KR20100047896A - Systems and methods for recording popular media in an interactive media delivery system - Google Patents

Abstract

In many aspects, systems and methods for recording popular media among a subset of users of an interactive media delivery system using interactive media guidance applications are provided. The systems and methods for recording the popular media generally relate to determining and selecting for recording the popular media according to popularity criteria.

Description

System and method for recording popular media in interactive media delivery system {SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR RECORDING POPULAR MEDIA IN AN INTERACTIVE MEDIA DELIVERY SYSTEM}

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to media systems, and more particularly to recording popular media in interactive media delivery systems using interactive media guidance applications. system and method for recording.

Television programs, pay-per-view (PPV) programs, near-video-on-demand (NVOD) programs, video-on-demand (VOD) programs, Internet delivery Video and audio media, such as video, digitally transmitted music, promotional materials, or other types of media, are typically distributed to viewers over wired and wireless networks.

Viewers and listeners of such media typically record such media in videocassettes, audiocassettes, optical disks, hard disk drives, and other storage media. Products have been developed that allow users to manage their viewing experiences and record media with unprecedented flexibility. Personal video recorders (PVRs), such as those provided by TIVO ^™ , record programs on hard disk drives or other digital storage devices. The user can schedule the programs for recording and play them back later. These systems also record what the user is seeing in real time and allow the user to pause the real-time program, for example, when they have to leave the room. When the user returns to where he left, he can resume watching the program and even fast forward past the advertisement until he reaches the point where the program is currently being offered. The user may also rewind the program. The user may also watch or listen to any media and record the other at the same time.

Audience measurement techniques have long been used to provide information to system providers (eg, television service companies) who want information about the effectiveness of their programs and advertisements. Due to the variety of ways in which a user can access the media, such as recording or playing back media, real-time access measurement techniques for measuring user access and providing information about the number of user accesses to users of recordable media are provided. Proposed. This real-time access measurement technique is described in US Patent Application No. 09 / 823,705 to Berezowski et al. Filed March 30, 2001, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

The present invention seeks to provide a system and method for recording popular media in an interactive media delivery system using an interactive media guidance application.

In accordance with the principles of the present invention, a system and method are provided for recording popular media content using an interactive media guidance application. The various embodiments described herein generally record the most popular currently available programs or currently available programs that meet the popularity threshold. The ability to review automatically recorded popular programs or automatically recorded programs provides the user with what others in the community see.

Recording is performed under the control of a suitable application, such as an interactive media guidance application running on the user's equipment. Alternatively, the recording may be performed remotely on the server, for example by a guided application server application. In such an embodiment, the popular program may be recorded in a space associated with a user on the server, or may be recorded in a shared space used by all users. In some embodiments, a user can individually access each recorded program. In other embodiments, recorded programs may be viewed adjacently as in the playlist.

Popularity can be determined based on any suitable criteria. For example, popularity may simply be based on the number of users currently viewing the program. As an alternative, popularity may be based on the number of recording, playback, or other accesses scheduled for the program. Changes in popularity can be detected at program boundaries. In this case, the entire program is recorded. As an alternative, popularity can be determined continuously, as a result of which a portion of the program (ie "clip") is recorded. As used herein, "program" or "programming" is also intended to refer to a portion of a program. In some embodiments, the guidance application running on the user's equipment determines which program is the most popular or which program meets the minimum popularity threshold based on the popularity information provided by the server. In another embodiment, a server remote to the user's equipment provides identifier data indicating the popularity and only the most popular programs or programs that meet the minimum threshold.

In order to avoid filling the user's storage device (eg, a personal video recorder), a set amount of storage space may be dedicated to the recording of popular currently available programs. If that amount of space is used, the previously recorded program can be over-written to record more recent and / or more popular programs. The amount of space may correspond to an amount of time, for example two hours of video. If desired, a date time can be specified by programming logic or user input to limit when recording occurs (eg, record popular programs only at 6-8 pm).

Records may be limited by user supplied or system defined criteria. For example, the media guide application may receive user input that defines or is based on a monitored user behavior definition, genre or other criteria, and in response may only record popular programs that meet the criteria. The popularity record may be limited by user supplied or system generated demographic criteria to limit the record to those that are popular among user subsets.

For the sake of clarity and not limitation, systems and methods are often referred to herein in connection with recording video-based media content, sometimes referred to herein simply as "programs", such as television programs, VOD programs, or Internet delivery video. It may have been described in. However, it will be appreciated that the systems and methods of the present invention may be applied to any other suitable type of media content, including audio based media content such as digitally transmitted music.

According to the present invention, a system and method for recording popular media in an interactive media delivery system using an interactive media guidance application can be provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon review of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters indicate similar parts throughout the figures thereof.
1 and 2 illustrate example displays that may be used to provide a list of interactive media guide applications in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
3 illustrates an exemplary user equipment device according to one embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a diagram of an exemplary cross-platform interactive media system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a diagram of an exemplary system environment used to determine popular programs in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
6 illustrates an exemplary interactive media guide application display that may be used to set options for recording popular programs in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
7 shows an exemplary display for turning on or off the recording of a popular program in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
8 shows an exemplary display for dedicating space on a storage device to recording popular programs in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
9 shows an exemplary display for setting a defined time period during which a popular program is determined and recorded in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
10 illustrates an example display that may be used to set popularity criteria in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
11 illustrates an example display that may be used to select a user subset of an interactive media delivery system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
12 shows an exemplary display that may be used to exclude from selection for recording a program that does not meet user preferences in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 13 is an exemplary display that may be used to display information such as a list of recorded programs, a popularity level of recorded programs, and statistics about a user of a recorded program within a selected user segment, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. Shows.
14-19 are exemplary process flow diagrams of the steps involved in recording a popular program in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.

The amount of media available to users in any given media delivery system can be significant. As a result, many users desire a form of media guidance through an interface that allows users to efficiently navigate media selections and easily identify the media they may want. An application that provides such guidance is referred to herein as an interactive media guidance application, or sometimes a media guidance application or a guidance application.

Interactive media announcement applications can take various forms depending on the media that provides the announcement. One common type of media guide application is interactive television program guide. Interactive television program announcements (sometimes referred to as electronic program announcements), among other things, include pay-per-view programs, as well as conventional television programs (provided via conventional broadcast, cable, satellite, Internet, or other means), Many, including on-demand programs (such as in video on demand (VOD) systems), Internet content (eg, streaming media, downloadable media, webcasts, etc.), and other types of media or video content. It is a well-known guiding application that allows you to navigate tangible media content and find its location. The guiding application also allows a user to browse and locate content related to video content, including, for example, video clips, articles, advertisements, chat sessions, games, and the like.

