KR20140005926A - My channel recommendation feature - Google Patents

Abstract

The disclosed methods and systems are time and / or contextually specific, i.e. what type of programming user A does at 9 to 12 pm Thursday, instead of the more general "what type of programming user A watches." Provide programming recommendations to the user. In addition, the present invention may provide recommendations made of unscheduled content. Unscheduled content refers to content that is not part of the provider program schedule (ie, shows and movies that appear at a particular scheduled time). Examples of unscheduled content include content previously recorded (such as shows or movies on a DVR), video on demand (VOD), over the top (OTTT) (such as streaming services Netflix, Hulu, Vudu, Pandora, etc.). ) Services, stored content (such as movies, music, or photos), and websites, but are not limited to such.

Description

My Channel Featured Features {MY CHANNEL RECOMMENDATION FEATURE}

Cross reference to related applications

This application claims the benefit of US Provisional Patent Application 61 / 459,988, filed December 22, 2010, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

The present invention generally relates to personalization feature, and more particularly to program recommendations.

Conventional program recommendations do not provide time and / or context specific recommendations. That is, conventional program recommendations suggest types of programs (eg sports, documentary, science fiction) or channels (ESPN, Discovery, Syfy) to watch. They do not recommend what is the best choice for the user at a particular time period, ie "what is the best for the user to watch at 9 pm"?

Previous recommendation systems track the types of programs and / or channels that a user watches and make recommendations for related programming of the same type, genre, theme, actor, etc., regardless of when the programming is broadcast. For example, DVR systems often have the feature that allows the DVR to fill the empty space on the DVR with recommended programs similar to programs that the user watches, records and / or grades. However, previous systems do not take into account the time that programming was watched or the time when the user wanted to watch the recommended programming.

The present invention provides a more general "what type of programming does user A watch?" Instead it relates to the idea of providing the user with time and / or contextually specific programming recommendations, such as "What type of programming will User A watch on Thursday at 9-12 pm?" In addition, the present invention may provide recommendations made of unscheduled content. Unscheduled content refers to content that is not part of the provider programming schedule (ie, shows and movies that appear at a particular scheduled time). Examples of unscheduled content include previously recorded content (such as shows or movies on a DVR), video on demand (VOD), over the top (OTT) (such as streaming services Netflix, Hulu, Vudu, Pandora, etc.). Services, stored content (such as movies, music, or photos), and web sites.

According to one aspect, a method of providing viewing recommendations to a user is disclosed. The method involves collecting usage data including time and contextual information about the content the user is viewing, processing user data, and providing one or more recommendations based on the time and contextual information. In addition, at least one of the provided recommendations includes unscheduled content.

According to another embodiment, a system for providing viewing recommendations to a user is disclosed. The system includes a front end and a back end. The front end is configured to collect usage data including time and contextual information about the content the user is viewing. The back end is configured to process user data and provide one or more recommendations based on time and contextual information, wherein at least one of the provided recommendations includes unscheduled content.

1 is a system diagram for outline delivery of video and audio content to a home according to one embodiment.
2 is a system diagram showing further details of an exemplary set top box receiver.
3 is a diagram illustrating a touch panel control device according to an embodiment.
4 is a diagram illustrating some example user interactions for use with a touch panel control device according to one embodiment.
5 is a flow diagram illustrating an example process according to one embodiment.
6 is a flow diagram illustrating an example process according to one embodiment.
7 is an exemplary screen diagram illustrating a user interface according to one embodiment.

1, a block diagram of an embodiment of a system 100 for delivering content to a home or end user is shown. The content originates from a content source 102, such as a movie studio or production house. The content may be supplied in at least one of two forms. One form may be broadcast content. The broadcast content is provided to the broadcast affiliate manager 104, which is typically a national broadcast service such as American Broadcasting Company (ABC), National Broadcasting Company (NBC), Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), and the like. The broadcast affiliate manager may collect and store the content and may schedule the delivery of the content via the delivery network shown as delivery network 1 106. Delivery network 1 106 may include satellite link transmission from a National Center to one or more regional or local centers. Delivery network 1 106 may also include local content delivery using local delivery systems such as over the air (OTA) broadcast, satellite broadcast, or cable broadcast. The locally delivered content is provided to the receiving device 108 at the user's home, where the content will then be retrieved by the user. It will be appreciated that the receiving device 108 may take many forms and may be incorporated as a set top box / digital video recorder (DVR), gateway, modem, or the like. Receiving device 108 also serves as an entry point or gateway for a home network system that includes additional devices configured as client or peer devices in the home network.

