HK1144234A - Indicating program popularity - Google Patents

Description

Indicating program popularity

Background

It is often difficult for media consumers to identify popular or "hot" programs, especially if a large number of programs are generally available. It is inconvenient and uncommon for consumers to review traditional sources for ratings and popularity, such as published audience ratings. In addition, data from traditional sources is often outdated. In addition, traditional rating information is typically sampled, not aggregated, and thus tends to be unreliable. For many programs, rating information may not be provided. In summary, for a number of reasons, it is not possible for consumers of media programs to find useful rating and popularity information when viewing program listings. Even if the media consumer finds such information, the information may be outdated or inaccurate.

Drawings

Fig. 1 illustrates an exemplary system for delivering an interactive program guide including ratings data.

FIG. 2A illustrates an exemplary interface including a popularity indication of ratings data for media programs within an interactive program guide graphical user interface.

FIG. 2B illustrates an exemplary interface including an indication of popularity of ratings data appearing within a widget data interface.

FIG. 2C illustrates an exemplary interface including a main menu within an interactive program guide graphical user interface.

FIG. 2D illustrates an exemplary interface for display of ratings data for media programs available at a particular current time.

FIG. 2E illustrates an exemplary interface for display of ratings data for media programs that will be available at a future time.

FIG. 2F illustrates an exemplary interface for display of ratings data for on-demand (on-demand) media programs.

FIG. 3A illustrates an exemplary process for making ratings data available for end-user access.

FIG. 3B illustrates an exemplary process for making real-time or near real-time ratings data available for end-user access.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary process for providing and accessing ratings data.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 illustrates an exemplary system 100 for delivering an interactive program guide including ratings data 134.

As shown in fig. 1, a customer premises (customer premise)101 includes: a content processing device 110, which content processing device 110 is controllable by a user via control means 111 to view video on a video display 115. The content processing device 110 may be a set-top box (STB) or similar device known for receiving media signals, e.g., video signals, from a network and for providing media programs, e.g., audio, video, games, to a device, such as a video display 115.

Widget 105 includes computer-executable instructions that are typically stored in a memory of content processing device 110 and may be executed by a processor included within content processing device 110. The instructions in widget 105 may include instructions for retrieving data from widget data server 135, sometimes based on input provided by a user through control 111.

The control device 111 is typically a remote control device that selectively communicates with the content processing device 110 through known wired or wireless communications such as Infrared (IR) communications. In addition to arrow keys and the like for changing channels, changing volume, and the like, the control device 111 typically includes numeric keys for selecting channels of video programs, and other keys for making selections and requests based on menus provided on the video display 115. The video display 115 may be a television receiver, as is known, including a conventional television or a High Definition Television (HDTV).

Content processing device 110 selectively communicates with gateway router 120 via Broadband Home Router (BHR)117 to send information to packet switched network 125 or to receive information from packet switched network 125. An Interactive Program Guide (IPG) server 130 also sometimes selectively communicates with router 120 via network 125, but this is not the case with the exemplary system shown in fig. 1.

Widget data server 135 is also in selective communication with content processing device 110, typically via network 125. Widget database 140 may be included within widget data server 135 or may be part of a separate computing system. In any event, widget data server 135 is generally configured to selectively retrieve information from widget database 140 in response to data in the display for widgets 105 to be included in display 115.

As is well known, the video distribution network 145 is a network for providing a video signal 150. For example, network 145 may include hardware and software for providing video signal 150 via coaxial cable and/or fiber optic cable. As is well known, video signal 150 is typically provided from headend 155 to video distribution network 145.

One or more video hub offices (not shown), sometimes referred to as "VHOs," may serve as aggregation and distribution points for media content. For example, a video signal 150 (e.g., a video signal encoded as a moving picture experts group 2(MPEG 2) stream) may be provided to a video central office from a head end 155 through a media distribution network 145.

Packet switched network 125 is typically an Internet Protocol (IP) network. As such, network 125 uses well-known protocols to transfer data, such as User Datagram Protocol (UDP), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), and the like. In addition, the network 125 may include various networks such as a Wide Area Network (WAN), e.g., the internet, a Local Area Network (LAN), and so forth. Packet switched network 125 may be used to transport various data, including multimedia data such as audio and video, as is well known. It will therefore be appreciated that the networks 125 and 145 may in fact be combined into a single network, or the video distribution network 145 may simply be omitted, such that the packet switched network 125 is used to provide the video signal 150 to the content processing device 110 via the video central office described above.

