JP6986062B2 - Distributor and program recommendation system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a distribution device and a program recommendation system.

Conventionally, among various contents such as TV programs, contents that are likely to be viewed by the user are presented to the user. For example, in Patent Document 1, the viewing frequency of a program viewed by a user is accumulated for each keyword corresponding to the program, and the user's preference level for each program is calculated based on the viewing frequency for each keyword. A method of presenting a program based on the degree of preference is disclosed.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2007-318364

By the way, if the program is continuously presented based on the user's preference as in the method shown in Patent Document 1, a program presented by almost the same program is selected. Then, when the user continues to use the program presentation function, the user only watches almost the same program, and provides a program or a program that the user has never watched but is likely to be interested in. There arises a problem that the program that the user wants the user to watch is not watched.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of these points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a distribution device and a program recommendation system capable of increasing variations of programs presented to users.

The distribution device according to the first aspect of the present invention includes a receiving unit that receives a recommendation program information acquisition request from the program recommendation device, and the program recommendation device when the receiving unit receives the recommended program information acquisition request. A transmission unit for transmitting program recommendation information for recommending a program to a user of the program recommendation device is provided based on a plurality of recommendation methods for recommending the program to the user.

The plurality of recommendation methods include the first method in which the business operator providing the program recommends the program to the user of the program recommendation device, and the program similar to the program that the user of the program recommendation device has watched in the past. A second method of recommending to the user of the recommendation device is included, and the transmission unit may transmit the program recommendation information by any of the first method and the second method.
When the receiving unit receives a request for acquiring recommended program information from the program recommending device, the transmitting unit is selected by the business operator that provides the program, and the recommended program information indicating the recommended program recommended to the user of the program recommending device. When the first transmission unit that transmits recommended program information and the reception unit receive genre information indicating the genre of the program from the program recommendation device by the first method of transmitting the program to the program recommendation device, the program recommendation device. In addition, a second transmission unit for transmitting recommended program information may be provided according to the second method of transmitting recommended program information indicating a recommended program corresponding to the genre indicated by the received genre information.

The plurality of recommendation methods include a third method of recommending a program to a user of the program recommendation device based on the similarity of a plurality of users who use different program recommendation devices, and the transmission unit is described. The program recommendation information may be transmitted by any one of a plurality of recommendation methods including the third method.
When the receiving unit receives the device identification information for identifying the program recommendation device from the program recommendation device and the request for acquiring the recommended program information, the transmitting unit has a profile of a user associated with the device identification information. Recommended program information by the third method of transmitting recommended program information indicating a program having a high proportion of viewing by the other user to the program recommendation device based on the viewing history of another user having a profile similar to May have a third transmitter to transmit.

The receiving unit receives the viewing history information of the program viewed by the user of the program recommending device and the device identification information from the program recommending device, and the distribution device receives the viewing history received by the receiving unit. The third transmission unit further includes a storage control unit that associates the information with the device identification information and stores it in the storage unit, and the third transmission unit has the viewing history information associated with the device identification information received by the reception unit. Based on the above, a program that is viewed by the other user at a high rate and is not viewed by the user is specified, and recommended program information indicating the specified program is transmitted to the program recommendation device. May be good.

The third transmitting unit identifies the viewing tendency of the user for each day of the week and time zone based on the viewing history information associated with the device identification information received by the receiving unit, and for each day of the week and time zone. In addition, the other users with similar viewing tendencies may be identified.

The third transmitting unit identifies the viewing tendency of the user for each length of the broadcast time of the program based on the viewing history information associated with the device identification information received by the receiving unit, and determines the viewing tendency of the program. The other users with similar viewing tendencies may be identified for each length of broadcast time.

The program recommendation system according to the second aspect of the present invention is a program recommendation system including a program recommendation device that recommends a program to a user and a distribution device that distributes recommended program information indicating a recommended program to the program recommendation device. The program recommendation device is a selection unit that selects a recommendation method for recommending a program based on the viewing history of the user's program, and recommended program information indicating a recommended program corresponding to the selected recommendation method. The distribution device has a recommendation unit that sends an acquisition request for the program to the distribution device, receives the recommended program information from the distribution device, and recommends the recommended program indicated by the received recommended program information to the user. , A receiving unit that receives a request for acquiring the recommended program information from the program recommending device, and a plurality of recommendations that recommend the program to the user of the program recommending device when the receiving unit receives the request for acquiring the recommended program information. Based on the method, it has a transmission unit for transmitting program recommendation information for recommending a program to a user of the program recommendation device.