With the advent of the Internet, mobile computing, and high-speed wireless networks, users have become increasingly inaccessible to users, such as personal computers (PCs) and handheld computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), cell phones, or other mobile devices. The device is accessing the media. On such a device, users can browse and locate the same media available through the television. As a result, media guidance is also needed in these devices. The guidance provided may be for media content available only through television, for media content available only through one or more of these devices, or for media content available through both television and one or more of these devices. It may be. The media guidance application may be provided as a standalone application or client on a handheld computer, PDA, mobile television, or other mobile device, or as an online application (ie, provided on a website). Various devices and platforms that can implement media guidance applications are described in greater detail below.

One of the functions of the media guide application is to provide users with media lists and media information, with which users can record programs and view archived programs. 1, 2 and 6-13 illustrate exemplary displays that may be used to provide media guidance and specifically media listing and recording options. The displays shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 6-13 may be implemented on any suitable device or platform. Although the displays of FIGS. 1, 2 and 6-13 are shown as full screen displays, these displays may also completely or partially cover the media content being displayed. The user selects a selectable option (e.g. menu option, list option, icon, hyperlink, etc.) provided on the display or presses a dedicated button (e.g. GUIDE button) on the remote control or other user input interface or device. This may indicate that the user wants to access the media information. In response to the user's indication, the media guide application may be in one of several ways, for example, in the form of a grid by time and channel, by time, by channel, by media type, by category (eg, movie, sports, News, children, or other program categories), record priorities, record order, or other predefined, user-defined or other organizational criteria, such as display with media information organized.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example grid program list display 100 that allows access to different types of media content on a single display and is arranged by time and channel. The display 100 may include a grid 102, which comprises (1) a column 104 of channel / media type identifiers (each channel / media type identifier (which is a cell in the column) is a different available channel. Or media type), and (2) a row of time identifiers 106 (each time identifier (which is a cell in a row) identifies a time block of a program). Grid 102 also includes a cell of program listings, such as program listing 108, where each listing provides the title of a program that is provided in the associated channel and time of that listing. Other information and indicators may also be included in the grid cells. Using the user input device, the user may move the highlight area 110 to select a program list. Information about the program list selected by the highlight area 110 may be provided to the program information area 112. Area 112 may include, for example, program title, program description, time the program is provided (if applicable), channel on which the program is broadcast (if applicable), rating of the program, and whether the program is being recorded, May include conflicting information or any other desired information such as any other desired information.

In addition to providing access to linear programs provided on a schedule, the media guidance application also provides access to non-linear programs that are not provided on a schedule. Non-linear programs can include on-demand media content (eg, VOD), Internet content (eg, streaming media, downloadable media, etc.), locally stored media content (eg, digital video recorders (DVRs), DVDs). Video content stored on a video cassette, compact disc (CD), etc.), or other time-sensitive media content. On-demand content may include both movies and original media content provided by a particular media provider (eg, HBO On Demand provides "The Sopranos" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm"). HBO ON DEMAND is a Time Warner Company L.P. And other service marks. THE SOPRANOS and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM are trademarks of Home Box Office, Inc. It is a trademark owned. Internet content may include web events, such as chat sessions or webcasts, or content available upon order as streaming media or downloadable media via an Internet web site or other Internet access (eg, FTP). Non-linear program content may also include digital image and text based information, digital music, and other audio content.

The grid 102 may provide a list for non-linear programs, including an on-demand list 114, a recorded media list 116, and an internet content list 118. Displays that combine lists for content from different types of media sources are sometimes referred to as "mixed media" displays. Various substitutions of the list of types that can be displayed other than the display 100 are user-selected or guided application definitions (e.g., a display that lists popular programs recorded, such as the display shown in FIG. , Etc.). As illustrated, the lists 114, 116, 118 provide a grid 102 to indicate that the selection of these lists can provide access to displays dedicated to on-demand lists, recorded lists, or Internet lists, respectively. Are shown over the entire time block displayed in In other embodiments, a list of these media types may be included directly in the grid 102. Additional lists may be displayed in response to the user selecting one of the navigation icons 120. (Pressing an arrow key on the user input device can affect the display in a similar manner to selecting the navigation icon 120.)

Display 100 may also include a video area 122, an advertising area 124, and an option area 126. Video area 122 may allow a user to view and / or preview a program that is currently available, available, or available to the user. The content of video region 122 may correspond to or be unrelated to one of the lists displayed in grid 102. Lattice displays that include a video region are sometimes referred to as picture-in-guide (PIG) displays. PIG displays and their functions are described in more detail in US Pat. No. 6,564,378 to Satterfield et al., Filed May 13, 2003, and US Pat. No. 6,239,794 to Yuen et al., May 29, 2001. These are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. PIG displays may also be included in other media guidance application displays of the present invention.

Advertisement 124 provides advertisements for media content that is currently visible, that will be visible in the future, or never, depending on the viewer's access rights (eg, for subscription programs). May, or may not correspond to or unrelated to, one or more of the media lists in grid 102. The advertisement 124 may also be for a product or service related to or unrelated to the media content displayed on the grid 102. The advertisement 124 may be selectable, may provide future information about the media content, may provide information about the product or service, enable the purchase of the media content, product or service, Provide media content related to advertising, and the like. The advertisement 124 may be targeted based on the user's profile / preference, monitored user behavior, type of display provided, or other suitable target advertisement base.

Although advertisement 124 is shown in a rectangular or banner shape, the advertisement may be provided in any suitable size, shape, and location in the guidance application display. For example, the advertisement 124 may be provided in a rectangular shape horizontally adjacent to the grid 102. This is sometimes called a panel advertisement. In addition, the advertisement may be covering or embedded within the media content or guiding application display. The advertisement may also include text, images, rotating images, video clips, or other types of media content. The advertisement may be stored in the user equipment with the guidance application, in a database connected to the user equipment, in a remote location (including a streaming media server), or in other storage means or a combination of these locations. Providing an advertisement in a media guided application is described, for example, in US Patent Application No. 10 / 347,673, filed Jan. 17, 2003, Ward, III, et al. US Pat. No. 6,756,997, and US Pat. No. 6,388,714 to Schein et al., Issued May 14,2002, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. It will be appreciated that advertisements may be included in other media guided application displays of the present invention.

The option area 126 may allow a user to access different types of media content, media guide application display, and / or media guide application features. Option area 126 may be part of display 100 (and other displays of the present invention) or may be invoked by a user by selecting an on-screen option or pressing a dedicated or assignable button on a user input device. Selectable options in option area 126 may relate to features related to program listings in grid 102 or may include options available from the main menu display. Features related to the program listing include: searching for different broadcast times or receiving a program, recording a program, enabling series recording of a program, modifying the recording priority of a program, program and / or It may include a way to set the channel as a favorite, a way to purchase a program, or other features. Options available from the main menu display may include search options, VOD options, parental control options, access to various types of list displays, subscription to premium services, editing user profiles, access to browse overlays, or other options. Can be.

