MXPA00005592A - Program guide system with browsing display - Google Patents

Abstract

An interactive television program guide system is provided in which a user may direct the program guide to display a browsing display screen. The browsing display screen includes a list of current programs including a movable highlight region, a video window containing a television program to which the system is currently tuned, and a detailled description of the highlighted program listing. The user may position the highlight region using remote control cursor keys. The user may then synchronize the content of the video window with the highlighted program listing by pressing a select key or a channel up or down key. If the user changes channels repeatedly using the channel up and down keys, the contents of the video window and the highlighted program listings remain in synchronization.

Description

PROGRAM GUIDE SYSTEM WITH QUICK REVIEW DISPLAY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to interactive guides of television programs, and more particularly, to television program guides with a display screen that can be used when the available television programs are quickly examined. A list of associated programs and a video window can be displayed at the same time on the display screen. Cable, satellite and broadcast television systems provide viewers with a large number of television channels. Traditionally, viewers have consulted the printed programs of television programs to determine the programs that are broadcast at a particular time. More recently, the interactive, electronic guides of television programs have been developed, which allow information of the television program to be displayed on a spectator's television. Interactive program guides are typically implemented in adaptation units. These program guides allow users to view listings of television programs in different display formats. For example, a user may instruct the program guide to display a grid or table of program listings organized in a list sorted by channel or sorted by time. Also, users can search and sort the program listings by genre, (for example, movies, sports, etc.), or by title (that is, alphabetically). A user can obtain additional information for a program by placing a highlighted region in a desired list of programs and pressing an "info" button (information) . The user can buy a payment program from the program guide by placing the highlighted region in a list of programs and pressing a button "RIGHT" . Some systems allow the user to select a program for recording by placing the highlighted region in a list of programs and pressing a "record" button. Some program guides allow users to display a list of current programming on the user's display screen as a cover on top of a television channel. With this system, the user can move a highlighted region line by line through the programming list while monitoring the program to which the system is tuned in a quarter-screen window. A description of the highlighted program must also be provided. This type of system always maintains the video for the television channel and the text of the description in full synchronization with the highlighted program. Each time the highlighted region is repositioned in a new list of programs, the system automatically tunes to the television channel for that program. The user can not quickly review through the program listings without losing track of what is in the channel to which the user originally tuned. In addition, the list of programs exhibited by this type of system has program information cells for programs that are put on schedules to be broadcast in the future as well as current programs, which tend to disrupt the visualization. Another feature of the program guide that allows users to display the information of the current programming as a cover on top of a television channel is the so-called quick review feature available in some program guides. With this type of arrangement, the user is only presented with the title of an individual list of programs, so that the user can not review a number of listings at a time. The title information also overshadows a portion of the P1060 television channel that is broadcast, which interferes with the user's ability to monitor that channel. Descriptions of the programs are not listed on the quick review display screen. If the user is interested in a program title listed in the quick review view, the user can tune that channel by pressing a selection key. However, this will cause the program guide to exit the quick review mode. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a program guidance system with improved rapid review capabilities.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION These and other objects of the invention are achieved in accordance with the principles of the present invention by providing an interactive television program guidance system in which the user can direct the program guide to display a viewing screen of quick review. The quick review display screen contains information about the programs that are currently broadcasting. The quick review visualization contains a list of programs that contains only program listings for programs that are being broadcast P1060 currently. Future programs that are not currently disseminated are not included in the list. The program list contains a highlighted region that the user can place using the cursor keys, next page and previous page keys, next channel and previous channel keys, and number keys. The quick review visualization also contains a video window in which a video of the television program is displayed for the channel to which the system is currently tuned. The video window is not obstructed by any cover information. The quick review display also contains a detailed description of the highlighted program. The detailed description can include a graphic summary, classification, classification according to the critics, elapsed time, actors, etcetera. When the user places the highlighted region with the cursor keys or with the next page and previous page keys, the detailed description is automatically updated to correspond to the highlighted program. However, the television program displayed in the video window is unchanged. This allows the user to continue observing