According to the present invention, there is an effect that the variation of the program presented to the user can be increased.

It is a figure which shows the outline of the program recommendation apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of the program recommendation apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the viewing history information. It is a figure which shows the example of the menu screen which is displayed on the display. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process of selecting a recommendation method in a program recommendation apparatus.

[Overview of program recommendation device 1]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a program recommendation device 1 according to the present embodiment. The program recommendation device 1 is, for example, a set-top box provided at the home of a user who uses cable television and receives broadcast signals of cable television broadcasting, terrestrial digital television broadcasting, and the like.

By receiving various broadcast signals, the program recommendation device 1 acquires program contents (hereinafter, simply referred to as "programs") broadcast by a broadcasting station or a cable TV operator, and receives television connected to itself. It is displayed on the display 2 of the machine or the like. The user who uses the program recommendation device 1 shall include a family member or the like who lives together in the place where the program recommendation device 1 is installed. For example, when the program recommendation device 1 is installed in the house of a family of four, the user is four family members.

In the present embodiment, the program recommendation device 1 specifies the viewing status of the user's program based on the viewing history of the user's program ((1) in FIG. 1). Here, it is assumed that the viewing status includes a usage status of the program recommendation device 1 and a status indicating whether or not the user has watched the program. The program recommendation device 1 selects one of a plurality of recommendation methods for recommending a program based on the specified viewing situation ((2) in FIG. 1). The program recommendation device 1 identifies a recommended program to be recommended to the user based on the selected recommendation method, and displays the recommended program when the menu screen is displayed on the display 2 ((3) in FIG. 1). ..
By doing so, the program recommendation device 1 can increase the variation of the recommended program presented to the user.
Hereinafter, the configuration of the program recommendation device 1 will be described.

[Configuration example of program recommendation device 1]
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a program recommendation device 1 according to the present embodiment.
The program recommendation device 1 includes an input unit 11, a communication unit 12, a storage unit 13, and a control unit 14.

The input unit 11 is, for example, a button or a remote controller provided in the program recommendation device 1, and receives an operation input from the user of the program recommendation device 1.
The communication unit 12 is, for example, a tuner, and by receiving various broadcast signals, the communication unit 12 acquires a program corresponding to the broadcast signal. Further, the communication unit 12 communicates with various servers via a communication network such as the Internet.

For example, the communication unit 12 receives an electronic program guide from a distribution server that distributes an electronic program guide (EPG: Electronic Program Guide) via a communication network. The electronic program guide contains the schedule of the program in each channel, the genre of the program, and the explanatory information explaining the content of the program. Further, the communication unit 12 communicates with the display 2 and also communicates with a recording device (not shown) for recording a program. The recording device receives a recording reservation of the program from the user of the program recommendation device 1, and reserves the program according to the reservation.

The storage unit 13 is, for example, a ROM, a RAM, or the like. The storage unit 13 stores various programs for operating the program recommendation device 1. For example, the storage unit 13 stores a program recommendation program that causes the control unit 14 of the program recommendation device 1 to function as a storage control unit 141, a specific unit 142, a selection unit 143, a recommendation unit 144, and an erasing unit 145, which will be described later.

Here, the program recommendation program includes a program corresponding to a plurality of recommendation methods for recommending a program to the user of the program recommendation device 1. Here, the plurality of recommendation methods include a first method, a second method, and a third method. The first method is a method in which a program provider (for example, a cable TV operator or a broadcaster) recommends a program. The second method is a method of recommending a program similar to a program that the user has watched in the past based on the viewing history information. The third method is a method of recommending a program based on the similarity of a plurality of users who use different program recommendation devices 1. Details of these methods will be described later.

