JP2001237789A - Device for acquiring program viewing history - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a program viewing history acquisition device for accurately acquiring a viewing history matching with an actual situation, even if zapping operations are performed frequently by a viewer. SOLUTION: When a viewer selects a zapping instructing means, a zapping screen is shown, and channels are automatically and successively scanned at a fixed time interval, and channel images to be displayed at a display device are changed. At that time, the channels to be successively changed are not counted as those tuned by the viewer. When the viewer finds a desired program during the zapping operation, and selects a program deciding means, the zapping operation is stopped, and the images of the selected program are displayed on the display device, and the channel is counted as the channel selected by the viewer. At that time, the number of times counted is preserved as a viewing history for each of a plurality of channels. The plurality of channels can be displayed in the order of the number of times of tuning, on the basis of the obtained viewing history by a program chart display control means.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a program viewing history acquisition device for acquiring a viewer's viewing history of a broadcast program, and more particularly, to a broadcast system such as a television or a radio, which has been multichanneled. The present invention relates to a program viewing history acquisition device that effectively acquires a user's program viewing history and rearranges a program table to be displayed based on the acquired viewing history.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, in recent years, not only terrestrial television broadcasting but also satellite broadcasting and CATV (cable television) have been diversified. Along with this, the number of channels (the number of broadcast stations) that can be selected by the viewer has increased remarkably. For example, taking Japanese Perfect TV as an example, the number of currently selectable channels is on the order of several hundreds. It is very difficult for a viewer to quickly select a channel on which a program he / she wants to watch is broadcast from the hundreds of channels.

As an example of a conventional device for solving this problem, the following device is known. JP-A-7-15
The “program selection device” disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 677 stores the number of times a viewer has selected (selected a channel) for each of a large number of channels, and at the time of channel selection, a program name is frequently selected. The program is displayed on the screen in order, and a desired program is selected from the displayed programs. As an effect of using this device, it is mentioned that a channel having a larger number of times of channel selection, that is, a channel which is frequently viewed, becomes easier to select a channel, and can be handled more conveniently by a viewer. Certainly, you watch it often (here,
If the channels are arranged in the channel order, the channels can be tuned in the order of the channel that is often viewed, so that the channel can be easily selected.

[0004]

However, the above-mentioned conventional program selection apparatus has a problem in that a channel having a larger number of selections by a viewer is regarded as being more viewed by the viewer. There's a problem. That is, when the viewer watches the television, the "zapping operation" is almost always performed. The zapping operation is an operation of continuously changing channels in a short time in order to determine which channel of a program to watch. In the program selection apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-15677, this zapping operation is also regarded as the number of times of channel selection and is counted. There is a possibility that the channel is regarded as a channel to be viewed and the channel is arranged in a higher rank. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a program viewing history acquisition device that can accurately acquire a viewing history that matches an actual situation even when zapping operations are frequently performed by a viewer.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to achieve the above object, and a first technical means for achieving the object is to provide a program viewing history for acquiring a viewer's viewing history for a broadcast program. In the acquisition device, zapping instruction means for giving a zapping start command, zapping control means for zapping a reception channel, a channel memory storing broadcast frequency information of a channel to be zapped, and a number of times of channel selection at the time of zapping. Channel selecting means for storing each of the channels.

According to a second technical means, in the program viewing history acquiring apparatus according to the first technical means, a time interval at which the zapping control means sequentially scans a reception channel can be set.

According to a third technical means, in the program viewing history acquiring apparatus of the first technical means, a channel which can be a zapping target can be registered in the channel memory.

[0008] A fourth technical means is the program viewing history acquisition device of the first technical means, wherein the program viewing history stored in the tuning number storage means is referred to and a plurality of channels are selected in descending order of the tuning frequency. And a program guide display control means for displaying the channel.

(Operation) According to the present invention, when the viewer is performing the zapping process, the channels that change one after another by the zapping process are not counted as being tuned, and the viewer does not count the channel during the zapping. Only the number of tunings when the program deciding instruction is output by operating the deciding means is counted and stored as the viewing history, so that a more accurate viewing history can be acquired regardless of the frequency of zapping of the viewer. it can. Also, based on the viewing history acquired more accurately, multiple channels are displayed in the order of the number of selected channels, so that channels that you usually watch more often become easier to select compared to the conventional technology, A program viewing history acquisition device that can be easily handled by a viewer can be provided.