the program in the video window while quickly examining the program listings. The contents of the video window can be synchronized with the highlighted program by pressing a selection key on the remote control or the next channel and previous channel keys. If the user places the highlighted region with just the next channel and previous channel keys, the contents of the video window and the highlighted region are kept in constant synchronization. This allows the user to quickly examine the titles and detailed descriptions for various programs while viewing the programs in the video window. The program guide can provide a display of information to provide additional information in a highlighted program. The program guide can provide the user with an opportunity to direct the program guide to display the additional information by pressing an information key. The additional features of the invention, its nature and various advantages will become more apparent from the accompanying drawings and the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a display screen of a conventional program guide that has a list of programs with a highlighted region and a video window containing the programming that is always synchronized with the highlighted region. Figure 2 is a conventional program guide display screen having a quick review feature with which the user can see the titles of the programs in the channels other than the channel to which the system is currently tuned. Figure 3 is a diagram of a system in which an interactive guide of television programs according to the present invention is implemented. Figure 4 is a diagram of an illustrative remote control for use with the program guide system of the present invention. Figure 5 is an illustrative display screen showing how a highlighted region can be initially placed in the top position in the program list while a video window is used to display the program for the highlighted channel according to the present invention. Figure 6 is an illustrative display screen showing how the highlighted region can be moved from the initial top position in the list of programs of Figure 5 to a position elsewhere in the list without changing the program displayed in the window from PIOUS video in accordance with the present invention. Figure 7 is a display screen, illustrative showing that after the user has re-positioned the highlighted region as shown in Figure 6, the user can synchronize the content of the video window with the program highlighted in accordance with the present invention. Figure 8 is an illustrative display screen showing how the highlighted program in the list and the video window can be synchronized using the next channel and previous channel keys according to the present invention. Figure 9 is an illustrative display screen showing how the user can scroll line by line through the list of programs using the next page and previous page keys according to the present invention. Figure 10 is an illustrative display screen showing how the highlighted region can be repositioned at the top of the list when a synchronization operation using the next channel and previous channel keys causes the program list to highlight a list of programs that is not already present in the display screen according to the present invention.

P1060 Figure 11 is an illustrative information screen according to the present invention. Figure 12 is a flow diagram of the steps involved in the provision of the quick review display screen according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED MODALITIES Conventional program guides have several program listings display screens that allow users to quickly examine the programming of interest. As shown in Figure 1, this conventional program guide displays a grid 10 of television program listings and a video window 12. In the horizontal dimension, the listings of programs in the grid are organized by their scheduled broadcast time. (for example, 7:00, 7:30, and 8:00). In the vertical dimension, the program listings are organized in order by channel. A highlighted region 14 can be placed by a user in a list of programs of interest. The user can see the information for additional channels and schedules by moving the highlighted region to scroll line by line or view in pan through the listings in grid 10. However, the contents of video window 12 are maintained pioeo in constant synchronization with the highlighted region 14. Each time the highlighted region 14 moves, the program in the video window 12 changes to the highlighted program. A description of the currently highlighted program is displayed in the description window 16. There are several disadvantages associated with the arrangement of Figure 1. In particular, the program listing grid 10 has multiple grid cells in the horizontal dimension. If the user is interested only in the programming that is currently broadcasting, the extra cells in the grid of Figure 1 (that is, the cells for future programming) only obstruct the display. In addition, because the content of the video screen 12 and the highlighted region 14 are continuously synchronized, the user can not move the highlighted region to quickly review through the additional program listings without changing the program in the video window 12. This prevents the user from paying close attention to a particular program of interest while the user quickly examines the listings. Another arrangement of a conventional program guide with which a user can quickly review the program listings is shown in Figure 2. In the arrangement of Figure 2, the user can call a quick review mode when they want to quickly review to P10S0 through program listings without changing the current channel. The program guide presents a quick review display 20 which is superimposed on the top of the current channel 22. The user can see the titles 24 of the individual programs for different channels of the current channel22 using the cursor keys to change the channel 26 of examination and time 28 of examination. Nevertheless, the quick fix of Figure 2 does not allow the user to see more than one program title at a time, which tends to make the quick exam inefficient through a large number of listings. In addition, the user can not tune to a channel of interest without leaving the quick review mode. The