Patent Publication Number: US-8533761-B1

Title: Aggregating media information

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This document discusses electronic programming guides and presentation of media information, such as information about television programs and actors, from multiple distinct data sources. 
     BACKGROUND 
     People have a great interest in entertainment media programming such as television programming and movies. New forms of programming that can be referenced as television programming have also appeared in the form of videos, whether downloadable or streaming, from services such as YouTube. Generally, users watch programming in a fairly hit-or-miss style, such as by channel surfing, conducting basic searches on various videos, or reviewing various “favorites” lists of videos. In channel surfing, a user generally learns only what they can see in a small summary box (where they have digital media delivery such as DirectTV or digital cable) and what they can discern from watching the program for a time. In conducting searches, the users see various general search results, such as from a search against the web or against a database of videos (e.g., the YouTube database). 
     SUMMARY 
     This document describes mechanisms and techniques that may be employed to assist users in finding media programming in which they may have an interest, and that can provide additional information about, or access to, that programming. Generally, the mechanisms and techniques permit for searching for media information, such as by entering a title for a program or movie, or the name of an actor, producer, or director. Search results may be presented in various forms, such as in a display that aggregates search results form multiple different information sources. The sources can provide information such as images associated with a program, structured data about a program (such as a program title, list of actors, etc.), schedule information about upcoming showings of the program, web search results, and other pieces of information. 
     In one implementation, a computer-implemented method is disclosed. The method includes receiving a search request associated with media-related information, identifying a media-related object responsive to the request, and gathering from a plurality of different corpuses of information a plurality of search results associated with the media-related object. The media-related object may comprise a television program. The method may also include generating mark up code for displaying the plurality of search results in the form of an upcoming episode listing for the program, and an overview of the program. The search request can be received from a user selection of a link associated with the media-related object. 
     In some aspects, the plurality of different corpuses include a structured corpus and an unstructured corpus. Also, the structured corpus can include information about a plurality of televisions programs or movies, and the unstructured corpus can include web content. The method may also include determining that the search request is associated with media-related information. In addition, the method can include generating code for displaying results from each of the plurality of different corpuses in a distinct area of a display. Moreover, the method can additionally include receiving one or more user commands to move a display of a group of search results, and generating code for displaying the display of the group of search results in an area indicated by the user commands. 
     In another implementation, a computer-implemented method is disclosed, and comprises receiving a search request associated with a media program, submitting a query that corresponds to the search request to one or more search engines addressing a plurality of search corpuses containing media-related information, and receiving a plurality of results in response, and aggregating the results from the plurality of corpuses for simultaneous display in adjacent areas of a visual display. The query can include the search request. In addition, the method can also include appending a media indicating term to the search request to form the query. Aggregating the results from the plurality of corpuses can also comprise identifying areas in a user-configured display for each of the results and generating code for creating a display of the results in the areas. 
     In certain aspects, aggregating the results from the plurality of corpuses comprises associating an upcoming episode list of results with a first display area, a program summary with a second display area, and additional search results with one or more other display areas. Also, the method may further comprise providing for a display of a program summary area, an images search result area, a web search result area, and an episode guide area. 
     In yet another implementation, a computer-implemented system is disclosed. The system includes a plurality of separate databases each containing media-related information, a search engine configured to receive a request and generate one or more media-related queries to the plurality of separate databases, and a page formatter including a search result aggregator for generating information for a display of multiple groups of search results from the plurality of separate databases. The request can include a media program name. Also, the page formatter may generate mark up code for displaying the plurality of search results in the form of an upcoming episode listing for the program, and an overview of the program. 
     In some aspects, the plurality of different corpuses can include a structured corpus and an unstructured corpus. Moreover, the structured corpus can include information about a plurality of televisions programs or movies, and the unstructured corpus can include web content. 
     The details of one or more embodiments are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, objects, and advantages will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows displays illustrating interactions provided by an example program guide system. 
         FIGS. 1A-1C  show particular displays from  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 1D  shows an example videos detail display. 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a system for displaying media content. 
         FIG. 3  is a swim-lane diagram showing actions for retrieving and displaying media-related content. 
         FIG. 4  is a flow chart showing actions for retrieving and displaying media-related content. 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram of an example system for accessing media programming. 
         FIG. 6  is an example display of a media details page. 
         FIG. 7  is a block diagram of computing devices that may be used to implement the systems and methods described in this document. 
     
    
    
     Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  shows displays illustrating interactions provided by an example program guide system  100 , and  FIGS. 1A ,  1 B, and  1 C show particular displays from  FIG. 1 . In general, the program guide system  100  allows a user to search for media programming (e.g., broadcast television, cable television, satellite television, broadcast radio, satellite radio, and Internet media) by making a search request using a search page  102 . The program guide system  100  presents, on the search page  102  and/or on a landing page  104 , search results that are based on the search request. 
     The search results include a list of one or more collections of programs related to the search request—grouped by episodes of a program. An episode as used here can include a particular showing in a series of showings (such as an episode of a sitcom), or may include a single episode of a program (such as a movie or a discrete on-line video). The search results also include a program schedule grid  120  that displays a list of channels and program episodes presented by each of the channels for a particular time period. At least one of the program episodes in the schedule grid relates to the search request made by the user. In response to a user selection of a program in the schedule grid or the list, the program guide system  100  presents detailed information associated with the program in a details page  106 . 
     In more detail, the search page  102  includes a search box  108  where a user may input a search term, such as a portion of a television program name. The search page  102  presents preliminary search results based on the search term input. The preliminary search results may include, for example, a list of web pages having information related to the search term. In addition, the preliminary search results may include a list  110  of media programming related to the search term. The media programming list  110  may include text, such as “Local TV Listings,” that identifies items in the list  110  as media programming as apposed to web page items. The media programming list  110  also includes one or more media icons  112  that indicate the types of media programming presented in the list  110 , e.g., a television, radio, or webcast icon. 
     Where the system is able to determine that a search request was likely media-related, it can group the media results in a manner that differs from an ordinary list of search results. Specifically, as shown, each of the listings on search page  102  is shown with a title, time, and channel, whereas standard search results may be shown with a title, snippet, and URL. This special formatting of a search result may be referred to as a “one box.” Other search results, such as weather, location, and similar results may also be presented in a specially-formatted one box. 
     The program guide system  100  may present a landing page  104  in response to a user selection of an item in the list  110 . The landing page  104  includes media result groupings  116 . The groupings  116  list one or more collections of programs related to the search term. The groupings  116  group collections of programs, for example, by program name with each item in a grouping being a particular episode or airing of the program. Alternatively, the groupings  116  may be grouped using another parameter, such as grouping by the media channel presenting the programs, a genre of the programs, or the time of day the programs are presented. An additional results control  118  allows a user to navigate to other groupings that are not currently displayed, and that may be groupings considered to be less responsive to the user&#39;s request. 
     Each of the groupings  116  may also include a “more” control  158  that lists additional results within the particular grouping. In the pictured example, the three next-pending programs are shown for the media grouping associated with the television program “The Tonight Show”, and a user can select the “more” control  158  to show addition programs further in the future. Such a selection may cause the Tonight Show grouping to expand and may also cause the other groupings to be removed to make room for the expanded grouping. 
     The groupings can also include an “Add to my TV” control that, when selected, can add a particular program (such as a series of episodes) or episode to a personalized program guide for the user. For example, a “My TV” channel may be maintained for a user, as described below, and an episode or all the episodes of a program may be added to that channel when the “Add to my TV” control is selected. 
