System and method for transmitting and utilizing electronic programs guide information

A method of updating television schedule information data in a television schedule information transmission system having a central data processing system and a plurality of subscriber systems, the method comprising the steps of:

• receiving commands via a television telecast signal which include command data and the television schedule information data used by the commands;
• responsive to receiving a command, reading a portion of the command data from the command to determine whether to store the television schedule information included in the command;
• storing the television schedule information included in the command if the television schedule information should be stored;
• and
• skipping over the command if the television schedule information should not be stored, wherein skipping over the command comprises:
• determining the length of the command from the command data;
• and
• ignoring the television telecast signal for the length of the command.

A method of updating television schedule information data in a television schedule information transmission system having a central data processing system and a plurality of subscriber systems, the method comprising the steps of:

• receiving television schedule information data including an associated identifier via a television telecast signal;
• responsive to receiving the television schedule information data, comparing the associated identifier to a second identifier associated with other television schedule information data stored in a memory;
• determining whether to store at least a portion of the received television schedule information data based on the comparison;
• storing the at least a portion of the received television schedule information data and the associated identifier in the memory if the portion should be stored;
• and
• ignoring the television schedule information data and the associated identifier if the portion should not be stored.

A system for updating television schedule information data in a subscriber system included in a television schedule information transmission system having a central data processing system and a plurality of subscriber systems, comprising:

• a decoder for receiving commands via a television telecast signal which include command data and the television schedule information data used by the commands;
• control circuitry configured to:
• determine whether to store the television schedule information data included in each command based on the command data from each command;
• if the television schedule information data should not be stored:
• determine the length of the command from the command data;
• and
• ignore the television telecast signal for the length of the command;
• and
• a memory for storing the television schedule information data if the television schedule data should be stored.

A system for updating television schedule information data in a television schedule information transmission system having a central data processing system and a plurality of subscriber systems, comprising:

• a decoder for receiving via a television telecast signal television schedule information data including an associated identifier;
• control circuitry configured to:
• compare the associated identifier to a second identifier associated with other television schedule information data stored in a memory;
• and
• determine whether to store at least a portion of the received television schedule information data based on the comparison;
• and
• a memory for storing the received television schedule information data and the associated identifier if the received television schedule information data should be stored.