Patent ID: 7552460

Claim:
In a central processor that communicates with processing devices associated with televisions, a method of providing information to the processing devices to enable information relating to viewing behavior associated with television programs to be displayed, the method comprising the acts of: receiving viewing behavior information from a plurality of processing devices associated with televisions, the viewing behavior information specifying viewer activity associated with television programs; generating a report, based on the viewing behavior information for a viewer group defined by a viewer selection of individuals from a database, that specifies the number of viewers in the group who have engaged in a viewing activity associated with particular television programs at the televisions; and wherein the report is used to modify a display of an electronic program guide that identifies television programs which are being broadcast for display by one or more of the televisions and wherein the electronic program guide groups the television programs based on time at which each of the television programs is being broadcast, and wherein the modification of the electronic program guide includes modifying the display of the electronic program guide in such a manner as to display a list of the television programs in a list that is sorted by decreasing order of viewership, based on the audience in the viewer group that is currently tuned to each of the television programs which are being broadcast for display by one or more of the televisions, and such that a television program that is determined to be currently viewed by more viewers is listed in the list above one or more television programs that are determined to be currently viewed by fewer viewers, and wherein the electronic program guide display is further modified to include, for each television program included in the list, a numeric value that identifies a relative ranking of the television program, relative to other listed television programs, as well as a numeric percentage that identifies a relative percentage of viewers currently viewing the television program as compared to the other listed television programs, and wherein the electronic program guide displays television programs in at least three column groupings that each represent consecutive time blocks, and wherein only the first of the at least three column groupings, which represents a current time of displayed television programs, is modified by the report and such that only the first of the at least three column listings sorts the displayed television programming in a sorted order of viewership, based on the audience in the viewer group that is currently tuned to each of the television programs identified by the electronic program guide.