     The landing page  104  also includes a schedule grid  120 . The schedule grid  120  is displayed adjacent to and side-by-side with the groupings  116 . The schedule grid  120  presents programming for a particular geographic location. A user may specify or change his or her location by selecting a change location control  122  and by making an input, such as a postal code (e.g., a ZIP code) or city and state names. The selected location may also be used to determine the programs presented in the list  110  and the groupings  116 . Where the user is a user registered with the system  100 , the user&#39;s default location may be used to generate programming suggestions. 
     The schedule grid  120  presents media programming for a particular time range on a particular date, such as over several hours. A user may select the date using a calendar control  146 . The calendar control  146  may default to a particular date, such as the current date. When a search is performed, the grid  120  may default to the area surrounding the time and channel of the episode determined to be a best search result. Selection of other episodes in the groupings  116  may cause the grid to move automatically to display programs around the selected episode (or the first-returned episode for a particular grouping, if a grouping is selected). 
     The schedule grid  120  presents a list of media channels vertically along its left side and times of day horizontally along its top side in a time bar  148 . The programs or episodes for a particular channel are presented in the channel&#39;s row and in a column having a time division closest to the actual time that the program is presented by its associated channel. The channels may be associated with a particular numerical channel for a broadcast, or may be a virtual channel such as a personalized channel or a stream of information over the internet. 
     The schedule grid  120  also includes a personalized channel  128 , termed here as “My TV.” The personalized channel  128  includes controls that allow a user to create a virtual channel using content from actual channels or another personalized channel, such as the personalized channel of another user. A user may select a program in the schedule grid  120 . Episodes or programs may be added to the personalized channel  128  in a variety of ways. For example, one user may send a message to another user that identifies a particular program, such as by supplying a URL to a video or through another accepted mechanism. A user may also choose to drag a program or episode from an area such as part of the programming grid  120  onto the personalized channel  128 , such as by selecting a cell  130  in the grid. In addition, the user may select a control such as the “Add to My TV” control, where that control is associated with a program or episode. 
     The schedule grid  120  includes the personalized channel  128 . The personalized channel  128  is presented near the top of the grid  120  and slightly separated from the other channels to indicate that its programs are specified by the user rather than by a media provider broadcast. The personalized channel can include multiple overlapping programs, and a user may be provided with various mechanisms with regard to watching and managing such programs. As one example, the programs may be displayed according to the times they are broadcast or are first made available for download. The user may then drag them later into time in the cell or cells for the personalized channel  128  so that they do not overlap, so as to “program” a viewing schedule that the user may later watch without having to select particular shows while watching. Programs that are shifted in time from their actual broadcast time may be recorded, such as by a PVR, and may be displayed according to the program the user has established. In this manner, a user can easily select programs to view, see whether the selected programs can be viewed when they are broadcast, and view the programs in a selected order as if they were live programs, but by time-shifting the programs in some selected manner. 
     The programs on the personalized channel  128  may include real-time broadcasts, delayed broadcasts, and prerecorded media content, including locally stored and streaming media content. For example, a user may elect to have all episodes of a broadcast situation comedy displayed in real time so as to get the full effect of traditional broadcast television (e.g., ability to discuss around the water cooler the next day at work, or watch sports live). Other programs may be played in almost real time, such as by scheduling a live sporting event and then another program, but then watching the other program on a 10 minute delay (while the program is being recorded) when the sporting event runs long (and perhaps catching up with the real time broadcast using a fast forward control). Stored media may also be used, such as to fill gaps in the other programming. For example, programs may be recorded when a user is not home, and may be entered into a programming schedule either manually by the user or automatically. Also, advertisements can also be inserted into programming. In addition, programming can continue if the user changes channels away from the personalized channel  128  while watching media programming, or can be continued as it would for regular broadcast television. By these mechanisms, a user establish a continuous or substantially continuous programming experience that “plays” much like broadcast television, but can be targeted to the user&#39;s interests. 
     A selected program cell  130  may be used to initiate an operation related to the program in other ways also, such as navigating to a display that presents more detailed information regarding the program. The details page  106  presents such detailed information. The details page  106  includes a program details area  132 . The program details area  132  presents detailed information regarding the program, such as a genre of the program, a runtime length of the program, names of performers in the program, a content rating of the program, a quality rating of the program, and a synopsis of the program. 
     The program details area  132  also includes an upcoming episodes area  136 . The upcoming episodes area  136  presents a list of the upcoming episodes for the program. The list may include detail information such as an episode title, a time for the showing, and a channel on which the showing is to occur. 
     The details page  106  also includes a search control  138 . The search control  138  allows a user to input a search term to initiate a search for a particular program. The search may be limited just to a corpus of information associated with programming, or may be performed on an entire web page corpus, depending on a selection from the user. Various corpuses of information that may be searched, and the results displayed, are discussed in more detail below. 
     The details page  106  also includes an image details area  140 . The image details area  140  presents images associated with the program, such as image result  140   a . The image result  140   a  may be found by performing an Internet search for images related to the program, such as would be returned by the standard “Google Images” service. The search may be constrained in particular ways, such as by searching on a particular programming-related corpus of images or by adding certain terms, such as “television,” to the query so that “Fred Thompson” returns images of the actor/politician and not of other people. Details including a snippet, image details, and a URL that displays the image, are also provide in image details area  140 . 
     The details page  106  also includes a search details area  142 . The search details area  142  may present the results of a search for web pages related to the program, such as a search result  142   a . The search details area  142  may simply be a proxy of results that would be shown in response to a standard search for the episode name when applied to a full corpus or a corpus limited to programming related information. Controls may also be provided so that the user can access more episodes, more image results, more search results. 
     In operation, a user may initiate the program guide system  100  either by inputting a search term, such as “The Tonight Show,” for a general web search using the search control  108  or a media programming search using the search control  138 . In the case of the search control  108 , the program guide system  100  presents the list  110  of programs related to the search term “The Tonight Show” within the search page  102  as part of a one box. Selecting a program in the list  110  directs the user to the landing page  104 . 
     Alternatively, a user may input the search term for “The Tonight Show” using the media programming search control  138 , such as is displayed on the landing page  104  or the details page  106 . The search input directs the user to the landing page  104 . 
     At the landing page  104 , a user may direct the schedule grid  120  to a particular channel, time, and date by selecting a program from the groupings  116 . The groupings  116  are programs determined using the search term “The Tonight Show.” Each program grouping includes one or more episodes of that particular program. The user may navigate to groupings not currently presented using the additional results control  118 . Selecting a particular episode in a program grouping directs the schedule grid  120  to a particular channel, time, and date. The user may also navigate through the schedule grid  120  manually using controls, such as the calendar  146  and the time bar  148 . In addition, the user may “drag” the control up, down, left, or right similar in manner to moving a map in Google Maps, and cells in the grid may be added from a queue to be displayed, and additional cells may be fetched or pre-fetched, in the manner of fetching tiles around a display in Google Maps. 
     Such fetching of tiles may occur by various mechanisms. For example, the system may simply pre-fetch tiles that surround the area currently being displayed (within a certain number of tiles). Also, the fetching may proceed to fill in all channels at a currently displayed time, and then fetching information in the future or in the last direction of time-wise travel in a grid (e.g., if a user&#39;s last move was to the right, then future tiles will be fetched). This technique operates under the assumption that people are more likely to surf through channels than to look into the past or future. Under a third technique, the pre-fetching may approximate the momentum of the movement of the grid—much like air over the surface of a moving wing. More material is pre-fetched in the direction of motion (where there can be three dimensions: time, channel, and level of detail). Where motion is particularly fast, more material is fetched in the directed of motion and less to the sides of the grid. As a user&#39;s motion slows, more data in other dimensions away from the motion may be pre-fetched. 