[0010]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
A description will be given based on the embodiment shown in FIGS. Although the present embodiment describes acquisition of the viewing history of a television program transmitted wirelessly, the present invention is used for any broadcast transmitted wirelessly or by wire, The method can be used not only to acquire the viewing history of a program implemented in any broadcast form such as radio, but also to acquire the viewing history of the program.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of a program viewing history acquisition device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the program viewing history acquisition device (FIG.
Those having common numbers in FIG. 2 indicate common components). First, the external components of the present apparatus will be described. The program viewing history acquisition apparatus includes a display 10b typified by a liquid crystal monitor or the like as shown in FIG.
1. It comprises a speaker 12b for outputting the sound of a broadcasted program, an antenna 13a for receiving the program, and the like. The input means 11 is a power-on means 11
a, zapping instructing means 11b, zapping interval designating means 11c, program determining means 11d, ten-key means 11e,
It comprises a program guide display means 11f, a zapping channel registration means 11g, etc., and is arranged on the program viewing history acquisition device in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1. However, these input means are provided by the program viewing history acquisition device. The display 10 may be arranged on a remote control device that is separated and has a touch panel type display portion.
The screen display of b may be used.

Next, the elements constituting the input means 11 will be described. The power-on means 11a is a means for giving a power-on instruction when a user (hereinafter, referred to as a viewer) who views a program using the program viewing history acquisition device selects the program. The zapping instructing means 11b is a means for giving a zapping processing command when selected by a viewer. The zapping interval designating means 11c is a means for giving an instruction to change a certain time interval for switching channels at the time of zapping processing, by a viewer's selection. The program deciding means 11d is a means for giving an instruction to stop the zapping process by selecting this button when the viewer finds the program he / she wants to view during the zapping process, and thereafter to display the corresponding program on the display device 10.

The ten-key means 11e is constituted by numeric keys 0, 1, 2 to 9, and is an input means for inputting an arbitrary number. The function of the numeric keypad 11e will be described later. The program guide display means 11f is a means for giving an instruction to display, by the viewer's selection, channels whose frequency has been tuned by the viewer in a large number of times, as shown in FIG. The zapping channel registration unit 11g is a unit that gives an instruction to register a channel to be zapped by a viewer's selection.

Next, components of the program viewing history acquisition device will be described with reference to FIG. The program viewing history acquisition device includes a display unit 10, an audio output unit 12, a reception unit 13, a control unit 14 such as a microcomputer, and the like. The microcomputer 14 has an input unit 11 and a zapping control unit 1.
5, channel memory 16, tuning number counting means 1
7, tuning number storage means 18, program table display control means 19,
The time measuring means 20, the program information database 21 and the like are connected.

[0015] The receiving unit 13 for receiving a television broadcast wave includes:
Antenna 13a for receiving radio waves, tuner section 13b for selecting and receiving broadcast radio waves of a specific frequency, tuner section 1
Detection demodulator 1 for detecting and demodulating the broadcast wave received by 3b
3c. When you receive a TV show,
The microcomputer 14 sends a reception frequency instruction signal to the reception unit 13 to indicate the reception frequency. The receiving unit 13 receiving this receives the broadcast radio wave of the designated frequency.
The received broadcast wave is separated into a video signal and an audio signal by the detection demodulator 13c. The video signal is supplied to the video amplifier 10
and is displayed on the display 10b represented by a liquid crystal display. The audio signal is amplified by the audio amplifier 12a and output through the speaker 12b.

The zapping control means 15 is means for activating when the viewer selects the zapping instruction means 11b and receives a zapping processing command, and has a function of performing zapping control with reference to the channel memory 16. . In the channel memory 16, as shown in FIG. 3, the channel numbers of the channels that can be viewed by the viewer (in the example shown in FIG. 3, it is assumed that the channel numbers are 1 to 100), the frequency, The setting of whether to skip or not is registered. Here, the frequency is for the microcomputer 14 to instruct the receiving unit 13 of this frequency so that the receiving unit 13 receives a broadcast wave of the designated frequency.

The setting of whether to skip or not will be described. If "not to skip" is set, the channel is set to be the target of zapping when zapping is performed, and "to skip". When this is set to, it means that the setting is made such that the channel is not a target channel for the zapping process when the zapping process is performed.