The media guide application can be personalized based on the user's preferences. The personalized media guide application allows the user to customize the display and features to create a personalized "experience" as a media guide application. This personalized experience can be created by allowing a user to enter such customizations and / or by monitoring user behavior such that the media guidance application determines various user preferences. The user can access the personalized guidance application by logging in or identifying the guidance application. Customization of the media guide application can be done according to the user profile. This customization can be applied to various presentation schemes (e.g., color scheme of display, font size of text, etc.), aspects of the list of media content displayed (e.g., only HDTV programs, recorded popular programs, favorite channel selection). Custom broadcast channels based on, reordering the display of channels, recommended media content, etc., desired recording characteristics (e.g., recording or series recording for a particular user, popular program recording, recording quality, program recording priority) , Recording and cropping options, etc.), parental control settings, and other desired customizations.

The media guide application may allow a user to provide user profile information or may automatically compile user profile information. The media guide application may, for example, monitor the media that the user has access to and / or other interactions the user may have as the guide application. In addition, the media guide application may include, for example, other web sites on the Internet accessed by the user, such as www.tvguide.com, other media guide applications that the user accesses, and other interactive applications that the user may access. , From a user's handheld device, and so on), to obtain all or some of the other user profiles related to a particular user and / or to the user from other sources accessible to the media guidance application. Information can be obtained. As a result, the user can be provided with an integrated guided application experience across the user's different devices. This type of user experience is described in more detail with respect to FIG. 4 below. Additional personalized media guidance application features include U.S. Patent Application No. 11 / 179,410 to Ellis et al. Filed Jul. 11, 2005, and US Patent Application No. 09 / 437,304 to Boyer et al., Filed Nov. 9, 1999. And US Patent Application No. 10 / 105,128 to Ellis et al., Filed February 21, 2002, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

Another display configuration for providing media guidance is shown in FIG. 2. Video mosaic display 200 includes selectable options 202 for media content information organized based on media type, genre, and / or other organizational criteria. In the display 200, the television list option 204 is selected, thus providing the list 206, 208, 210, 212 as a list of broadcast programs. Unlike the list of FIG. 1, the list on the display 200 is not limited to simple text (eg, program title) and icons describing the media. Rather, in display 200, lists may include cover art, still images from media content, video clip previews, live video from media content, or other type of media that informs the user of the media content described by the list. It may provide a graphic image comprising a. Each graphical list may also be followed by text to provide additional information about the media content associated with the list. For example, the list 208 may include more than one portion, including the media portion 214 and the text portion 216. Media portion 214 and / or text portion 216 may be used to view the video in full screen or to view a list of programs associated with the video displayed in media portion 214 (eg, for the channel on which the video is being displayed). May be selectable).

The lists in the display 200 are of different sizes (ie, the list 206 is larger than the lists 208, 210, 212), but if desired, all lists may be the same size. The listings may be sized differently or graphically highlighted to indicate the user's interest or to highlight some content as desired by the media provider or based on user preferences. Various systems and methods for graphically highlighting media listings are described, for example, in US patent application Ser. No. 11 / 324,202, filed Dec. 29, 2005, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. This is included herein.

The user can access the media content and media guidance application (its display described above and also below) from one or more of his user equipment devices. 3 illustrates a generalized embodiment of an example user equipment device 300. A more specific implementation of the user equipment device is described below with respect to FIG. 4. User equipment device 300 may receive media content and data via an input / output (hereinafter, “I / O”) path 302. I / O path 302 may provide media content (eg, broadcast programs, on-demand programs, Internet content, and other video or audio) and data to control circuit 304, which controls circuit 304. Includes a processing circuit 306 and a storage device 308. The control circuit 304 directs the recording of the information by dedicating the space on the storage device (eg, the storage device 308), and directs the display of information on the display device (eg, the display 312). Can be used. Control circuit 304 may be used to send and receive commands, requests, and other suitable data using I / O path 302. I / O path 302 may connect control circuit 304 (specifically, processing circuit 306) to one or more communication paths (described below). I / O functionality may be provided by one or more of these communication paths, but is shown as one path in FIG. 3 to avoid overly complex drawings.

The control circuit 304 may be based on any suitable processing circuit 306, such as processing circuitry based on one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, programmable logic devices, and the like. In some embodiments, control circuit 304 executes instructions for a media guidance application stored in memory (ie, storage 308). In a client-server based embodiment, the control circuit 304 may include communication circuitry suitable for communicating with a guided application server, a remote recording server, or other network or server. The communication circuit may include a cable modem, an integrated services digital network (ISDN) modem, a digital subscriber line (DSL) modem, a telephone modem, or a wireless modem for communicating with other equipment. Such communication may involve the Internet or any other suitable communication network or path (which is described in more detail with respect to FIG. 4). In addition, the communication circuitry may include circuitry that enables peer-to-peer communication of user equipment devices, or communication of user equipment devices in remote locations (described in more detail below).

Memory (eg, random access memory, read-only memory, or any other suitable memory), hard drive, optical drive, or any other suitable fixed or removable storage device (eg, DVD recorder, CD recorder, video) Cassette recorder, or other suitable recording device) may be provided as the storage device 308 that is part of the control circuit 304. Storage device 308 may include one or more of the above types of storage devices. For example, user equipment device 300 may include a hard drive for a DVR (sometimes referred to as a personal video recorder) and a DVD recorder as secondary storage. Storage device 308 includes various types of media and guide application data described herein, including program information, guide application settings, user preference or profile information, popularity information, or other data used to operate the guide application. Can be used to store Non-volatile memory can also be used (eg, to start bootup routines and other instructions).

The control circuit 304 may include one or more analog tuners, one or more MPEG (eg, MPEG-2, MPEG-4) decoders or other digital decoding circuits, high resolution tuners, or any other suitable tuning or video circuits or such circuits. Video generation circuitry and tuning circuitry, such as combinations thereof. Encoding circuits may also be provided (eg, for converting, during broadcast, analog or digital signals into MPEG signals for storage). The control circuit 304 may also include scaler circuitry that upconverts and downconverts the media to the desired output format of the user equipment 300. Circuit 304 may also include a digital-to-analog converter circuit and an analog-to-digital converter circuit for converting between digital and analog signals. Tuning, encoding, and decoding circuitry may be used by user equipment to receive, display, play, or record media content. The tuning and encoding circuit can also be used to receive the guide data. For example, the circuitry described herein, including tuning, video generation, encoding, decoding, scaler, and analog / digital circuitry, can be implemented using software running on one or more general purpose or dedicated processors. . Multiple tuners may be provided to handle concurrent tuning functions (eg, viewing and recording functions, picture-in-picture (PIP) functions, multiple tuner recording, etc.). If storage device 308 is provided as a separate device from user equipment 300, tuning and encoding circuitry (including multiple tuners) may be associated with storage device 308.

