Method and system for displaying other information in a TV program guide
AssigneeStarsight Telecast, Inc.
InventorsBrian Lee Klosterman, Steven Schein
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system and method for displaying an electronic program schedule guide is provided. The system has areas for displaying program schedule information. In addition, the system also has areas that may be used for advertising programs, products or services. In another embodiment, the system has areas for displaying messages to the user.
Claims23
A method of arranging and managing information for an on-screen electronic program guide having a display screen comprising the steps of:
- displaying a plurality of TV program listings in a first area of the screen;
- selectively marking the program listings in the first area with a cursor to schedule the programs corresponding to the respective marked listings for recording or viewing;
- recording or viewing the scheduled programs at the scheduled time;
- simultaneous with the program listings, displaying promotional information about a current or future-scheduled TV program in a second area of the screen, wherein the promotional information does not change when a different program listing is selected and the second area of the screen is responsive to inputs from the viewer;
- and
- activating the second area to initiate a first function related to the information about a current or future-scheduled TV program displayed in the second area.
An electronic program guide system comprising:
- a display screen;
- a microprocessor;
- a storage medium;
- means for displaying a plurality of TV program listings in a first area of the screen;
- means for selectively marking the program listings in the first area with a cursor to schedule the programs corresponding to the respective marked listings for recording or viewing;
- means for recording or viewing the scheduled programs at the scheduled time;
- means for simultaneous with the program listings, displaying promotional information about a current or future-scheduled TV program in a second area of the screen, wherein the promotional information does not change when a different program listing is selected and the second area of the screen is responsive to inputs from the viewer;
- and
- means for activating the second area to initiate a first function related to the information about a current or future-scheduled TV program displayed in the second area.
An article of manufacture comprising a program storage medium readable by a computer and embodying one or more instructions executable by the computer to perform method steps for arranging and managing information for an on-screen electronic program guide having a display screen, comprising the steps of:
- displaying a plurality of TV program listings in a first area of the screen;
- selectively marking the program listings in the first area with a cursor to schedule the programs corresponding to the respective marked listings for recording or viewing;
- recording or viewing the scheduled programs at the scheduled time;
- simultaneous with the program listings, displaying promotional information about a current or future-scheduled TV program in a second area of the screen, wherein the promotional information does not change when a different program listing is selected and the second area of the screen is responsive to inputs from the viewer;
- and
- activating the second area to initiate a first function related to the information about a current or future-scheduled TV program displayed in the second area.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.