     Regarding a third grid dimension for detail level, such a dimension may be implemented in various manners. In one such implementation, at a least detailed level, a program title and little more may be shown in a grid so as to permit maximum density of tile display. At a more detailed level, a rating and a short description of an episode may be shown. At a yet more detailed level, more detailed description may be shown, and an image may be shown. At a more detailed level, information duplicating or approaching that shown for the detail page  106  may be shown. 
     The user may navigate to the details page  106  for a particular program by selecting (e.g., clicking or double-clicking on) the program in the schedule grid  120 , such as the selected program cell  130 . At the details page  106 , a user may view detailed information regarding the program in the program details area  132 . The detailed information may be obtained, for example, from a structured database that organizes media content according to programs, actors, and other similar parameters and links the information in a relational manner. 
     The user may view images related to the program in the image details area  140 . The images may be obtained from a structure database, such as a database associated with the detailed information, or may be obtained from disparate sources such as in the manner of Google Image Search. The user may navigate to an image by selecting an image result, such as the image result  140   a.    
     The user may navigate to a web page related to the program by selecting a search result, such as the search result  142   a , in the search details area  142 . The user may also select an image in image details area  140  to have the image associated with the program. For example, the selected image may then be displayed in the details area  132  in place of the prior image, or a portion that is cut out of the image may be displayed in the grid  120 , such as in cell  130 , so that a user can make particular favorite programs more visible in the grid in a manner that the user can visually associate the cell  130  with the program (e.g., by selecting a logo or title associated with the program). 
       FIGS. 1A-1C  show particular displays from  FIG. 1  in more detail.  FIG. 1A  shows the search page  102 . The search page  102  allows a user to search for web content using the search control  108 . In the figure, the program guide system  100  has determined that the search term (e.g., “lost”) may be a media program. For example, if the search term matched a media program name (such as a term stored in a “white list” of media-related terms) or the search term is included in a media program name, then the program guide system  100  may generate and present the list  110  of media programs. 
     Alternatively, or in addition, the search term may be another attribute of a media program, such as the program&#39;s channel, an actor in the program, or the program&#39;s format (e.g., drama or situation comedy). A user may also “force” a media search, such as by preceding a search term with a prefix such as “tv”, “tv:”, or “television.” In addition to a name of a media program, the list  110  presents a time, date, and channel for the media program. The list  110  also indicates whether the particular presentation of the program is new or a repeat. The results in the list  110  may be ordered by relevance to the search term, whether the program presentation is new, and/or the date and time that the program is presented. A search may also be more readily assumed to be media-related if an identifier of a time range, a television network, an actor name, or other similar items are included in the search in addition to other media-related indicators. 
     The media icon  112  indicates that the list  110  presents media programs. The media icon  112  visually distinguishes the list  110  from general web page search results, such as web page search result  113 . The search result  113  is also related to the search term “lost.” The search result  113  includes a title that identifies the web page, a uniform resource locator (URL) to navigate to the web page, a link to a cached copy of the web page, a link to web pages similar to the web page, and a link to note the web page, such as in a personalized web notebook like Google Notebook. Noting the web page stores information about the web page in a web notebook associated with the user. 
       FIG. 1B  shows the landing page  104  including the media result groupings  116  and the schedule grid  120 . The groupings  116  present a list of programs matching a particular search term. The matching programs are selected from channels that are available to the user, such as from local broadcast or other media providers. A particular head-end associated with the user may also be associated with the displayed programs. 
     The location and media providers accessible by the user may be selected using the change location control  122 . The change location control  122  will be described in more detail with respect to  FIGS. 2A and 2B . 
     The schedule grid  120  presents the programs matching the search term as well as other programs occurring around the time of the matching program. Selecting a particular instance of a program (e.g., an episode or broadcast) in the media result groupings  116  moves the schedule grid  120  up or down to a channel associated with the program and left or right to a time associated with the program. This presents the program instance in the schedule grid  120 . The schedule grid  120  may immediately present the selected program or may gradually present the program, such as by slowly scrolling to the grid location of the program. 
     In certain implementations, a user may select a program instance or episode in the schedule grid  120  to generate a new list of programs in the media result groupings  116  related to the selected schedule grid program. In such a situation, the selected program name or another program attribute may be submitted as a programming-directed search request to the system in generating a new landing page  104 . 
     Programs in the schedule grid  120  that also appear in the groupings  116  are highlighted to indicate that they match the search criteria that generated the groupings  116 . The highlighting may be, for example, a shading, color, grid cell size, or cell border thickness that differentiates the schedule grid programs satisfying the search condition from schedule grid programs that do not satisfy the search condition. In certain implementations, the shading, coloring, or sizing varies based on, for example, the closeness of the match between the search term and the program. 
     Alternatively, the shading, coloring, or sizing may vary with the degree of separation between programs matching the search term and programs related to the matching programs. For example, a user may input a search term such as “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn.” Instances of the movie “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn” in the schedule grid  120  may be highlighted with a first highlighting that is more significant than subsequent highlighting (e.g., a bright color (red for close hits moving to blue for farther hits), dark shading, or large sizing). Instances of Star Trek movies other than “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn” in the schedule grid  120 , such as “Star Trek: The Motion Picture,” “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.” “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home,” “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier,” “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country,” “Star Trek: Generations,” “Star Trek: First Contact,” “Star Trek: Insurrection,” and “Star Trek: Nemesis,” may be highlighted with a second highlighting that is less significant than the first highlighting. The second highlighting indicates that the associated programs may not match the search term, but they are related to the programs that match the search term (e.g., they are other Star Trek movies). In addition, episodes of Star Trek series programs, such as “Star Trek: The Original Series,” “Star Trek: The Animated Series,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” “Star Trek: Voyager,” and “Star Trek: Enterprise,” in the schedule grid  120  may be highlighted using a third highlighting that is less significant than the second highlighting. The third highlighting indicates that the Star Trek series programs may not match the search term and may not be the same type of media as the programs matching the search term (e.g., movies), but they are related to the programs through the Star Trek genre. 
     In another example, a user may input a search term for media programs having a particular actor or performer, such as “Leonard Nimoy.” Media programs in the schedule grid that include the actor “Leonard Nimoy,” such as “Star Trek: The Original Series,” are highlighted with a first highlighting. Media programs having actors that have at some time performed with “Leonard Nimoy” are highlighted using a second highlighting. For example, episodes of “T. J. Hooker” and “Boston Legal” may be highlighted using the second highlighting as they include the actor William Shatner who starred with Leonard Nimoy in “Star Trek: The Original Series.” However, episodes of “T. J. Hooker” in which Leonard Nimoy guest starred or directed may be highlighted using the first highlighting. The highlighting may also occur by placing images in the cells, so that programs involving Nimoy include a partial photographic portrait of Nimoy, and programs involving Shatner include a partial photographic portrait of Shatner. 
     In addition to highlighting programs matching the search terms in the schedule grid  120 , the groupings  116  may also highlight the programs. The highlighting used in the groupings  116  may match the highlighting used in the schedule grid  120  for corresponding media programs. The groupings  116  may also present the media programs that are related to the media programs matching the search term. 
     The groupings themselves may also be highlighted, such as by including an image associated with each grouping as a watermark behind the grouping. Such an additional feature (not shown) may add decorative interest to the search results, and may also provide additional information to a user. For example, a user may have no idea what the text “Square Pegs” means, but when shown a photo that includes Jami Gertz, Tracy Nelson, and Sarah Jessica Parker, they may instantly recognize the iconic Emmy-nominated 1982 program about Weemawee high school. 