The second form of content is called special content. Special content may be delivered as premium viewing, pay-per-view, or other content that is not otherwise provided to the broadcast affiliate manager, eg, movies, video games or other video elements. It may also include content. In many cases, the special content may be content requested by the user. Special content may be delivered to the content manager 110. The content manager 110 may be, for example, a service provider such as an internet website affiliated with a content provider, a broadcast service, or a delivery network service. Content manager 110 may also integrate Internet content into the delivery system. The content manager 110 may deliver the content to the user's receiving device 108 via a separate delivery network, that is, delivery network 2 112. Delivery network 2 112 may include high speed broadband Internet type communication systems. Content from broadcast affiliate manager 104 may also be delivered using all or part of delivery network 2 112 and content from content manager 110 may be delivered using all or part of delivery network 1 106. It is important to note that it may. In addition, a user may also obtain content directly from the Internet via delivery network 2 112 without having to have content managed by content manager 110.

Several adaptations may be possible utilizing the content delivered separately. In one possible approach, special content is provided to the broadcast content as an extension providing alternative displays, purchasing and merchandising options, reinforcement materials, and the like. In other embodiments, special content may completely replace some programming content provided as broadcast content. Finally, the special content may be completely separate from the broadcast content, or simply a media alternative that the user may choose to utilize. For example, the special content may be a library of movies that are not yet available as broadcast content.

Receiving device 108 may receive different types of content from one or both of delivery network 1 and delivery network 2. The receiving device 108 processes the content and provides separation of the content based on user preferences and commands. Receiving device 108 may also include a storage device, such as a hard drive or an optical disk drive, for recording and playing back audio and video content. Further details of the operation of the receiving device 108 and features associated with the playback of the stored content will be described below with respect to FIG. 2. The processed content is provided to the display device 114. The display device 114 may be a conventional 2-D type display or may alternatively be an advanced 3-D display.

The receiving device 108 may also interface to a second screen, such as the touch screen control device 116. The touch screen control device 116 can be configured to provide user control for the receiving device 108 and / or the display device 114. The touch screen device 116 can also display video content. The video content may be graphical entries, such as user interface entries, or may be part of the video content delivered to the display device 114. The touch screen control device 116 may interface to the receiving device 108 using any well known signal transmission system, such as infrared (IR) or radio frequency (RF) communications, and may include infrared data association (IRDA). Standard protocols such as standard, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or the like, or any other private protocols. Operations of the touch screen control device 116 will be described in more detail below.

In the example of FIG. 1, the system 100 also includes a back end server 118 and a usage database 120. The back end server 118 includes a personalization engine that analyzes the user's usage habits and makes recommendations based on these user habits. The usage database 120 is where the usage habits for the user are stored. In some cases, the usage database 120 may be part of the back end server 118a. In this example, back end server 118 (as well as usage database 120) is connected to and accessed system 100 via delivery network 2 112.

2, a block diagram of an embodiment of the receiving device 200 is shown. Receiving device 200 may operate similar to the receiving device described in FIG. 1 and may be included as part of a gateway device, modem, set-top box, or other similar communication device. The device 200 shown may also be integrated into other systems including an audio device or a display device. In either case, the various components necessary for the perfect operation of the system are not shown for brevity because they are well known to those skilled in the art.

In the device 200 shown in FIG. 2, the content is received by the input signal receiver 202. Input signal receiver 202 is used to receive, demodulate, and decode signals provided over one of several possible networks, including over the air (OTA), cable, satellite, Ethernet, fiber, and telephone line networks. It may be one of the known receiver circuits. The desired input signal may be selected and retrieved by the input signal receiver 202 based on user input provided via the control interface or touch panel interface 222. The touch panel interface 222 may include an interface for a touch screen device. The touch panel interface 222 can also be configured to interface with cellular phones, tablets, mice, high end remotes, and the like.

The decoded output signal is provided to an input stream processor 204. Input stream processor 204 performs final signal selection and processing and includes separation of video content from audio content for the content stream. Audio content is provided to the audio processor 206 for conversion from a received format, such as a compressed digital signal, to an analog waveform signal. The analog waveform signal is provided to the audio interface 208 and further provided to the display device or audio amplifier. Alternatively, audio interface 208 may use a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) cable or alternative audio interface, for example, via Sony / Phillips Digital Interconnect Format (SPDIF) to provide a digital signal to an audio output device or display device. Can provide. The audio interface may also include amplifiers for driving one or more sets of speakers. The audio processor 206 also performs any necessary conversion for the storage of the audio signals.

