Patent ID: 7299484

Claim:
A method of computing a schedule of channels, comprising the steps of: accepting channel surfing commands having a series of commands to tune a plurality of channels sequentially from an ordered schedule of channels; determining a duration of a time period during which each channel in the plurality of channels is tuned by the series of commands; determining which of the time periods exceeds a threshold time period; segmenting the channels into a first segment having channels associated with a time period exceeding the threshold time period and a second segment having channels associated with a time period not exceeding the threshold time period, ordering the channels in the first segment according to the duration of the time period associated with each channel; ordering the channels in the second segment according to the duration of the time period associated with each channel; presenting media programs associated with the channels in the first segment in order in response to a first command; presenting the media programs associated with the channels in the second segment in order in response to a second command; and prioritizing the schedule of channels according to the duration of the time period during which each channel in the plurality of channels is tuned by the series of commands.