Apparatus and method of selecting video programs based on viewers' preferences

A method for selecting audiovisual programs for presentation to a viewer, each of the audiovisual programs having a plurality of program attributes and a corresponding content code comprising respective fields of information pertaining to the plurality of program attributes of the audiovisual program, comprising the steps of:

• storing a viewer preference file, wherein said viewer preference file comprises a plurality of attribute ratings corresponding to the plurality of program attributes, wherein each of said attribute ratings represents the viewer's preference of the program attribute corresponding to said rating;
• for a plurality of the audiovisual programs, receiving a plurality of the corresponding content codes;
• multiplying fields of a predetermined content code with corresponding fields of said viewer preference file to obtain a plurality of products for a predetermined audiovisual program;
• applying said plurality of products to a neural network;
• determining a grade corresponding to said predetermined content code based on said products;
• repeating said receiving, multiplying, applying, and determining steps for a plurality of content codes to obtain a plurality of corresponding grades for a plurality of corresponding programs;
• choosing a subset of said plurality of corresponding grades based on the relative magnitudes of said grades;
• and
• storing a preferred list of audiovisual programs corresponding to said grades in response to said choosing step.

Apparatus for selecting audiovisual programs having a plurality of program attributes, comprising:

• means for storing a viewer preference file, wherein said viewer preference file comprises a plurality of attribute ratings corresponding to the plurality of programming attributes, wherein each of said attribute ratings represents the viewer's preference of the program attribute corresponding to said rating;
• means for receiving a plurality of the audiovisual programs having a plurality of corresponding content codes, wherein each of said content codes comprises a plurality of information fields representing the plurality of program attributes;
• and
• means for comparing said viewer preference file to said plurality of the corresponding content codes, such that each of said viewer's attribute ratings is compared with the corresponding information field in said corresponding content code.