     The schedule grid  120  has an associated calendar control  146 . The calendar control  146  includes tabs that allow a user to select a particular date or day of the week. Each tab includes hours of the day associated with the tab. Selecting a time interval in the tab directs the schedule grid  120  to present programs for the selected day and time interval. 
     The schedule grid  120  has a time bar  148  that indicates the times of day that programs in the schedule grid  120  are presented. The time bar  148  includes controls that allow a user to move to an earlier or later time or date. Alternatively, a user may move the schedule grid  120  by another method, such as by clicking on the grid  120  and dragging the grid  120  to a new time or date. The clicking and dragging may also move the grid  120  to present other channels. Alternatively, a user may use a control, such as a scroll bar, to move through the list of channels in the grid  120 . As a user moves through times, dates, and channels in the grid  120 , the landing page  104  may download data for channels and times/dates outside the periphery of the grid  120 . This allows the grid  120  to present the programs for the channels and times that appear as a user moves the grid  120 , without having to pause to download them. 
     The schedule grid  120  has an associated jump control  150  and an associated filter control  152 . The jump control  150  allows a user to quickly move to the current time and date in the grid  120  or to a primetime (e.g., 8:00 PM) for the current day. The filter control  152  can be used to filter out various parts of the grid. For example, the filter may be used to show only prime time or late night programming, so that, for example, the grid jumps from 11:00 PM directly to 8:00 PM the next day. Likewise, the filter can be used to show only channels in a particular category, such as only movies channels or sports channels, or channels specifically selected by a user as their favorites channels. 
     The media results groupings  116  provide a compact area to view the results of the media programming search. Particularly, each grouping may present a number of programs that is less than the total number of programs in the grouping. For example, each grouping may represent a media program series and may present up to three episodes from the series. A program identifier  154  identifies the name of the series or grouping. The episodes or instances of the program are represented by schedule entries  156 . A more control  158  indicates when more episodes or program instances exist that are not shown in the schedule entries  156 . The more control  158  can also indicate how many more entries exist. A user may select the more control  158  to present the additional entries. In addition, a user may select the additional results control  118  to present additional groupings. The additional results control  118  indicates the number of additional pages of media results groupings. A user may select a particular page of media results groupings to be presented in the groupings  116 . 
     When the landing page  104  is resized, for example as a result of a user input, the schedule grid  120  may be resized accordingly. The addition or subtraction of page space may be divided among the cells of the grid  120 . The cells of the grid may have minimum and maximum sizes, such that if the minimum or maximum sizes of the cells are reached rows and/or columns may be removed or added, respectively, from the grid  120 . The resizing, addition, and subtraction of cells in the grid  120  may be performed by a client-side script in a web browser, such as JavaScript. 
     Alternatively, or in addition (such as after the cells have reached a minimum size) the cells may be maintained in constant size and the grid  120  may have its channel and time dimensions shrunk or expanded as the window is decreased or increased in size respectively. Thus, for example, as the window is decreased in size, programs may be cut off in half-hour increments. 
       FIG. 1C  shows the details page  106 . As previously described, the details page  106  includes the program details area  132 , the image details area  140 , and the search details area  142 . The program details area  132  shows a list  160  of actors associated with the presented program. A user may select an actor in the list  160  to initiate a search of media programming for the selected actor. The search may direct the user to the landing page  104 . Alternatively, such a selection may obtain a details page associated with the actor, such as from the iMDB web site. Similar actions may be taken with respect to producers and others who might be associated with a program. 
     The program details area  132  includes actions  162   a - c  that may be performed using the program, such as by scheduling the program for recording to a PVR ( 162   a ), sending a link or other indicator for the program to a friend via electronic mail ( 162   b ), and to add an indicator for the program to a calendar, such as a Microsoft Outlook calendar ( 162   c ). The program details area  132  also includes information  166  associated with the program, such as an image from the program, the name of the series, the name of the episode, a synopsis of the episode, the date and time the program is scheduled for presentation, the channel presenting the program, the format of the program (e.g., a drama series), an indication of whether the program was previously presented or if it is a new episode, ratings information, and accessibility information. The information in the program details area  132  may be retrieved from web sites and services, such as a television/cable/satellite listings service and/or a movie/television information database. 
     The image details area  140  presents images and image information associated with the program. The images are retrieved by performing a search, for example, of the Internet, images previously retrieved form the internet, or another corpus, using the search term or other information associated with the program. 
     The search details area  142  presents web pages and web page information associated with the program. The web pages are retrieved by performing a search, for example, of the Internet using the search term or other information associated with the program. 
     In addition, the details page  106  may include a video details area.  FIG. 1D  shows a video details area  170  that may be included in the details page  106 . The video details area  170  may present a thumbnail image or sample frame or frames (e.g., a short clip) of the video and a link to where the video may be found. The video or videos associated with the program may be retrieved by performing a search, for example, of the Internet using the search term or other information associated with the program. The videos may include videos of other episodes of the program, or may include publicly made videos about the program, among other things. As one example, keywords may be associated with a program, either manually or by analysis of characteristics of the program and a transcript of the episode. Those keywords may be used to identify matching videos. For example, an episode of JAG may include extensive discussions of carrier landings, so that video details area  170  for that episode includes results of videos showing spectacular carrier landings. 
     A user may select one of the images  140   a - d  and be directed to a web page where the image may be found. In addition, the user may select one of the web page links  142   a - c  to be directed to the web page where a reference to the program was found. In certain implementations, the user may input a rating and/or comment for the program. Other users may then view the rating (or a composite rating form multiple users) and/or comment provided by the user, and may also filter results based on the rating. 
     In certain implementations, a user may customize the types of information presented in the details page  106 , such as images, web pages, videos, or other media. For example, the user could indicate that only certain types of related information (e.g., only related images and videos, but not related to the web page results) should be shown in the details page. 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a system  200  for displaying requested programming content. In general, the system accesses both media-related and general content from a variety of independent sources, and can aggregate the information in various useful manners, such as is discussed above, for display to a user. 
     Overall, the system  200  can include a server  205  that can carry out the computational functions of processes described below. The server  205  may represent a single or multiple servers, including banks of servers in a computer data center. The system  200  can also include a schedule provider  210  that stores and provides media-related scheduling information and content. The schedule provider  210  may, for example, be a commercial provider of media programming information as discussed below. In addition, the system  200  may include a media content provider  215  that stores media-related information, such as in databases connecting programs with actors, and permit various media-related queries (e.g., similar to the Internet Movie Database system). 
     The system  200  may aggregate and generate content for provision to a user system  220 . The content may originally come from schedule provider  210  and media content provider  215 , among other things, and may be formatted by server  205  into a useful presentation for a user. The components of the system  200  can transfer and exchange information via a network  222 , such as a local network or the internet. 
     The system  200  can be used to present media-related content to a user upon receiving a request for the media, such as in the form of a search query or the selection of a hyperlink. The system  200  can be operated and constructed such that, in a one implementation, when a user requests media-related content, server  205  already possesses the content, and does not need to gather the content. This configuration can considerably reduce the amount of time a user has to wait for the results of their search. The server  205  may also need to gather some or all of the content it needs to respond to a request 
     The server  205  can execute programming instructions for seeking out programming schedule and media content, classifying this information, storing the information in a variety of contexts, and receiving and responding to search queries. Such information can be obtained from information providers, such as schedule provider  210  and media content provider  215  that make media-related content publicly available or available by contract or agreement with the operator of server  205 . 
     The server  205  can also seek out media-related information using a crawler  225 . The crawler  225  can be a program, for example, that seeks out media-related content from throughout the network  222  and retrieves the content for later storage. For example, the crawler  225  can access and retrieve the information from variety of sources including network websites. Such information can be generally unformatted, in that the content is not commonly defined in its format from one source to another. 
