below in connection with FIG. 11. User equipment
device 1000 may receive media content and data via
input/output (hereinafter "I/O") path 1002. I/0 path
1002 may provide media content (e.g., broadcast
programming, on-demand programming, Internet content,
and other video or audio) and data to control
circuitry 1004, which includes processing circuitry
1006 and storage 1008. Control circuitry 1004 may be
used to send and receive commands, requests, and other
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suitable data using I/O path 1002. I/0 path 1002 may
connect control circuitry 1004 (and specifically
processing circuitry 1006) to one or more
communications paths (described below). I/O functions
may be provided by one or more of these communications
paths, but are shown as a single path in FIG. 10 to
avoid overcomplicating the drawing.
[0077] Control circuitry 1004 may be based on any
suitable processing circuitry 1006 such as processing
circuitry based on one or more microprocessors,
microcontrollers, digital signal processors,
programmable logic devices, etc. In some embodiments,
control circuitry 1004 executes instructions for a
media guidance application stored in memory (i.e.,
storage 1008). In client-server based embodiments,
control circuitry 1004 may include communications
circuitry suitable for communicating with a guidance
application server or other networks or servers.
Communications circuitry may include a cable modem, an
integrated services digital network (ISDN) modem, a
digital subscriber line (DSL) modem, a telephone modem,
or a wireless modem for communications with other
equipment. Such communications involve the Internet
for at least obtaining online media content and
additionally may involve any other suitable
communications networks or paths (which is described in
more detail in connection with FIG. 11). In addition,
communications circuitry may include circuitry that
enables peer-to-peer communication of user equipment
devices, or communication of user equipment devices in
locations remote from each other (described in more
detail below).
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[00 7 8 ] Memory (e.g., random-access memory, read-only
memory, or any other suitable memory), hard drives,
optical drives, or any other suitable fixed or
removable storage devices (e.g., DVD recorder, CD
recorder, video cassette recorder, or other suitable
recording device) may be provided as storage 1008 that
is part of control circuitry 1004. Storage 1008 may
include one or more of the above types of storage
devices. For example, user equipment device 1000 may
include a hard drive for a DVR (sometimes called a
personal video recorder, or PVR) and a DVD recorder as
a secondary storage device. Storage 1008 may be used
to store various types of media described herein and
guidance application data, including program
information, guidance application settings, user
preferences or profile information, or other data used
in operating the guidance application. Nonvolatile
memory may also be used (e.g., to launch a boot-up
routine and other instructions).
[0079] Control circuitry 1004 may include video
generating circuitry and tuning circuitry, such as one
or more analog tuners, one or more MPEG-2 decoders or
other digital decoding circuitry, high-definition
tuners, or any other suitable tuning or video circuits
or combinations of such circuits. Encoding circuitry
(e.g., for converting over-the-air, analog, or digital
signals to MPEG signals for storage) may also be
provided. Control circuitry 1004 may also include
scaler circuitry for upconverting and downconverting
media into the preferred output format of the user
equipment 1000. Circuitry 1004 may also include
digital-to-analog converter circuitry and analog-to-
digital converter circuitry for converting between
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digital and analog signals. The tuning and encoding
circuitry may be used by the user equipment to receive
and to display, to play, or to record media content.
The tuning and encoding circuitry may also be used to
receive guidance data. The circuitry described herein,
including for example, the tuning, video generating,
encoding, decoding, scaler, and analog/digital
circuitry, may be implemented using software running on
one or more general purpose or specialized processors.
Multiple tuners may be provided to handle simultaneous
tuning functions (e.g., watch and record functions,
picture-in-picture (PIP) functions, multiple-tuner
recording, etc.). If storage 1008 is provided as a
separate device from user equipment 1000, the tuning
and encoding circuitry (including multiple tuners) may
be associated with storage 1008.
[0080] A user may control the control circuitry 1004
using user input interface 1010. User input interface
1010 may be any suitable user interface, such as a
remote control, mouse, trackball, keypad, keyboard,
touch screen, touch pad, stylus input, joystick, voice
recognition interface, or other user input interfaces.
Display 1012 may be provided as a stand-alone device or
integrated with other elements of user equipment
device 1000. Display 1012 may be one or more of a
monitor, a television, a liquid crystal display (LCD)
for a mobile device, or any other suitable equipment
for displaying visual images. In some embodiments,
display 1012 may be HDTV-capable. Speakers 1014 may be
provided as integrated with other elements of user
equipment device 1000 or may be stand-alone units. The
audio component of videos and other media content
displayed on display 1012 may be played through
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speakers 1014. In some embodiments, the audio may be
distributed to a receiver (not shown), which processes
and outputs the audio via speakers 1014.
[0081] User equipment device 1000 of FIG. 10 can be
implemented in system 1100 of FIG. 11 as user
television equipment 1102, user computer equipment
1104, wireless user communications device 1106, or any
other type of user equipment suitable for accessing
media, such as a non-portable gaming machine. For
simplicity, these devices may be referred to herein
collectively as user equipment or user equipment
devices. User equipment devices, on which a media
guidance application is implemented, may function as a
standalone device or may be part of a network of
devices. Various network configurations of devices may
be implemented and are discussed in more detail below.