The channel selection count counting means 17 is means for incrementing the count number of the channel of the program by one when the viewer gives a program determination command using the program determination means 11d during zapping. The tuning number storage means 18 is means for storing a count value obtained by counting the number of times of tuning for each of a plurality of channels. As shown in FIG. 4, a channel number, a frequency, and the number of times of channel selection are stored. Here, the channel numbers and frequencies match the channel numbers and frequencies in the channel memory shown in FIG. The number of times of channel selection indicates the total number of times the viewer has selected and selected the program determining means 11d during zapping for each channel.

The program guide display control means 19 has a function of referring to the tuning number storing means 18 shown in FIG. Means. FIG. 11 shows a program table in which the program table display control means 19 arranges the first to sixth programs in order of the number of times of selecting a plurality of channels.
This shows an example in which the information is displayed on the display 10b of the display unit 10.

The program information database 21 is a database in which electronic program information is stored. As shown in FIG. 5, a channel number and a channel name corresponding to the channel number are stored. The electronic program information indicates a broadcast schedule of a program, and is provided by (1) provided by a distributable medium such as a CD-ROM, and (2) a vertical return in a television broadcast wave received by the receiver 13. This is provided by means of extracting what is included in the line erasing period (VBI) and storing it in the program information database 21.

Next, the operation of the program viewing history acquisition apparatus when the power is turned on will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. (Step 1) It is monitored whether or not a power-on command is issued by the viewer selecting the power-on means 11a. If a power-on command is issued, step 2
If no power-on command is issued, monitoring is continued in step 1 as it is. (Step 2) Zapping instruction means 1 by the viewer
It is monitored whether 1b is selected and a zapping instruction command is issued. If the zapping instruction command is issued, the zapping process A is performed. If the zapping command is not issued, the process proceeds to step S3. The zapping process A will be described later based on the flowchart of FIG.

(Step 3) It is monitored whether or not the viewer selects the zapping interval designation means 11c and issues a zapping interval designation command. If the zapping interval designation command is issued, the zapping interval designation processing B is performed. If the zapping interval designation command is not issued, the process proceeds to step S4. The zapping interval designation processing B will be described later based on the flowchart of FIG. (Step 4) Depending on the viewer, the program guide display means 11f
Is selected to monitor whether a program guide display instruction has been issued. Program guide display processing C when a program guide display instruction is issued
If no program table display command is issued, step 5
Proceed to. The description of the program guide display processing C will be described later based on the flowchart of FIG.

(Step 5) It is monitored whether the viewer selects the zapping channel registration means 11g and issues a zapping channel registration command. If a zapping channel registration command is issued, a zapping channel registration process D is performed. If no zapping channel registration command is issued, the process proceeds to step 2. The zapping channel registration processing D will be described later based on the flowchart of FIG.

Next, zapping processing A in FIG.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. (Step 11) Zapping instruction means 1 by viewer
1b is selected, the zapping control means 15
Starts. (Step 12) The zapping control unit 15 substitutes 1 for a variable K. (Step 13) The zapping control unit 15 refers to the storage content of the channel memory 16 shown in FIG. 3 and refers to whether or not skip is set for the channel number K. If the skip has been set, the process proceeds to step 14, and if the skip has not been set, the process proceeds to step 16.

(Step 14) If skip is set, the zapping control means 15 increments K by one. (Step 15) The zapping control unit 15 determines whether the variable K is 101. If the variable K is 101, the process returns to step 12 and substitutes 1 for the variable K.
If K is not 101, the process returns to step S13. Here, the reason for determining whether or not K is 101 is, as can be understood by referring to the channel memory 16 shown in FIG. 3, since the channel number is assigned only up to 100, K is 101. Then, if it is 101, an operation of returning K to 1 is necessary.

(Step 16) If skip is not set for the channel number K, the zapping control means 15
Refers to the frequency for channel number K. Then, the “reception frequency instruction signal” for instructing to receive this frequency is sent to the reception unit 13 by the microcomputer 14. The display unit 10 displays the video of the program corresponding to the channel number K by transmitting the “reception frequency instruction signal”. (Step 17) The time measuring means 20 is activated, and the time measuring means 20 measures time by the variable WTime stored in the zapping control means 15.