The user can control the control circuit 304 using the user input interface 310. The user input interface 310 can be any suitable user interface, such as a remote control, mouse, trackball, keypad, keyboard, touch screen, touch pad, stylus input, joystick, voice recognition interface, or other user input interface. The display 312 may be provided as a standalone device or integrated into other elements of the user equipment device 300. The display 312 may be one or more of a monitor, television, liquid crystal display (LCD) for mobile devices, or any other equipment suitable for displaying visual images. In some embodiments, the display 312 may support HDTV. Speaker 314 may be provided integrated with other elements of user equipment device 300 or may be a standalone unit. Audio components of video and other media content displayed on display 312 may be played through speaker 314. In some embodiments, the audio may be distributed to a receiver (not shown) that processes the audio and outputs it through the speaker 314.

The user equipment device 300 of FIG. 3 may access media such as user television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404, wireless user communication device 406, or a non-portable game machine in the system 400 of FIG. 4. It may be implemented as any other type of user equipment suitable. For simplicity, these devices may be collectively referred to herein as user equipment or user equipment devices. The user equipment device on which the media guidance application is implemented may function as a standalone device or may be part of a network of devices. Various network configurations of devices can be implemented, which are described in more detail below.

User television equipment 402 may include a set top box, an integrated receiver decoder (IRD) that processes satellite television, a television set, a digital storage device, a DVD recorder, a video cassette recorder (VCR), a local media server, or other user television equipment. Can be. One or more of these devices may be integrated into a single device, if desired. User computer equipment 404 may include a PC, laptop, tablet, WebTV box, personal computer television (PC / TV), PC media server, PC media center, or other user computer equipment. WEBTV is a trademark owned by Microsoft Corp. The wireless user communication device 406 can include a PDA, a mobile phone, a portable video player, a portable music player, a handheld game console, or other wireless device.

Note that with the advent of the integration of video into television tuner cards for PCs, WebTV, and other user equipment devices, the boundaries are blurred when trying to classify devices as one of the devices. Indeed, each of user television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404, and wireless user communication device 406 may utilize at least some of the system features described above in connection with FIG. It may include flexibility with regard to the type of media content that is possible. For example, user television equipment 402 may support the Internet to enable access to Internet content, while user computer equipment 404 may include a tuner to enable access to television programs. The media guide application may also have the same layout on various different types of user equipment, or may be adapted to the display capabilities of the user equipment. For example, on a user computer device, the guidance application may be provided as a web site accessed by a web browser. In another example, the guidance application may be reduced in functionality for the wireless user communication device.

In system 400, typically there are more than one of each type of user equipment device, but only one of each type is shown in FIG. 4 to avoid overly complex drawings. In addition, each user may have more than one type of user equipment device (eg, the user may have a television set and a computer), and also more than one number of each type of user equipment The device (eg, the user may have a PDA and mobile phone and / or multiple television sets).

The user can also set various settings to maintain consistent media guidance application settings across home and remote devices. The settings include the settings described herein, as well as the program preferences, display preferences, and other preferred guidance settings that the favorite channels and programs, guidance applications use to make program recommendations. For example, if a user sets up a channel as a favorite on a website www.tvguide.com, for example, on his or her personal computer at his office, the same channel is the user's home devices (e.g., User television equipment and user computer equipment), as well as user mobile devices if desired. Thus, regardless of whether the devices are the same or different types of user equipment devices, changes made on one user equipment device may change the guided experience on another user equipment device. In addition, the changes made can be based on the settings entered by the user as well as the user behavior monitored by the guide application.

The user equipment device may be coupled to the communication network 414. That is, user television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404, and wireless user communication device 406 are each coupled to communication network 414 via communication paths 408, 410, 412. The communication network 414 may include one or more of the Internet, a mobile telephone network, a mobile device (eg, Blackberry) network, a cable network, a public switched telephone network (PSTN), or any other type of communication network or combination of communication networks. It may be a network. BLACKBERRY is a Research In Motion Limited Corp. Owned service mark. The paths 408, 410, 412, individually or together, include satellite paths, fiber optic paths, cable paths, paths that support Internet communication (e.g., IPTV), free space connections (e.g., broadcast or other wireless signals). ), Or any other suitable wired or wireless communication path or combination of such paths. The path 412 is shown in dashed lines to indicate that it is a wireless path in the example embodiment shown in FIG. 4, and the paths 408 and 410 are shown in solid lines to indicate that it is a wired path (but, if desired, these are Path may be a wireless path). Communication with the user equipment device may be provided by one or more of these communication paths, but in FIG. 4 is shown as one path to avoid overly complex drawings.

Although communication paths between user equipment devices are not shown, these devices may include USB cables, IEEE 1394 cables, wireless paths (e.g., Bluetooth, infrared, Other short-range point-to-point communication paths such as IEEE 802-11x, etc., or other short-range communication via wired or wireless paths. BLUETOOTH is a Bluetooth SIG, INC. It is owned certification mark. The user equipment devices may also communicate with each other directly via an indirect path through the communication network 414.

System 400 includes a media content source 416 and a media guide data source 418 coupled to communication network 414 via communication paths 420 and 422, respectively. The paths 420, 422 can include any of the communication paths described above with respect to the paths 408, 410, 412. Communication with media content source 416 and media guide data source 418 may be exchanged over one or more communication paths, but in FIG. 4 is shown in a single path to avoid overly complex drawings. In addition, although there may be more than one media content source 416 and media guide data source 418 each, only one is shown in FIG. 4 to avoid overly complex drawings. (Each of these different types of sources is described below.) If desired, the media content source 416 and the media guide data source 418 can be integrated as one source device. Although communication between the sources 416, 418 and the user equipment devices 402, 404, 406 is shown through the communication network 414, in some embodiments, the sources 416, 418 are routed 408, 410. 412 may communicate directly with the user equipment device 402, 404, 406 via a communication path (not shown), such as those described above.