BHR 117 is known for distributing audio, video and data to devices within the consumer premises 101, such as the content processing device 110. For example, in one embodiment, BHR 117 is a broadband home router or a wireless broadband home router of Actiontec, Santa Clara, Calif.

Gateway router 120 is known for routing data packets in packet switched network 125. Gateway router 120 allows content processing device 110 to access packet switched network 125. By communicating with router 120, content processing device 110 can obtain a network address, such as an Internet Protocol (IP) address, thereby enabling content processing device 110 to make requests to servers 130 and 135 and receive data from servers 130 and 135.

IPG server 130 provides interactive program guide data (IPG data) 132 to content processing device 110 for display on display 115 as an interactive program guide graphical user interface (IPG GUI) 112. The IPG GUI 112 allows the viewer of the display 115 to obtain information and select content, typically by navigating and making selections using the control device 111. IPG server 130 typically includes a processor and memory and a computer readable medium, such as a disk, for storing data, e.g., IPG data 132, to be provided to content processing device 110. IPG database 133 may be included within IPG data server 130 or may be part of a separate computing system. In any case, IPG server 130 is generally configured to selectively retrieve information from IPG database 133 in response to requests for IPG data 132. Additionally, IPG server 130 is configured to selectively retrieve ratings data 134 to be included with responses to IPG data 132 or retrieved independently from IPG data 132. IPG server 130 is further configured to selectively retrieve information from content processing device 110 in order to periodically compile ratings data 134.

Ratings data 134 includes information indicating the popularity of the selected media programs, and the media programs included in ratings data 134 are typically selected according to the popularity of the media programs, e.g., the most popular media programs are selected. For example, ratings data 134 may be compiled using an entire aggregation of the number of times a media program is viewed or accessed within a given time period. For example, current media access activity from a selected set of content processing devices 110, such as being in a geographic area, having network addresses within a range of network addresses, falling within a particular demographic category, random selection, etc., may be used to compile ratings data 134.

Ratings data 134 may be normalized (normalized) to reflect the different number of times various media programs have been broadcast or otherwise made available for access. Further, in addition to ranking media programs with respect to the global set of available media programs, ratings data 134 may also include one or more ratings for media programs within one or more subsets of available programs. For example, ratings data 134 may be based on the type of program, such as movie, tv show, sports, etc.; categories within a type, such as comedy, action, etc.; an intended audience, such as a man, a woman, a particular age group, etc.; geographic areas, such as time zones, cities, etc.; guide information attributes such as actor popularity, time since program release, time periods such as prime time, etc.; or some other type of classification. In addition, ratings data 134 may include information indicating whether the popularity of a program has increased or decreased since a previous reporting period. In addition, ratings data 134 may include other information, such as indications of media programs most frequently recorded by other consumers, or most commonly played video games, etc.

Ratings data 134 may alternatively be compiled from data collected in real-time or near real-time. For example, various activities including viewing or accessing media programs may be monitored, aggregated, and included in ratings data 134 on a real-time or near real-time basis. Real-time or near real-time data collection and aggregation is discussed in more detail below with reference to FIG. 3B.

Ratings data 134 may include a plurality of records, each record being associated with one of a plurality of media programs. For example, ratings data 134 may include identifiers of media programs associated with the number of accesses, views, recordings, etc., as shown in table 1 below.

TABLE 1

Media program	Access
		Program 1	120,000
Program 2	80,000
		Program 3	75,000
Program 4	72,000

Ratings data 134 may further include information in addition to that shown in table 1. For example, ratings data 134 may include: the number of plays of the media program, or the number of visits or views adjusted according to the number of plays, is shown in table 2 below.