(Step 18) While the video of the program corresponding to the channel number K is being displayed on the display section 10, the zapping control means 15 selects the program deciding means 11d by the viewer and issues a program deciding command. Determine if it was done. If a program decision command is issued, go to step 20;
If no program determination command is issued, the process proceeds to step 19. (Step 19) The variable WTi is calculated by the time measuring means 20.
If the time has been measured for me, the process proceeds to step 14.
If the time is not measured by the variable WTime, the flow returns to step 18 and the viewer again determines the program determining means 11d.
Is selected and a program determination command is issued. (Step 20) If the viewer selects the program deciding means 11d and issues a program deciding command at step 18, the tuning number counting means 17 is activated. (Step 21) The tuning number counting means 17 started in step 20 refers to the tuning number storage means 18 and increments the tuning number of the channel number K by one.

By performing the zapping process A as described above, when the viewer selects the zapping instructing means 11b, a process is performed in which the reception channel is automatically and sequentially changed at predetermined time intervals (here, WTime). When the viewer finds a channel he / she wants to watch, the zapping process A is stopped by selecting the program determining means 11d, and the program he / she wants to watch continues to be displayed on the display unit 10, and the channel selected by the viewer is selected. The number of stations is increased by one, and the number is stored in the number-of-stations storing means 18.

Next, the zapping interval designation processing B of FIG. 6 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. This process is a process in which the viewer sets the variable (WTime) indicating the time interval of zapping, which is described in the flowchart of FIG. (Step 31) The zapping control means 15 is activated when the zapping interval designating means 11c is selected by the viewer. (Step 32) The viewer inputs a numerical value using the numeric keypad 11e. For example, if the zapping interval is to be 5 seconds, "5" is input using the numeric keypad 11e. Then, the input numerical value is substituted for the variable WTime. By performing the above-described zapping interval designation processing, a fixed zapping interval time (WTime) is set.

Next, regarding the program guide display processing C in FIG.
A description will be given based on the flowchart of FIG. Note that this process
This is a process of displaying a program table in the order of the channel with the largest number of times of selection based on the number of times of channel selection in each of a plurality of channels of the viewer. FIG. 11 shows an example of a display screen on which a program guide is displayed in the order of channels with the largest number of tunings. Here, it is assumed that the program table can only display six channels in the display space of the display device, and therefore, as shown in FIG.

(Step 41) When the program guide display means 11f is selected by the viewer, the program guide display means 19 is activated. (Step 42) The program guide display means 19 substitutes 1 for a variable M. (Step 43) The program guide display means 19 refers to the tuning number storage means 18 shown in FIG. For example, now M
Is 1, the program guide display means 19 refers to the tuning number storage means 18 and acquires the channel number of the channel with the largest number of tunings. In the example shown, the number of times of tuning is the highest (77
Times) The channel number “8” of the channel is obtained.

(Step 44) The channel name corresponding to the channel number (8 in the example) obtained in Step 43 is obtained from the program information database 21. As shown in FIG. 5, the program information database 21 stores a channel number and a channel name corresponding to the channel number. In this case, the “star channel” that is the channel name of the channel number 8 is obtained. You. (Step 45) The program guide display means 19 displays the channel number and the channel name on the display unit 10. (Step 46) The program guide display means 19 increments the variable M by one. (Step 47) The program guide display means 19 determines whether or not the variable M is 7. If it is 7, step 48
If not, move to step 43 and repeat the display process. (If the variable M is 7, the display unit 10
This means that a program table as shown by 1 is displayed. )

(Step 48) The program guide display means 19
It is determined whether a program decision command has been issued. Here, the program determination command will be described. When the program proceeds to step 48, a program table as shown in FIG. 11 is displayed on the display unit 10, and the viewer can view the program table from the program table. This is the process of selecting the desired channel and outputting the channel number of that channel.

(Step 49) The program guide display means 19
The frequency for the channel number K output by the program determination command in step 48 (the process of selecting the channel number desired by the viewer from the program table in FIG. 11) is obtained by referring to the tuning number storage means 18 and As a result, a “reception frequency instruction signal” for instructing reception of this frequency is transmitted to the reception unit 13. By transmitting the “reception frequency instruction signal”, the video of the program corresponding to the channel number K is displayed on the display unit 10. (Step 50) The tuning number counting means 17 is activated. (Step 51) The tuning number counting means 17 started in step 50 refers to the tuning number storage means 18 and increments the tuning number of the channel number K by one.