The video output from the input stream processor 204 is provided to the video processor 210. The video signal may be one of several formats. The video processor 210 provides conversion of video content based on the input signal format, if necessary. Video processor 210 also performs any necessary conversion for the storage of video signals.

Storage device 212 stores audio and video content received at the input. The storage device 212 is capable of receiving commands, such as fast-forward (FF) and rew, received under the control of the controller 214 and from the user interface 216 and / or the touch panel interface 222, For example, it allows for later retrieval and playback of content based also on navigation commands. Storage device 212 may be one or more large-capacity integrated electronic memories, such as a hard disk drive, static RAM (SRAM), or dynamic RAM (DRAM), or may be compatible, such as a compact disk (CD) drive or a digital video disk (DVD) drive. It may be a possible optical disk storage system.

The converted video signal from the video processor 210, which originates from the input or storage device 212, is provided to the display interface 218. Display interface 218 further provides a display signal to a display device of the type described above. The display interface 218 may be an analog signal interface such as red-green-blue (RGB) or may be a digital interface such as HDMI. It should be understood that display interface 218 creates various screens that provide search results in a three-dimensional grid as described in more detail below.

The controller 214 busses various components of the device 200, including the input stream processor 202, the audio processor 206, the video processor 210, the storage device 212, and the user interface 216. Interconnected via The controller 214 manages the conversion process of converting the input stream signal into a signal for storage on a storage device or for display. The controller 214 also manages the retrieval and playback of stored content. In addition, as described below, the controller 214 performs the search and the creation and adjustment of a grid display representing the content delivered or stored via the aforementioned delivery networks.

Controller 214 may include control memory 220 (e.g., RAM, SRAM, DRAM, ROM, programmable ROM (PROM), flash memory, electronically programmed to store information and command codes for controller 214). Volatile or nonvolatile memory, including capable ROM (EPROM), electronically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), and the like. The control memory 220 may store instructions for the controller 214. The control memory can also store a database of elements, such as graphical elements, containing content. The database may be stored as a pattern of graphical elements. Alternatively, the memory may store graphical elements in identified or grouped memory locations and use an access or location table to identify memory locations for various portions of information about the graphical elements. Further details regarding the storage of the graphic elements will be described below. In addition, the implementation of control memory 220 may include several possible embodiments, such as a single memory device, or more than one memory circuit, otherwise communicatively connected or coupled together to form a shared or common memory. . Also, the memory may be included with other circuitry, such as portions of bus communication circuitry, in larger circuits.

The user interface process of this disclosure utilizes an input device that can be used to represent functions such as fast forward, rewind, and the like. To allow this, the touch panel device 300 can be interfaced via the user interface 216 and / or the touch panel interface 222 of the receiving device 200, as shown in FIG. 3. The touch panel device 300 allows operation of the receiving device or set top box based on hand gestures or gestures and actions translated into commands for the set top box or other control device via the panel. In one embodiment, the touch panel 300 may simply serve as a navigation tool for navigating the grid display. In other embodiments, the touch panel 300 will further serve as a display device that allows the user to interact more directly with the navigation through a grid display of content. The touch panel device may be included as part of a remote control device that includes more conventional control functions such as activator buttons. The touch panel 300 may also include at least one camera element.

Now, going to FIG. 4, as shown, the use of a gesture sensing controller or touch screen provides many types of user interaction. Inputs from the controller are used to define gestures, which in turn define specific contextual commands. The configuration of the sensors may allow defining the movement of the user's fingers on the touch screen, or may even define the movement of the controller itself in one or two dimensions. Two-dimensional motion, such as diagonal, and combinations of yaw, pitch, and roll can be used to define any four-dimensional motion, such as swing. Multiple gestures are illustrated in FIG. 4. Gestures are interpreted in context and identified by defined movements made by the user.

Bumping 420 is defined by a two-stroke drawing representing pointing in one direction, up, down, left or right. The bumping gesture is associated with specific commands in the context. For example, in TimeShifting mode, left-bump gesture 420 represents rewind and right-bump gesture represents fast forward. In other contexts, bump gesture 420 is interpreted to increment a particular value in the direction specified by the bump. Checking 440 is defined as drawing a checkmark. This is similar to downward bump gesture 420. Checking is identified in the context to specify a reminder, a user tag or to select an item or element. Circling 440 is defined as drawing a circle in either direction. It is possible that both directions can be distinguished. However, to avoid confusion, circles are identified as a single command regardless of direction.