TABLE 2

Media program	Viewing	Broadcasting	Watching/broadcasting
				Program 1	120,000	2	60,000
Program 2	80,000	1	80,000
				Program 3	75,000	1	75,000
Program 4	72,000	2	36,000

Ratings data 134 for media programs may be weighted based on various factors including the amount of time a media program has been available, when access to the media program occurred, and the like. For example, weighted ratings data 134 may be accomplished by adjusting the number of views or accesses by one or more factors representing desired weights. For example, the weighting may allow for a ranking or rating that gives lower rating data to media programs published within the past two weeks with 80000 accesses than to media programs published within the past one week with 70,000 accesses. Thus, weighted ratings data 134 may better reflect the relative popularity of various media programs than a simple calculation based on the number of views or a combination of the number of views and plays.

Moreover, ratings data 134 may include one or more categories of media programs. For example, ratings data 134 may include a classification of media programs by category of media program, as shown in Table 3 below.

TABLE 3

Media program	Categories	Watching/broadcasting
			Program 1	Action piece	120,000
Program 2	Action piece	80,000
			Program 3	Comedy	90,000
Program 4	Comedy	60,000

As another example, ratings data 134 may include categories and maturity level classifications, as shown in Table 4 below.

TABLE 4

Media program	Categories	Rating	Watching/broadcasting
				Program 1	Action piece	PG13	120,000
Program 2	Action piece	R	80,000
				Program 3	Comedy	PG13	90,000

Media program	Categories	Rating	Watching/broadcasting
				Program 4	Comedy	G	60,000

In addition, ratings data 134 may include information indicating whether the popularity of a program increased or decreased relative to a previous reporting period, as shown in Table 5.

TABLE 5

Media program	Classification	Change of	Watching/broadcasting
				Program 1	Action piece	Increase of	120,000
Program 2	Action piece	Reduction of	80,000
				Program 3	Comedy	Reduction of	90,000
Program 4	Comedy	Increase of	60,000

Still further, ratings data 134 may include an identifier of the video game and a number of visits or views, as represented in Table 6 below.

TABLE 6

Media program	Viewing
		Game 1	34,000
Game 2	32,000
		Game 3	17,000
Game 4	9,000

Widget data server 135 is a computing device that includes a processor and memory, as well as a computer-readable medium for storing data. As described above, widget data server 135 is in selective communication with widget database 140 to retrieve data to be displayed in widget 105 upon receiving a request from content processing device 110. Widget database 140 may be included on a computer readable medium within widget data server 135 or may be a separate database.

Computing devices such as content processing device 110, IPG server 130, widget data server 135, etc. may employ any of a variety of computer operating systems known to those skilled in the art, including, but not intended to be limited to, Microsoft WindowsOperating System, Unix operating System (e.g., Solaris, Inc. distributed by Sun Microsystems, Menlopark, Calif.)Operating system), the well-known versions and/or varieties of the AIX UNIX operating system and the Linux operating system, distributed by International Business Machines of armonk, new york. The computing device may comprise any of a number of computing devices known to those skilled in the art, including, but not limited to, a computer workstation, a desktop computer, a notebook computer, a laptop computer, or a handheld computer, or some other computing device known to those skilled in the art.

The content processing device 110 is generally a dedicated device for receiving the video signal 150 from the head end 155 via the network 145 (e.g., via the VHO), and may be provided with a proprietary or dedicated operating system other than those listed above. For example, in one embodiment, the content processing device 110 is a STB provided with a real-time operating system (RTOS) as is well known. However, it should be understood that content processing device 110 may be a computing device such as one listed above, so long as the computing device is capable of receiving video signal 150 from network 145 and is also capable of storing and executing instructions included within widget 105.

Computing devices such as content processing device 110, IPG server 130, widget data server 135, etc., each typically include instructions that may be executed by one or more computing devices such as those listed above. The computer-executable instructions may be assembled or interpreted from a computer program created using a variety of programming languages and/or techniques known to those skilled in the art, including but not limited to Java alone or in combination^TMC, C + +, Visual Basic, Java Script, Perl, etc. In general, a processor (e.g., a microprocessor) receives instructions, e.g., from a memory, a computer-readable medium, etc., and executes the instructions, thereby performing one or more processes, including one or more of the processes described herein. Such instructions and other data may be stored and transmitted using a variety of well-known computer-readable media.