[0082] User television equipment 1102 may include a
set-top box, an integrated receiver decoder (IRD) for
handling satellite television, a television set, a
digital storage device, a DVD recorder, a video-
cassette recorder (VCR), a local media server, or other
user television equipment. One or more of these
devices may be integrated to be a single device, if
desired. User computer equipment 1104 may include a
PC, a laptop, a tablet, a WebTV box, a personal
computer television (PC/TV), a PC media server, a PC
media center, or other user computer equipment. WEBTV
is a trademark owned by Microsoft Corp. Wireless user
communications device 1106 may include PDAs, a mobile
telephone, a portable video player, a portable music
player, a portable gaming machine, or other wireless
devices.
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(0083] It should be noted that with the advent of
television tuner cards for PC's, WebTV, and the
integration of video into other user equipment devices,
the lines have become blurred when trying to classify a
device as one of the above devices. In fact, each of
user television equipment 1102, user computer equipment
1104, and wireless user communications device 1106 may
utilize at least some of the system features described
above in connection with FIG. 10 and, as a result,
include flexibility with respect to the type of media
content available on the device. For example, user
television equipment 1102 may be Internet-enabled
allowing for access to Internet content, while user
computer equipment 1104 may include a tuner allowing
for access to television programming. The media
guidance application may also have the same layout on
the various different types of user equipment or may be
tailored to the display capabilities of the user
equipment. For example, on user computer equipment,
the guidance application may be provided as a web site
accessed by a web browser. In another example, the
guidance application may be scaled down for wireless
user communications devices.
[0084] In system 1100, there is typically more than
one of each type of user equipment device but only one
of each is shown in FIG. 11 to avoid overcomplicating
the drawing. In addition, each user may utilize more
than one type of user equipment device (e.g., a user
may have a television set and a computer) and also more
than one of each type of user equipment device (e.g., a
user may have a PDA and a mobile telephone and/or
multiple television sets).
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[0085] The user may also set various settings to
maintain consistent media guidance application settings
across in-home devices and remote devices. Settings
include those described herein, as well as channel and
program favorites, programming preferences that the
guidance application utilizes to make programming
recommendations, display preferences, and other
desirable guidance settings. For example, if a user
sets a channel as a favorite on, for example, the web
site www.tvguide.com on their personal computer at
their office, the same channel would appear as a
favorite on the user's in-home devices (e.g., user
television equipment and user computer equipment) as
well as the user's mobile devices, if desired.
Therefore, changes made on one user equipment device
can change the guidance experience on another user
equipment device, regardless of whether they are the
same or a different type of user equipment device. In
addition, the changes made may be based on settings
input by a user, as well as user activity monitored by
the guidance application.
[0086] The user equipment devices may be coupled to
communications network 1114. Namely, user television
equipment 1102, user computer equipment 1104, and
wireless user communications device 1106 are coupled to
communications network 1114 via communications paths
1108, 1110, and 1112, respectively. Communications
network 1114 include the Internet and additionally be
may be one or more other networks including, a mobile
phone network, mobile device (e.g., Blackberry)
network, cable network, public switched telephone
network, or other types of communications network or
combinations of communications networks. BLACKBERRY is
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a trademark owned by Research In Motion Limited Corp.
Paths 1108, 1110, and 1112 may separately or together
include one or more communications paths, such as, a
satellite path, a fiber-optic path, a cable path, a
path that supports Internet communications (e.g.,
IPTV), free-space connections (e.g., for broadcast or
other wireless signals), or any other suitable wired or
wireless communications path or combination of such
paths. Path 1112 is drawn with dotted lines to
indicate that in the exemplary embodiment shown in
FIG. 11 it is a wireless path and paths 1108 and 1110
are drawn as solid lines to indicate they are wired
paths (although these paths may be wireless paths, if
desired). Communications with the user equipment
devices may be provided by one or more of these
communications paths, but are shown as a single path in
FIG. 11 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing.
[0087] Although communications paths are not drawn
between user equipment devices, these devices may
communicate directly with each other via communication
paths, such as those described above in connection with
paths 1108, 1110, and 1112, as well other short-range
point-to-point communication paths, such as USB cables,
IEEE 1394 cables, wireless paths (e.g., Bluetooth,
infrared, IEEE 802-11x, etc.), or other short-range
communication via wired or wireless paths. BLUETOOTH
is a trademark owned by Bluetooth SIG, INC. The user
equipment devices may also communicate with each other
directly through an indirect path via communications
network 1114.
[0088] System 1100 includes web server 1116 and
media guidance data source 1118 coupled to
communications network 1114 via communication paths
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1120 and 1122, respectively. Paths 1120 and 1122 may
include any of the communication paths described above
in connection with paths 1108, 1110, and 1112.
Communications with the web server 1116 and media
guidance data source 1118 may be exchanged over one or
more communications paths, but are shown as a single
path in FIG. 11 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing.