user also can not see the detailed descriptions of the programs for highlighted programs without taking additional actions in the program guide. In contrast, the present invention provides a program guide having a quick review display that allows a user to quickly examine a list of programs of the currently available programs, with a highlighted region, while viewing a television channel of interest. in a video window. The list of programs is a single cell in width (that is, in the dimension of time) and multiple cells along (that is, in the dimension of the channel). A detailed program description window is provided to display a description of the highlighted list of programs. If the user wants to see the program for a highlighted list of programs, the user can synchronize the contents of the video window to the highlighted list without leaving the quick review display. An illustrative program guide system 30 according to the present invention is shown in Figure 3. The main installation 32 contains a database 34 of the program guide for storing the program guide information such as the television program guide listings data, the ordering information of the pay per show programs , the promotional information of the television programs, etcetera. The information of the database 34 can be transmitted to the television distribution installation 36 via the communications link 38. The link 38 can be a satellite link, a link by telephone network, a link by cable or optical fiber, a microwave link, a combination of these links, or any other communications route, adequate. If it is desired to transmit the video signals on the link 38 in addition to the data signals, a link with a width of P1060 relatively high band such as a satellite link is generally preferred to a link of a relatively low bandwidth such as a telephone line. The television distribution facility 36 is an installation for distributing television signals to users, such as a headend (distribution center) of the cable system, or a broadcast distribution facility, or a satellite television distribution facility . The program guide information transmitted by the main facility 32 to the television distribution facility 36 includes data from the television program listings for current and future television programs. The data of the television program listings for each program preferably includes (without limitation) the title of the program, the channel for the program, a scheduled broadcast time (start time) and an end time (or duration) . Other data of the typical program listings include classifications, ratings according to critics, descriptions, genres (sports, movies, children, etc.), actors, etcetera. The information transmitted from the programs may also include the information of announcements and the data of payment programs, such as P1060 price information for individual programs and subscription channels, time windows for ordering programs and channels, telephone numbers for ordering that can not be ordered using the remote control, and so on. The television distribution installation 36 distributes the television programming and the program guide information to the user's television equipment 40 via multiple communication channels 42 for multiple users. For example, television programming can be distributed over analog channels. television and program guide data may be distributed over an out-of-band channel on routes 42. The data distribution may also comprise the use of one or more digital channels on routes 42. These digital channels are also they can use to distribute television programming and other information. The user's television equipment 40 typically contains adapter units 44. Multiple television and audio channels (analog, digital, or both analog and digital) can be provided to the adapter units 44 via the communication paths 42. If desired, the program listings and other information may be distributed by one or more distribution facilities that are similar but are separate from the installation 36 of P1060 television distribution using the communication routes that are separated from the communication routes 42. Certain functions such as the purchase of the payment channels may require adaptation units 44 to transmit data to the television distribution installation 36 on the routes 42. If desired, this data can be transmitted over telephone lines or other separate communication routes. If functions such as these are provided using separate facilities of the television distribution facility 36, some of the communications comprising the adaptation units 44 can be made directly with the separate facilities. Each user has a receiver, which is typically an adaptation unit 44, but which can be other suitable television equipment in which a circuit set (or circuitry) similar to the circuit set of the adaptation unit has been integrated. The data of the program guide is distributed to the adaptation units 44 periodically. The television distribution facility 36 may also periodically interrogate the adaptation units 44 for certain information (e.g., account information of the pay programs or information with respect to the P1060 programs that have been purchased and viewed using locally generated authorization techniques). The main installation 32 preferably contains a processor to handle the tasks of distributing information. Each adaptation unit 44 preferably contains a processor for handling the tasks associated with the implementation of an interactive guide of television programs in the adaptation unit 44. The television distribution installation 36 may contain a processor for the tasks associated with monitoring the interactions of a user with the interactive program guide implemented in the adaptation units 44 and to handle the tasks associated with the distribution of the program guide data and other information to the user's television set 40. Each matching unit 44 can be connected to a cassette recorder 46 (VCR) so that the selected television programs can be recorded. Each cassette recorder 46 can be connected to a television 48. To record a program, the tuning unit 44 tunes to a particular channel and sends control signals to the cassette recorder 46 (e.g., using an infrared transmitter) which directs the cassette recorder 46 to start and stop recording at appropriate times.