Further, the storage unit 13 stores the electronic program guide received by the communication unit 12 and the viewing history information indicating the history of the program viewed by the user. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of viewing history information. As shown in FIG. 3, the viewing history information includes a viewing start time indicating a time when the user starts viewing a program, a viewing end time indicating a time when the user ends viewing the program, and a program viewed by the user. It includes a corresponding channel, a program ID that identifies a program that the user has watched, and a viewing type. The viewing type is information indicating whether the viewing of the program is the viewing of the program being broadcast or the viewing of the recorded program.

The control unit 14 is, for example, a CPU. The control unit 14 controls the function related to the program recommendation device 1 by executing various programs stored in the storage unit 13. The control unit 14 includes a memory control unit 141, a specific unit 142, a selection unit 143, a recommendation unit 144, and an erasing unit 145.

The storage control unit 141 stores the viewing history information corresponding to the program viewed by the user in the storage unit 13. Specifically, when a program is selected by the selection operation, the storage control unit 141 sets the selected time as the viewing start time, and identifies the channel corresponding to the selected program and the selected program. The program ID and the viewing type are specified. When the input unit 11 receives the operation of switching channels or the operation of turning off the power of the program recommendation device 1, the storage control unit 141 determines that the viewing of the program previously viewed by the user has been completed. , The time when the operation is accepted is set as the viewing end time of the program. Then, the storage control unit 141 stores the viewing start time, the viewing end time, the channel, the program ID, and the viewing type in the storage unit 13 as viewing history information in association with each other.

The specifying unit 142 identifies the viewing status of the user's program based on the viewing history of the user. Specifically, the specific unit 142 determines whether or not the amount of viewing history information stored in the storage unit 13 is less than the predetermined amount every predetermined time (for example, every other day) to determine the program. It is specified whether or not the viewing situation of the user starts to use the program recommendation device 1 and starts to watch the program. The specific unit 142 specifies that when the amount of viewing history information is less than a predetermined amount, the user starts using the program recommendation device 1 and starts viewing the program, and the amount of viewing history information is equal to or more than the predetermined amount. In some cases, identify that you are not starting to watch the program. Here, the predetermined amount is assumed to be, for example, the amount of viewing history for one month, but is not limited to this as long as the amount can appropriately analyze the programs that the user has watched in the past.

Further, the specific unit 142 specifies the viewing status of the program recommended by the recommendation unit 144, which will be described later, based on the viewing history information. For example, the storage unit 13 stores a program ID that identifies a program recommended by the recommendation unit 144, and the specific unit 142 determines whether or not the program ID is included in the viewing history information. Therefore, it is specified whether or not the program recommended by the recommendation unit 144 has been viewed. In addition, even if the specific unit 142 determines that the recommended program is not viewed when the ratio between the number of recommended programs and the number of the programs included in the viewing history information is less than a predetermined value. good.

The selection unit 143 selects one of a plurality of recommendation methods for recommending a program based on the viewing status of the user's program.
Specifically, the selection unit 143 selects the first method when the specific unit 142 specifies that the viewing status of the user's program is the situation in which the user starts using the program recommendation device 1 and starts viewing the program. do. Further, the selection unit 143 selects the second method when the specific unit 142 specifies that the viewing status of the program by the user is not the situation in which the user starts using the program recommendation device 1 and starts viewing the program.

When the viewing status of the user's program is a situation in which the user starts using the program recommendation device 1 and starts viewing the program, the amount of viewing history information stored in the storage unit 13 is small, and the user has past. It is not possible to properly perform analysis based on the programs viewed in. On the other hand, the program recommendation device 1 selects the first method in which the program provider recommends the program when the user starts using the program recommendation device 1 and starts watching the program. Therefore, the program can be recommended even when the amount of viewing history information is small.

When the specific unit 142 specifies that the program recommended by the recommendation unit 144 has not been viewed, the selection unit 143 selects a recommendation method different from the recommendation method that recommended the program. Specifically, when the recommendation unit 144 recommends a program based on the second method, the selection unit 143 refers to the viewing history information and views the program recommended based on the second method. When the specific unit 142 specifies that the method has not been performed, the third method is selected.
By doing so, the program recommendation device 1 can switch the recommendation method to the third method when the effect of the program recommendation by the second method is small, and can improve the effect of the program recommendation.

