US2003188311A1PendingUtilityA1

Method and system for displaying advertisements between schedule listings

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Assignee: STARSIGHT TELECAST INCPriority: Dec 19, 1996Filed: Mar 27, 2003Published: Oct 2, 2003
Est. expiryDec 19, 2016(expired)· nominal 20-yr term from priority
Inventors:Henry C. YuenRoy J. MankovitzDaniel S. KwohElsie Y. Leung
G06Q 30/0241H04N 5/775H04N 21/812H04N 5/45H04N 21/4316H04N 21/47
64
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Claims

Abstract

In one embodiment, the invention is a system and method for simultaneously displaying advertisements with an electronic program guide (EPG). The system displays television schedule information in rows of schedule information items including the time and channel for at least a portion of the displayed television schedule information items. An advertisement is selected for display from a plurality of advertisements, and the selected advertisement is displayed between two rows of the schedule information items simultaneously with the displayed television schedule information items.

Claims

exact text as granted — not AI-modified
What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method for simultaneously displaying channel advertisements with an electronic program guide (EPG), comprising: 
 displaying a plurality of television schedule information in a plurality of rows of schedule information items and displaying the time and channel for at least a portion of the displayed television schedule information items;    selecting an advertisement for display from a plurality of advertisements;    displaying the selected advertisement between two rows of the plurality rows of schedule information items simultaneously with the displayed plurality of television schedule information items.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the displayed channel advertisement is interactive.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the displayed channel advertisement includes text.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the displayed channel advertisement is related to a product.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the displayed channel advertisement is related to a service.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 highlighting a row of displayed television program listings with a cursor;    displaying a detail window in a second area of the screen; and    displaying a description corresponding to the highlighted row of television program listings in a second area of the screen.    
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 highlighting the displayed channel advertisement with a cursor; and    displaying information relating to the highlighted channel advertisement in a second area of the screen.    
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the displayed channel advertisement has substantially the same horizontal width of each of the displayed plurality of television schedule information items.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the displayed channel advertisement has substantially the same vertical height of each of the displayed plurality of television schedule information items.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising transmitting the advertising data and the EPG data in a vertical blanking interval of a television signal.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the advertising data is displayed independent of the displayed EPG data.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the advertising data is displayed independent of user selections of the displayed EPG data.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the advertising data contains information other than a channel name, channel number, and a program title.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the EPG data is displayed for a user selectable time and the advertising data is displayed independent of the user selected time.  
     
     
         15 . An apparatus for simultaneously displaying channel advertisements with an electronic program guide (EPG), comprising: 
 means for displaying a plurality of television schedule information in a plurality of rows of schedule information items and displaying the time and channel for at least a portion of the displayed television schedule information items;    means for selecting an advertisement for display from a plurality of advertisements;    means for displaying the selected advertisement between two rows of the plurality rows of schedule information items simultaneously with the displayed plurality of television schedule information items.    
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the displayed channel advertisement is interactive.  
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the displayed channel advertisement includes text.  
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the displayed channel advertisement is related to a product.  
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the displayed channel advertisement is related to a service.  
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , further comprising: 
 means for highlighting a row of displayed television program listings with a cursor;    means for displaying a detail window in a second area of the screen; and    means for displaying a description corresponding to the highlighted row of television program listings in a second area of the screen.    
     
     
         21 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , further comprising: 
 means for highlighting the displayed channel advertisement with a cursor; and    means for displaying information relating to the highlighted channel advertisement in a second area of the screen.    
     
     
         22 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the displayed channel advertisement has substantially the same horizontal width of each of the displayed plurality of television schedule information items.  
     
     
         23 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the displayed channel advertisement has substantially the same vertical height of each of the displayed plurality of television schedule information items.  
     
     
         24 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , further comprising means for transmitting the advertising data and the EPG data in a vertical blanking interval of a television signal.  
     
     
         25 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the advertising data is displayed independent of the displayed EPG data.  
     
     
         26 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the advertising data is displayed independent of user selections of the displayed EPG data.  
     
     
         27 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the advertising data contains information other than a channel name, channel number, and a program title.  
     
     
         28 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the EPG data is displayed for a user selectable time and the advertising data is displayed independent of the user selected time.  
     
     
         29 . A system for displaying channel advertisements in an electronic program guide (EPG), comprising: 
 a memory for storing EPG data and a plurality of advertising data;    a display monitor having a screen;    a microprocessor for accessing the memory to retrieve a portion of the EPG data and accessing the memory to retrieve a selected advertising data from the stored plurality of advertising data; and    a video processor for displaying on the display monitor the retrieved portion of the EPG data in a plurality of rows of schedule information items and displaying the time and channel for at least a segment of the displayed television schedule information items and for displaying on the display monitor the selected retrieved advertisement between two rows of the plurality rows of schedule information items simultaneously with the displayed retrieved portion of the EPG data.    
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 29 , wherein the displayed channel advertisement is interactive.  
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 29 , wherein the displayed channel advertisement includes text.  
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 29 , wherein the displayed channel advertisement is related to one or more of a product and service.  
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 29 , wherein the advertising data is displayed independent of the displayed EPG data.  
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 29 , wherein the advertising data is displayed independent of user selections of the displayed EPG data.  
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 29 , wherein the advertising data contains information other than a channel name, channel number, and a program title.  
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 29 , wherein the EPG data is displayed for a user selectable time and the advertising data is displayed independent of the user selected time.

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