P1060 During the use of the interactive television program guide implemented in the adaptation unit 44, listings of television programs and other information may be displayed on television 48. These program guide displays may be presented in the part of a television program to which the user has tuned to the adaptation unit 44 or can be presented in place of this program. Each adaptation unit 44, cassette recorder 46, and television 48 can be controlled by one or more remote controls 50 or any other input interface, suitable from the user such as a wireless keyboard, mouse, trackball, set dedicated buttons, and so on. An illustrative remote control 50 is shown in Figure 4. In normal operation, the next channel and the previous channel keys 52 (channel keys) can be used to change the channel to which the adaptation unit 44 is tuned. The keys 54 cursor up, down, left and right can be used to place a highlighted region in various menus on the screen and lists of programs presented by the program guide. The next page and previous page keys 56 can be used to scroll line-by-line through program listings in major P1060 increases the cursor keys 54. The selection key 58 can be used to make selections from the menu. The number keys 60 may be used to directly tune to a desired television channel during normal television viewing or may be used to place the highlighted region within the program listings. The exit 62 TV key can be used to exit the program guide and have the tuning unit 44 display the television programming for the current channel on television 48. The return 64 key can be used in the program guide to return to the preview screen. The information key (info) 66 can be pressed when the user has highlighted a list of programs of interest and wants additional information for that list. Various other keys (not shown) can be used for functions such as power control, video cassette recorder (VCR) functions, volume control, and so on. The keys for remote control 50 of Figure 4 represent only an illustrative example of a suitable remote control arrangement. If desired, any other suitable arrangement of remote control keys can be used. As shown in Figure 5, the user can direct the program guide to present the quick review display 70 on the screen 72 of P1060 display so that the user can see a list of current programs 74 while simultaneously viewing a television program in a video window 76. The user can call the quick review display mode using any suitable technique, such as make a menu selection, or preferably, by prng a dedicated button on the remote control 50 such as the selection key 58. The program list 74 preferably is only a single cell or item widthwise (i.e. , in the dimension of time), but it is multiple cells or elements along (that is, in the dimension of the channel). Only the programs that are currently being disseminated (ie, that are provided by the television distribution facility 36 of the Figure 3 via cable, satellite or traditional broadcasting) are included in list 74 of programs, so that list 74 is not obstructed by cells containing information for future programming. Because the list 74 contains multiple program listings in the vertical dimension, the user can scan through a relatively large number of one-page program listings. Both the simplification of the list 74 by displaying only the current programming and the use of multiple listings of programs in the vertical dimension improves the P10S0 user ability to quickly review the program listings for a large number of currently available programs. The quick review display 70 preferably contains a table 78 for a detailed description of the program which contains a detailed text description of the program associated with the list of programs currently highlighted by the highlighted region 80. For example, in the arrangement shown in FIG. Figure 5, the "Jeff Fenholt" program is highlighted, so that the detailed program description table 78 contains a detailed description of the Jeff Fenholt program. The highlighted region can be a region of different hue, color, or pattern, an indicator, the profile of a box, or any other visual indicator, appropriate to the program of interest. The user may place the highlighted region 80 in any of the program listings in the list 74. The highlighted region 80 may be placed using any suitable technique. For example, the highlighted region 80 can be positioned using the cursor keys 54a and 54b up and down (Figure 4). The highlighted region 80 can also be placed in the list for a channel of interest using numeric keys 60. As the user changes the position of the highlighted region 80 with the cursor keys 54 or the P1060 number keys 60, the content of the video window 76 does not change. The television program for the channel to which the adaptation unit 44 is currently tuned continues to be displayed in the video window 76, while the user does not take an action beyond the repositioning of the highlighted region 80 within the list 74. This is shown in Figure 6. Although the user has placed the highlighted region 80 at the top of the program listing for channel 19 of the quick review display of Figure 6, the video in the video window 76 remains tuned to channel 17. The content of the video window 76 is therefore not always in synchronization with the currently highlighted program. However, each time the highlighted region 80 is re-positioned, the description 78 of the program is immediately updated to display the information for the currently highlighted program. This arrangement allows the user to watch an unobstructed video from a television channel of interest while quickly examining the program listings and their automatically received descriptions. If a user who is quickly examining the listings of programs in the list 74 becomes interested in a particular program, the user can direct the program guide to update the window of P1060 video 76 to show the video for that program. For example, if the user becomes interested in the program on channel 19 after reading his description, the