In addition, there may be more than one of each of web
server 1116 and media guidance data source 1118, but
only one of each is shown in FIG. 11 to avoid
overcomplicating the drawing. (The different types of
each of these sources are discussed below.) If
desired, web server 1116 and media guidance data source
1118 may be integrated as one source device. Although
communications between sources 1116 and 1118 with user
equipment devices 1102, 1104, and 1106 are shown as
through communications network 1114, in some
embodiments, sources 1116 and 1118 may communicate
directly with user equipment devices 1102, 1104, and
1106 via communication paths (not shown) such as those
described above in connection with paths 1108, 1110,
and 1112.
[0089] Online media may be provided by web server
1116. Web server 1116 may provide a website of an
online media provider (e.g., television network
website, entertainment website, movie website, or a
website that aggregates content from multiple sources).
The online media provider may host a variety of content
(e.g., full-length movies/television episodes, segments
of movies/episodes, trailers/previews, interviews with
actors/directors/producers, music videos, original
online-only content, promotions for a network or
program, etc.). The online media provider may host
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media of various types (e.g. streaming, downloadable,
user generated, professionally generated, etc.). The
provided online media may be stored locally at web
server 1116 or in a remote media server. In addition
to the media content, web server 1116 may store
metadata (e.g., title, description, URL, etc.) for each
provided media.
[0090] One or more of other media sources (not
shown) may also provide media content to user
equipment, and be connected to the communications
network by one or more paths that may include any of
the communication paths described above in connection
with paths 1108, 1110, and 1112. Other media sources
may include one or more types of media distribution
equipment including a television distribution facility,
cable system headend, satellite distribution facility,
programming sources (e.g., television broadcasters,
such as NBC, ABC, HBO, etc.), intermediate distribution
facilities and/or servers, on-demand media servers, and
other media content providers. NBC is a trademark
owned by the National Broadcasting Company, Inc., ABC
is a trademark owned by the ABC, INC., and HBO is a
trademark owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. Other
media sources may be the originator of media content
(e.g., a television broadcaster, a Webcast provider,
etc.) or may not be the originator of media content
(e.g., an on-demand media content provider, etc.).
Other media sources may include cable sources,
satellite providers, on-demand providers, or other
providers of media content. Other media sources may
also include a remote media server used to store
different types of media content (including video
content selected by a user), in a location remote from
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any of the user equipment devices. Systems and methods
for remote storage of media content, and providing
remotely stored media content to user equipment are
discussed in greater detail in connection with Ellis et
al., U.S. Patent Application No. 09/332,244, filed
June 11, 1999.
[0091] Media guidance data source 1118 may provide
media guidance data for a media guidance application.
Media guidance data source 1118 includes data store
1124 and 1126, and may provide guidance data from
either data store. The guidance data may include
program information such as a program title, an episode
title, an episode synopsis, editorial commentary, etc.,
typically found in, for example, TV Guide Magazine or
on www.tvguide.com. Data stores 1124 and 1126 may be
one or more relational databases or other suitable
storage mechanisms. Data stores 1124 and 1126 may be
local (as shown in system 1100) or in remote locations.
[0092] Data store 1126 stores media guidance data
that may or may not be available online. The stored
media guidance data may include media listings, media-
related information (e.g., broadcast times, broadcast
channels, media titles, media descriptions, ratings
information (e.g., parental control ratings, critic's
ratings, etc.), genre or category information, actor
information, logo data for broadcasters' or providers'
logos, etc.), media format (e.g. MPEG), advertisement
information (e.g. text, images, media clips, etc.), and
any other type of guidance data that is helpful for a
user to navigate among and locate desired media
selections. Data store 1126 may also store identifiers
into data store 1124 that reference related media.
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[0093] Media guidance data source 1118 may also
include data store 1124. Data store 1124 stores
information related to the videos available on web
servers 1116. Data store 1124 may store the metadata
(e.g., title, description, URL, etc.) associated with
each video from web servers 1116, or may store
information derived from the metadata. Data store 1124
may also store metadata not provided from web servers
1116 (e.g., date entered into data store 1124,
popularity, user generated tags/keywords, etc.). Data
store 1124 may store identifiers into data store 1126
to indicate additional media guidance data related to
the videos found from web servers 1116. In some
embodiments, data store 1124 stores the online media
provided by web servers 1116 along with information
about the media.
[0094] Media guidance application data may be
provided to the user equipment devices using any
suitable approach. In some embodiments, the guidance
application may be a stand-alone interactive television
program guide that receives program guide data via a
data feed (e.g., a continuous feed, trickle feed, or
data in the vertical blanking interval of a channel).
Program schedule data and other guidance data may be
provided to the user equipment on a television channel
sideband, in the vertical blanking interval of a
television channel, using an in-band digital signal,
using an out-of-band digital signal, or by any other
suitable data transmission technique. Program schedule
data and other guidance data may be provided to user
equipment on multiple analog or digital television
channels. Program schedule data and other guidance
data may be provided to the user equipment with any
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suitable frequency (e.g., continuously, daily, a
user-specified period of time, a system-specified
period of time, in response to a request from user
equipment, etc.). In some approaches, guidance data
from media guidance data source 1118 and/or other media
sources may be provided to users' equipment using a
client-server approach. For example, a guidance
application client residing on the user's equipment may
initiate sessions with source 1118 to obtain guidance
data when needed. Media guidance data source 1118 may
provide user equipment devices 1102, 1104, and 1106 the
media guidance application itself or software updates
for the media guidance application.
