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AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsEric Lawrence Barsness, Cary Lee Bates, Paul Reuben Day, Robert Richard Rasch, John Matthew Santosuosso
Estimating the term…
An on-screen program guide formatted with viewership information is provided. In general, viewership data is collected from a plurality of viewers via, e.g., cable and satellite receivers. The viewership data is then processed to provide viewership information including viewership interest, viewership growth rates, surfing behavior, and other viewership behavior. The viewership interest may also include group member information such as which members of a group are watching a particular program, group ratings of a program, individual member ratings of a program and the like. The viewership information may then be transmitted back to the viewers and displayed as part of an on-screen program guide or other visual interface.
A method of providing viewership information to a plurality of television viewers, comprising:
A signal processing unit for processing television signals, comprising:
An on-screen program guide information provider system, comprising:
A computer data signal embodied in a transmission medium, comprising on-screen program guide interface information containing viewership information of a plurality of television viewers, wherein the on-screen interface information is readable by a plurality of receivers having a network connection with a television program provider and wherein viewership information is configured for formatting an on-screen program guide.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.