Computer-readable media includes any medium that participates in providing data (e.g., instructions), which may be read by a computer. Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile media includes, for example, optical or magnetic disks and other persistent memory. Volatile media include: dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), which typically constitutes a main memory. The transmission medium includes: coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise a system bus coupled to the processor. Transmission media may include or convey acoustic waves, light waves and electromagnetic radiation, such as those generated during Radio Frequency (RF) and Infrared (IR) data communications. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EEPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave as described hereinafter, or any other medium from which a computer can read.

The databases or data stores described herein may include various types of mechanisms for storing, accessing, and retrieving various types of data, including: a hierarchical database, a collection of files in a file system, a proprietary-format application database, a relational database management system (RDBMS), and the like. As is well known, each such database or data store is typically included within a computing device employing a computer operating system such as one of those described above, and is accessed via a network in any one or more of a variety of ways. The file system may be accessed from a computer operating system and may include files stored in a variety of formats. In addition to languages used to create, store, edit, and execute stored procedures, such as the PL/SQL language described above, RDBMSs typically employ the well-known Structured Query Language (SQL).

FIG. 2A illustrates an exemplary interface for popularity indications 210 of ratings data 134 for media program listings 205 included within IPG GUI 112. In general, the popularity indications 210 may be included regardless of where the media programming listings 205 may appear in the IPG GUI 112. The popularity indications 210 may include: icons, pictures, or other visual elements displayed as part of the media program listing 205 or proximate to the media program listing 205. In some implementations, the GUI 112 can provide a mechanism for the user to specify an icon or the like for the popularity indications 210, e.g., the user can select between stars, lights, and arrows the image to be associated with the popularity indications 210.

Popularity indications 210 may be used to indicate that media programs identified by listings 205 are associated with available ratings data 134. For example, media programs in IPG database 132 identified as popular in ratings data 134 may be associated with a popularity icon (e.g., a light, a star, etc.) within IPG GUI 112 that serves as popularity indication 210. The popularity indications 210 may also convey other information. For example, different popularity indications 210 may be associated with different categories or categories of media programs. For example, different popularity indications 210 may be used based on demographics of program popularity, based on user customization, and so forth. For example, a light-emitting icon may be used to indicate that a program is popular with people under 18 years of age, a flower icon may be used to indicate that a program is popular with people over 50 years of age, and so on. The graphics file for popularity indication 210 may be stored on content processing device 110 or may be stored in IPG database 133 and sent to content processor 110 or requested by content processor 110.

FIG. 2B illustrates an exemplary interface including popularity indications 210 of ratings data 134 appearing within a form display 215. Widget 150 provides widget display 215 to display 115 that includes widget icon 220, widget text 225, and widget navigation arrow 230. Widget icon 220 is used to provide an indication of the type of information being displayed in widget data interface 215. Widget text 245 is used to provide information to the user of video display 115. In this example, widget icon 220 may be used to represent the popularity of a media program, similar to popularity indication 210 of FIG. 2A, while widget text 225 includes information about media program 205, similar to the media program in IPG GUI 112. In addition, the video signal 150 is displayed as a moving image 235.

FIG. 2C illustrates an exemplary IPG GUI 112 including a main menu. Ratings data 134 may be accessed as a list within IPG GUI 112 so that media consumers may easily identify media programs for which ratings data 134 is available without scanning the entire IPG GUI 112. Main menu 240 includes a ratings data menu item 245, which when selected 245 may be used to display a list of media programs for which ratings data 134 is available. In this example, ratings data menu item 245 contains several ratings selections 246, including popular media programs for the current time, popular media programs to be provided in the future, popular on-demand media programs, and help features.

Ratings selection 246 represents filtering of ratings data 134. Filtering is the process of selectively providing ratings data 134 to a user based on one or more filter requirements. The filter requirements may include criteria such as a listing of a particular media program, a subject area (e.g., sports, news, comedy, drama, etc.), a parental guide rating, a time, whether the media program is on-demand, whether the media program is a game, etc. The filter requirement may further indicate whether to include or exclude the selected media program in ratings data 134. One or more filter requirements may be stored in IPG database 133 by content processing device 110 or IPG server 130. Content processing device 110 may include instructions to first determine if any filter requirements are available. If filtering is required, filtering is performed by identifying in the listing at least one media program that has been indicated as meeting the filtering requirements, determining that at least one program in the listing is included in ratings data 134, and including or removing at least one program in ratings data 134 as indicated by the filter requirements.

