Patent ID: 7607157

Claim:
A method of receiving program information supplied on plural time-offset channels in a near video-on-demand system, comprising the steps of: storing a segment of the program information supplied on one of said channels in a buffer memory of a receiver in the near video-on-demand system; selecting a particular channel; receiving the program information supplied on said particular channel; and reading said stored segment of program information while buffering the program information supplied on said particular channel in response to the selection of said particular channel, wherein reading of said stored segment is paused in response to a pause command while the program information continues buffering, and whereafter reading of said stored segment is resumed in response to a resume command, wherein a second channel, time-offset from said particular channel, is selected to supply the program information if a time difference between the pause command and the resume command is greater than said time-offset, and wherein when display of the program information is resumed after the resume command, an overlap portion is provided.