     A classifier module  231  can receive the information gathered by the crawler  225  and classify it according to certain criterion. For example, the crawler  225  may have found a new schedule  227  from an online schedule provider  210 . The crawler module  225  can pass a link, i.e., the web address of the schedule  227  to the classifier module  231  so that it can initiate a download, or, alternatively, the crawler module  225  can initiate the transfer of the schedule  227 , passing the actual information to the classifier module  231 . 
     Upon receiving information from the crawler  225 , the contents can be examined by the classifier  231  to determine their context. For example, the classifier module  231  can parse parts of an internet address to determine its origin and the type of information most likely to be retrieved. The web address http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0141842/ contains at least one identifier (imdb.com) that can be recognized by the classifier module  231  as information coming from the internet movie database website, a website known for its in-depth categorization of movies, television shows, etc. Therefore, the classifier module  231  may parse the contents of the retrieved web page into its constituents, which may include actor biographies, pictures, series information, and other related media content information. 
     Similarly, information received from the crawler  225  may contain recognizable computer code that allows the classifier module  231  to classify it as a certain type of information. In one embodiment, the retrieved information may contain html language including a table, with column and row headers labeled “time” and “channel” respectively, with a multitude of titles presented within the cell contents. Such a configuration may allow the classifier module  231  to categorize the information as a programming schedule and process it accordingly. In addition, images on web pages may be identified and may be classified for access via image search, but associated with text on the page for search purposes. 
     Classifier module  231  can store like information retrieved from the crawler  225  in repositories that catalog or organize the information by type. Furthermore, the classifier module  231  can parse the content received and store the information in appropriate repositories. The system  200  in  FIG. 2  shows repositories for schedule data  235 , web data  240 , structured media content  245 , and images  250 , as examples of data that may be stored by the server  205 . 
     The crawler  225  may find links on a webpage such as page  252  that lead to other web pages  257  containing biographies of the actors appearing on The Sopranos. Those web pages  257  can similarly contain text  261  and graphic elements  255  that the classifier module  231  can append to the data stored in the various repositories as explained for the previous web page  252 . Category files can also be maintained locally that contain the local, physical address of the files within the repositories. 
     Crawler  225  can recognize and follow links to other online scheduling and media content sources found on schedules  227  or media content  229 , thereby considerably expanding its “net” of retrievable schedules and content with every access. For example, an online programming schedule  227  from a network provider (e.g., www.nbc.com) may contain a link to another online programming source (e.g., www.tvguide.com), which may be in the form of an advertisement on the network webpage. In another example, the crawler  225  can follow a link from a media content provider  215  website that contains a link to a television programming schedule from an actor&#39;s biography. 
     Other information may be obtained directly as structure data from known information sources. Information retrieved from schedule provider  210  may include formatted information, in that the information is stored in a format that is defined by the schedule provider  210  and the format may be shared with the server  205  so that the server  205  may access and format the information in the manner intended by the schedule provider  210 . Such information may be formatted as schedule data  227  that is passed from schedule provider  210  to server  205 . 
     In addition to obtaining schedule data  227 , the server  205  can also access and retrieve structured media content  229  from a media content provider  215 . Media content  229  can include detailed information about a particular program, and is described in more detail below. 
     A request processor  265  can receive requests from users for detailed information about programming. This requests can originate, for example, from a user at a user system  220  viewing a programming schedule grid similar to the grid  120  shown in  FIG. 1B . the schedule grid may be constructed using data from the schedule builder  270 . For example, the user can view programming or content information surrounding the television show “Lost” as indicated by the highlighted box  130  in  FIG. 1B . The information request can be initiated, for example, by clicking on the title of the show in the box  130 . This action can send a request to the request processor  265  that includes information about the selected program, such as the program title, or a program identifier, that instructs the request processor  265  to match the request with contents of the system  200  repositories. 
     For example, a request for programming content surrounding the television show Lost may be received by the request processor  265  that includes the show title, or show ID, and may further include other identifying information surrounding the user&#39;s request, such as the show episode, or series information. The schedule builder  270 , alone or in combination with a page formatter  275  (described below), can use this information in creating the display that the user can view. 
     Search engine  280  can receive search requests directly from users or via request processor  265 . A user can initiate a search request by typing information in a search field such as field  138  shown in  FIG. 1C . Alternatively, the server  205  can recognize the absence of requested programming content (schedules, media, etc.) for a particular program and initiate a search based on the entered query. The search engine  280  can store certain information relating to schedule providers  210  and media content providers  215  that provide a high probability of returning timely information about the requested program content. Also, the search engine  280  may be programmed to conduct separate searches (including by using different search techniques for each search) on multiple different corpora of documents to generate the results seen, e.g., in  FIG. 1C . 
     The search engine  270  can also perform tasks related to searching the server  205  repositories, i.e., repositories  235 ,  240 ,  245 , and  250 , for requested programming content that has been stored previously. A user  220  may submit a request to view images that have been collected from various schedule providers  210  and media content providers  215  for one of their favorite television shows. For example, a fan of the television series “Baywatch” can request to see images of the show&#39;s stars. Search engine  280  may then search the images repository  250  (or an index associated with the repository  250 ) and other repositories for images that have been obtained by the crawler  225  and stored on the server  205 . Similarly, a user can review program information such as the content of individual shows to get caught up on a television series by performing a search for the series information. Such content may be stored in the structured media content repository  245  or the schedule data repository  235 . 
     The schedule builder  270  performs operations relating to providing the user with an intelligible programming schedule based on a request by the user. These operations can include the gathering of schedule information from the schedule data repository  235  or the search engine module  280  and arranging the information in a grid or other structured style so that the user can analyze it, for example, the times and channels that their requested program will air. Examples of the output of the schedule builder  270  can include the data to produce schedules  120  such as those shown in  FIG. 1B , or lists of programming content such as that shown in  FIG. 1C , e.g., list  136 . 
     Schedule builder module  270  can parse the contents of schedules  227  provided by the schedule provider  210  to produce a customized schedule based on the user&#39;s request, or, it can present the schedules  227  as they were originally retrieved and stored. In certain embodiments, the schedule builder can provide links to, or the location of, media files, images, and other content that may correlate to an episode of a particular program. The page formatter module  275  can use this information for presenting the user with a schedule grid, for example, that contains media images within the cells that correspond to the episode. The schedule builder module  270  can generally collect the time, network, and/or channel of the program the user has requested to view, as well as any other useful information relating to the program and its schedule. 
     Page formatter  275  can generally perform the computing operations relating to receiving information from the request processor  265 , search engine  280 , and schedule builder  270 , and generate mark up code for displaying the aggregated results for the user system  220 . The page formatter  275  can perform the calculations necessary to incorporate media files and other visual elements into a schedule display that is of an appropriate size for the users computer  220  display. In addition to simply displaying the media content (schedules, media, links, etc.), web links can be provided so that a user can click on certain elements and be directed to other web content. 
     In addition, page formatter may be configured to permit personalization of the display of search results for media content. For example, a user may wish to only display certain fields (e.g., time and channel) for program results. 
       FIG. 3  is a swim-lane diagram showing actions for retrieving and displaying media-related content. In general, the three lanes of the diagram represent a client device (such as a television or computer being operated by a user), a server being accessed by the client device, and a third-party server providing information to the first server. The particular arrangement of the devices, and the operations performed by each, are provided for clarity, though the arrangement and operations of the various devices may also be altered in appropriate manners, and the particular implementation shown here should not be viewed as limiting. 
