Multi-option sourcing of content and interactive television

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9124937-B2
Application number	US-201313832667-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 15, 2013
Priority date	Mar 15, 2013
Publication date	Sep 1, 2015
Grant date	Sep 1, 2015

Abstract

A content manager receives a request to display a content guide of available content. In response to receiving the request, the content manager initiates display of the content guide on a display screen. In the displayed content guide, the content manager initiates display of multiple selectable content viewing options. A first selectable channel viewing option of the multiple content viewing options can be configured to correspond to a television channel from which to view content originating from a content sponsor. A second channel viewing option of the multiple content viewing options can be configured to correspond to an auxiliary channel with respect to the television channel from which to access available over-the-top content associated with the content originating from the content sponsor. Accordingly, a user can be easily notified of the availability of content on a television channel and over-the-top content associated with the television channel.

First claim

I claim:

1. A method comprising:
receiving a request to display a content guide of available content;
in response to receiving the request, initiating display of the content guide on a display screen; and
in the displayed content guide, initiating simultaneous display of multiple selectable channel viewing options including a first selectable channel viewing option and a second selectable channel viewing option, the first selectable channel viewing option corresponding to a television channel from which to retrieve and view respective content originating from a content sponsor, the second selectable channel viewing option corresponding to an auxiliary channel with respect to the television channel from which to retrieve and view available supplemental over-the-top content associated with the respective content originating from the content sponsor, the content guide indicating multiple programs associated with the first selectable channel viewing option that are scheduled for distribution over the television channel at different times, the content guide further indicating that the supplemental over-the-top content is associated with the multiple programs and is available over the auxiliary channel at the different times;

wherein initiating display of the multiple selectable channel viewing options includes: initiating display of the first selectable channel viewing option and the second selectable channel viewing option in columnar form in the content guide, the first selectable channel viewing option residing in a first row of the content guide, the first row of the content guide including a title for each of multiple programs associated with the first selectable channel viewing option, the second selectable channel viewing option residing in a second row of the content guide, the second row of the content guide including a description of the supplemental content associated with the second selectable channel viewing option;
wherein the first selectable channel viewing option includes a channel identifier value assigned to the television channel; and
wherein the second selectable channel viewing option includes: i) the channel identifier value assigned to the television channel, and ii) a text-based symbol indicating that the second selectable channel viewing option represents the auxiliary channel for retrieving the supplemental over-the-top content.

2. The method as in claim 1 , wherein initiating simultaneous display of the multiple selectable channel viewing options includes:
for the first selectable channel viewing option, initiating display of a first notification specifying the respective content, the first notification indicating that the respective content is available in a scheduled time slot of the television channel; and
for the second selectable channel viewing option, initiating display of a second notification specifying availability of the supplemental over-the-top content via the auxiliary channel.

3. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:
responsive to receiving selection of the first selectable channel viewing option:
tuning to the television channel, the television channel received on a shared communication link of a cable network;
decoding a video signal received on the television channel; and
rendering video derived from the video signal on the display screen.

4. The method as in claim 3 further comprising:
while rendering the video derived from the video signal on the display screen, receiving input from a respective user selecting to view the supplemental over-the-top content available over the auxiliary channel; and
in response to receiving the input, retrieving a menu of content viewing options; and
displaying a rendition of the menu of content viewing options on the display screen, each of the content viewing options in the menu corresponding to different content available from the content sponsor over the auxiliary channel.

5. The method as in claim 4 further comprising:
in accordance with control input received from a user viewing the display screen, toggling between retrieving and displaying the respective content and the supplemental over-the-top content on the display screen.

6. The method as in claim 5 further comprising:
storing portions of the respective content received over the television channel while the control input indicates to display a rendition of the supplemental over-the-top content on the display screen; and
in response to detecting that the user switches back to viewing the respective content on the television channel after viewing the supplemental over-the-top content on the display screen, initiating display of the stored portions of the respective content for viewing by the user.

7. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:
responsive to receiving selection of the second selectable channel viewing option:
obtaining a network address, the network address indicating a server resource from which to retrieve a home page of the content sponsor;
utilizing the network address to communicate with the server resource over the auxiliary channel to retrieve the home page.

8. The method as in claim 7 further comprising:
transmitting a content request message over the auxiliary channel to retrieve display information generated by the content sponsor;
receiving the display information over the auxiliary channel from the server resource; and
rendering the display information on the display screen.

9. The method as in claim 8 , wherein rendering the display information includes:
as specified by the display information, initiating display of a set of selectable content viewing options on the display screen, the set of selectable content viewing options specifying different content available for selection and retrieval over the auxiliary channel from the content sponsor; and
in response to selection of a particular selectable content viewing option from the set, initiating a communication over the auxiliary channel to the server resource to retrieve content as specified by the particular selectable content viewing option.

10. The method as in claim 1 , wherein receiving the request to display the content guide includes:
receiving the request from a subscriber in a cable network environment, the subscriber having access to the television channel and the supplemental over-the-top content via a shared communication link in the cable network environment, the shared communication link supporting distribution of content to multiple subscribers in the cable network environment, a first portion of bandwidth in the shared communication link allocated to broadcast the respective content to the subscriber, a second portion of the bandwidth in the shared communication link allocated to convey the supplemental over-the-top content to the subscriber.

11. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:
in response to receiving selection of the first selectable channel viewing option, rendering the respective content received over the television channel on the display screen;
while displaying a rendition of the respective content received over the television channel, receiving a command to display a menu of selectable over-the-top content viewing options available from the content sponsor over the auxiliary channel; and
in response to receiving the command, initiating display of the menu of selectable over-the-top content viewing options, each of the selectable over-the-top content viewing options in the menu corresponding to different retrievable content available for display on the display screen.

12. The method as in claim 11 , wherein initiating display of the menu of selectable over-the-top content vi

Assignees

• Stern Peter
• Time Warner Cable Entpr Llc

Inventors

• Stern Peter

Classifications

• H04N21/472

  End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content {(end-user interfaces for retrieving video data from a database G06F16/739; network services for supporting unicast streaming H04L65/612)} · CPC title

• H04N21/478 Primary

  Supplemental services, e.g. displaying phone caller identification, shopping application · CPC title

• H04N21/482

  End-user interface for programme selection · CPC title

• H04N7/141

  between two video terminals, e.g. videophone (telephonic communication systems combined with television receiver for reception of entertainment or information matter H04M11/085) · CPC title

• H04N21/4821

  using a grid, e.g. sorted out by channel and broadcast time · CPC title