Media content source 416 may be a television distribution facility, cable system headend, satellite distribution facility, program source (e.g., television stations such as NBC, ABC, HBO, etc.), intermediate distribution facility and / or server, internet provider, on demand One or more types of media distribution equipment, including media servers, and other media content providers. NBC is a National Broadcasting Company, Inc. ABC is a trademark owned by ABC, INC. HBO is a trademark owned by Home Box Office, Inc. It is a trademark owned. Media content source 416 may be the creator of media content (eg, a television station, webcast provider, etc.) or may not be the creator of media content (eg, on-demand media content provider, broadcast for download). Internet provider of the video content of the program, etc.). Media content source 416 may include a cable source, satellite provider, on-demand provider, internet provider, or other media content provider. Media content source 416 may also include a remote media server that is used to store different types of media content (including video content selected by a user) in a remote location from any of the user equipment devices. have. Popular programs can be recorded in the space associated with a user on a remote media server or in a shared space used by all users. Systems and methods for remote storage of media content and providing remotely stored media content to user equipment are described in more detail in US patent application Ser. No. 09 / 332,244, filed June 11, 1999, which is herein incorporated by reference. The entire contents are incorporated herein by reference.

The media guidance data source 418 may include a media list, media related information (e.g., broadcast time, broadcast channel, media title, media description, rating information (e.g., parental control rating, critic rating, etc.), genre or Category information, actor information, logo data for the broadcaster's or provider's logo, etc., media format (e.g., standard resolution, high resolution, other), advertising information (e.g., text, images, media clips, etc.), Media guidance data may be provided, such as on-demand information, popularity information, and any other type of guidance data that helps the user navigate and find the desired media choice.

The media guide application data can be provided to the user equipment device using any suitable approach. In some embodiments, the guidance application may be an independent conversation that receives program guidance data via a data feed (eg, a continuous feed, trickle feed, or data within the vertical blanking interval of the channel). It can be a type television program guide. Program schedule data, popularity information, and other announcement data is transmitted over the television channel sideband, in the vertical blanking interval of the television channel, using in-band digital signals, using out-of-band digital signals, or any other suitable data. It can be provided to the user equipment by the technique. Program schedule data, popularity information, and other announcement data may be provided to user equipment via multiple analog or digital television channels. Program schedule data, popularity information, and other guidance data are provided to the user equipment at any suitable frequency (eg, continuously, daily, user specified period, system specified period, in response to a request from the user equipment, etc.). Can be. In some approaches, guide data from the media guide data source 418 may be provided to the user equipment using a client-server approach. For example, the guidance application client residing on the user's equipment may initiate a session with the source 418 to obtain the guidance data when needed. The media guide data source 418 can provide the user equipment device 402, 404, 406 with software updates for the media guide application itself or for the media guide application.

The media guide application can be, for example, a standalone application implemented on a user equipment device. In other embodiments, the media announcement application may be a client-server application, in which case only the client resides on the user equipment device. For example, the media announcement application may be implemented in part as a client application on the control circuit 304 (FIG. 3) of the user equipment device 300 and in part by a server application (eg, media announcement on a remote server). Data source 418. The guide application display can be generated by the media guide data source 418 and sent to the user equipment device. Media guide data source 418 can also transmit data for storage on user equipment, which user equipment then generates guide application display based on instructions processed by the control circuitry.

Media guidance system 400 is intended to represent a number of approaches or network configurations in which a user equipment device and a source of media content and guidance data may communicate with each other to access and provide media guidance. The present invention can be applied to any or some of these approaches, or to a system employing other approaches for delivering media and providing media guidance. The following three approaches provide specific examples of the generalized example of FIG. 4.

In one approach, user equipment devices may communicate with each other within a home network. The user equipment devices may communicate directly with each other via the short-range point-to-point communication scheme described above, via an indirect path via a hub or other similar device provided on a home network, or through a communication network 414. Can be. Each of a number of individuals in a home can operate different user equipment devices on a home network. As a result, it may be desirable for various media guidance information or settings to be communicated between different user equipment devices. For example, as described in more detail in US patent application Ser. No. 11 / 179,410 to Ellis et al., Filed Jul. 11, 2005, a user sets up a consistent media guidance application on different user equipment devices in a home network. It may be desirable to maintain. Different types of user equipment devices in a home network may also communicate with each other to transmit media content. For example, a user can transfer media content from a user computer equipment to a portable video player or a portable music player.

In a second approach, a user may have many types of user equipment that accesses media content and obtains media guidance. For example, some users may have a home network accessed by in-home devices and mobile devices. The user can control the in-home device through a media guidance application implemented on the remote device. For example, a user may access an online media guide application on a website through a personal computer in his or her office or through a mobile device such as a PDA or web-enabled mobile phone. The user can set various settings on the online guidance application (eg, record, reminder, or other settings) to control the user's home equipment. The online announcement can control the user equipment directly or by communicating with a media announcement application on the user's home equipment. Various systems and methods for communicating user equipment devices when the user equipment devices are in remote locations are described, for example, in US patent application Ser. No. 10 / 927,814, filed August 26, 2004, and the like. , Which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

In a third approach, users of user equipment devices in and out of the home can communicate directly with the media content source 416 to access media content using their media guidance application. Specifically, within a home, users of user television equipment 402 and user computer equipment 404 can access a media guidance application to search for and find desired media content. The user can also access the media guide application outside the home using the wireless user communication device 406 to browse and find the desired media content.

Although the description of media content focuses on video content, it will be appreciated that the principles of media guidance can be applied to other types of media content such as music, images, and the like.

5 illustrates a diagram of a system that may be used to determine popular programs in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. In particular, FIG. 5 shows the equipment of users of an interactive media delivery system connected to a remote server 502 via a communication network 508. Control circuitry of the remote server 502 includes a processing circuit 504 and a storage device 506. The control circuitry of the remote server 502 can be used to send and receive commands, requests, and other suitable data, dedicate space on the storage device to instruct the recording of information, and direct the display of information on the display device. . The control circuit of remote server 502 may be based on any suitable processing circuit 504, such as processing circuitry based on one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, programmable logic devices, and the like. In some embodiments, the control circuitry of the remote server 502 executes instructions for a media guidance application stored in memory (ie, storage 506). User equipment may include user television equipment 402 (FIG. 4), user computer equipment 404 (FIG. 4), or wireless user communication device 406 (FIG. 4). User equipment is described in connection with FIG. 3. The remote server 502 may be part of the media guide data source 418 (FIG. 4). It receives data indicative of the user's program selection from the user's equipment (eg, user equipment 510-540 of FIG. 5) connected via communication network 508 (FIG. 5). Based on this data, a popular program is determined. For example, user equipment 510 may obtain input from user 1 through user input interface 310 (FIG. 3) to record a popular program between users 2 through N. User equipment 510 sends user input to remote server 502 (FIG. 5). In one embodiment, remote server 502 processes data indicative of program selection of users 2 through N to generate identifier data representing popular media, and sends this identifier data to user equipment 510 (e.g., For example, with reference to FIGS. 16 and 19). In another embodiment, user equipment 510 receives popular information, such as data representing program selections of users 2 through N, from remote server 502 and processes the information to generate identifier data representing popular media ( 15, 18, for example). Popularity information may also be provided by a third party (eg, Nielsen) that tracks user activity. Popular programs between users 2 through N may also be determined by sampling a subset of users (eg, statistical sampling representing program selection of users 3 through N-1) and then inferring from that sample. Any suitable sampling and inference algorithm / technique may be used. Sampling / inference can be performed, for example, by a remote server 502 control circuitry under the control of a guided application server application instruction or by a third party (eg, Nielsen).