Dragging 450 is defined as the angular movement (change in pitch and / or yaw) of the controller (ie, “trigger dragging”) while pressing a button (virtual or physical) on the tablet 300. Dragging gesture 450 may be used for navigation, speed, distance, time-shifting, rewinding, and winding. Dragging 450 may be used to move a change in state, such as highlighting, outlining, or selecting on a cursor, virtual cursor, or display. Dragging 450 may be in any direction and is generally used for navigation in two dimensions. However, in certain interfaces, it is desirable to change the response to the dragging command. For example, in some interfaces, operation in one or one direction is preferred relative to other dimensions or directions depending on the direction of the location or movement of the virtual cursor. Nodding 460 is defined by two fast trigger-drag up-and-down vertical movements. Node 460 is used to indicate "Yes" or "Accept." X-ing 470 is defined as drawing the letter "X". Xing 470 is used for "delete" or "block" commands. Wagging 480 is defined by two trigger-drag fast back-and-forth horizontal movements. The wagging gesture 480 is used to indicate “No” or “Cancel”.

Depending on the complexity of the sensor system, only simple one-dimensional motions or gestures may be allowed. For example, as shown herein, a simple right or left movement on the sensor can result in a fast forward or rewind function. In addition, multiple sensors may be included and placed in different locations on the touch screen. For example, a horizontal sensor for left and right movement can be placed in one spot and used for volume up / down, while a vertical sensor for up and down movement can be placed in different spot and used for channel up / down. In this way, specific gesture mappings can be used.

5 shows a flowchart 500 of a process involved in providing recommendations as described in this disclosure. The process involves collecting or obtaining usage data (step 510), processing user data (step 520), and providing recommendations (step 530). Each of these steps will be described in more detail below.

According to the first step of FIG. 5, data regarding usage habits of the user is collected. The usage information can include information collected from the receiving device 108 and the touch screen control device 116. The type of information collected is the channels watched on the display device 114, the time the channels were watched, how long the channels were watched, the type of program on the channel, the information about the watched program (e.g., genre, supervision). , Actors, etc.); What was watched on the touch screen control device 116 (ie, program guide, additional program information, websites, applications, etc.); At what time content may be viewed on touch screen control device 116, how long the content has been watched, and information about the watched content (type of content, genre, etc.). Table 1 provides some examples of the types of usage data collected via the touch screen control device.

<< application >> An application running on a second screen that the user uses while watching television programming on the first screen. These applications include using a browser to web sites, finding electronic program guides, setting the user's preferences in the spectrum, and so on. << time >> Logged time parameter indicating how long the user has been using a particular application << action >> Specific actions that the user has interfaced with a specific application. For example, an application can have a set of commands displayed in a menu. The logging function indicates which action the user selects from the menu. << link >> This "link" refers to the particular media asset that you select while using the application. This may be audio, video, audio / video, and / or website.

Once the usage data is collected (step 510), the usage data is provided to the back end server 118, where the usage data may be processed to build a user profile (step 520). By knowing not only what the user watches but also when and how long, it is possible to map the user's usage habits. In this particular invention, it is time specific to recognize that the temporal aspects of user usage habits are particularly important for the desired programming recommendation. In other words, it is important to know what the user prefers to watch at that particular time to provide programming recommendations for that particular time. User profiles as well as collected user data are stored in the usage database 120.

The following properties will be sent via user activity logging and used to calculate the content of my channel application.

Start watching content action / End watching content action

Timestamp

Home ID

User ID

Device ID

Session ID

Application ID

Channel ID

Once the collected data has been processed (step 520), the resulting user profile can be used to provide programming recommendations (step 530). For example, the system may recommend what a particular user should watch at a particular time. An example of the process involved in providing such a recommendation can be seen in FIG. 6 below.

In the example of FIG. 6, the recommendation is performed at the back end server 118 in response to a request from a front end device, such as the receiving device 108. The logic of process 600 of FIG. 6 is as follows.

1. The front end invokes the RESTful service 610 with a user ID and an optional date / time.

2. For examples, assume UserId = "A" and the current date / time request is 1:30 AM on November 23, 2010.

3. The back end 620 attempts to formulate a more valid "priority" time at which the "my channel" item lineup should begin. In this case, since the time was requested after 16 minutes of the hour, the priority is based on the next hour, "2:00 AM". However, because the viewer wants to watch something before that, the application starts looking for the program that best suits the priority start time by looking for a program that starts at "1:00 AM." Thereafter, an attempt is made to check whether the found program ends at "2:00 AM" based on the viewing history of the user.

a. The viewing history refers to the list of content (in this case, channels) that the viewer watched in the past for that particular time block. The time blocks are 30 minute apart, starting at midnight as the first block. The final viewing block of the day is "23:30" or "11:30 pm". Logically, there are 48 logical time blocks per day. The history for the same time block is not exactly the same for two different days of the week. For example, the information of the user's viewing history on Monday at "1:00 AM" is not aggregated with the user's viewing history on Tuesday. However, next Monday will be aggregated with all the data for that day already in the database.

E.g:

The user watched channel A for 10 minutes on November 8, 2010 at "1:05 AM" and watched the same channel for another 10 minutes at "1:10 AM" on November 15, 2010. The history includes information about the user who watches "Channel A" for 20 minutes from "1:00 AM" to "1:30 AM". The history is only recorded if the viewer has stayed on the channel for more than a certain amount of time. At this time, the configuration is 5 minutes.

If the user has watched content (in this case, sows on the channel) for more than 30 minutes of time, the history is appropriately divided into different time blocks accompanying the viewing experience. For example, if a user watches channel A from 1:15 am to 2:00 am, two records will be created for the viewing history. 15 minutes for the time block from 1:00 am to 1:30 am (except 1:30) and the next time block from 1:30 am to 2:00 am (except 2:00). The user must do something before the "n" hour (s) has elapsed. In this example, the application is configured to allow only two hours of rest. The reason behind this is that a pause for two hours can mean that the user has fallen asleep in front of the TV and affects his / her history if the viewer falls asleep or leaves the TV on the same channel for extended periods of time. This may not be the intention of the viewer.

If the channel found in step 3 is broadcasting / broadcasting a program before or after 1:30, the channel attempts to find another program that starts at 1:30 and ends at 2:00 am.

The application keeps trying to find a schedule that will match the criteria until it exhausts all possibilities in the provider's schedule (or until the history runs out). The history derives from the viewing history by returning the channel for the time block with the maximum number of minutes as a top list and works up to the channel with the minimum viewing fraction for the user.

a. The history starts by looking at the viewing history of the user.

b. If no history is found for the user, try aggregating the home viewing history for that particular time block.

c. If nothing can be derived from the user and the home, the general public's aggregated results will be used to determine the viewing history.

d. The application calls EJBs 630 at the subscriber for the history of users, households and the general public.

6. When calculating the next item on the list of "mychannels", the application knows the "end time" of the program it has selected and attempts to associate that particular "end time" with the time block. For example, in step 3, if the application finds a program that ends at 2:45 am, it will attempt to find the user's viewing history for the time block between "2:30 am" and "3:00 am". will be. We will try to find the program according to the history starting at "2:45 AM". If nothing is met, add 30 minutes to the "end time" of the current program and round it up to the next full 30-minute block. (Thus, in the example of "2:45 AM," add this and adjust it to "3:15 AM," and round it up to "3:30 AM.") The logic is "Roundup First" and adjust accordingly. It is currently being tested for. For example, using "2:45 AM", it rounds up to "3:00 AM". Since this is a full on-time block, do not add another 30 minutes to search for the next start time. Another 30 minutes will be added depending on the viewing history if no programs starting at "3:00 AM" are found. In this case, the final program is extended to the next calculated start time.

7. The roundup of time occurs with the following logic.

a. If the minute is less than 30 minutes after the hour, it is rounded off to 30 minutes of the hour. For example, "1:15 AM" is rounded off to "1:30 AM".

b. If the minute of the hour is greater than 30 minutes after the hour, it is rounded off to the next hour. "1:45 AM" is rounded off to "2:00 AM".

c. If the current time is exactly zero minutes or half an hour, it is not rounded up.

Once the channel ID and time block have been determined, the application can search the catalog web service 640 for the current broadcast program for the provider. Information about the channel is retrieved by invoking "getTvGuideByProgramServiceId" of the catalog service. This returns a list of content that is broadcast at a particular time. This is checked against the first content available in the list. The content's information is further examined by cataloging the call to "getContentInformation".

The same step is repeated until 5 or "n" programs are satisfied (as requested by the front end application). The total aggregated duration of the returned programs must also meet at least two right angles or “x” right angles (as requested by the front end application).

The resulting recommendation can then be provided back to the front end, such as a receiving device, which can be displayed to the user on display device 114 or touch screen control device 116. For example, the recommendation provided by the process described above in FIG. 6 may be displayed to the user on a touch screen control device as shown in FIG. 7.

In this example, screen 700 indicates that the recommendation is based on the current time and the user. The returned recommendation includes the recommended programs for the next four time slots 720-750 as well as the current time slot 710. In this example, additional information 760 is also provided about each of the recommended programs.

Although this example only recommends scheduled content (ie, television shows), the recommended content is not scheduled, such as recorded programs, on demand programming, streaming content, music, websites, etc., as well as any combination thereof. It should be understood that the content should also be included. For example, a recommendation for 10:00 am may be a program previously recorded on the system, but the 11:00 am recommendation is another live television program, and the 12 and 1 period recommendations are movies available on demand.

In certain implementations, certain types of programming may be provided preferentially over others (ie, "free content" over "payment" content, or vice versa, television over internet content, etc.). In other embodiments, spending limits or the "wallet" concept may be used to limit the amount of "pay" content that is recommended. Similarly, bandwidth limits may also be used for downloaded, streamed or web content recommendations.

In addition, the time window for recommendation is not limited to four hours or four programs, but may be smaller or larger if desired. In other implementations, the illustrated time window may slide so that the user can see the recommendation farther than the next four right angles. In yet other implementations, the user may be provided with an option to record the recommendations provided. Season pass type recording options may also be provided that do not require a particular program designation (ie, always record recommendations for Thursdays September through October).

Although the foregoing example has focused on electronic devices, the present invention also includes all the features that enable implementation of the methods described herein, and in a computer program product capable of performing these methods when loaded into a computer system. It should be understood that it can be implemented. A computer program or application in this context may include: a) switching to another language, code or notation; b) any representation in any language, code or notation of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having information processing capability to perform a particular function after or both of reproduction in a different material form or directly. Means.

In addition, the description is intended as an example only and is not intended to limit the invention in any way except as described in the claims below.

Claims (20)

As a method of providing viewing recommendations to a user,
Collecting usage data including time and contextual information about the content the user is viewing;
Processing user data; And
Providing one or more recommendations based on time and contextual information
Lt; / RTI &gt;
At least one of the provided recommendations comprises unscheduled content. The method of claim 1,
The unscheduled content is
Stored content;
Websites;
Over-the-top service content;
Video on demand content; And
Downloadable Content
Selected from the group comprising: viewing recommendations. 3. The method of claim 2,
The stored content is,
Locally stored content; And
Remotely stored content
Selected from the group comprising: viewing recommendations. The method of claim 1,
The time and context information includes at least one of a user, length of viewing, time of day, month, year, content name, content type, content source, content genre, length of content, and cast and crew data. And providing viewing recommendations. The method of claim 1,
Collecting usage data comprising time and contextual information about the content the user is viewing is performed by a front end. The method of claim 5,
And the front end comprises a touch screen control device. The method of claim 5,
And the front end comprises a receiving device. The method of claim 1,
Processing the user data is performed at a back end. 9. The method of claim 8,
The back end is
server; And
Use database
And providing viewing recommendations. The method of claim 1,
Providing one or more recommendations based on the time and contextual information is performed at a back end. The method of claim 1,
Wherein the one or more provided recommendations include recommendations for periods beyond the current period. The method of claim 1,
Further information regarding the one or more provided recommendations is also provided. The method of claim 1,
Wherein the one or more provided recommendations are displayed to a user. The method of claim 1,
Wherein the one or more provided recommendations are based on a price of the content. The method of claim 1,
Wherein the one or more provided recommendations are based on an amount of available bandwidth. A system for providing a user with viewing recommendations,
A front end configured to collect usage data including time and contextual information about the content the user is viewing; And
Back end configured to process user data and provide one or more recommendations based on time and contextual information
Lt; / RTI &gt;
And wherein at least one of the provided recommendations includes unscheduled content. 17. The method of claim 16,
And the front end comprises a touch screen control device. 17. The method of claim 16,
And the front end comprises a receiving device. 17. The method of claim 16,
The back end is
server; And
Use database
And providing viewing recommendations. 17. The method of claim 16,
And the front end is further configured to display one or more recommendations.

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