Patent ID: 8739222

Claim:
A method, comprising: receiving a programming signal at a television receiver, the programming signal comprising a plurality of programming content and electronic program guide (EPG) data, the EPG data comprising a plurality of records, each record of the plurality of records comprising a content rating and EPG display information; receiving a request for an EPG display at the television receiver; retrieving a content rating of at least one record of the plurality of records from the EPG data; providing a plurality of user-selectable ratings lock criteria for selection by a user, wherein the plurality of user-selectable ratings lock criteria comprise: a current time at which the request for the EPG display is received, an airing time, a content rating, and a channel identifier; receiving a user selection of at least one of the plurality of user-selectable ratings lock criteria and storing the user selection as a ratings lock setting of the television receiver; retrieving the ratings lock setting of the television receiver; comparing the content rating to the ratings lock setting; determining a first criteria regarding the ratings lock setting based on the retrieved ratings lock setting; modifying the EPG data, utilizing at least one processing unit of the television receiver, by altering the EPG display information for the at least one record of the plurality of records in either a first manner or a second manner if the content rating exceeds the ratings lock setting, wherein altering in both the first manner and the second manner indicates that the content rating exceeds the ratings lock setting, wherein the EPG display information for the at least one record is modified in the first manner if the first criteria is met and wherein the EPG display information for the at least one record is modified in the second manner if the first criteria is not met; generating the EPG display, utilizing the at least one processor of the television receiver, based on the EPG data; and transmitting the generated EPG display, utilizing the television receiver, to a display device.