     In the process shown in the figure, media-related content is initially collected, such as from structure data providers and using a search engine, as discussed above. The system then categorizes and stored the content, such as by creating an index for the unstructured content by identifying words used in the content. The content may also be classified as being media related (box  320 ), and may, if so classified, be stored as a separate corpus, either by storage in a separate database or by flagging the content in a single database according to its corpora. For example, where a page includes the word “lost,” that word is formatted in a prominent manner (e.g., it is defined to be part of a heading), the page includes information about a television network, or is linked directly or indirectly to known media-related sites, and the content includes references to media-related terms such as broadcast or show times. 
     The content (whether as the originally obtained content or an index generated from the content), once categorized, may be stored in repositories containing different corpora of content. For example, web pages may be stored with each other, although web pages having high indication that they relate to media can be stored in a separate subset of web pages. Other pages or pieces of content can be stored in one or more other repositories (or may be referenced from such repositories where they are stored elsewhere). 
     A user then requests programming content (box  325 ). The request can be in the form of a search query, such as by entering information in a search field, or it may be the result of a user-selected link from a program schedule or other selection, for example. At box  330 , the system receives the user request for programming content. The request can be parsed (box  355 ) to determine the parameters of the request. 
     The server then searches the media-related content stored in the server repositories (box  340 ). At box  350 , the server may determine whether it currently stores all of the information needed to return a result to the search query for the user. If it does, the process proceeds on. If it does not, it may access the needed information at run time, such as by sending a request—based on the request submitted by the user—to a third-party server such as a schedule information provider. The search or other request from the server may occur according to a prearranged protocol, such as by the server requesting programming data for a particular program or programming for a particular time period. The third party service may then transmit media content that is responsive to the request from the server (box  360 ). 
     The server may then aggregate the various content it has obtained, such as detailed descriptions of a program episode, scheduling information for the program, images from or about the program, web results using the program title as a query term, and other personalized searches for a user. A component of the server, such as a page formatter (box  365 ) may then access information about the user, if the user has taken steps to create a personalized media page, and may format the retrieved data into mark up code for displaying information such a in the form of the details page shown in  FIG. 1C . With the code generated, the server may transmit the code to the client (box  370 ), and the client device may receive the code and generate or display a web page presenting the information (box  375 ). 
     Where the server provides customized results for the user, a user can set up a list of “favorites,” i.e., a list of program content that the user wishes to view on more than one occasion. The user can transmit information from the user&#39;s system that identifies the user&#39;s preferences, including “favorites” so that the system can provide the user with programming content related to their favorite shows, for example. Such transmitted information can include cookies, or may be recognized when a user logs on to an account that stores information about the user on the server. 
       FIG. 4  is a flow chart showing actions for retrieving and displaying media-related content. In general, the chart  400  shows server-side actions made in response to actions by a user at a client who is browsing media programming information, such as in the screen shots shown in FIGS.  1  and  1 A-D. At box  402 , the system receives a search request, which may have been submitted through a search request box for a standard search engine. The system may first determine whether the request is media related ( 404 ), such as by comparing terms in the request with terms in a whitelist of media-related terms or concepts. Other similar determinations may be made on the request for similar purposes, e.g., for local search terms, weather-related terms, for shipping information (e.g., UPS and FedEx numbers), etc. If the request is not determined to be media related, basic search results may be delivered back to the user (box  406 ). 
     If the request is determined to be media-related, the system may then check to determine whether the user&#39;s head end or zip-code is known, such as by using a cookie or otherwise looking in a system-side database entry associated with the user. If the head end or zip-code for the user is not known, code for a display like that shown in  FIG. 2A  may be delivered to the client device of the user, and head end and/or zip-code can be determined by obtaining location information for the user (box  410 ). 
     Once head end and/or zip-code information is determined, the system may deliver search results to the user with a media One Box, similar to the display in  FIG. 1A . After reviewing the results, the user may select a displayed program from the One Box, and the server may receive an indication of such a selection, and may generate code for a landing page like that shown in  FIG. 1B . The code may include a list of search results organized in groupings or in some other manner, and code for generating an interactive grid, along with data for generating an initial display of the grid (e.g., around an episode for the top search result) (box  414 ). 
     Box  416  shows actions in response to a user&#39;s moving of the grid, such as by clicking on a cell and dragging it one way or another. Information about the display area for the grid may be provided to the system, such as by JavaScript running on the client, and a bounding box may be determined for cells displayed in the grid and those around the edge of the display. The relevant cell data may be retrieved and/or generated, and the system may provide additional data, such as in the form of XML data, to the client for filling in new cells in the grid. 
     Box  418  shows actions in response to a user&#39;s selection of a link for a particular episode. In such a situation, the system may deliver mark up code for a details page such as is shown in  FIG. 1C . As discussed above, the system may use the submitted request to query a number of different corpora of media-related information so as to generated a number of distinct and different results that may be automatically aggregated with each other in a useful manner. At box  420 , the system first determines whether a user associated with a request to show media information has been registered with the system to provide a customized view of media-related information. The system then pulls the data responsive to the request from multiple difference corpora, including as necessary, corpora stored locally in the system, and corpora reachable via third parties. 
     Applying standard formatting or formatting for the user that is identified in the user&#39;s data, the system may then present the code for display of the media details page (box  424 ). Specifically, the system may generate mark up code and transmit that code in an appropriate manner to the client device. 
       FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram of an example system  500  for accessing media programming. The system includes a client  502 , a server  504 , and a network  506 , such as the internet, connecting the two. The server  504  may communicate through an interface  508 , which may itself include or be part of one or more web servers. Media-related requests from the client may be identified by the interface and routed to the request processor  510 . The request processor may parse the requests into their constituent parts to determine the sort of information requested by the client  502 . For example, if the request is a media-related search request, the request processor may pass the search terms to search engine  516 , which may return one or more search results in a conventional manner. Also, the search engine  516  may return a media one box, like those described above, where the request is determined to be media related. 
     Also, if a head end has not been associated with the client  502 , a head end resolver  512  may be used to query the user for location information and other information (such as telecom provider) that may help in selecting a head end for the user with information stored in a head end database  514 . A head end typically describes a particular source of programming for a user that is unique among various possible sources. Where a head end cannot be determined precisely but a reasonable number of head ends can be determined to be possible solutions, a generalized presentation covering all of the possible head ends may be provided. For example, for a particular row in a grid, a call sign (e.g., NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, etc.) may be displayed, but without displaying a channel number (when that affiliate is displayed on different channels for different head ends) or by displaying both possible channel numbers (where two different providers might server the user from two different channels). 
     Where a user requests a landing page, grid builder  526  may provide code and generate data for display of a program grid at a particular date and time for a user. The grid builder  526  may receive signals, such as from search engine  516  regarding the position in the grid that is to be displayed on the client  502 . Grid information and search information may be provided to a page formatter  528 , which may generate code for the display of pages like those shown in  FIGS. 1A-1D . The page formatter may also draw on other sources, such as image search results provided by search engine  516 , and structured media data stored in media database  524 . For example, relationships between and among actors and programs may be stored for display on a details page as shown above. 
     Various databases may also be accessed by system  500 . For example, user information database  518  may contain personalized information about users. Such information may include, for example, favorite channels of the user, the content of the user&#39;s personalized channel and other information that may be used to generate custom displays like those shown in  FIGS. 1A-D . The data may be accessed, for example, in response to requests from JavaScript running on the client, and may be supplied via XML or other format for use in an asynchronous fashion. Also, schedule information  520  may be provided, such as to grid builder  526 , for display of programming information. 
     Media streamer  530  may be used where streaming media is provider by the system  500 . The media streamer  530  may take any appropriate form and may be triggered based upon a display request from the client  502  when a particular program is set for display on the client  502 . 