For example, as described above, filtering may be performed according to parental controls. Parental control includes restrictions on content targeted for adults, such as movies rated as unsuitable for young children. In this example, when parental controls prohibit display of particular programs, ratings data 134 may be filtered based on filter requirements including those parental controls. In this manner, programs that are prohibited by using parental controls may also be removed from ratings data 134.

As another example, filtering may also be performed to limit ratings data 134 to include only those media programs accessible to the consumer, e.g., media programs to which the consumer subscribes. Often, consumers subscribe only to a subset of the programs available, for example, via network 145. A media consumer may access or view a particular media program, such as a program provided via a subscription channel, but may not be able to access or view other remaining media programs until the media consumer makes a subscription to receive them. Because a particular media program cannot be accessed or viewed, ratings data 134 for such inaccessible media programs may be filtered out.

Alternatively, ratings data 134 may be purposefully shown for programs that the consumer does not subscribe to. Ratings data 134 shown for popular but inaccessible media programs may be used as a mechanism to encourage consumers to subscribe to other channels in order to view popular media programs that are not currently available to consumers. Further, the content processing device 110 may provide an interface to allow the consumer to subscribe to other channels or services from within the IPG GUI 112.

As another example, one or more filter requirements may be selected to place the program guide in a filtering mode. In the filtering mode, filtering may be performed to allow the consumer to view and browse only those media programs specified by the filter requirements, such as media programs in a particular category or category. The filtering mode may be indicated in the program guide display. Ratings data 134 may also be filtered according to a filtering pattern.

FIG. 2D illustrates an exemplary IPG GUI 112 for displaying ratings data 134 for media programs available at the current time. Menu selection 250 indicates to the consumer that the media programs included in popular program list 255 are currently available for viewing. List 255 displays the most popular media programs according to ratings data 134, filtered to display the media programs available at the current time. The list 255 may be sorted in a number of ways, such as in descending order of popularity, alphabetical order, order of recent visits, duration of programming, and so forth. When a program in the streaming media program list 255 is selected, the program may be accessed or viewed. Alternatively, if the content processing device 110 is configured to be capable of recording, the media program may be marked for recording.

FIG. 2E illustrates an exemplary interface for displaying ratings data 134 for media programs available in the future (such as a given date later). Menu selection 250 provides a list of media programs 255 displaying the most popular media programs based on ratings data 134, filtered to display media programs available in the future. Selecting one of these programs from popular media programs list 255 may allow content processing device 110 to access or view the media program when the program becomes available, or alternatively, to record the media program at a later time if content processing device 110 is configured to be capable of recording.

FIG. 2F illustrates an exemplary interface for displaying ratings data 134 that is filtered to display on-demand media programs. Menu selection 250 provides a popular media program list 255 displaying the most popular media programs based on ratings data 134, filtered to display media programs available for on-demand. For example, selecting one of these items from the popular media programs list 255 may allow the consumer to access or view the selected on-demand media program.

FIG. 3A illustrates an exemplary process 300A for making ratings data 134 available for end-user access.

At step 305, IPG server 130 from each of the plurality of content processing devices 110 requests logs directly, either through a VHO or without using a VHO. Alternatively, the log may be requested by the VHO or by or via other servers on the packet switched network 125 or the video distribution network 145. The log of requests typically contains: including information of which media programs were accessed, viewed, recorded, played, etc., when the action was performed, as well as information about the consumer, such as name, age, location, account number, etc. The log may include information about all media programs accessed or viewed, or may include only a subset of such media programs, such as media programs accessed or viewed over a given time period of, for example, at least 5 minutes. Such constraints prevent the inclusion of a "channel viewer" (surfer) in the log as an audience for the media program.

The log may include information about media programs accessed or viewed since the last time the log was requested, or the log may contain information about media programs accessed or viewed within a particular time period. Logs may be requested periodically, for example, based on a once-a-day reporting period or more or less frequently. The log may also be requested based on the occurrence or non-occurrence of an event. The content processing device 110 may also send the log without request, e.g., based on an internal timer, the occurrence or non-occurrence of an event, such as power-up of the content processing device 110, etc.

