Patent ID: 6990676

Claim:
An apparatus for displaying information to a user via a television, comprising: a digital satellite system (DSS) processing element communicatively connected to a satellite communication medium for receiving a programming broadcast over the satellite communication medium; a computer readable medium for storing a graphic image, the graphic image corresponding to a television program to be broadcast over the satellite communication medium; and an internet processing element communicatively connected to the internet for transmitting and receiving data over the internet, communicatively connected to the DSS processing element for receiving the programming from the DSS processing element, communicatively connected to the computer readable medium, for retrieving the graphic image from the computer readable medium, and communicatively connected to the television for displaying the data received from the Internet and one of the television program and the graphic image on the television, the Internet processing element displaying a graphical user interface displaying on a single display screen selectable television programs that are currently being broadcast over the satellite communication medium and selectable television programs that are to be broadcast in the future, the Internet processing element displaying the television program on the television in response to a user request for the television program if the DSS processing element has received the television program from the satellite communication medium, the Internet processing element displaying the graphic image on the television and additional textual information about the content of the television program in response to the user request for the television program if the DSS processing element has not received the television program from the satellite communication medium while not displaying any graphic images corresponding to ones of the selectable television programs that have not been requested.