[0095] Media guidance applications may be, for
example, stand-alone applications implemented on user
equipment devices. In other embodiments, media
guidance applications may be client-server applications
where only the client resides on the user equipment
device. For example, media guidance applications may
be implemented partially as a client application on
control circuitry 1011 of user equipment device 1000
and partially on a remote server as a server
application (e.g., media guidance data source 1118).
The guidance application displays may be generated by
the media guidance data source 1118 and transmitted to
the user equipment devices. The media guidance data
source 1118 may also transmit data for storage on the
user equipment, which then generates the guidance
application displays based on instructions processed by
control circuitry.
[0096] Media guidance system 1100 is intended to
illustrate a number of approaches, or network
configurations, by which user equipment devices and
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sources of media content and guidance data may
communicate with each other for the purpose of
accessing media, including Internet-delivered content,
and providing media guidance. The present invention
may be applied in any one or a subset of these
approaches, or in a system employing other approaches
for delivering media and providing media guidance. The
following three approaches provide specific
illustrations of the generalized example of FIG. 11.
[0097] In one approach, user equipment devices may
communicate with each other within a home network.
User equipment devices can communicate with each other
directly via short-range point-to-point communication
schemes describe above, via indirect paths through a
hub or other similar device provided on a home network,
or via communications network 1114. Each of the
multiple individuals in a single home may operate
different user equipment devices on the home network.
As a result, it may be desirable for various media
guidance information, including media guidance
information for Internet-delivered content, or settings
to be communicated between the different user equipment
devices. For example, it may be desirable for users to
maintain consistent media guidance application settings
on different user equipment devices within a home
network, as described in greater detail in Ellis et
al., U.S. Patent Application No. 11/179,410, filed July
11, 2005. Different types of user equipment devices in
a home network may also communicate with each other to
transmit media content. For example, a user may
transmit online media content from user computer
equipment to a portable video player or portable music
player.
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[0098] In a second approach, users may have multiple
types of user equipment by which they access media
content, including Internet-delivered media content,
and obtain media guidance. For example, some users may
have home networks that are accessed by in-home and
mobile devices. Users may control in-home devices via
a media guidance application implemented on a remote
device. For example, users may access an online media
guidance application on a website via a personal
computer at their office, or a mobile device such as a
PDA or web-enabled mobile telephone. The user may set
various settings (e.g., recordings, reminders, or other
settings) on the online guidance application to control
the user's in-home equipment. The online guide may
control the user's equipment directly, or by
communicating with a media guidance application on the
user's in-home equipment. Various systems and methods
for user equipment devices communicating, where the
user equipment devices are in locations remote from
each other, is discussed in, for example, Ellis et al.,
U.S. Patent Application No. 10/927,814, filed August
26, 2004.
[0099] In a third approach, users of user equipment
devices inside and outside a home can use their media
guidance application to communicate directly with web
servers 1116 or other media content sources to access
Internet-delivered and other media content.
Specifically, within a home, users of user television
equipment 1104 and user computer equipment 1106 may
access the media guidance application to navigate among
and locate desirable media content. Users may also
access the media guidance application outside of the
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home using wireless user communications devices 1106 to
navigate among and locate desirable media content.
[0100] It will be appreciated that while the
discussion of media content has focused on video
content, the principles of media guidance can be
applied to other types of media content, such as music,
images, etc.
[0101] A more detailed view of an embodiment of
media guidance data source 1118 is shown in FIG. 12.
In addition to data stores 1124 and 1126, media
guidance data source 1118 may contain web crawler
device 1202 and web server 1204. Web crawler device
1202 and web server 1204 may each include one or more
of processing circuitry 1214 and 1208, and storage 1216
and 1210. They may include any of the features and
components of a user equipment device, described above
in connection with FIG. 10. They may additionally
include any circuitry or stored software (e.g.,
database drivers, web crawler device applications, web
server applications, etc.). Web crawler device 1202
and web server 1204 interact with data stores 1124 and
1126 through I/O paths 1210, 1218, 1220, and 1222. Web
crawler device 1202 and web server 1204 communicate
with communications network 1114 through I/O paths 1206
and 1212, which are referred to collectively as link
1122 in FIG. 11. I/O paths 1206, 1210, 1212, 1218,
1220, and 1222 may be any suitable communication paths
described above in connection with 1108, 1116, and
1112. Although web crawler device 1202 and web server
1204 are shown as separate entities, their functions
may be performed by a single unit.
