Method and apparatus for audio/data/visual information

A method of selecting desired audio/data/visual information from a broadcast of a first plurality of programs, the method comprising acts of:

• determining by a user apparatus viewing preferences of a user, the viewing preferences are supplied by the user, are automatically updated, and indicate a focus selected from at least one of an identity of a participant in, a type of an event in, a location of the event in, a specific action performed in one or more of the plurality of programs;
• selecting a subset from a plurality of audio/data/visual programs on a basis of a characteristics described in an EPG received by the user apparatus at a users location, wherein the programs in the subset excludes programs described in the EPG as not having characteristics associated with the viewing preferences;
• extracting and indexing closed-captioned or transcribed text and monitoring frequency of occurrence of words in the text from each of the second plurality of unmodified audio/data/visual programs to indicate their focus;
• comparing the focus of said viewing preferences with the focus extracted from each program of the subset of the plurality of unmodified audio/data/visual programs to identify desired audio/data/visual information;
• ranking the desired audio/data/visual information based on conformance of their focus with the focus of the viewing preferences;
• and
• providing access to the ranked desired audio/data/visual information, wherein access to higher ranked desired audio/data/visual information is given priority.

An audio/data/visual program selection system comprising:

• an input device for providing viewing preferences of a viewer, the viewing preferences are supplied by the viewer, are automatically updated, and indicate a focus selected from at least one of an identity of a participant in, a type of an event in, a location of the event in, a specific action performed in one or more of the plurality of programs;
• and
• an information selector for:
• receiving at a viewer's location, an EPG describing characteristics of a first plurality of audio/data/visual programs;
• selecting a second plurality of unmodified audio/data/visual programs from the first plurality of audio/data/visual programs excluding programs described in the EPG as not having characteristics associated with the viewing preferences;
• extracting and indexing closed-captioned or transcribed text and monitoring frequency of occurrence of words in the text from each of the second plurality of unmodified audio/data/visual programs to indicate their focus;
• comparing the focus of said viewing preferences with the focus extracted from each of the second plurality of unmodified audio/data/visual programs to identify desired audio/data/visual information;
• ranking the desired audio/data/visual information based on conformance of their focus with the focus of the viewing preferences;
• and
• providing access to the ranked identified audio/data/visual information, access to higher ranked desired audio/data/visual information is given priority.

An audio/data/visual program selection system comprising:

• an input device for providing viewing preferences of a user, the viewing preferences are supplied by the user, are automatically updated, and indicate a focus selected from at least one of an identity of a participant in, a type of an event in, a location of the event in, a specific action performed in one or more of the plurality of programs;
• and
• an information selector for:
• selecting a subset from a plurality of audio/data/visual programs on a basis of a characteristics described in an EPG received at a users location, wherein the programs in the subset excludes programs described in the EPG as not having characteristics associated with the viewing preferences;
• extracting and indexing closed-captioned or transcribed text and monitoring frequency of occurrence of words in the text from each of the second plurality of unmodified audio/data/visual programs to indicate their focus;
• comparing the focus of said viewing preferences and the focus extracted from each of the subset of audio/data/visual programs to identify desired audio/data/visual information;
• ranking the desired audio/data/visual information based on conformance of their focus with the focus of the viewing preferences;
• and
• providing access to the desired audio/data/visual information, wherein access to higher ranked desired audio/data/visual information is given priority.