INTERACTIVE TELEVISION PROGRAM GUIDE SYSTEM HAVING MULTIPLE DEVICES WITHIN A HOUSEHOLD
An interactive television program guide system based on multiple user television equipment devices in a single household is provided. The system provides a user with an opportunity to adjust program guide settings with a given one of the interactive television program guides. The system coordinates the operation of the interactive television program guides so that the program guide settings that were adjusted with the given interactive television program guide are used by the other interactive television program guides. Program guide setting include features related to setting program reminders, profiles, program recording features, messaging features, favorites features, parental control features, program guide set up features (e.g., audio and video and language settings), etc. The operation of applications such as web browser applications, home shopping applications, home banking applications, game applications, etc. may also be coordinated.
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/894,618, filed Aug. 20, 2007, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/179,410, filed Jul. 11, 2005, which is continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/356,161, filed Jul. 16, 1999, which claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application No. 60/093,292, filed Jul. 17, 1998.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates to interactive television program guides, and more particularly, to techniques for providing interactive television program guide functionality on multiple devices within a household.
Cable, satellite, and broadcast television systems provide viewers with a large number of television channels. Viewers have traditionally consulted printed television program schedules to determine the programs being broadcast at a particular time. More recently, interactive electronic television program guides have been developed that allow television program information to be displayed on a viewer's television.
Interactive television program guides are typically implemented on set-top boxes. Such programs guides allow users to view television program listings in different display formats. For example, a user may instruct the program guide to display a grid of program listings organized in a channel-ordered or a time-ordered list. Users may also search or sort program listings by theme (e.g., movies, sports, etc.) or by title (i.e., alphabetically). A user may obtain additional information for a program by placing a highlight region on a desired program listing and pressing an “info” button.
Households with children are concerned with protecting children from the potentially objectionable adult content contained in the broad range of programs that are currently available. Some program guides allow users to block channels or programs using a parental control function. For example, a user may instruct the program guide to block access to channels that provide adult programs. A user must enter a password to regain access to such adult channels.
Another feature available on some program guides is the ability for the cable operator to send messages such as billing information to the user. A user may also have the ability to set reminders that will alert the user when a preselected program is about to begin or that will automatically tune the user's set-top box to the channel of the preselected program when the program is about to begin. A user may have the ability to establish a list of favorite channels. All of these program guide settings and features are specific to the user's set-top box.
Families often have multiple televisions and set-top boxes placed throughout the household. A family's household even may include multiple homes.
Because there is no coordination between the program guides running on each of the various set-top boxes in the household, if a user adjusts the settings for a program guide on one set-top box, these settings are not communicated to the program guides on any of the other set-top boxes in the household. If a parent wants to restrict access to certain channels on all the televisions in the household, the parent must adjust the parental control settings on each set-top box individually. Reminders and favorite channel settings must similarly be set for each program guide separately if a user desires to have such settings be in effect throughout the household. Messages sent from the cable operator can only be sent to a particular set-top box. Some cable system subscriber management systems can allow a cable operator to manage all cable boxes within a home (i.e. manage billing for individual locations within a home). However, such systems do not allow user interaction with the cable operator.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a program guide system that allows a user to adjust to the user settings of a plurality of program guides at different locations within a household from a single location.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThese and other objects of the present invention are accomplished in accordance with the principles of the present invention by providing an interactive television program guide system for a household in which multiple interactive television program guides within the household are coordinated. In a typical system, various users in the household use various pieces of user television equipment (also called user television equipment devices). An interactive television program guide is implemented on each piece of user television equipment. Typical user television equipment may be a set-top box on which a program guide application and non-program-guide applications run, a videocassette recorder connected to the set-top box for recording television programs, and a television on which the program guide application may display various program guide display screens and the non-program-guide applications may display various non-program-guide display screens. Other suitable types of user television equipment may be based on personal computer televisions (PC/TVs) or advanced television receivers such as high-definition television (HDTV) receivers.
Each piece of user television equipment may be located in a different part of the home. For example, one piece of equipment may be located in the parents' bedroom. Another piece of equipment may be located in a child's bedroom. Additional pieces of equipment may be located in a family room, kitchen, living room, etc.