[0102] In a typical scenario, web crawler device
1202 obtains online media information (e.g., metadata)
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and, in some embodiments, online media content
originally provided from web servers 1116. That is,
web crawler device 1202 captures information on online
media available on the Internet. In FIG. 12, a dotted
line is shown between link 1206 and web server 1116 to
indicate that web crawler device 1202 directly requests
media and media information from web server 1116. Web
crawler device 1202 may then store information on the
available online media in data store 1124. To do so,
web crawler device 1202 may access, retrieve, add,
update, or remove data from data store 1124. Web
crawler device 1202 may store information on web
servers 1116 in storage 1210. Thus, web crawler device
1202 may store captured information directly in data
store 1124 or may first process the captured
information using related data in data store 1126
and/or storage 1210.
[0103] In a typical scenario, web server 1204 may
access or retrieve data from data store 1124 and 1126.
Web server 1204 may use retrieved data from either or
both data stores to provide media guidance application
data for a media guidance application. Web server 1204
may store user personalization data (e.g., user
profiles) in storage 1216 and any other suitable
information for preparing a display and/or data. Web
server 1204 may provide data through I/O link 1212
using any of the approaches described above in
connection with FIG. 11. For example, web server 1204
may send raw data, processed data, or may prepare a
display, depending on the type of user equipment and/or
guidance application.
[0104] System 1300 in FIG. 13 is another
illustrative embodiment of media guidance data source
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1118. FIG. 13 includes the components of FIG. 12, but
also includes data manager user equipment 1302, editor
user equipment 1310, and editor's pick data store 1308.
[0105] Data manager user equipment 1302 may include
processing circuitry 1304 and storage 1306. Data
manager user equipment may be one of user equipment
devices 1102, 1104, or 1106. Data manager user
equipment 302 may include any or all of the components
of user equipment devices. In FIG. 13, data manager
user equipment 1302 is local to data store 1124, and
may communicate with data store 1124 through any path
described in connection with I/O paths 1108, 1116, and
1112. In some embodiments, data manager user equipment
is a standard user equipment (e.g., laptop, mobile
device, etc.) remote from system 1300, and a data
manager may sign in to gain access through web crawler
device 1202 or web server 1204. Typically, there is
more than one data manager user equipment in system
1300, but only one is shown to avoid overcomplicating
the drawing.
(0106] In a typical usage scenario, a data manager
may use data manager user equipment to access,
retrieve, add, remove, or update entries in data store
1124. Data managers may correct incorrect information
about online videos, remove videos that have become
unavailable, add online media information and/or online
media content, add tags related to entries in data
store 1126, or add any information that may be used by
web crawler device 1202 and web server 1204. For
example, data managers may tag certain web servers 1116
so that any listing from these tagged web servers are
accentuated in the listing.
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[0107] Editor's picks data store 1308 may be one or
more relational databases or other suitable storage
mechanisms. Editor's picks database 1308 may contain
separate storage space for each editor. Editor's picks
database 1308 may contain editor preference
designations for an individual online media. In
addition, editor's picks database 1304 may contain
hotlists for each editor, where a hotlist is a list of
the editor's favorite or preferred media. For each
editor preference designation in editor's pick database
1308, editor's picks database 1308 may store links into
data stores 1124 and 1126. The links may be used by
web server 1204 when generating displays or gathering
data for media guidance applications. In some
embodiments, editor's picks data store 1308 is part of
storage 1216 in web server 1204.
[0108] Editor user equipment 1310 may include
processing circuitry 1312 and storage 1314. Editor
user equipment 1310 may include the features and/or
components discussed in connection with data manager
user equipment 1302. Editor user equipment may
communicate, either remotely or locally, with editor's
picks data store 1308 through any path described in
connection with I/O paths 1108, 1116, and 1112. In
some embodiments, editor user equipment may have access
to a portion of storage 1216 in web server 1214, and
editor preference designations may be stored in storage
1216. In a typical usage scenario, an editor may enter
preference designations in a manner similar to the way
users enter media into a My Favorites list (see FIG.
5). Typically, there is more than one editor user
equipment in system 1300, but only one is shown to
avoid overcomplicating the drawing.
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[0109] In the present invention, an online media
guidance application may choose a set of videos, and
information about the chosen videos may be displayed to
the user. Flow diagram 1400 of illustrative steps
involved in obtaining and providing media guidance data
is shown in FIG. 14. Online videos from one or more
online media providers (e.g. web servers 1116) are
identified and accessed at step 1402. Information for
each identified video may be obtained from the online
media provider. In some embodiments, a plurality of
Internet sites are crawled and metadata corresponding
to available videos are scraped from the Internet
sites. The Internet sites may include web sites of
online media providers. Video metadata may include the
video title, description, video URL, source name,
source URL, genre, program type (e.g., clip, full-
length episode, online-only, movie trailers),
screenshots/thumbnails, actors in the video, running
time, character names, video format (e.g., REAL, WMV,
Flash, Quicktime, etc.), active/expire date,
stream/download, DRM, price, and resolution (e.g., full
screen, 320x240, etc.).