user can press a key such as selection key 58 (Figure 4). As shown in Figure 7, when the selection key 58 is pressed, the program guide replaces the video for the current channel (channel 17) in the video window 76 with the video for the new channel of interest (channel 19). ). In this way, the content of the video window 76 can be synchronized with the highlighted program. Another way in which the content of the video window 76 is placed in synchronization with the highlighted region 80 is to use the next channel and the previous channel keys 52 (Figure 4). For example, if the user has highlighted channel 19 while the video window 76 is tuned to channel 17, as shown in Figure 6, subsequently pressing the next channel key 52 (Figure 4) causes the program guide move the highlighted region 80 from the list of programs on channel 19 (Classic Arts Showcase) to the list of programs on channel 18 (Original Gangstas), as shown in Figure 8. At the same time, the program in the window of video 76 is replaced with the program for channel 18, corresponding to the program highlighted by the region P1060 highlighted 80 and thereby synchronizing the video window 76 and the highlighted region 80. Although the use of the key 54 of the next channel generally causes the system to tune the next channel upwards during normal television viewing, when the next channel key 54 is used to move the highlighted region 80 within the list 74, pressing the next channel key 54 causes the system to tune to the next channel further down. With this arrangement, the direction of movement of the highlighted region follows the direction of the next channel and previous channel keys, which may be less confusing to the user than if the direction of movement of the highlighted region were reversed. If the user places the highlighted region 80 in the top or bottom program of the list 74, his additional attempts at moving the highlighted region may cause the program guide to move the list line by line. For example, if the cursor down key 54 is used to move the highlighted region 80 to the bottom program position in the list 74 in Figure 8, (channel 22), pressing the down arrow key is done again that the program guide will display the next program on the list (ie the program for channel 23) as the bottom item of list 74 as long as P1060 moves all other programs in the up position in the list. Line-to-line operations in the other direction are performed in a similar manner. Another way in which the user can quickly review the program listings in the list 74 is to use the keys 56 on the next page and previous page. The use of the page keys allows the user to quickly examine the listings more quickly than using the cursor keys. The program guide preferentially ensures that there is an individual overlap of elements between the programs in list 74 each time the page keys are used. For example, if the user presses the previous page key 56 when the highlighted region 80 and the program list 74 appear as in Figure 8, the program guide redraws the list 74 with the last program in the list of the Figure 8 (Heavy) as the first program in the new list, as shown in Figure 9. The highlighted region 80 is preferably re-positioned in the top program in list 74. The movement of the highlighted region 80 with the next page and previous page keys 56 (or number keys 60) do not cause the program guide to update the program in the video window 76, which therefore remains tuned to the same channel as in the quick review view of Figure 8. When the highlighted region 80 moves towards P1060 up and down through the adjacent listings in the list 74 with the channel keys 52, the program displayed in the video window 76 is in synchronization with the highlighted program as shown in the example of Figures 7 and 8 However, if a next channel key 52 or previous channel 52 is pressed when the program listing for the channel adjacent to the channel in the video window 76 is no longer among the programs displayed in list 74, the program guide may re-trace list 74 with the appropriate channel in the top position of the list. For example, in the quick review display of Figure 9, the program for channel 18 is displayed in video window 76. Pressing the next channel key 52 will cause the program guide to tune the system to the adjacent channel appropriate -channel 17- and displays the program for that channel in the video window 76 as shown in Figure 10. Because the list of programs for the channel 17 program (Jeff Fenholt) does not appear in the list 74 in Figure 9, the program guide does not have the opportunity to simply re-place the highlighted region 80 within the existing list. Accordingly, the program guide displayed list 74 with the list of programs for channel 17 and the region highlighted 80 at the top of the list. The description in the detailed description window 78 remains synchronized with the highlighted program, as always. The program guide can provide an opportunity for the user to obtain additional information regarding a highlighted program. For example, the program guide may allow the user to press the information key such as the information key 66 of Figure 4 which directs the program guide to display the additional information in the form of the information display screen 82. Figure 11. The information display screen 82 (info) may contain the title 84 and a detailed description 86 for the highlighted program. Because more space is available on the information display screen 82 than in the detailed description window 78, more information can generally be provided on the information display screen 82 than in the detailed description window 78. The information that can be provided on the screens such as the information display screen 82 includes program descriptions, classifications, ratings according to the critics, elapsed time, actors, et cetera. The information display screen 82 may contain menu options such as the exit option 88, the arrangement information option 90, the reminder adjustment option 92, and the tuning option 94.