     Client  502  may communicate via interface  532 . Interface  532  may include an interface for computer communications, such as an Ethernet interface connected to the network  506 . Interface  532  may also include inputs for services such as OTA broadcast, cable, and/or satellite television reception. Various forms of broadcast media may be received through such mechanisms. 
     In the particular example, the client  502  interacts with a user through a web browser, though other applications may also be used to provide information to, and receive commands from, a user. Mark up code  534  on client  532  may be accessed by the browser and may cause displays like those shown and described above to be generated on the client  502 . The mark up code may include XML and HTML, along with CSS for data formatting. 
     A JavaScript Runtime component  536  may also be provided and may permit for the operation of certain interactive features discussed above, such as movement of the program guide grid and fetching of grid tiles. The JavaScript runtime component  536  may execute code as part of an AJAX programming mechanism, to dynamically call the server  504  to obtain XML, HTML, and CSS information without having to leave or refresh a page such as the landing page  104 . 
     Media player  538  may take various appropriate forms, and may include encoders and decoders for receiving, translating, saving, and playing audio/video content. Media player  538  may include, for example, components of Windows Media Player or other appropriate components, and may be control by selections by a user on the client, such as through a browser generating displays from mark up code  534 . Media player  538  may render real time video and audio, and also lay out dynamic graphics such as Flash for real time embedded data (e.g., showing virtual baseball players on a diamond). Stored media  540  provides storage for programs, in a manner similar to that for standard personal video recorders. Media provided by media player  538  may be streamed over network  506 , received from a broadcast source, or played from stored media  540 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 6 , there is shown a display  620  that is a portion of a media program search details page, which may be, in appropriate circumstances, an alternative form of display to that shown in  FIG. 1C . In general, display  620  shows detailed results for a user and a program in a number of different areas, and shows information about particular episodes of a program on a series of visually stacked cards. 
     The display  620  includes a search control  622 . The search control  622  may receive a search query, much like the standard Google search page. Queries submitted by the search control may be directed by the system to locating media-related content. That the query is related to media may be made known to the system in a variety of manners. For example, the code that generates display  620  may append a search term such as “tv:” in front of the query submitted by a user so that that term is added to the query and narrows the results returned for the query, or may be entered according to a format by which a search engine will use the prefix as a mechanism by which to limit the corpus of documents (e.g., web pages, images, and other information) that may be searched for the remainder of the query. 
     By submitting the query as a media-specific query, the user may be provided with results, like those shown in the rest of  FIG. 6 , that are specially formatted for displaying media information. In the example that is shown, those results include a contact list  624  for the user. The list  624  may be an instant messaging contact list that shows the current status of acquaintances of the user. The list may be used in a variety of manners, such as to send media identifiers to people on the list  624  that permit those people to acquire and watch a media program sent to them by the user. For example, selection of one or more people on the list accompanied by selection of a sharing control may cause a hyperlink or similar object to be electronically mailed or instant messaged to the selected people, so that their selection of the hyperlink causes the program to be displayed to them or causes the program to be added to a set of programming for those people, such as on their personalized channels, as discussed above. 
     A tags area  634  allows a user to see and edit tags associated with a media program. For example, the user may add tags that are adjectives or nouns that they believe are descriptive of the media program. As one example, a user may select a tag of “explosions” or “terrorist” for a particular episode of the Fox series 24. The tags may otherwise by managed and used in a standard manner for tagging of web-accessible content. 
     A card stack  626  is generated for the display  620  to represent multiple episodes of a particular program—here, Mythbusters from The Discovery Channel. Each card in the card stack  626  may represent an episode (or, e.g., for movies, a particular movie in a series or a particular movie in which an actor appears, as simple examples). Each card in the stack  626  may include a title such as titles  626   a ,  626   b  which may be made visible whether the particular card is on the top of the stack or not. The titles may be the title of movies, for example, or the titles that producers have given to each episode in a program series. 
     A displayed card may include a number of areas. As shown in the figure, an episode summary area  632  shows a synopsis for an episode and can also show information like that provided in details area  132  and information  166  of  FIG. 1C . In addition, a parental rating for the program can be provided, as can a control that, when selected, causes a PVR associated with the system providing the display  620 , to record the episode. 
     A search results area  630  can display various types of search results associated with the episode. Although web results are shown in the figure, other results, such as image, shopping, video, or other results may be shown. The web results may be generated, for example, by supplying the title of the program and key words from the episode title and/or tags for the episode, to a standard search engine. The search may apply across one or more corpuses, such as general web search, only across particular media-related web sites, or across other such groups of data. 
     A video search area  634  shows videos that may be available for viewing and that relate to the program and/or episode in some manner. For example, if the program is the Star Wars series of movies, and the episode is Return of the Jedi, the video search may return one of the Lego-based reenactments of the Star Wars movies that are available on the Web. 
     An image search area  636  may provide similar search result from a corpus including images, such as the Google Image Search service. The images may be filtered or otherwise directed to television, such that, for example, images of actor/politician Fred Thompson are shown, but images from the resume page of a lawyer in Newark that happens to be named Fred Thompson, are not. 
     An “I Like This” control  638  may be selected by a user to indicate that they like a particular episode that is shown. Such a selection may trigger a number of actions in a system that has generated display  620 . For example, a profile associated with the user may be altered to reflect the preference. The profile or other information may be used to better present to the user program recommendations and relevant advertisements that the user may enjoy more than non-targeted programs and advertisements. Also, the user&#39;s relationships in a social network may be affected, such as by propagating information about the user&#39;s preference to profiles or other classification information for the user&#39;s acquaintances, or by notifying the acquaintances so that they can easily select the episode for viewing 
     An advertisements area  640  may also be displayed, and may show various forms of advertisements targeted to the user and/or the program or episode. For example, characteristics of the user may be used for the targeting, as may content of the display  620  or of information sources that generated the content for display  620 , such as by using analysis like that performed by the well-known Google Adsense service. 
       FIG. 7  is a block diagram of computing devices  700 ,  750  that may be used to implement the systems and methods described in this document, as either a client or as a server or plurality of servers. Computing device  700  is intended to represent various forms of digital computers, such as laptops, desktops, workstations, personal digital assistants, servers, blade servers, mainframes, and other appropriate computers. Computing device  750  is intended to represent various forms of mobile devices, such as personal digital assistants, cellular telephones, smartphones, and other similar computing devices. The components shown here, their connections and relationships, and their functions, are meant to be exemplary only, and are not meant to limit implementations of the inventions described and/or claimed in this document. 
     Computing device  700  includes a processor  702 , memory  704 , a storage device  706 , a high-speed interface  708  connecting to memory  704  and high-speed expansion ports  710 , and a low speed interface  712  connecting to low speed bus  714  and storage device  706 . Each of the components  702 ,  704 ,  706 ,  708 ,  710 , and  712 , are interconnected using various busses, and may be mounted on a common motherboard or in other manners as appropriate. The processor  702  can process instructions for execution within the computing device  700 , including instructions stored in the memory  704  or on the storage device  706  to display graphical information for a GUI on an external input/output device, such as display  716  coupled to high speed interface  708 . In other implementations, multiple processors and/or multiple buses may be used, as appropriate, along with multiple memories and types of memory. Also, multiple computing devices  700  may be connected, with each device providing portions of the necessary operations (e.g., as a server bank, a group of blade servers, or a multi-processor system). 
     The memory  704  stores information within the computing device  700 . In one implementation, the memory  704  is a volatile memory unit or units. In another implementation, the memory  704  is a non-volatile memory unit or units. The memory  704  may also be another form of computer-readable medium, such as a magnetic or optical disk. 