6 illustrates an example dialog that may be used to set options for recording popular programs that may be displayed on display 312 (FIG. 3) of user equipment device or media device 402, 404, 406 (FIG. 4). Type media guide application display. The options may be set based on system generated inputs or user inputs, such as, for example, user guide data feeds, and a suitable warning message may be displayed if any settings are inappropriate. Specifically, FIG. 6 shows a header area 601 having a header identifier area 604 and a description area 605, an option selection area 603, and a video area that may be used to display video, messages, or other information. 602 (sometimes referred to as a “PIG” area) is shown. In an interactive media guide application, the display area can use scrolling to display additional information. Box 616 displays the current time. In the example of FIG. 6, header area 601 represents the functional category ("General Settings") in which the interactive media guidance application currently resides. The option selection area 603 includes an option area 608 and a detail area 610. The option area 608 displays the available options under the function category and displays the available suboptions under that option when the option is highlighted. Details area 610 displays the status of the option when the option is highlighted at 608 and displays the details of that option when the option is selected at 608. Description area 605 displays a description of the highlighted option. When an option for recording a popular program is set based on user input, the user may enter information through the user input interface 310 (FIG. 3). Highlighting an option at 608 may be done, for example by searching through the user input interface 310 (FIG. 3) until the desired option is highlighted on the display 312 (FIG. 3). When the desired option is highlighted, selecting an option at 608 may be made, for example, by pressing the select button 612 on the user input interface 310 (FIG. 3). In the example of FIG. 6, the option "Record Popular Programs" 606 under the function category "General settings" is highlighted in the option area 608. Thus, the option area 608 displays the available suboptions under "Record Popular Programs", the detail area 610 displays the status of the suboptions, and the description area 605 is assigned to the "Record Popular Programs" option. Display the description. For example, exiting the display 600 may be accomplished by pressing the exit button 614 on the user input interface 310. Any other suitable option may be included in the option area 608. For example, "Pop-Up Alerts" may be included as a suboption under "Record Popular Programs" and listed under "Display Results" in area 608. If "Pop-Up Alerts" is on, this means, for example, that the current viewer / user is informed that another program on another channel has just met some popular criteria, and that they have the option to tune to or record that program. It will pop up a display that presents to the viewer / user. For example, "Pop-Up Alerts" may be set to display a pop-up alert if 20% of current viewers in Zip Code 91030 are watching a comedy show. The popularity criteria for "Pop-Up Alerts" can be set using a display similar to the "Set Popularity Criteria" display (the "Set Popularity Criteria" display is described in relation to FIG. 10).

7 illustrates an example interactive media guide application display that may be used to turn on or off the recording option of a popular program. This display may be displayed on the display 312 (FIG. 3) of the user equipment device or media device 402, 404, 406 (FIG. 4). Specifically, FIG. 7 shows an exemplary interactive media guide application display 700 that is displayed after the "On / Off" suboption of "Record Popular Programs" is highlighted and selected in FIG. The description area 705 shows a description of the selected option. Option area 608 represents selected option 706. Detail area 710 represents the setting ("ON" or "OFF") for the selected option. For example, by pressing the select button 612 on the user input interface 310 (FIG. 3), turning on the "Record Popular Programs" option can be done. In the example of FIG. 7, navigate through user input interface 310 (FIG. 3) until the desired setting (“OFF”) is highlighted on display 700 and then user input interface 310 (FIG. 3). Turning off the " Record Popular Programs "

8 illustrates an example interactive media guide application display that can be used to dedicate space on a storage device to recording a popular program. The storage device is based on any number of storage media including 308 (FIG. 3) in a user's equipment, 506 (FIG. 5) in a server remote from the user's equipment, or an optical drive, hard disk drive, and flash memory. It may be an internal or external storage device. This display may be displayed on the display 312 (FIG. 3) of the user equipment device or media device 402, 404, 406 (FIG. 4). Specifically, FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary interactive media guide application display 800 displayed after the "Allocate Storage Space" suboption of "Record Popular Programs" is highlighted and selected in FIG. The description area 805 shows a description of the selected option. Option area 608 represents selected option 806. Detail area 810 shows the available settings for the selected option. In the example of FIG. 8, detail area 810 indicates that 80% of the total storage capacity of the storage device is available for recording popular programs, and 1 to the user representing 1% to 80% of the total capacity of the storage device. You are asked to enter a number between 80. When the "Allocate Storage Space" option is set based on a user input, the user may enter information through the user input interface 310 (FIG. 3). For example, use the navigation features of user input interface 310 (FIG. 3) to highlight the available settings 818, and use user input interface 310 (FIG. 3) to number '3' 0 '. By pressing and pressing the select button 612 on the user input interface 310 (FIG. 3), it is possible to dedicate 30% of the total storage capacity to recording the popular program. The amount of storage device allocated may be expressed in other ways than a percentage of the total capacity of the storage device. For example, the amount of storage allocated can be expressed in physical size (eg 2 GB or 500 MB), in writing length (eg 2 hours), or using any other suitable approach. If an inappropriate allocation is entered (eg, the desired space is larger than the available space), the interactive media guidance application may display a suitable warning message on the display 312 (FIG. 3). Although the description of FIG. 8 refers to the option as being set by the user, the system (eg, interactive media guidance application, user equipment device 300 (FIG. 3) or remote server 502 (FIG. 5)) Can automatically set the option by dedicating the appropriate amount of space to the recording based on the space available in the storage device. The storage device with dedicated space may be located in the user's equipment (eg, storage 308 of FIG. 3) or in a server remote from the user's equipment (eg, storage 506 of FIG. 5). Can be. The dedicated space at 506 may be in a shared space associated with or used by all users. Recording popular media can overwrite previously recorded media when the dedicated space is full.

