Channel contract proposing apparatus, method, program and integrated circuit

A channel subscription suggestion method that gives suggestions regarding a subscription to a subscription channel whose broadcast programs are permitted to be viewed by subscription, comprising:

• a reception step of receiving program guide information relating to a plurality of programs broadcast on a plurality of channels, the program guide information showing a broadcast time of each program;
• an acquisition step of acquiring preference information showing a preference of one user with respect to programs;
• a determination step of estimating, with reference to the program guide information and the preference information, whether each respective program meets the preference of the one user, and determining that each of one or more programs estimated to meet the preference is a recommended program;
• a count step of counting a total number of recommended programs specified by the program guide information;
• and
• a subscription suggestion step of suggesting subscribing to, or canceling a subscription to, at least one subscription channel, in accordance with a frequency that the recommended programs are broadcast on the subscription channel, the frequency being a ratio between the total number of the recommended programs counted in the count step and a total number of all programs broadcast on the subscription channel during a predetermined period in which two or more programs are broadcast.

A control program embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the program causing a computer to execute a channel subscription suggestion method that gives suggestions regarding a subscription to a subscription channel whose broadcast programs are permitted to be viewed by subscription, the method comprising:

• a reception step of receiving program guide information relating to a plurality of programs broadcast on a plurality of channels, the program guide information showing a broadcast time of each program;
• an acquisition step of acquiring preference information showing a preference of one user with respect to programs;
• a determination step of estimating, with reference to the program guide information and the preference information, whether each respective program meets the preference of the one user, and determining that each of one or more programs estimated to meet the preference is a recommended program;
• a count step of counting a total number of recommended programs specified by the program guide information;
• and
• a subscription suggestion step of suggesting subscribing to, or canceling a subscription to, at least one subscription channel, in accordance with a frequency that the recommended programs are broadcast on the subscription channel, the frequency being a ratio between the total number of the recommended programs counted in the count step and a total number of all programs broadcast on the subscription channel during a predetermined period in which two or more programs are broadcast.

An integrated circuit in a channel subscription suggestion apparatus that gives suggestions regarding a subscription to a subscription channel whose broadcast programs are permitted to be viewed by subscription, the integrated circuit comprising:

• a reception unit operable to receive program guide information relating to a plurality of programs broadcast on a plurality of channels, the program guide information showing a broadcast time of each program;
• an acquisition unit operable to acquire preference information showing a preference of one user with respect to programs;
• a determination unit operable to estimate, with reference to the program guide information and the preference information, whether each respective program meets the preference of the one user, and determine that each of one or more programs estimated to meet the preference is a recommended program;
• a count unit operable to count a total number of recommended programs specified by the program guide information;
• and
• a subscription suggestion unit operable to suggest subscribing to, or canceling a subscription to, at least one subscription channel, in accordance with a frequency that the recommended programs are broadcast on the subscription channel, the frequency being a ratio between the total number of the recommended programs counted by the count unit and a total number of all programs broadcast on the subscription channel during a predetermined period in which two or more programs are broadcast.