P1060 The user can return to the quick review display 70 by selecting the exit option 88 with the highlighted region 96 or by pressing the backward 64 key (Figure 4) to see the screen previously displayed. The user may select the sorting information option 90 to view the sorting information of the selected program. The user can select the reminder setting option 92 to adjust the reminder. The reminder setting option can be used, for example, if the program is a series and the user wants to remember the next time the program is broadcast. The tuning option 94 can be selected if the user wishes to tune to the listed program. The steps included in the provision of the quick review display screen feature are illustrated in the flow chart of Figure 12. In step 98, the program guide provides the user with an option to call the review display mode. fast For example, the program guide may allow the user to call the quick review display mode by pressing the selection key 58 in Figure 4, while watching a given television channel. If the user calls the quick review view mode, the program guide displays a list of programs such as list 74 in step 100. The list of P1060 programs for the current channel are displayed preferentially in the top position in the list and are highlighted by a suitable highlighted region. The program for the current channel is displayed in the video window 76. In step 102, the program guide allows the user to re-place the highlighted region 80 in a different program listing from the program listing for the program currently displayed. in the video window 76 without changing the program displayed in the video window 76. The description in the window 78 in detailed description is synchronized with the highlighted list of programs. The user can place the highlighted region 80 without changing the program displayed in the video window 76 by using the cursor keys, next page keys and previous page or the numeric keys. Pressing the information key (info) 66 causes the program guide to display the information screen 82 (step 104). Pressing the exit 62 key to TV allows the user to exit the program guide and return to normal television viewing (step 106). If the user presses the selection key 58 after placing the highlighted region 80 in a program listing for a new channel in step 102, the program guide tunes the system to that new channel in step 108. The program for the new channel is displayed in the P10S0 video window 76. Because the program guide also continues to display the list of programs 74 with the highlighted region 80 in the program listing for the new channel, the content of the video window 76 is in sync with the program highlighted If the user presses the next channel keys or previous channel 52 in step 102, the program guide tunes the system in step 110 to a new channel that is adjacent to the channel number to the channel that was displayed in the window of video 76 in step 102. In addition, the program guide displays the list 74 of programs in step 110 with the list of programs for the new adjacent channel highlighted. The foregoing is only illustrative of the principles of the invention and various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

P1060

Claims (24)

1. CLAIMS 1. An interactive television program guide system implemented on a user's television equipment, comprising; a means to simultaneously display (a) a list of programs that contain multiple program listings and that only contain the program listings for the programs that are currently being broadcast and that have a highlighted region to highlight a specific list of program listings , (b) a video window containing an unobstructed view of a television program and (c) a detailed description of the program of the highlighted list of programs; a means for allowing the user to place the highlighted region among the program listings; and a means to automatically update the detailed description of the program to correspond to the highlighted list of programs each time the highlighted region is placed in a new list of programs, while leaving the television program unchanged in the video window.
