Patent ID: 8839300

Claim:
A method, comprising: responsive to a request to customize an electronic programming guide, presenting, by a set top box, a graphical user interface having a window with a plurality of on-screen media channel indicators of a plurality of scrollable media channel indicators, wherein each media channel indicator of the plurality of on-screen media channel indicators is accompanied by a thumbnail, a description of a corresponding media channel, and an option to select the corresponding media channel for inclusion in the electronic programming guide and wherein each thumbnail comprises video content scheduled for broadcast on the corresponding media channel; sampling, by the set top box, video content of a corresponding media channel of an off-screen media channel indicator of the plurality of scrollable media channel indicators for presentation in the thumbnail of the off-screen media channel indicator only after the thumbnail of the off-screen media channel indicator is depicted in the window responsive to being scrolled up or down in the window, wherein the corresponding media channel of the off-screen media channel indicator differs from corresponding media channels of the plurality of on-screen media channel indicators; presenting, by the set top box, in the graphical user interface a first button to accept inclusion in the electronic programming guide a corresponding media channel of a select media channel indicator of the plurality of scrollable media channel indicators, and a second button to request additional information about a corresponding media channel of a highlighted media channel indicator of the plurality of on-screen media channel indicators in the graphical user interface; and customizing, by the set top box, the electronic programming guide according to the select media channel indicator of the plurality of scrollable media channel indicators responsive to detecting an assertion of the first button.