[0110] The collected metadata for each identified
video may be stored (e.g., in data store 1124) at step
1404. In addition, other metadata not obtained from
the media provider (e.g., keywords or tags added by a
data manager (e.g., from data manager user equipment
1310)., user ratings, popularity, date video was found
on the internet, editor preference designations, wiki-
able content data, etc.) may be stored in addition to
the collected metadata. The stored metadata may be
updated continually, at fixed or varying time
intervals, or may not be updated at all. In some
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embodiments, the identified online video itself (e.g.,
the actual video file/clip/asset) is stored as well.
[0111] At step 1406, the metadata for each of the
videos may be associated with media guidance data,
where the media guidance data may be stored in a media
guidance database. The association may be determined
based on comparing the video metadata with metadata in
the media guidance database (e.g., data store 1126), or
the association may be added by a data manager. In
some embodiments, some of the collected metadata is
used for making associations with media guidance data
and is not actually stored at step 1404. In still
other embodiments, a degree of relevance may be stored
instead of just an association. For instance, the
metadata may be compared, and a higher degree of
relevance may be given to online videos that match a
larger percentage of the metadata.
[0112] At step 1406, each video may be associated
with one or more entries in the media guidance
database. For example, the metadata for a video of a
television episode may be associated with guidance data
on the television show, the television episode, the
actors in the show, the television network, or any
editors that have commented on the episode or show. An
association may be made by storing the video metadata
with a tag from the media guidance database.
Alternatively, associations or links between the stored
metadata and the media guidance data may be saved
remotely.
[0113] A subset of the videos may be selected at
step 1408. The subset may be chosen automatically
based on an editor's preference designations (e.g.,
from editor's pick database 1308) or based on user
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personalization data. User personalization data may be
obtained from monitoring user behavior, from a user
profile, or from express designations made by the user
(see FIG. 6). A set of the videos may also be chosen
automatically based on such criteria as the popularity
or newness of the videos (see column 206 of FIG. 2).
[0114] A subset of the videos may be selected at
step 1408 in response to receiving a user command. The
user may enter one or more search terms or keywords
(e.g., in search bar 224), and the subset of videos may
be determined based on a comparison of the keywords
with the stored metadata associated with each video.
The user may select particular criteria elements (e.g.,
genre, show, channel, clip length, etc.) of interest
(e.g. using column 202 of FIG. 2). The subset of
videos may be those that meet the criteria, and are
determined based on examining stored metadata.
[0115] There is metadata associated with both the
media guidance data and the online video. Therefore,
the subset of videos may be determined by comparing
search terms or other criteria to either sources of
metadata. In one embodiment, search terms and/or other
criteria elements are compared to the metadata of the
media guidance application. The comparison returns
relevant media guidance data. Since there are
associations linking the media guidance data to related
online video, a subset of the videos may be determined.
In another embodiment of the invention, the subset of
videos is determined based on a comparison of search
keywords and/or other criteria to the metadata of the
videos. Depending on how the collected metadata is
stored, the amount of metadata for each collected
video, and how the associations are made, the two
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techniques may or may not return the same set of
videos.
(0116] In some embodiments, the media guidance
database includes more than media guidance data. The
media guidance database also includes media, such as
video media. In this case, the subset of videos
identified in step 1408 may include videos identified
from the internet and/or videos stored in the media
guidance database.
[0117] A display indicating' each video of the subset
of videos is generated at step 1410. The display for
each video in the subset includes guidance application
data from the guidance application database. The
guidance application data is determined based on the
associations created in step 1406. The display may
also include some or all of the collected and/or
generated video metadata (e.g., in text box 308 of FIG.
3, in column 400 of FIG. 4, as keywords 512 in FIG. 5,
etc.). In some embodiments, the display is a mosaic,
where each video in the subset is represented by at
least a graphical identifier (e.g. still image from the
video). In other embodiments, the display may be text-
only. Also, the displayed media listings may indicate
the relevancy of each listing, where the relevancy may
be determined based on a data manager's indication (see
FIG. 13) or a degree of relevancy assessed when the
listing was associated with media guidance data at step
1406.
[0118] In some embodiments, an online media guidance
application may direct a user to media content of
interest to the user. Flow diagram 1500 of FIG. 15
shows illustrative steps for providing such a feature.
Online media information may be obtained and processed
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based on the strategies discussed in steps 1404 to 1406
in FIG. 14. A subset of the videos may be identified
at step 1502 using any of the techniques discussed in
step 1408, including choosing videos based on user
personalization data, editor's preference designations,
user-entered search terms (e.g., in search bar 224 in
FIG. 2), or user-selected criteria elements (e.g., in
left column 202 in FIG. 2). At step 1504, a display is
generated using a frame from each of the identified
videos. The display may be similar to display screen
200 shown in FIG. 2. A user selection of a frame is
received by the online media guidance application at
step 1506. Based on the selection, at step 1508, the
guidance application directs the user to the website
that provides the selected media content. The website
may be provided in an overlay, in a frame within the
guidance application, or may be shown on the full
screen.
[0119] In accordance with a principle of the present
invention, a set of videos may be identified, and
further refined, based on user selection of selectable
criteria elements. Flow diagram 1600 of FIG. 16
illustrates such a process. Online media information
may be obtained and processed based on the strategies
discussed in steps 1404 to 1406. Criteria elements
(e.g., action/adventure, news, ABC, Comedy Central,
etc.) may be displayed to a user, such as in window 214
of FIG 2, at step 1602. In some embodiments, the
selectable criteria elements may be a predefined set of
criteria elements that are always displayed. In other
embodiments, the selectable criteria elements may
include only criteria elements that meet the media
identified from the Internet at step 1402.
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[0120] At step 1604, the media guidance application
receives user indication of one of the selectable
criteria elements. Based on the selected criteria
element, a subset of the identified media is selected
at step 1606. Since the selected criteria element is
the first criterion chosen by the user, the subset is
chosen based on only this selected criteria element.
However, if other selected criteria elements had
already been received, the subset of videos may be
chosen based on one or more of all the selected
criteria elements. The subset of identified videos may
be chosen based on any of the strategies discussed
above in connection with step 1408 of FIG 14.
[0121] After a subset of videos is chosen, a display
may be generated indicating each video in the subset at
step 1410, such as in mosaic 208 of FIG. 2. This step
may proceed by using any of the techniques discussed in
connection with FIG. 14. The media guidance
application may then receive a user selection of
another selectable criteria element at 1604. This
would refine the chosen subset of videos at step 1606,
and the altered subset would be reflected in the
display generated at step 1410.
[0122] In some embodiments, a guidance application
may display selectable criteria elements grouped into
categories. Based on user selection, videos of
interest to the user may be identified and the
displayed criteria elements may be updated accordingly.
The identified videos may therefore depend not only on
which criteria elements are selected, but also on what
categories have selected criteria elements. Flow chart
1700 of FIG. 17 is an illustrative flow chart in
accordance with a principle of the present invention.
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As discussed in greater detail below, flow chart 1700
may take on many embodiments.
[0123] In one embodiment of flow chart 1700, a set
of identified videos depends only on the most recently
selected criteria element. When the user first enters
the guidance application, a plurality of categories is
displayed to the user at step 1702. For example, the
categories may be genre, channels, shows, and hotlists
(see column 202 of FIG. 2). In addition, one of the
categories may default to a selected stage, where a
window of criteria elements within the category is
displayed. In some embodiments, a criteria element for
a selected category is displayed only if at least one
video in the database meets the criteria element.
[0124] Upon receiving a user selection at step 1704,
if the selection is a criteria element within a
selected category (e.g. criteria element 212 in FIG.
2), videos that meet the selected criterion are
identified at step 1706. The videos may be identified
based on any of the strategies discussed in connection
with FIG. 14. The identified videos may be displayed
in a mosaic, such as in display screen 200 of FIG. 2.
The media guidance application may then receive a user
selection of another criterion in the current category
or receive a selection of a different category (step
1704).
[0125] Upon receiving a user selection at step 1704,
if the selection is a category other than the currently
selected category, the window of selectable criteria
elements corresponding to the currently selected
category is closed at step 1708. A new window is
presented at step 1710, and selectable criteria
elements corresponding to the newly selected category
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are displayed within the new window. The window may be
situated directly below the category to indicate that
the window corresponds to that category. The user
interface may then receive a user selection of a
criteria element in the newly selected category or
receive a selection of a different category
(step 1704).
[0126] In another embodiment of flow chart 1700, the
media guidance application may keep track of selected
criteria elements, and use each selected criteria
element to narrow the scope of the identified videos.
When the user first enters the guidance application, a
plurality of categories is displayed to the user at
step 1702. For example, the categories may be genre,
channels, shows, and hotlists (see column 202 of FIG.
2). In addition, one of the categories may default to
a selected stage, where a window of criteria elements
within the category is displayed.
[0127] Upon receiving a user selection at step 1704,
if the selection is a criteria element within the
selected category, videos that meet the selected
criterion and all previously selected criteria are
identified (step 1706). Since selecting the criteria
element adds a condition that all identified videos
must meet, selecting the criteria element narrows the
video set and decreases the number of identified
videos. For an example, see the discussion of columns
800B and 800C of FIGS. 8B and 8C, where a set of
identified videos is reduced from 139 (822 in FIG. 8B)
to 30 (824 in FIG. 8C). When multiple criteria
elements are selected from one or more categories, the
identified videos meet the Boolean expression:
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(SC1 AND SC2 AND AND newly selected criterion),
where "SCX" stands for "selected criterion X."
Alternatively, other suitable multiple selection
criteria schemes may be utilized, such as an inclusive
selection of all identified videos falling within any
one of a plurality of selection criteria; the
identified videos may meet the Boolean expression:
(SC1 OR SC2 OR OR newly selected criterion), where
"SCX" stands for "selected criterion X."
[0128] Upon receiving a user selection at step 1704,
if the selection is an indication to "close" a
previously selected criteria element (e.g., by
selecting button 220 of display screen 200), the
criterion corresponding to the close indication is
deselected (step 1712). Thus, the set of identified
videos expands to include all videos that meet the
remaining selected criteria elements, but not the
deselected criteria element at step 1714.