The selection unit 143 identifies a recommendation method having a relatively high possibility of viewing the recommended program based on the viewing history after selecting each of the plurality of recommendation methods, and selects the recommendation method. You may. Specifically, the selection unit 143 has elapsed a predetermined time since the recommendation method was switched from the second method to the third method, or after the recommendation method was switched from the first method to the second method. However, if the method is not switched to the third method, the ratio of the viewed program to the number of programs recommended by each recommendation method is calculated based on the viewing history information. Then, the selection unit 143 identifies the recommendation method having the highest ratio as the recommendation method in which the recommended program is relatively likely to be viewed, and selects the recommendation method.
By doing so, the program recommendation device 1 can recommend a program based on the most effective recommendation method among the plurality of recommendation methods.

Further, the selection unit 143 may select the recommendation method based on the change of the broadcasted program. For example, the program to be broadcast may change at the turn of the season, the turn of the year, and the like during the reorganization period of the program. On the other hand, the selection unit 143 refers to the electronic program table stored in the storage unit 13, and a program that is broadcast regularly (for example, a program that is broadcast on a predetermined day of the week or a weekly program). By determining whether or not the title of the program (program broadcast on weekdays) has changed to another title, it is determined whether or not the program is in the reorganization period. Then, the selection unit 143 selects the second method when it is determined that the program is in the reorganization period, and selects the third method when it is determined that the program is not in the reorganization period.

By doing so, the program recommendation device 1 newly broadcasts by selecting a second method of recommending a program similar to the program that the user has watched in the past based on the viewing history information in the program reorganization period. Among the programs to be played, a program similar to the program that the user has watched in the past can be presented as a recommended program.

Further, the program recommendation device 1 selects a third method of recommending a program based on the similarity of a plurality of users who use different program recommendation devices 1 at a time other than the program reorganization period, thereby providing the user with a third method. , A program being viewed by another user similar to the user can be presented as a recommended program. As a result, when the same program is broadcast on a regular basis, it is possible to present the user with a new program that is not based on the user's past viewing tendency.

The recommendation unit 144 selects a program based on the recommendation method selected by the selection unit 143 in response to the user turning on the power of the program recommendation device 1 or performing a menu screen display operation by the input unit 11. Recommendation to.

When the first method is selected by the selection unit 143, the recommendation unit 144 indicates a recommended program corresponding to the first method according to the display operation of the menu screen by the input unit 11. A request for acquiring recommended program information is transmitted to a first distribution device (not shown) that distributes information. The first distribution device stores recommended program information that is selected by the program provider and indicates a recommended program recommended to the user of the program recommendation device 1. The first distribution device transmits the recommended program information to the program recommendation device 1 in response to receiving the request for acquisition of the recommended program information from the program recommendation device 1.

When the program recommendation device 1 receives the recommended program information from the first distribution device, the program recommendation device 1 causes the display 2 to display a menu screen including information indicating the recommended program included in the recommended program information (for example, program introduction information). FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a menu screen displayed on the display 2. In the example shown in FIG. 4, it can be confirmed that the thumbnail images of the recommended programs A, B, C and D are displayed.

The first distribution device accepts popular programs such as high audience ratings in each of a plurality of genres as recommended programs recommended to users from the program provider side, and associates the recommended programs with the genres. You may remember it. In this case, the first distribution device may accept the genre that the user is interested in in advance from the user via the program recommendation device 1.

Then, in response to receiving the request for acquisition of the recommended program information from the program recommendation device 1, the first distribution device selects a program corresponding to the genre previously received from the user of the program recommendation device 1 as the recommended program. The recommended program information indicating the recommended program may be transmitted to the program recommendation device 1. Further, the first distribution device is presented in a program having a high average audience rating, a program having a high topicality in SNS (Social Networking Service), or a curation service without accepting a recommended program from the program provider side. You may specify a program and select the program as a recommended program.