Typical program guide features that may be provided by the program guides of this invention implemented on the user television equipment include features related to setting program reminders, profiles, program recording features, messaging features, favorites features, parental control features, program guide set up features (e.g., video display settings, language settings, etc.), and other suitable program guide features. The system coordinates operation of the program guides so that, for example, a user may adjust his favorite channel settings on a program guide operating in the living room and those settings will be effective on the program guide operating in the master bedroom and may therefore be used by that program guide.
A parent may adjust parental control settings using the program guide in the parents' room and the system may apply those settings to all program guides in the household. Parents may use the parental control feature to control the viewing of their children even though the children may be viewing television using multiple user television equipment devices. For example, parents may establish parental controls to lock various programs and services from a master location and the system will apply these parental controls to the various pieces of user television equipment throughout the household. The ability to establish favorite channels, to set reminders, and to control other program guide settings at one location and to have those settings applied to multiple locations throughout the household may be used by both the parents and their children.
A user may adjust his favorite settings on a program guide in the family room and may direct the system to apply those settings to the program guides in the family room and the living room. A child may set reminders for certain programs using the program guide in the family room and may direct the system to apply those settings only to the program guide running in that child's bedroom. A user may select a program for recording using a program guide in the living room and may request that the videocassette recorder in the family room be used to record the selected program. A user may receive messages from a cable system operator and may direct the system to make certain types of those messages available to the program guide located in all rooms but the children's room. A user may adjust language or audio settings using one program guide and have those settings apply globally.
As these examples serve to illustrate, the settings for any suitable program guide features may be adjusted using the program guide at one location in a household and applied by the system to selected other program guides in the household.
The program guides may be linked using any suitable topologies and communication protocols. For example, the various pieces of user television equipment may be interconnected using a tree, bus or ring topology. One piece of user television equipment may be designated as a primary device and other pieces of user television equipment may be designated as secondary devices. The primary and secondary devices may be connected in a star arrangement. A remote server may be used to implement certain program guide features and the pieces of user television equipment in the home may act as clients.
If desired, non-program-guide applications may be implemented on the user television equipment. Such non-program-guide applications may include, for example, a web browser application, a home shopping application, a game application, an e-mail application, a chat application, a banking application, etc. These applications may be implemented on a set-top box within the user television equipment. The user may adjust the settings of such a non-program-guide application at one set-top box. The system coordinates the operation of the various set-top boxes so that the adjusted settings may be used by similar applications running on other set-top boxes in the household.
An illustrative program guide system 30 in accordance with the present invention is shown in
Television distribution facility 38 is a facility for distributing television signals to users, such as a cable system headend, a broadcast distribution facility, or a satellite television distribution facility or the like.
The program guide information transmitted by main facility 32 to television distribution facility 38 includes television program listings data such as program times, channels, titles, descriptions, etc. Transmitted program guide information may also include pay program data such as pricing information for individual programs and subscription channels, time windows for ordering programs and channels, telephone numbers for placing orders that cannot be impulse ordered, etc. If desired, some of the program guide and advertising information may be provided using data sources at facilities other than main facility 32. For example, data related to pay program order processing (e.g., billing data and the like) may be generated by an order processing and billing system that is separate from main facility 32 and separate from television distribution facility 38. Similarly, advertising information may be generated by an advertising facility that is separate from main facility 32 and television distribution facility 38.
A server 42 may be provided in television distribution facility 38 for handling data distribution tasks and for storing local information. If desired, server 42 may be used to implement a client-server based interactive television program guide system. In such a system, client functions may be performed at user television equipment 44. Server 42 may be capable of handling text, graphics, and video.
Television distribution facility 38 distributes program guide and advertising information to the user television equipment 44 of multiple users via communications paths 46. Program guide data and other information may be distributed over an out-of-band channel on paths 46 or using any other suitable distribution technique.
Each user has a receiver, which is typically a set-top box such as set-top box 48, but which may be other suitable television equipment into which circuitry similar to set-top-box circuitry has been integrated. If desired, user television equipment 44 may be an advanced television receiver or a personal computer television (PC/TV). For purposes of illustration, the present invention will generally be described in connection with user television equipment based on a set-top box arrangement. Program guide data may be distributed to set-top boxes 48 periodically and stored or may be distributed continuously and handled “on the fly.”, or by request. Television distribution facility 38 may poll set-top boxes 48 periodically for certain information (e.g., pay program account information or information regarding programs that have been purchased and viewed using locally-generated authorization techniques). Main facility 32 preferably contains a processor to handle information distribution tasks. Each set-top box 48 preferably contains a processor to handle tasks associated with implementing a program guide application on the set-top box 48. Television distribution facility 38 may contain a processor for tasks associated with implementing server 42 and for handling tasks associated with the distribution of program guide and other information.