2. 2. The interactive television program guide system according to claim 1, further comprising means for synchronizing the television program in the video window and the highlighted list of programs. P1060 3. The interactive television program guide system according to claim 2, wherein the means for synchronizing further comprises a means for providing the user with an opportunity to select the highlighted list of programs. The interactive television program guide system according to claim 3, wherein the means for providing the user with an opportunity to select the highlighted program state further comprises a means for allowing the user to select the highlighted list of programs with a remote control selection key. 5. The interactive television program guide system according to claim 3, wherein the means for synchronizing further comprises a means for providing the user with the opportunity to synchronize the television program in the video window and the highlighted list of programs using the keys of the next channel and the previous channel of the remote control. The interactive television program guide system according to claim 3, wherein the means for synchronizing further comprises means for allowing the user to change channels for the television program displayed in the video window to a channel adjacent, while simultaneously placing the region pioeo highlighted at the top of the program status for that channel in the program list. The interactive television program guide system according to claim 1, wherein the means for allowing the user to position the highlighted region further comprises a means for allowing the user to position the highlighted region with the cursor keys of the remote control . The interactive television program guide system according to claim 1, wherein the means for allowing the user to place the highlighted region further comprises a means for allowing the user to place the highlighted region with the following page and page keys Previous of the remote control. 9. The interactive television program guide system according to claim 1, wherein the means for allowing the user to place the highlighted region further comprises a means for allowing the user to place the highlighted region with the numeric keys of the remote control. The interactive television program guide system according to claim 1, further comprising means for providing the user with an opportunity to display an information screen containing an additional description of the highlighted list of P1060 programs. The interactive television program guide system according to claim 1, further comprising a means for providing the user with an opportunity to return to normal television viewing from the list of programs displayed, video window and detailed description of the program, simultaneously displayed. The interactive television program guide system according to claim 1, wherein the means for positioning the highlighted region further comprises a means for positioning the highlighted region each time the user presses the channel keys, the system further comprising: a means to change the channel of the television program displayed in the video window to an adjacent channel each time the user presses one of the channel keys; and a means to display the list of programs with the highlighted region re-positioned at the top of the list at the top of a list of programs for the adjacent channel each time the program listing for the adjacent channel does not appear in the list of programs when the user presses one of the channel keys to change the channels. 13. A method for using a guidance system interactive pioeo of television programs implemented on a user's television equipment, comprising the steps of: simultaneously displaying (a) a list of programs containing multiple program listings, which only contains program listings for programs that are being broadcast currently and that has a highlighted region to highlight a specific list of program listings, (b) a video window that contains an unobstructed view of a television program and (c) a detailed description of the program's highlighted program listing; allow the user to place the highlighted region among the program listings; and automatically update the detailed description of the program to correspond to the highlighted list of programs each time the highlighted region is placed in a new list of programs while leaving the television program in the video window unchanged. The method according to claim 13, further comprising the step of synchronizing the television program in the video window and the highlighted list of programs. 15. The method according to claim 14, in P1060 wherein the step of synchronizing further comprises the step of providing the user with an opportunity to select the highlighted list of programs. 16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the step of providing the user with an opportunity to select the highlighted list of programs further comprises the step of allowing the user to select the highlighted list of programs with a control selection key. remote. The method according to claim 15, wherein the step of synchronizing further comprises the step of providing the user with the opportunity to synchronize the television program in the video window and the highlighted list of programs with the following channel and channel keys Previous of the remote control. The method according to claim 15, wherein the step of synchronizing further comprises the step of allowing the user to change the channel for the television program that is displayed in the video window to an adjacent channel, while simultaneously placing the region highlighted at the top of the list of programs for that channel in the list of programs. The method according to claim 13, wherein the step of allowing the user to place the highlighted region further comprises the step of allowing the User can place the highlighted region with the cursor keys on the remote control. The method according to claim 13, wherein the step of allowing a user to place the highlighted region further comprises the step of allowing the user to place the highlighted region with the next page and previous page keys of the remote control. The method according to claim 13, wherein the step of allowing the user to place the highlighted region further comprises the step of allowing the user to place the highlighted region with the numeric keys of the remote control. The method according to claim 13, further comprising the step of providing the user with an opportunity to display an information screen containing a further description of the highlighted list of programs. The method according to claim 13, further comprising the step of providing the user with an opportunity to return to the normal television viewing of the program list, video window and detailed program description, simultaneously displayed. The method according to claim 13, wherein the step of placing the highlighted region further comprises the step of placing the highlighted region each time P1060 the user presses the channel keys, the method also includes the steps of: changing the channel of the television program displayed in the video window to an adjacent channel each time the user presses one of the channel keys; and display the list of programs with the highlighted region re-positioned at the top of the list at the top of a list of programs for the adjacent channel each time the program listing for the adjacent channel does not appear in the list of programs. programs when the user presses one of the channel keys to change the channels. P1060