When the second method is selected by the selection unit 143, the recommendation unit 144 identifies the genre to which the program that the user has viewed in the past belongs based on the viewing history information. Specifically, the recommendation unit 144 specifies the viewing degree of the user's program for each day of the week, time zone, and genre to which the program belongs based on the viewing history information, and the day of the week and time based on the viewing degree. Identify the genre to be recommended for each band.

Then, the recommendation unit 144 refers to the electronic program guide stored in the storage unit 13 in response to the display operation of the menu screen by the input unit 11, and sets the day of the week and the time zone to which the current time belongs. On the other hand, the program corresponding to the specified genre is specified as a recommended program. The program recommendation device 1 causes the display 2 to display a menu screen including information indicating the specified recommended program.

When the second method is selected, the recommendation unit 144 specifies the recommended program based on the electronic program guide, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a second distribution device (not shown) that manages meta information such as the genre of a program and the content of the program and transmits recommended program information indicating a recommended program corresponding to the genre according to the acceptance of the genre. It may be provided. Then, the recommendation unit 144 transmits information indicating the specified genre to the second distribution device, and receives the recommended program information indicating the recommended program corresponding to the specified genre from the second distribution device, whereby the genre is concerned. You may specify the recommended program corresponding to.

Further, when the second method is selected, the recommendation unit 144 identifies a program corresponding to the genre specified for the day of the week and the time zone to which the current time belongs as a recommended program by referring to the electronic program guide. However, it is not limited to this. For example, when the second method is selected, the recommendation unit 144 identifies a program viewed by the user based on the viewing history information, and from the explanatory information explaining the content of the program included in the electronic program guide, the program concerned. You may extract the keyword corresponding to. Keywords are sports teams, celebrities, place names, etc. Then, the recommendation unit 144 may specify a program that the user has not watched as a recommended program among the programs corresponding to the keyword in the electronic program guide.

When the third method is selected by the selection unit 143, the recommendation unit 144 identifies the user's profile information input in advance by the user of the program recommendation device 1 and stored in the storage unit 13 and the program recommendation device 1. The device ID is transmitted to a third distribution device (not shown) that distributes recommended program information indicating a recommended program corresponding to the third method. Here, the profile information of the user includes, for example, information indicating the age of the user, the family structure, the genre in which the user is interested, and the like. Further, when the third method is selected, the recommendation unit 144 periodically transmits the viewing history information stored in the storage unit 13 and the device ID to the third distribution device.

The third distribution device stores the device ID received from each of the plurality of program recommendation devices 1, the user profile information, and the viewing history information in association with each other.
When the third method is selected, the recommendation unit 144 requests acquisition of the device ID for identifying the program recommendation device 1 and the recommended program information in response to the display operation of the menu screen by the input unit 11. To the third distribution device.

Upon receiving the device ID and the request for acquiring the recommended program information, the third distribution device identifies the profile information of the user associated with the device ID, and has a profile similar to the profile indicated by the profile information. Identify multiple users of. Based on the viewing history information of the specified other plurality of users, the third distribution device requests acquisition of recommended program information among the programs that are relatively high in viewing by the other plurality of users. A program that has not been viewed by the user of the transmitted program recommendation device 1 is selected as a recommended program. Then, the third distribution device transmits the recommended program information indicating the selected recommended program to the program recommendation device 1 that has transmitted the acquisition request of the recommended program information. When the program recommendation device 1 receives the recommended program information from the third distribution device, the program recommendation device 1 causes the display 2 to display a menu screen including information indicating the recommended program included in the recommended program information.

The third distribution device has specified the recommended program based on the viewing history information of a plurality of other users whose profiles are similar to those of the user, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the third distribution device identifies another user's viewing history information similar to the user's viewing history information, and among the programs included in the specified viewing history information, a program that the user has not watched is used as a recommended program. You may choose. In this case, the third distribution device identifies the user's viewing tendency for each day of the week, time zone, and length of program broadcast time based on the user's viewing history information, and broadcasts the user's day of the week, time zone, and program. Other users with similar viewing habits may be identified for each length of time. Then, the third distribution device may select a recommended program based on the viewing history information of the specified other user.

The erasing unit 145 erases the viewing history information stored in the storage unit 13 at a predetermined time (for example, one month) before the current time from the storage unit 13. By doing so, the program recommendation device 1 can recommend a program based on the viewing history of the program recently viewed by the user when recommending the program by the second method.

[Process flow in program recommendation device 1]
Subsequently, the flow of the process of selecting the recommendation method in the program recommendation device 1 will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing for selecting a recommendation method in the program recommendation device 1.

First, the specific unit 142 determines whether or not the amount of viewing history information stored in the storage unit 13 is less than a predetermined amount (S1). When the specific unit 142 determines that the amount of viewing history information is less than the predetermined amount, the processing is transferred to S2, and when it is determined that the amount of viewing history information is equal to or more than the predetermined amount, the processing is transferred to S3.

In S2, the selection unit 143 selects the first method as the recommendation method. After selecting the first method, the selection unit 143 shifts the processing to S1.
In S3, the selection unit 143 selects the second method as the recommendation method.

In S4, the specific unit 142 refers to the viewing history information and determines whether or not the recommended program recommended by the second method is being viewed. If it is determined that the recommended program is being viewed, the specific unit 142 re-executes S4, and if it is determined that the recommended program is not being viewed, the processing is transferred to S5.

In S5, the selection unit 143 selects the third method as the recommendation method.
Subsequently, the selection unit 143 calculates the viewing ratio corresponding to each of the plurality of recommended methods according to the elapse of a predetermined time after the third method is selected in S5 (S6).
Subsequently, the selection unit 143 selects the recommendation method having the highest viewing ratio based on the calculation result in S6 (S7).

The selection unit 143 may repeatedly select the recommendation method after the recommendation method is selected in S7. In this case, after the recommendation method is selected, the specific unit 142 determines whether or not the recommended program recommended by the recommendation method is being viewed. Then, the selection unit 143 may select another recommendation method depending on the determination that the recommended program recommended by the recommendation method has not been viewed.

[Effects in this embodiment]
As described above, the program recommendation device 1 according to the present embodiment selects one of a plurality of recommendation methods for recommending a program based on the viewing status of the user's program, and the program is based on the selected recommendation method. To recommend.
By doing so, the program recommendation device 1 can recommend programs based on different recommendation methods according to changes in the viewing status of the user's programs. Therefore, different programs can be used as a plurality of recommendation methods. By adopting a method that can be recommended, it is possible to increase the variation of recommended programs presented to the user.

Although the present invention has been described above using the embodiments, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes or improvements can be made to the above embodiments. For example, in the above-described embodiment, in the second method, the program recommendation device 1 specifies the viewing degree for each day of the week, time zone, and genre, specifies the genre to be recommended for each day of the week, time zone, and the genre. I recommended a program that belongs to, but it is not limited to this. For example, the program recommendation device 1 may specify the viewing degree for each day of the week, time zone, and channel, specify the channel to be recommended for each day of the week, time zone, and recommend the program broadcast on the channel. good.

Further, in particular, the specific embodiment of the distribution / integration of the apparatus is not limited to those shown above, and all or a part thereof may be arbitrary according to various additions or the like, or according to the functional load. It can be functionally or physically distributed / integrated in units. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the distribution device for distributing the recommended program information has been described as being different for each of the plurality of recommendation methods, but the present invention is not limited to this, and one distribution device can be used for each of the plurality of recommendation methods. In response, recommended program information may be distributed.

1 ... Program recommendation device, 11 ... Input unit, 12 ... Communication unit, 13 ... Storage unit, 14 ... Control unit, 141 ... Memory control unit, 142 ... Specific unit , 143 ... selection unit, 144 ... recommendation unit, 145 ... erase unit, 2 ... display

Claims (9)

A receiver that receives a request to acquire recommended program information from the program recommendation device, and
When the receiving unit receives the acquisition request of the recommended program information, and a transmitting unit that transmits using a plurality of recommendation method for recommending a program to the user of the program recommendation apparatus, a pre-Symbol recommended program information to the program recommendation apparatus ,
Equipped with
The plurality of recommendation methods include a first method of transmitting the recommended program information indicating a program recommended by a business operator providing the program to the program recommendation device, and viewing of a program viewed by a user of the program recommendation device. Based on the history, the viewing degree of the user's program is specified for each day, time zone, and channel, and based on the viewing degree, the recommended channel is specified for each day and time zone, and the acquisition request is made. It includes a second method of transmitting the recommended program information indicating a program being broadcast on the recommended channel specified for the day and time of reception to the program recommendation device.
The transmission unit transmits the recommended program information to the program recommendation device by using the first method and the second method.
Delivery device. The transmission unit transmits the recommended program information using either the first method or the second method.
The distribution device according to claim 1. The transmitter is
When the receiving unit receives the acquisition request of the recommended program information from the program recommendation apparatus, said selected by the operator to provide program, the recommended program information indicating a recommended program to be recommended to the user of the program recommendation apparatus program recommending The first transmission unit that transmits recommended program information by the first method of transmitting to the device, and
When the receiving unit receives the acquisition request of the recommended program information from the program recommendation device, it indicates a program being broadcast on the recommended channel specified for the day and time zone when the acquisition request is received. A second transmission unit that transmits recommended program information by the second method of transmitting recommended program information, and a second transmission unit.
Have,
The distribution device according to claim 2. The plurality of recommendation methods include a third method of recommending a program to a user of the program recommendation device based on the similarity of a plurality of users who use different program recommendation devices.
The transmitting unit transmits the recommended program information by any one of a plurality of recommended methods including the third method.
The distribution device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The transmitter is
When the receiving unit receives the device identification information for identifying the program recommendation device from the program recommendation device and the acquisition request for the recommended program information, a profile similar to the profile of the user associated with the device identification information is obtained. A third method of transmitting recommended program information by the third method of transmitting recommended program information indicating a program that is viewed by the other user to the program recommendation device based on the viewing history of the other user. Has a transmitter,
The distribution device according to claim 4. The receiving unit receives from the program recommendation device the viewing history information of the program viewed by the user of the program recommendation device and the device identification information.
Further, it has a storage control unit that associates the viewing history information received by the receiving unit with the device identification information and stores it in the storage unit.
The third transmission unit is a program in which the other user has a high rate of viewing based on the viewing history information associated with the device identification information received by the reception unit, and the user is the user. Identify a program that has not been watched, and send recommended program information indicating the identified program to the program recommendation device.
The distribution device according to claim 5. The third transmitting unit identifies the viewing tendency of the user for each day of the week and time zone based on the viewing history information associated with the device identification information received by the receiving unit, and for each day of the week and time zone. To identify the other users with similar viewing habits,
The distribution device according to claim 6. The third transmitting unit identifies the viewing tendency of the user for each length of the broadcast time of the program based on the viewing history information associated with the device identification information received by the receiving unit, and determines the viewing tendency of the program. Identifying the other users with similar viewing habits by length of broadcast time,
The distribution device according to claim 6 or 7. A program recommendation apparatus that recommends a program to a user, a program recommendation system comprising a distribution device for distributing the estimated Como program information to the program recommendation apparatus,
The program recommendation device is
The day and time based on the first method in which the distribution device transmits the recommended program information indicating the program recommended by the business operator providing the program to the program recommendation device and the viewing history of the program viewed by the user. The viewing degree of the user's program is specified for each band and channel, the channel to be recommended is specified for each day and time zone based on the viewing degree, and the distribution device determines the recommended program from the program recommendation device. A second method in which the distribution device transmits the recommended program information indicating a program being broadcast on the recommended channel specified for the day and time when the information acquisition request is received to the program recommendation device. And a selection to select at least one of
Corresponding to the selected recommendation method, a request for acquisition of recommended program information indicating a recommended recommended program is transmitted to the distribution device, the recommended program information is received from the distribution device, and the received recommended program information indicates. The recommendation department that recommends recommended programs to the user,
Have,
The distribution device is
A receiving unit that receives a request for acquiring the recommended program information from the program recommendation device, and
When the receiving unit receives the request for acquiring the recommended program information, the recommended program information is transmitted using the first method and the second method included in the plurality of recommendation methods for recommending the program to the user of the program recommendation device. A transmission unit that transmits to the program recommendation device, and
Have,
Program recommendation system.

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