Each set-top box 48 is may connected to an optional videocassette recorder 50 or other suitable recording device (e.g., digital storage device) so that selected television programs may be recorded. Each videocassette recorder 50 may be connected to a television 52. To record a program, set-top box 48 tunes to a particular channel and sends control signals to videocassette recorder 50 (e.g., using an infrared transmitter) that direct videocassette recorder 50 to start and stop recording at the appropriate times.
During use of the interactive television program guide implemented on set-top box 48, television program listings may be displayed on television 52. Each set-top box 48, videocassette recorder 50, and television 52 may be controlled by one or more remote controls 54 or any other suitable user input interface such as a wireless keyboard, mouse, trackball, dedicated set of buttons, etc.
Communications paths 46 preferably have sufficient bandwidth to allow television distribution facility 38 to distribute scheduled television programming, pay programming, advertising and other promotional videos, and other video information to set-top boxes 44 in addition to non-video program guide data. Multiple television and audio channels (analog, digital, or both analog and digital) may be provided to set-top boxes 48 via communications paths 46. If desired, program listings and other information may be distributed by one or more distribution facilities that are similar to but separate from television distribution facility 38 using communications paths that are separate from communications paths 46.
Certain functions such as pay program purchasing may require set-top boxes 48 to transmit data to television distribution facility 38 over communications paths 46. If desired, such data may be transmitted over telephone lines or other separate communications paths. If functions such as these are provided using facilities separate from television distribution facility 38, some of the communications involving set-top boxes 48 may be made directly with the separate facilities.
The present invention involves the distribution of user program guide settings to multiple program guide locations within a household. Such a household may contain multiple pieces of user television equipment. A program guide may be implemented on each piece of user television equipment. An illustrative process for distributing such settings is shown in
The steps of
Primary user television equipment 60 may be connected to secondary user television equipment 61, secondary user television equipment 62, and secondary user television equipment 63 via communication paths 64. Communications paths 64 may be any suitable communications path for in-home network, such as twisted pair lines, Ethernet links, fiber optics, power lines, radio-frequency (RF) links, infrared (IR) and links other wireless links, firewire (IEEE 1394) paths, dedicated cables, etc. As shown, one or more pieces of secondary user television equipment may be connected to primary user television equipment 60 in a star configuration if desired. User television equipment devices are typically located in different rooms within home 65. For example, primary user television equipment 60 may be placed in the parents' bedroom, secondary user television equipment 61 may be placed in the children's room, secondary user television equipment 62 may be placed in a living room, and secondary user television equipment 63 may be placed in a guest room. With such an arrangement, the parents' bedroom may be used as a master location to adjust user settings for the program guides on the user television equipment in the children's room and the other rooms.
In the example of
As shown in
Graphics information for messages, advertisements and the like may be downloaded periodically (e.g., once per day) to set-top boxes 48 of
Text information for messages, advertisements and the like may be provided to set-top boxes 48 using the same paths that are used for distributing program guide data. For example, advertising data from database 36 of
Text information, graphics information, and videos for messages, advertisements and the like may also be distributed using a combination of these techniques or any other suitable technique.
As shown in
As shown in
Further aspects of the invention are described in detail below. For clarity, the principles of the invention described below are described in the context of the device configuration shown in
In any of the above arrangements, an interactive television program guide on each user television equipment device may provide various features for displaying television program listings information for the user and for providing various program guide functions such as parental control, favorites, pay-per-view purchasing, etc. For example, if the user presses the appropriate buttons on remote control 54, the user may be presented with a time-ordered or channel-ordered grid or table of television program listings or other such programming information.
With one suitable approach, the user may select one of the user television equipment devices to be a master or primary device. Adjusting the program guide settings of the master device controls these settings for all other devices in the household. For example, with the arrangement of
The system may provides the user with an opportunity to assign a master device, such as user television equipment 60, that will coordinate its program guide settings with other devices such as secondary user television equipment 61, 62, and 63. The system also provides the user with an opportunity to assign secondary devices.