     The storage device  706  is capable of providing mass storage for the computing device  700 . In one implementation, the storage device  706  may be or contain a computer-readable medium, such as a floppy disk device, a hard disk device, an optical disk device, or a tape device, a flash memory or other similar solid state memory device, or an array of devices, including devices in a storage area network or other configurations. A computer program product can be tangibly embodied in an information carrier. The computer program product may also contain instructions that, when executed, perform one or more methods, such as those described above. The information carrier is a computer- or machine-readable medium, such as the memory  704 , the storage device  706 , memory on processor  702 , or a propagated signal. 
     The high speed controller  708  manages bandwidth-intensive operations for the computing device  700 , while the low speed controller  712  manages lower bandwidth-intensive operations. Such allocation of functions is exemplary only. In one implementation, the high-speed controller  708  is coupled to memory  704 , display  716  (e.g., through a graphics processor or accelerator), and to high-speed expansion ports  710 , which may accept various expansion cards (not shown). In the implementation, low-speed controller  712  is coupled to storage device  706  and low-speed expansion port  714 . The low-speed expansion port, which may include various communication ports (e.g., USB, Bluetooth, Ethernet, wireless Ethernet) may be coupled to one or more input/output devices, such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a scanner, or a networking device such as a switch or router, e.g., through a network adapter. 
     The computing device  700  may be implemented in a number of different forms, as shown in the figure. For example, it may be implemented as a standard server  720 , or multiple times in a group of such servers. It may also be implemented as part of a rack server system  724 . In addition, it may be implemented in a personal computer such as a laptop computer  722 . Alternatively, components from computing device  700  may be combined with other components in a mobile device (not shown), such as device  750 . Each of such devices may contain one or more of computing device  700 ,  750 , and an entire system may be made up of multiple computing devices  700 ,  750  communicating with each other. 
     Computing device  750  includes a processor  752 , memory  764 , an input/output device such as a display  754 , a communication interface  766 , and a transceiver  768 , among other components. The device  750  may also be provided with a storage device, such as a microdrive or other device, to provide additional storage. Each of the components  750 ,  752 ,  764 ,  754 ,  766 , and  768 , are interconnected using various buses, and several of the components may be mounted on a common motherboard or in other manners as appropriate. 
     The processor  752  can execute instructions within the computing device  750 , including instructions stored in the memory  764 . The processor may be implemented as a chipset of chips that include separate and multiple analog and digital processors. The processor may provide, for example, for coordination of the other components of the device  750 , such as control of user interfaces, applications run by device  750 , and wireless communication by device  750 . 
     Processor  752  may communicate with a user through control interface  758  and display interface  756  coupled to a display  754 . The display  754  may be, for example, a TFT (Thin-Film-Transistor Liquid Crystal Display) display or an OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) display, or other appropriate display technology. The display interface  756  may comprise appropriate circuitry for driving the display  754  to present graphical and other information to a user. The control interface  758  may receive commands from a user and convert them for submission to the processor  752 . In addition, an external interface  762  may be provide in communication with processor  752 , so as to enable near area communication of device  750  with other devices. External interface  762  may provide, for example, for wired communication in some implementations, or for wireless communication in other implementations, and multiple interfaces may also be used. 
     The memory  764  stores information within the computing device  750 . The memory  764  can be implemented as one or more of a computer-readable medium or media, a volatile memory unit or units, or a non-volatile memory unit or units. Expansion memory  774  may also be provided and connected to device  750  through expansion interface  772 , which may include, for example, a SIMM (Single In-Line Memory Module) card interface. Such expansion memory  774  may provide extra storage space for device  750 , or may also store applications or other information for device  750 . Specifically, expansion memory  774  may include instructions to carry out or supplement the processes described above, and may include secure information also. Thus, for example, expansion memory  774  may be provide as a security module for device  750 , and may be programmed with instructions that permit secure use of device  750 . In addition, secure applications may be provided via the SIMM cards, along with additional information, such as placing identifying information on the SIMM card in a non-hackable manner. 
     The memory may include, for example, flash memory and/or NVRAM memory, as discussed below. In one implementation, a computer program product is tangibly embodied in an information carrier. The computer program product contains instructions that, when executed, perform one or more methods, such as those described above. The information carrier is a computer- or machine-readable medium, such as the memory  764 , expansion memory  774 , memory on processor  752 , or a propagated signal that may be received, for example, over transceiver  768  or external interface  762 . 
     Device  750  may communicate wirelessly through communication interface  766 , which may include digital signal processing circuitry where necessary. Communication interface  766  may provide for communications under various modes or protocols, such as GSM voice calls, SMS, EMS, or MMS messaging, CDMA, TDMA, PDC, WCDMA, CDMA2000, or GPRS, among others. Such communication may occur, for example, through radio-frequency transceiver  768 . In addition, short-range communication may occur, such as using a Bluetooth, WiFi, or other such transceiver (not shown). In addition, GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver module  770  may provide additional navigation- and location-related wireless data to device  750 , which may be used as appropriate by applications running on device  750 . 
     Device  750  may also communicate audibly using audio codec  760 , which may receive spoken information from a user and convert it to usable digital information. Audio codec  760  may likewise generate audible sound for a user, such as through a speaker, e.g., in a handset of device  750 . Such sound may include sound from voice telephone calls, may include recorded sound (e.g., voice messages, music files, etc.) and may also include sound generated by applications operating on device  750 . 
     The computing device  750  may be implemented in a number of different forms, as shown in the figure. For example, it may be implemented as a cellular telephone  780 . It may also be implemented as part of a smartphone  782 , personal digital assistant, or other similar mobile device. 
     Various implementations of the systems and techniques described here can be realized in digital electronic circuitry, integrated circuitry, specially designed ASICs (application specific integrated circuits), computer hardware, firmware, software, and/or combinations thereof. These various implementations can include implementation in one or more computer programs that are executable and/or interpretable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor, which may be special or general purpose, coupled to receive data and instructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a storage system, at least one input device, and at least one output device. 
     These computer programs (also known as programs, software, software applications or code) include machine instructions for a programmable processor, and can be implemented in a high-level procedural and/or object-oriented programming language, and/or in assembly/machine language. As used herein, the terms “machine-readable medium” “computer-readable medium” refers to any computer program product, apparatus and/or device (e.g., magnetic discs, optical disks, memory, Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)) used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor, including a machine-readable medium that receives machine instructions as a machine-readable signal. The term “machine-readable signal” refers to any signal used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor. 
     To provide for interaction with a user, the systems and techniques described here can be implemented on a computer having a display device (e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor) for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointing device (e.g., a mouse or a trackball) by which the user can provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices can be used to provide for interaction with a user as well; for example, feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback (e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback); and input from the user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input. 
     The systems and techniques described here can be implemented in a computing system that includes a back-end component (e.g., as a data server), or that includes a middleware component (e.g., an application server), or that includes a front-end component (e.g., a client computer having a graphical user interface or a Web browser through which a user can interact with an implementation of the systems and techniques described here), or any combination of such back-end, middleware, or front-end components. The components of the system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication (e.g., a communication network). Examples of communication networks include a local area network (“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), and the Internet. 
     The computing system can include clients and servers. A client and server are generally remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network. The relationship of client and server arises by virtue of computer programs running on the respective computers and having a client-server relationship to each other. 
     A number of embodiments have been described. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of what has been described. For example, the media content does not have to be restricted to “still” images. Live feeds from 3rd party server sources can be fed to the user  220  and incorporated into a programming schedule grid  120  or presented elsewhere on a display area  104 . Accordingly, other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims.