Patent ID: 9055260
Filing Date: 2015-06-09
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
1. A method to determine electronic program guide information, the method comprising: receiving, by a system for determining electronic program guide information, usage information of previous usage that includes indications of a plurality of video channels previously viewed via a set-top box operable to receive digital video programming via a broadcast network, the usage information including, for each of the plurality of video channels, one or more records, each record including a viewing time corresponding to the video channel and an identifier indicating whether the previous usage was by an identified user or an unknown user, wherein a value of the identifier is based on whether an identification of a user had occurred; determining, by the system for determining electronic program guide information, one or more channels of the plurality of video channels based on the indications of the plurality of video channels previously viewed and, for each of the plurality of video channels, the viewing time corresponding to the video channel included in the received usage information; ordering the determined one or more channels based on total viewing time; providing, by the system for determining electronic program guide information, to a presentation device communicatively coupled to the set-top box indications of the determined one or more channels as part of an electronic program guide by at least generating a selectable list of the ordered determined one or more channels, with a channel having the highest total viewing time appearing at a top of the selectable list, and including the selectable list of the determined one or more channels in the electronic programming guide; selecting, by the system for determining electronic program guide information, programming as suggested programming based on the usage information and whether the previous usage was by an identified user or an unknown user; determining, by the system for determining electronic program guide information, one or more suggested channels having the suggested programming based at least in part on similarity between the one or more suggested channels and at least one of the determined one or more channels, and such that none of the one or more suggested channels are any of the determined one or more channels; and adding, by the system for determining electronic program guide information, a selectable list of the suggested one or more channels to the electronic program guide in addition to the selectable list of the determined one or more video channels that were determined by the system based on the indications of the plurality of video channels previously viewed and, for each of the plurality of video channels, the viewing time corresponding to the video channel, such that the electronic program guide includes a list of channels that consists of the selectable list of the determined one or more video channels that were determined by the system based on the indications of the plurality of video channels previously viewed and, for each of the plurality of video channels, the viewing time corresponding to the video channel and of the selectable list of the suggested one or more channels, wherein the electronic program guide is a two-dimensional grid, with channels displayed along a first dimension and time displayed along a second dimension.