Demand-cast system and bandwidth management for delivery of interactive programming

A system for providing access to an array of guide pages from an interactive program guide within constraints imposed by limited bandwidth available in a distribution network, the system comprising:

• a distribution control center coupled to the distribution network;
• a session manager configured to monitor and control usage of demand-cast stream bandwidth within the distribution network;
• and
• a transport stream generator configured to:
• receive demand-cast guide page usage information from the session manager,
• determine, based on the received information, an unaccessed demand-cast guide page of a transport stream, the transport stream comprising multiple demand-cast streams containing corresponding demand-cast guide pages, wherein the demand-cast guide pages were generated as video sequences,
• determine a replacement demand-cast guide page of the array of guide pages to replace the unaccessed demand-cast page by substituting a demand-cast stream of the unaccessed demand-cast page with a demand-cast stream of the replacement demand-cast page, wherein the demand-cast stream of the replacement demand-cast page is multiplexed into the transport stream, and
• transmit the transport stream toward a plurality of terminals via the distribution network for delivering toward at least one of the plurality of terminals a requested demand-cast guide page requested by the at least one terminal.