Next, at step 310, the logs collected as described above with reference to step 305 are stored in IPG database 133 by IPG server 130. The log is stored in a manner that allows further operations per storage, for example, as a plurality of database records within an RDBMS. For example, each instance of the accessed or viewed media program may be stored as a single record within IPG database 133.

Next, in step 315, log records stored in the IPG database 133 are aggregated. As discussed above, since the records in IPG database 133 include information about media programs accessed over a given time period, it is often desirable to aggregate these records to determine the popularity of one or more media programs during a given time period. The aggregated log records are used to generate ratings data 134 as described above.

Next, in step 320, ratings data 134 is generated from the data aggregated in step 315. The aggregated information is used to create a list of media programs, each program in the list being included in the list according to the number of times the program has been accessed. This list is then included in ratings data 134. Further, ratings data 134 for multiple time periods may be stored in database 133. Data 134 regarding multiple time periods may be used to make determinations related to trends, such as whether the popularity of a media program has increased or decreased since a previous log period. Further, the popularity of a program may be determined over a longer period of time by aggregating data 134 relating to multiple time periods.

Next, in step 325, ratings data 134 is sent to content processing device 110. Content processing device 110 may then use ratings data 134 and IPG data 132 to provide IPG GUI 112, including popularity indications 210, for display on video display 115.

FIG. 3B illustrates an exemplary process 300B for making real-time or near real-time ratings data 134 available for end-user access.

In step 330, real-time or near real-time data regarding the accessed media programs is provided directly from the at least one (and typically a plurality of) content processing devices 110 to the IPG server 130 through the VHO or without using the VHO. Alternatively, such data may be requested by the VHO periodically (e.g., once per minute) or by or through other servers on the packet switched network 125 or the video distribution network 145. This data typically includes information such as the identity of the media program most recently or currently being accessed, viewed, recorded, played, etc., as well as information about the consumer accessing the media program, such as the name, age, location, account number, etc.

Next, in step 335, the data collected as described above with reference to step 330 is stored by IPG server 130 in IPG database 133. The data, or a summary of the data (such as the number of times a media program has been accessed in a particular time period), is stored in a manner that allows further operation each time it is stored, for example, as a plurality of database records within an RDBMS. For example, each instance of a media program accessed or viewed may be stored as a single record within IPG database 133. However, additionally or alternatively, a summary number regarding access to a particular media program may be stored as a record within IPG database 133. The data stored in this step is sometimes referred to as an "activity record".

Next, in step 340, the activity records stored in the IPG database 133 are aggregated, or further aggregated if the activity record storage data has been aggregated. As discussed above, the activity records in IPG database 133 include information related to real-time or near real-time collected media programming activities. These activity records may then be aggregated to determine an aggregated number of times each of the one or more media programs was accessed over any period of time during which activity records related to the media program of interest have been stored in database 133.

In other instances, in addition to aggregating activity records for each update of database 133, real-time or near real-time data may be used to update previously aggregated activity records. For example, the real-time data may indicate that the content processing device 110 viewing or accessing the first media program is now viewing or accessing the second media program. Based on this data, the activity record count for the first program (e.g., the number of times the first program has been viewed) may be decreased, and the count for the second program may be increased. In this manner, the activity record may be updated in real-time or near real-time.

Next, in step 345, ratings data 134 is generated from the data aggregated in step 340, or step 340 has been skipped, in which case ratings data 134 may be generated from the stored activity records described above with reference to step 335. For example, server 130 may include instructions to create a list of media programs, each program in the list being included in the list according to the number of times the program was accessed, and thus the list includes ratings data 134.

Next, in step 350, real-time or near real-time ratings data 134 is transmitted to content processing device 110. Content processing device 110 may then use ratings data 134, as well as IPG data 132, to provide IPGGUI 112 including popularity indications 210 based on real-time or near real-time activities for display on video display 115.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary process 400 for providing and accessing ratings data 134.

In step 405, content processing device 110 receives ratings data 134 from IPG server 130, often via a VHO. Received ratings data 134 may, for example, be aggregated from the logs described above with reference to FIG. 3A, or real-time or near real-time data 134 aggregated in FIG. 3B as described above.