One suitable way in which the system may allow the user to assign devices as primary (master) and secondaries is for at least one of the program guides (e.g., the program guide running on set-top box 60) to provide an assign locations screen such as assign locations screen 160 of
Selecting setup option 179 directs the program guide to display a setup screen such as setup screen 310 of
The names of locations may be pre-set by a service provider and simply assigned by the user. Alternately the user (or an installation technician), may have the ability to assign locations from the home. The location name may be chosen from a list as above or typed in by the user (or an installation technician.)
In the alternative arrangement shown in
As shown in
The program guide may allow a unique number to be assigned to a user so that he or she is able to access his or her program guide settings at a location outside the home. For example, a user may visit a neighbors home to housesit while the neighbor is out of town. This user has the ability to log on to the program guide at the neighbors home and access his or her personal program guide settings.
The program guide may allow the user to set parental controls to prevent children from viewing potentially inappropriate material. At step 1010 of
At step 1011 of
If the user selects set channels option 191 at step 1016, at step 1020 the program guide provides the user with an opportunity to set which channels are to be blocked. The user may block specific channels using remote control 54 to scroll through and select from channel options 201, 202, 203, and 204 of
In screen 200 of
The user may also navigate to a set maximum ratings screen by choosing set maximum rating option 193 of
The user may navigate to monitor viewing screen 230 of
At step 1023 of
The guide may allow the user to change the channel of a remote location. For example, a user in the parents' room may notice that the television in the children's room is tuned to a program the child should not be watching. The user may change the channel without physically going into the child's room.
The guide may also allow a level of privacy to be set for a location so that location cannot be monitored. For example, if guests are visiting a household the monitor feature may be disallowed in the parents' room.
Other parental control features that may be distributed to remote locations within a household include: blocking channels by title, blocking channels by time, blocking channels by content (language, nudity, etc.), blocking the ability to use a feature (e.g., reminders), blocking the ability to set and clear pin numbers, ability to temporarily disable parental controls (e.g., disabling parental controls while the child is at school), and the ability to set pin numbers for individual locations or for the entire household. Additionally, the guide may have the ability to use multiple sets of parental control settings profiles. For example, the user may create a late night profile of parental controls and day time profile of parental controls. The guide then allows the user to designate which parental controls profile to use and when to use it.
Another feature that may be provided by the program guide is a reminders feature, which may be accessed by selecting reminders option 178 from the menu of main screen 170 of
A family reminders option may be provided that operates similarly to the reminders functions described above and which allows reminders to be set for a family, which may be accessed by selecting family reminders option 184 from the menu of main screen 170 of
A series reminder option may be provided that allows users to set reminders for program series. Series reminders are described in Knudson et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/330,792, filed Jun. 11, 1999 (Attorney Docket No. UV-56), which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
An illustrative example of using the reminders feature is as follows. If a user at one of the program guide locations within the household presses an appropriate button (e.g., the enter button) after having used a browse feature (i.e., a pop-up program listing display 256) to navigate to a program listing 257 for “Holiday Entertaining” as shown in screen 255 of
A short time before the scheduled broadcast time of the program for which a reminder has been set, the program guide at each selected location may display a reminder display region 361 on the television screen 360 at that location (Step 1032;
In addition to the opportunity to set reminders, the user may be provided the opportunity to create profiles to customize the viewing experience, which may be accessed by selecting profiles option 183 from the menu of main screen 170 of
The user may also be provided the opportunity to set favorite channels. The program guide at the user's location may display a menu such as the menu of main screen 170 of
Once the user chooses favorites option 175, the program guide at the user's location may present the user with a favorite channels screen such as favorite channels screen 250 of
The user may be provided with an opportunity to select programs for recording at a later time. For example, if the user presses an appropriate button (e.g., a “record” button) after having used a browse feature to navigate to a program listing for “Holiday Entertaining” as shown in
If a household has only one videocassette recorder 50, there will only be one location that will make all recordings, regardless of which location the recordings are set from. If there are multiple videocassette recorders, the user may be presented with select location screen 400 of
At the scheduled broadcast time of the program to be recorded, the program guide at each selected location causes videocassette recorder 50 to begin recording. After the scheduled completion of the broadcast of the recorded program, each program guide causes its videocassette recorder 50 to stop recording. The guides may cause videocassette recorders 50 to stop and start recording by sending an IR signal to the videocassette recorders IR input or by, any other suitable method for transmitting a signal to a videocassette recorder.
