Methods and apparatus for presenting supplemental information in an electronic programming guide

A television receiver comprising:

• a tuner that receives television programming from a programming source;
• an input interface communicatively coupled to an input device;
• and
• a processor configured to:
• output a display menu, for display by an associated display device, the display menu including a programming guide that spans both first and second portions of the display menu and that provides information about a plurality of television programs in a grid format, the programming guide grid comprising a first row comprising a plurality of time slots and a first column comprising the plurality of television programs, where each television program of the plurality of television programs in the first column is associated with one time slot of the plurality of time slots in the first row;
• output live television programming content adjacent to the programming guide grid
• process user input, received from the input device via the input interface, the user input selecting a region of the programming guide within the first column corresponding to a particular one of the plurality of television programs;
• identify supplemental content associated with the particular television program for display in the display menu based on the region of the programming guide selected by the user;
• and
• output simultaneously, for display in the display menu, a supplemental content window comprising supplemental content in an area that is smaller than the first portion of the display menu and a re-sized programming guide in a grid format that contains all of the same information about the plurality of television programs as the previous programming guide, but that is shrunken to fit in only in an area that is smaller than the second portion of the display menu next to the display of the supplemental content associated with the particular television program during display of the electronic programming guide, wherein the combined space occupied by the supplemental content window and the re-sized programming guide grid is smaller than the previous programming guide grid, wherein the supplemental content window comprises:
• 1) an advertisement for an upcoming event related to the particular television program;
• 2) a video preview icon, wherein a user input selecting the video preview icon causes a video regarding the upcoming event to be played in the supplemental content window;
• and
• 3) a trigger control element associated with recording of the upcoming event, wherein a user input selecting the trigger control element causes the setting of a recording timer for recording the upcoming event, responsive to the user input.

A method for displaying television guide information, the method comprising:

• initially displaying a television program on a display device;
• receiving a first user input indicating a request to display an electronic programming guide;
• in response to receiving the first user input, displaying the television program and the electronic programming guide simultaneously on the display device, wherein the electronic programming guide is displayed as a programming guide grid that provides information about a plurality of television programs in a programming guide window on the display device, the programming guide grid comprising a first row comprising a plurality of time slots and a first column comprising the plurality of television programs, where each television program of the plurality of television programs in the first column is associated with one time slot of the plurality of time slots in the first row, and wherein supplemental content regarding the television program is excluded from display on the display device;
• receiving a second user input selecting a region of the programming guide grid within the first column corresponding to a particular television program of the plurality of television programs;
• in response to receiving the second user input, displaying a supplemental content window comprising supplemental content corresponding to the particular television program within a smaller portion of the programming guide window that was previously occupied by the programming guide grid while simultaneously continuing to display the television program and resizing the programming guide grid so that a re-sized programming guide grid that is smaller than the previous programming guide but that provides all of the same information about the plurality of television programs as the previous programming guide grid is displayed in the remainder of the programming guide window next to the supplemental content during display of the television guide information, wherein the combined space occupied by the supplemental content window and the re-sized programming guide grid is smaller than the previous programming guide grid, wherein the supplemental content window comprises:
• 1) an advertisement for an upcoming event related to the particular television program;
• 2) a video preview icon, wherein a user input selecting the video preview icon causes a video regarding the upcoming event to be played in the supplemental content window;
• and
• 3) a trigger control element associated with recording of the upcoming event, wherein a user input selecting the trigger control element causes the setting of a recording timer for recording the upcoming event, responsive to the user input;
• receiving a third user input selecting the video preview icon;
• in response to the third user input, playing within the supplemental content window a preview video regarding the upcoming event;
• receiving a fourth user input selecting the trigger control element;
• in response to the fourth user input, setting a recording timer for recording the upcoming event and recording the upcoming event according to the recording timer;
• receiving a fifth user input requesting to exit the supplemental content;
• and
• in response to the fifth user input, discontinuing the display of any supplemental content on the display device while continuing to display the programming guide grid and the television program.