Next, in step 410, content processing device 110 determines whether to perform filtering of received ratings data 134. As discussed above, filtering is a process of limiting ratings data 134 based on one or more filtering requirements. The filter requirements may be provided by IPG server 130, and may be stored in content processing device 110, may be provided by content processing device 110 itself, or may be provided by a user or some other source. For example, the user may select, via IPG GUI 112, filtering ratings data 134 to display only media programs available at the current time.

If no filter requirements are provided, or if an empty filter requirement is provided, no filtering is necessary. Further, for example, parental controls may be inactive or non-existent, in which case parental control filtering would not be necessary. If filtering is required, step 415 is next performed. Otherwise, step 425 is performed next.

Next, in step 415, content processing device 110 identifies ratings data 134 that has been indicated as meeting the filter requirements identified in step 355.

Next, in step 420, content processing device 110 performs the filtering identified in step 355. Alternatively, ratings data 134 may be filtered before it is received by content processing device 110. For example, prior to content processing device 110 receiving IPG data 132, IPG server 130 may filter IPG data 132 using filter requirements stored on IPG server 130. For example, a particular list of inaccessible media programs may be used as a filter requirement to exclude media programs that are known to be inaccessible to the media consumer.

Next, in step 425, the content processing device 110 receives the IPG database 132, and as discussed above, the IPG database 132 may be used to create the IPG GUI 112. IPG data 132 may be received from IPG server 130, directly or indirectly through a video central office.

Next, in step 430, content processor device 110 identifies media programs in IPG data 132 for which ratings data 134 is available. For example, IPG data 132 may include indicators or markers that identify media programs for which ratings data 134 is available. Content processing device 110 may then be configured to identify one or more tagged or indicated media programs within received IPG data 132. Media programs identified as having ratings data 134 available may appear one or more times within IPG GUI 200. For example, a media program may be available at 6 to 7 pm and then available again at 8 to 9 pm. In this case, two instances of the media program are identified. Other media programs for which ratings data 134 is available may not be listed within IPG GUI 200, and thus some ratings data 134 may not be associated with any available media programs.

Next, in step 435, content processor device 110 associates popularity indications 210 with media programs in IPG data 132 identified in ratings data 134.

Next, in step 440, content processing device 110 makes IPG GUI 200 available for display on video display 115.

Conclusion

With respect to the processes, systems, methods, heuristics, etc. described herein, it should be understood that, although the steps of such processes, etc. have been described as occurring according to a certain order, such processes may be practiced with the described steps performed in an order other than the order described herein. It is further understood that certain steps may be performed concurrently, that other steps may be added, or that certain steps described herein may be omitted. In other words, the description of the processes herein is provided to illustrate specific embodiments and should not be construed as limiting the claimed invention.

It is, therefore, to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. Many embodiments and applications other than the examples provided would be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reading the above description. The scope of the invention should be determined, not with reference to the above description, but should instead be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. It is expected and desired that further development will occur within the arts discussed herein, and that the disclosed systems and methods will be incorporated into such future embodiments. In sum, it should be understood that the invention is capable of modification and variation and is limited only by the following claims.

Unless expressly indicated to the contrary herein, all terms used in the claims are intended to be given their broadest reasonable constructions and their ordinary meanings as understood by those skilled in the art. In particular, an element that is not a limiting term should be read as referring to one or more indicated elements unless the claim recites an explicit limitation to the contrary.

Claims (23)

1. A method, comprising:

receiving a first list of media programs, each program in the first list being included in the first list according to a number of times the program has been accessed;

receiving a program guide, the program guide including a second listing of media programs;

identifying in the second list at least one program included in the first list; and

providing an indication of popularity for the at least one program in a user interface displaying some or all of the program guide.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second list of programs comprises: at least one of a broadcast program, a video-on-demand program, a video recording, and a game.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: performing at least one of:

including an icon for display in the program guide, the icon representing the indication;

providing an option in the user interface to a user to subscribe to a media channel providing the at least one program; and

removing the at least one program from the second list in accordance with a filtering requirement.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a video signal;

providing the video signal to a video display, whereby the video display displays a video image; and

further including, in the video display, a description of the at least one program associated with the indication with the video image.