9 illustrates an example interactive media guide application display that may be used to set the start and end times of a defined period of time while a popular program is determined and recorded. This display may be displayed on the display 312 (FIG. 3) of the user equipment device or media device 402, 404, 406 (FIG. 4). Specifically, FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary interactive media guide application display 900 that is displayed after the "Set Time Period" suboption of "Record Popular Programs" in FIG. 6 is highlighted and selected. The description area 905 shows a description of the selected option. Option area 608 represents selected option 906. Details area 910 shows the available settings for the selected option. For example, use the navigation features of the user input interface 310 (FIG. 3) to highlight the available settings 918 and use the user input interface 310 (FIG. 3) to enter the desired date and time in the appropriate fields. By input, setting the start time can be made. Setting the end time follows a similar procedure. Accept the setting that was just entered by pressing the select button 612 on the user input interface 310 (FIG. 3). Other ways to define the period can be presented by the interactive media guidance application, for example, every time the user's television is turned off or as long as the "Record Popular Programs" option is turned on. In the example of FIG. 9, detail region 910 indicates that the start time is set to 9:00 AM on July 31, 2007 and the end time is set to 8:00 PM on August 1, 2007. If an inappropriate period is entered (eg, the end time occurs earlier than the start time), the interactive media guidance application may display a suitable alert message on the display 312 (FIG. 3). The "Set Time Period" option is used to detect a change in popularity at a program boundary instead of successively determining the popularity (e.g., once the recording of a popular program begins, the program resumes determining popularity). The whole is recorded before it is made available). Although the description of FIG. 9 refers to the option as being set by the user, the system may also automatically set a suitable defined period of time (eg, one week, whenever the user's television is turned off, or the "Record Popular Programs" option). As long as it is on).

10 illustrates an example interactive media guide application display that may be used to set popularity criteria used to determine popular programs. This display may be displayed on the display 312 (FIG. 3) of the user equipment device or media device 402, 404, 406 (FIG. 4). Specifically, FIG. 10 shows an exemplary interactive media guide application display 1000 that is displayed after the "Set Popularity Criteria" suboption of "Record Popular Programs" in FIG. 6 is highlighted and selected. The description area 1005 shows a description of the selected option. Option area 608 represents selected option 1006. Detail area 1010 shows the available settings for the selected option. In the example of FIG. 10, the popularity of a program is based on the number of users of an interactive media delivery system that is watching / using the program, or who is recording / recording / scheduling the program, or all of the foregoing. Can be determined. Given the number of users scheduled to record a program, it provides an advance indication of program popularity, enables the determination of a popular program before it is shown, and so recording can begin at the beginning of the program. The "Set Popularity Criteria" option may allow popularity to be determined based on additional suitable criteria (eg, only popular programs from a particular genre). For example, the navigation feature of the user input interface 310 (FIG. 3) is used to highlight the available settings 1018, and the user input interface 310 (FIG. 3) is used to watch / use the program. By checking the appropriate box for the users and pressing the select button (represented by 612) on the user input interface 310 (FIG. 3), the popularity criteria is based on the most popular based on the number of users watching / using the program. Setting up as an existing program (eg, the most users) can be done. User equipment 300 (FIG. 3) or remote server 502 (FIG. 5) may determine the most popular program (described in relation to FIGS. 15 and 16). In another embodiment, a user may set a popularity threshold as a popularity criterion. For example, if the number of users watching / using the program meets or exceeds 50% of the current users of the interactive media delivery system, or the number of users watching / using the program exceeds 100,000. In that case, the program is determined to be popular. In the example of FIG. 10, detail region 1010 represents a popularity threshold setting for the ratio. If more than one program meets the popularity threshold at the same time (for example, a program with 40% popularity, a program with 30% popularity, and a program with 25% popularity, the popularity threshold is set to 25%). ), The ability to record these programs simultaneously may be limited by the number of tuners or other constraints on the user equipment 300 (FIG. 3). In this case, the most popular program is selected for recording (for example, a program with 40% popularity is recorded if the user equipment 300 (FIG. 3) has one tuner available for recording). User equipment 300 (FIG. 3) or remote server 502 (FIG. 5) may determine a popular program based on the popularity threshold (described in relation to FIGS. 18 and 19). Although the description of FIG. 10 refers to an option as being set by a user, the system may automatically set the option (eg, based on monitored user behavior, and so forth). For example, if the monitored user behavior shows that the user likes the situation comedy genre, the system may set an option to record only the popular situation comedy.

11 illustrates an example interactive media guidance application that may be used to define a user subset of an interactive media delivery system in which the popularity of a program is determined. This display may be displayed on the display 312 (FIG. 3) of the user equipment device or media device 402, 404, 406 (FIG. 4). Specifically, FIG. 11 shows an exemplary interactive media guide application display 1100 displayed after the "Define User Segment" suboption of "Record Popular Programs" is highlighted and selected in FIG. The description area 1105 shows a description of the selected option. Option area 608 represents selected option 1106. Detail area 1110 shows the available settings for the selected option. In the example of FIG. 11, use the search feature of user input interface 310 (FIG. 3) to highlight the available setting "5-digit zip code", check the box next to "5-digit zip code", By entering the "10020" postal code using the user input interface 310 (FIG. 3), selecting all users of the interactive media delivery system living within the postal code 10020 (the popularity of the program among them) is determined. Can be done. A “10020” postal code may also be selected from the drop down box 1112. Selecting other criteria, such as population criteria, follows a similar procedure, and different criteria can be combined. The criteria selected in detail area 1110 represent 10020 postal codes and all users in New York City and all of the premium channel lineups of all ages. Accept these settings by pressing the select button 612 on the user input interface 310 (FIG. 3). Other suitable criteria such as user gender, user income, or primary language used at home may be used when this information is available. Although the description of FIG. 11 refers to an option as being set by a user, the system may automatically set the option (eg, based on monitored user behavior, etc.). For example, if a user lives in postal code 10020, the system may select all users in postal code 10020.

12 illustrates an example interactive media guide application display that may be used to exclude a program from the selection for recording. For example, a user who does not like sports may exclude Super Bowl, a program that is likely to be popular by the most popular criteria, from the selection for recording. This exclusion display may be displayed on the display 312 (FIG. 3) of the user equipment device or media device 402, 404, 406 (FIG. 4). The processing circuitry of the user equipment or remote server may be configured to exclude the program from the selection for recording (eg, under the control of an instruction of an interactive media application).