A series recording option may also be provided that allows users to record program series. Series recording is described in the above-mentioned Knudson et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/330,792, filed Jun. 11, 1999 (Attorney Docket No. UV-56).
Another example of a program guide feature that benefits from coordination between multiple program guide devices in a household is pay-per-view ordering.
The user may be provided with an opportunity to order pay-per-view programming with a program guide display screen such as main screen 170 of
The user may select a program to order from a screen such as pay-per-view screen 290 of
For example, the user may move highlight region 291 to program listing 292 (which may be for the movie “Volcano” scheduled to be aired at 10:00 PM). The user may then select the program by pressing the enter button on remote control 54. Pay-per-view ordering screens such as pay-per-view ordering screen 370 of
The program guide system may support a messages option, which may be accessed by selecting messages option 174 from the menu of main screen 170 of
A user may have the ability to send text, audio, graphics or video messages between locations. On Messages sending screen 340 of
The program guide system may also provide the user with an opportunity to set device control options. For example, the user may access main screen 170 of
The user can then select audio option 312 on setup screen 310 of
Other device options, such as, video option 314 and closed-captioning (CC) option 315 may be set from screen 310 of
Another program guide option that may be coordinated within the household is an option for selecting languages. From setup screen 310 of
Data files may be used to transmit program guide settings. When a particular program guide retrieves program guide settings adjustments for the user, this data may be transmitted to the central facility or to another program guide via the return path in a two-way cable link, via modem link, or via any other suitable communications path. The settings may be stored at a server or on any on of the program guides in a household. For example, in the configuration of
In the configuration of
An advantage of using an in home network is sharing of data among devices within the home. For example, a listing may be stored on only one device, freeing space for other settings to be stored on other devices.
Messaging information may be transmitted to or from the central facility via the return path in a two-way cable link, via modem link, or via any other suitable communications path. The type of message may determine where the message is stored. Messages sent by the central facility may generally be stored at the central facility. Messages generated by a user may be stored at the user television equipment that stores the user's other program guide settings.
The discussion thus far has focused on implementing the invention with an interactive television program guide. The invention may also be applied to non-program-guide applications. These non-program-guide applications run on user television equipment such as a set-top box. For example, an Internet browser may be run on a set-top box connected to a television. Internet application settings can be coordinated among televisions and/or set-top boxes within a household in the same way that program guide settings are coordinated among program guides in the house.
One non-program-guide application that may be implemented in accordance with the present invention is an Internet browser. An Internet browser may have settings such as bookmarks, parental control settings, and general preferences that control how the browser functions. As shown in
Another application that may be implemented in accordance with the present invention is an shopping application. A shopping application may have settings such as a default shipping address, and credit card number. As shown in
Another non-program-guide application that may be implemented on user television equipment and coordinated with other such applications in accordance with the present invention is a stock ticker. A stock ticker may have settings such as settings indicating the top 10 stocks in which the user is interested. As shown in
Accordingly, the user can choose to apply the adjustments to all locations by selecting an apply to all option or may opt to apply the adjustments to a specific location or locations by selecting a select locations option from the options provided by the program guide. The guide may apply the settings to a default location or to a location determined by other factors as described above.
A chat application may be implemented on user television equipment such as a set top box. Chat applications are services that allow users to exchange chat messages with other users in real time. A chat application may be implemented as a stand-alone chat application or as part of another application such as a program guide application. A user may adjust settings associated with a chat application such as the size of a chat window or whether to filter potentially offensive messages. Chat applications that may be implemented on user television equipment are described in McKissick et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/356,270, filed concurrently herewith, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. After the user adjusts chat settings, the user can choose to apply the chat settings adjustments to all locations by selecting an apply to all option or may opt to apply the adjustments to a specific location or locations by selecting a select locations option. Settings may be coordinated between the chat applications using options provided by the chat application. The chat application may apply the settings to a default location or to a location determined by other factors as described above.
If desired, the settings of an e-mail application running on different user television equipment devices in the household may be coordinated. When the user adjusts the e-mail settings associated with one user television equipment device, the system coordinates the operation of the other e-mail applications so that the adjusted e-mail settings may be used by the other e-mail applications.