[0129] Upon receiving a user selection at step 1704,
if the selection is a category other than the currently
selected category, the window corresponding to the
currently selected category may be closed at step 1708
(e.g., window 814 of FIG. 8B). A new window is
presented (e.g., window 826 of FIG. 8C), and selectable
criteria elements corresponding to the newly selected
category are displayed within the new window (step
1710). The selectable criteria elements may include
criteria elements that, if selected, would result in at
least one identified video. That is, a selectable
criteria element in the newly selected category may be
displayed if there are available videos that meet the
criteria element and all previously selected criteria
elements.
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[0130] Similarly, upon user selection of a criteria
element at 1704, the remaining selectable criteria
elements in the category may also be reduced in
conjunction with narrowing the identified videos at
step 1706. That is, after narrowing the set of
identified videos, a selectable criteria element may be
removed from the list if there are no videos in the
narrowed set that also meet the selectable criteria
element.
[0131] In another embodiment of flow chart 1700,
selecting multiple criteria elements may expand the set
of identified videos. When the user first enters the
guidance application, the media guidance application
may display a plurality of categories at step 1702.
For example, the categories may be genre, channels,
shows, and hotlists. In addition, one of the
categories may default to a selected stage, where a
window of criteria elements within the category is
displayed.
[0132] Upon receiving a user selection at step 1704,
if the selection is a criteria element within the
selected category, a set of videos is identified, where
each video meets (1) the selected criteria element or
any of the previously selected criteria elements of the
same category, and (2) at least one selected criteria
element in each of the other categories that have at
least one selected criteria element (step 1706). The
video set may be expanded to include videos that meet
only the newly selected criteria element and none of
the previously selected criteria elements in the
category. For an example, see the discussion of
columns 900A and 900B of FIGS. 9A and 9C, where a set
of identified videos is expanded from 139 (902 in FIG.
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9A) to 627 (904 in FIG. 9B). Thus, when multiple
criteria elements are selected from one or more
categories, the identified videos meet the Boolean
expression:
(SClcati SCNcati) AND (SC1cat2 OR ... OR SCNcat2)
where "SCXcaty" represents "selected criterion X in
category Y."
[0133] Upon receiving a user selection at step 1704,
if the selection is an indication to "close" a
previously selected criteria element (e.g., by
selecting button 220 of display screen 200), the
criterion corresponding to the close indication is
deselected (step 1712). Since a subset of the
identified videos may have only met the deselected
criterion in the category and none of the remaining
selected criteria elements, the videos in that subset
are no longer identified and presented to the user
(step 1714). Therefore, deselecting a criteria element
may narrow the video set and reduce the number of
identified videos.
[0134] Upon receiving a user selection at step 1704,
if the selection is a category other than the currently
selected category, the window corresponding to the
currently selected category is closed at 1708. A new
window is presented below the newly selected category,
such as window 906 of FIG. 9B, and selectable criteria
elements corresponding to the newly selected category
(e.g., 908 or 910 of FIG. 9B) may be displayed within
the new window (step 1710). The list of selectable
criteria elements may include criteria elements that,
if selected, would return at least one video. That is,
a selectable criteria element in the newly selected
category may be displayed if there are videos in the
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database that meet (1) the selectable criteria element
or any other previously selected criteria element in
the same category, and (2) at least one selected
criteria element in each of the remaining categories
with at least one selected element.
[0135] In another embodiment of flow chart 1700, the
effect of selecting a criteria element may depend on
which category the criteria element is in. For
example, selecting multiple criteria elements in some
categories (e.g., genre) may cause the guidance
application at step 1706 to identify videos that meet
all of the selected criteria elements. Selecting
multiple criteria elements in another category (e.g.,
channels and shows) may cause the guidance application
to identify videos that meet any of the selected
criteria elements. Essentially, this embodiment is a
combination of the two embodiments previously
discussed. Thus, when multiple criteria elements are
selected from one or more categories, the identified
videos may meet the Boolean expression:
(SC1cati OR OR SCNcati) AND (SC1cat2 AND ... AND SCNcat2)
where "SCXcaty" represents "selected criterion X in
category Y."
[0136] A media guidance application may also use
keywords entered by a user to define a set of videos.
FIG. 18 shows illustrative flow diagram 1800 for
providing videos and criteria elements following
reception of one or more keywords. At step 1802, one
or more keywords is received by the media guidance
application. A set of videos is identified at step
1804 based on the one or more keywords. The set may be
selected based on any of the strategies described above
in connection with FIG. 14. A set of criteria elements
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of a category (e.g., the selected category from step
1710 of FIG. 17) may be displayed at step 1806. The
displayed criteria elements may include only those that
meet the set of videos identified at step 1804. The
user may then continue changing the set of videos based
on the strategies described in connection with flow
diagram 1700.
[0137] The foregoing describes systems and methods
for acquiring, categorizing, and delivering online
media content using an interactive media guidance
application. The above described embodiments of the
present invention are presented for purposes of
illustration and not of limitation.