By performing the above-mentioned program guide display processing, the program guides of a plurality of channels are displayed in the order of the number of selected stations based on the contents of the number-of-selected-channels storage means 18 so that the viewer can select the program. A program can be selected by selecting a desired channel from the table. When a program is selected here, that channel is counted as being selected, and the number of times of tuning of the corresponding channel in the number of times of tuning storage means 18 is incremented. Here, as shown in FIG. 11, the program table displayed by the program table display control means 19 is a program table showing only the channel number and the channel name. The display method of the program table is not uniquely determined, for example, a program table in which a program name is added and a channel number and a channel name indicate a program name is displayed.

Next, zapping channel registration processing D of FIG. 10 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
Note that this shows the state of the processing when the viewer sets whether to set the channel as a zapping target channel (whether to skip or not) in the channel memory 16 shown in FIG. (Step 61) When the viewer selects the zapping channel registration unit 11g, the zapping control unit 15 is activated. (Step 62) The zapping control unit 15 substitutes 1 for a variable L. (Step 63) The zapping control unit 15 displays a display screen on which it is possible to specify whether or not to skip the channel number L during zapping. FIG. 12 shows an example of a display screen on which it is possible to specify whether to skip channel number 1 during zapping. The viewer can use this screen to set whether to skip channel number 1 during zapping.

(Step 64) It is determined whether or not a command for setting whether to skip the channel number L has been output by the viewer. If the instruction is output, the zapping control means 15 replaces the output instruction with the output instruction to step 65 to determine whether or not zapping corresponding to the channel number L in the channel memory 16 is continued. Do. (Step 65) The zapping control unit 15 increments the variable L by one. (Step 66) The zapping control unit 15 determines whether the variable L is 101. If it is 101, the process ends. If it is not 101, the process returns to step 64, and the setting can be made for the remaining channels for which skip settings have not been made. By performing the above processing, it is possible to set whether to set the channel as a zapping target channel.

[0038]

As is apparent from the above description, the present invention has the following effects. According to the invention of claim 1,
Channel switching at the time of zapping (the process of switching channels at fixed time intervals) does not count as the number of channel selections because the viewer has performed channel selection, and the viewer stops zapping using the program determination means at the time of zapping, Only when a program is selected, the viewing history is acquired assuming that the viewer has selected a channel, so even if zapping operations are frequently performed by the viewer, the number of times of channel selection is not counted each time, and viewing is performed. A program viewing history acquisition device capable of accurately acquiring a history can be provided.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the viewer can set a fixed time interval at which the channel is automatically switched at the time of zapping, the channel can be switched at a speed according to the viewer's preference. Can be.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the channel to be zapped can be set by the viewer instead of all the channels registered in the channel memory. Since only the desired channel can be targeted for zapping, zapping processing can be performed in a short time, and a program desired to be viewed can be detected early.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the program guide is displayed in the order of the channel having the largest number of times of selection based on the viewing history acquired more accurately. An easy-to-use program guide reflecting the history can be displayed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a program viewing history acquisition device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a program viewing history acquisition device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state of data stored in a channel memory.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state of data stored in a tuning number storage means.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state of data stored in a program information database.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a process performed when the power of the program viewing history acquisition apparatus is turned on.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing processing at the time of zapping processing.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing processing at the time of zapping interval designation processing.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing processing at the time of program guide display processing.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing processing at the time of zapping channel registration processing.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a display screen displaying a program guide.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a display screen for setting whether to skip at the time of zapping.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 display unit, 11 input means, 11a power-on means, 11b zapping instruction means, 11c zapping interval designating means, 11d program determining means, 11e numeric keypad means, 11f program table display means, 11g zapping Channel registration means, 12: audio output unit, 13: reception unit, 14: microcomputer, 15: zapping control means, 16
... Channel memory, 17 ... Channel selection count counting means, 1
8 ... selection frequency storage means 19 ... program guide display control means 2
0: time measuring means, 21: program information database.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A program viewing history acquisition device for acquiring a viewer's viewing history for a broadcast program, a zapping instruction unit for giving a zapping start command, a zapping control unit for zapping a reception channel, and broadcasting of a channel to be zapped. Channel memory in which frequency information is stored; channel selection number storage means for storing the number of channel selections at the time of zapping for each of a plurality of channels;
A program viewing history acquisition device, comprising: 2. The program viewing history acquiring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a time interval at which the zapping control means sequentially scans a receiving channel can be set. 3. The program viewing history acquiring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a channel that can be a zapping target can be registered in the channel memory. 4. The program according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of channels are displayed in descending order of the number of selected channels with reference to the program viewing history stored in said selected number of times storage means. A program viewing history acquisition device comprising table display control means.