Patent ID: 6637029
Filing Date: 2003-10-21
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
A television system comprising:a television network; and transmitting apparatus for transmitting program schedule information to a multiplicity of subscriber units, at least one of said multiplicity of subscriber units including: a receiving unit for receiving said program schedule information from said television network; a profile storage unit for storing at least one viewer preference profile of at least one television viewer; an intelligent agent for customizing said program schedule information based, at least in part, on said viewer preference profile, to produce a program guide comprising customized program schedule information; and display apparatus for displaying the program guide, wherein said intelligent agent also comprises profile determination apparatus for determining viewer preference profile information for at least one television viewer and for providing said viewer preference profile information to said profile storage unit for storage as a viewer preference profile, and said profile determination apparatus determines said viewer preference profile information by monitoring television viewing behavior of said at least one television viewer, and said television viewing behavior comprises viewing only a portion of at least one viewed television program, and said profile determination apparatus compares a length of said portion of said at least one viewed television program to a predetermined viewing threshold length to determine whether said length is greater than said threshold length, and said profile determination apparatus determines said viewer preference profile information based, at least in part, on whether said length is greater than said threshold length, and when said length is determined to be less than said threshold length, said profile determination apparatus determines that said viewer is engaged in channel surfing behavior and said profile determination apparatus determines said viewer preference profile information based, at least in part, on said channel surfing behavior by modifying said viewer preference profile information to be appropriate for a user who engages in channel surfing behavior, and said program schedule information includes randomly chosen information.