The foregoing is merely illustrative of the principles of this invention and various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.
Claims
1-27. (canceled)
28. A method for ordering a program, the method comprising:
- generating, using a first interactive program guide on a first device, a display of a first plurality of program listings;
- receiving, from a user at the first device using the first interactive program guide on the first device, a user selection of a program available for ordering, wherein the user selection includes a selection of a first program listing associated with the program from the first plurality of program listings;
- transmitting an indication of the program to a remote server located remote from the first device, wherein the remote server stores user settings indicating that the program has been ordered by the user;
- transmitting data to the second device indicating that the program has been ordered by the user; and
- responsive to receiving the data at the second device, making the program available for consumption by the user by a second interactive program guide implemented on the second device, wherein the second interactive program guide generates a display of a second plurality of program listings based on the received data, the second plurality of program listings including a second program listing associated with the program.
29. The method of claim 28, wherein the data is transmitted to the second device responsive to receiving a request at the remote server from a second device to access the user settings.
30. The method of claim 28, wherein the data is transmitting to the second device based on identifying a preference for the second device in the user settings.
31. The method of claim 28, wherein the data is transmitted to the second device based on receiving a request, from the first device, to transmit the data to the second device.
32. The method of claim 28, wherein transmitting an indication of the program to the remote server, further comprises:
- transmitting, via a network connection, packet comprising data identifying the user, and a request to update the user settings to include an indication that the program has been ordered by the user.
33. The method of claim 28, further comprising:
- receiving a user selection of the second program listing at the second device; and
- responsive to receiving the user selection of the second program listing, generating for display the program on the second device.
34. The method of claim 33, wherein generating for display the program on the second device further comprises, receiving video data associated with the program from the remote server.
35. The method of claim 33, wherein generating for display the program on the second device further comprises, receiving video data associated with the program from the first device.
36. The method of claim 33, further comprising updating a setting of the first interactive program guide, by way of the remote server, responsive to receiving the user selection of the second program listing at the second device.
37. The method of claim 28, wherein the first device and second device are within a same household that is remote from the remote server.
38. A system for ordering a program, the system comprising control circuitry configured to:
- generate, using a first interactive program guide on a first device, a display of a first plurality of program listings;
- receive, from a user at the first device using the first interactive program guide on the first device, a user selection of a program available for ordering, wherein the user selection includes a selection of a first program listing associated with the program from the first plurality of program listings;
- transmit an indication of the program to a remote server located remote from the first device, wherein the remote server stores user settings indicating that the program has been ordered by the user;
- transmit data to the second device indicating that the program has been ordered by the user; and
- responsive to receiving the data at the second device, make the program available for consumption by the user by a second interactive program guide implemented on the second device, wherein the second interactive program guide generates a display of a second plurality of program listings based on the received data, the second plurality of program listings including a second program listing associated with the program.
39. The system of claim 38, wherein the data is transmitted to the second device responsive to receiving a request at the remote server from a second device to access the user settings.
40. The system of claim 38, wherein the data is transmitting to the second device based on identifying a preference for the second device in the user settings.
41. The system of claim 38, wherein the data is transmitted to the second device based on receiving a request, from the first device, to transmit the data to the second device.
42. The system of claim 38, wherein the control circuitry, when transmitting an indication of the program to the remote server, is further configured to:
- transmit, via a network connection, packet comprising data identifying the user, and a request to update the user settings to include an indication that the program has been ordered by the user.
43. The system of claim 38, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
- receive a user selection of the second program listing at the second device; and
- responsive to receiving the user selection of the second program listing, generate for display the program on the second device.
44. The system of claim 43, wherein the control circuitry, when generating for display the program on the second device, is further configured to receive video data associated with the program from the remote server.
45. The system of claim 43, wherein the control circuitry, when generating for display the program on the second device, is further configured to receive video data associated with the program from the first device.
46. The system of claim 43, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to update a setting of the first interactive program guide, by way of the remote server, responsive to receiving the user selection of the second program listing at the second device.
47. The system of claim 38, wherein the first device and second device are within a same household that is remote from the remote server.
Type: Application
Filed: May 26, 2017
Publication Date: Dec 21, 2017
Inventors: Michael D. Ellis (Boulder, CO), William L. Thomas (Evergreen, CO), Thomas R. Lemmons (Evergreen, CO)
Application Number: 15/606,862