5. A method, comprising:

receiving, from a plurality of content processing devices, data relating to a number of times each of one or more media programs has been accessed from a respective content processing device within a given time period;

aggregating the data to obtain an aggregated number of times each of the one or more media programs has been accessed within the given time period;

creating a first list of media programs, each program in the first list being included in the first list according to a number of times the program has been previously accessed; and

providing the first list of media programs to at least one content processing device.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising: providing a program guide including a second listing of media programs to the at least one content processing device.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein at least some of the data is collected on a real-time or near real-time basis.

8. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

generating a program guide, the program guide including a second list of media programs;

identifying in the first list at least one program included in the second list; and

providing an indication of popularity associated with the at least one program in the program guide.

9. The method of claim 5, further comprising: adjusting the aggregated number of times associated with at least one of the media programs based on the number of times the at least one of the media programs has been available.

10. The method of claim 5, further comprising: weighting the aggregated number of times associated with at least one of the media programs based on at least one of an amount of time that the at least one of the media programs has been available and when access to the at least one of the media programs has occurred.

11. The method of claim 5, further comprising: at least some of the content processing devices are identified based on at least one of a demographic identification, a geographic identification, a random selection, and a network address.

12. A content processing device, the content processing comprising a computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions tangibly embodied thereon for:

receiving a first list of media programs, each program in the first list being included in the first list according to a number of times the program has been accessed;

receiving a program guide, the program guide including a second listing of media programs;

identifying in the second list programs of at least one included in the first list; and

providing an indication of popularity for the at least one program in a user interface displaying some or all of the program guide.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the second list of programs comprises: at least one of a broadcast program, a video-on-demand program, a video recording, and a game.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, the instructions further comprising instructions for at least one of:

including an icon for display in the program guide, the icon representing the indication;

providing an option in the user interface to a user to subscribe to a media channel providing the at least one program; and

removing the at least one program from the second list in accordance with a filtering requirement.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, the instructions further comprising instructions to:

receiving a video signal;

providing the video signal to a video display, whereby the video display displays a video image; and

further including, in the video display, a description of the at least one program associated with the indication with the video image.

16. A server comprising a computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions tangibly embodied thereon for:

receiving, from a plurality of content processing devices, data relating to a number of times each of one or more media programs has been accessed from a respective content processing device within a given time period;

aggregating the data from the content processing device to obtain an aggregated number of times each of the one or more media programs has been accessed within the given time period;

creating a first list of media programs, each program in the first list being included in the first list according to a number of times the program has been previously accessed; and

providing the first list of media programs to at least one content processing device.

17. The server of claim 16, the instructions further comprising: instructions for providing a program guide including a second listing of media programs to the at least one content processing device.

18. The server of claim 16, wherein at least some of the data is collected on a real-time or near real-time basis.

19. The server of claim 16, the instructions further comprising instructions to:

generating a program guide, the program guide including a second list of media programs;

identifying in the first list at least one program included in the second list; and

providing an indication of popularity associated with the at least one program in the program guide.

20. The server of claim 16, the instructions further comprising: instructions for adjusting the aggregated number of times associated with at least one of the media programs based on a number of times the at least one of the media programs has been available.

21. The server of claim 16, the instructions further comprising: instructions for weighting the aggregated number of times related to at least one of the media programs as a function of at least one of an amount of time that the at least one of the media programs has been available and when access to the at least one of the media programs occurred.

22. The server of claim 16, the instructions further comprising: instructions for identifying at least some of the content processing devices based on at least one of a demographic identification, a geographic identification, a random selection, and a network address.

23. A method, comprising:

transmitting, from the plurality of content processing devices to the server, data relating to a number of times each of the one or more media programs has been accessed from the respective content processing device within a given time period;

aggregating the data to obtain an aggregated number of times each of the one or more media programs has been accessed within the given time period;

creating a first list of media programs, each program in the first list being included in the first list according to a number of times the program was previously accessed;

providing a first list of the media programs to at least one of the content processing devices;

receiving a program guide, the program guide including a second listing of media programs;

identifying in the second list at least one program included in the first list; and

providing an indication of popularity for the at least one program in a user interface displaying some or all of the program guide.