Specifically, FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary interactive media guide application display 1200 that is displayed after the "Exclusions" suboption of "Record Popular Programs" in FIG. 6 is highlighted and selected. The description area 1205 shows a description of the selected option. Option area 608 represents selected option 1206. Detail area 1210 shows the available settings for the selected option. The size, shape, layout, and content of the cells in the detail area 1210 may be similar to those of the grating 102 of FIG. 1. Area 1210 includes cells of program lists, such as program list 1212 for "SportsCenter". SPORTSCENTER is a trademark owned by ESPN. A user who does not like sports uses the navigation feature of the user input interface 310 (FIG. 3) to highlight 1212, and is indicated by the select button 612 on the user input interface 310 (FIG. 3) to accept this setting. By pressing), you can remove SportsCenter from the selection for recording. Additional programs can also be excluded using similar procedures. The "Exclusions" option may allow programs to be excluded based on additional suitable criteria (eg, not all programs from a particular genre, etc.). Although the description of FIG. 12 refers to an option as being set by a user, the system may automatically set the option (eg, based on monitored user behavior, and so forth). For example, if the monitored user behavior shows that the user does not like the soap opera genre, the system can set an option to exclude all soap operas as indicated by the user guide data feed.

13 illustrates an exemplary interactive media guide application display that can be used to display information about a selected program and a selected user subset of the interactive media delivery system and to play the recorded program. This display may be displayed on the display 312 (FIG. 3) of the user equipment device or media device 402, 404, 406 (FIG. 4). Specifically, FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary interactive media guide application display 1300 displayed after the "Display Results" suboption of "Record Popular Programs" in FIG. 6 is highlighted and selected. The description area 1305 shows a description of the selected option. Option area 608 represents selected option 1306. The detail area 1310 represents information provided by the selected option and reflects the result of the settings shown in FIGS. 8 to 12. Additional information may also be displayed if available (eg, the popularity of the recorded program among all users of the interactive media delivery system). The information can be displayed in any suitable format. For example, the detail area 1310 may simply display a list of recorded programs. The user highlights the program from the list using the navigation feature (eg, remote control) of the user input interface 310 of FIG. 3, and obtains a separate display with information about the highlighted program and its user info) button.

In the example of FIG. 13, the "Recorded Programs" display area 1312 lists programs recorded according to the popularity criteria that are set. Two programs are shown in 1312, and additional recorded programs can be seen by using the scroll bar on the right. Programs that are currently being recorded may also be displayed, an indicator may be used to show that recording is in progress, and options may be provided to view these programs live. By highlighting a program using the navigation features of the user input interface 310 (FIG. 3), the popularity statistics 1316 of the highlighted program, the statistics 1318 for the viewer / user of the highlighted program within the selected user subset, And information such as statistics (eg, population, neighborhood) 1320 for the selected user subset. Other information such as other user population information may also be displayed. Information about the user, such as population, may be voluntarily provided by the user when the user subscribes to the interactive media delivery system and stored in the remote server storage 506 (FIG. 5). Popularity statistics can be obtained when a decision of a popular program is made. For example, when remote server 502 is making a determination of the most popular program between users 2 through N at the request of user 1, remote server 502 may be configured with user 2 through N's equipment (user equipment of FIG. 5). 520 through 540), the data representing media selection of users 2 through N. Based on this information, server processing circuitry 504 (FIG. 5) may count the number of users using a particular program. The remote server 502 can also track the total number of times a user has accessed a particular program or the total time the user has devoted to that program by communicating with the user's equipment via the communication network 508 (FIG. 8). . Remote server 502 (FIG. 5) aggregates the data of these individual pieces to obtain popularity statistics for the program.

In the example of FIG. 13, the first program 1314 is shown to be from 6 pm to 8 pm on July 31, 2007, on channel 3. One hour and 37 minutes of the program were recorded (ie, the program met the popularity criteria for one hour and 37 minutes). The second program 1315 appears to be from 7:30 pm to 8:00 pm on July 31, 2007 on Channel 5, and thus overlaps with the last 30 minutes of the first program. Twenty three minutes of the second program were recorded (ie, the program met the popularity criteria for 23 minutes). After the second program started at 7:30 pm, the program gained viewers / users and became more popular than the first program, so that recording for the second program began and recording for the first program was stopped, The last 23 minutes of the first program were missed. The information provided by 1300 provides the user with what other people in the community are watching, and can help the user catch the program the neighbors are watching the most. To play the recorded program, the user may press the play button on the remote control that is part of the user input interface 310 (FIG. 3) when the program is highlighted at 1310. To play all the recorded programs, the user can select the "Play List" button 1340 (Fig. 13).

14-19 are example process flow diagrams of the steps involved in determining and recording popular media. The steps of FIGS. 14-19 may be performed by or under the instruction of the remote server 502 (FIG. 5) control circuit or the user equipment 300 (FIG. 3) control circuit. Specifically, FIG. 14 illustrates a process 1400 for determining and recording the most popular media between at least one user subset of an interactive media delivery system. Process 1400 may occur in the environment shown in FIG. 5. Step 1402 dedicates space on the storage device to recording the most popular media between user subsets of the interactive media delivery system. Space may be dedicated by user equipment processing circuit 306 (FIG. 3) or remote server processing circuit 504 (FIG. 5), and user equipment storage 308 (FIG. 3) or remote server storage 506. (FIG. 5). The dedicated space at 506 may be associated with a user. Step 1404 determines the most popular media in the interactive media delivery system for a defined period of time and selects the most popular media for recording. Depending on the media delivery technique used, selecting media for recording may include tuning to an analog channel or decoding a digital signal, for example via communication network 414 (FIG. 4). Step 1406 indicates that the other media is selected if the other media becomes most popular during the defined period. Step 1408 writes at least some of the most popular media selected in a dedicated space. Steps 1402, 1404, 1406, 1408 may be performed by remote server 502 (FIG. 5) or user equipment 300 (FIG. 3).

FIG. 15 illustrates a process for determining the most popular media, performed at user equipment 510 (FIG. 5). In step 1502, user equipment 510 (FIG. 5) sets criteria for recording the most popular media between user subsets (e.g., users 2 through N) of the interactive media delivery system. Setting criteria for recording popular media has been described above. Control circuit 304 (FIG. 3) obtains the recording criteria and dedicates space on user equipment storage 308 (FIG. 3) or remote server storage 506 (FIG. 5). User equipment 510 (FIG. 5) sends a reference to remote server 502 via communication network 508 (FIG. 5) (step 1504). The remote server 502 receives the input and the processing circuit 504 interprets the input (FIG. 5). The processing circuit 504 sends a request for information indicative of media selection to the devices 520-540 of the users 2 through N via the communication network 508, and the devices of the users 2 through N through 508 (FIG. 5). Receive this information from. Depending on the criteria set for the "Set Popularity Criteria" option (described in relation to FIG. 10), this information may be, for example, the media that users 2 to N are currently watching or using, the users 2 to N are currently Media being recorded, media scheduled for recording by users 2 through N, or a combination thereof. The remote server 502 may process this popularity information before transmitting to the user equipment 510 via the communication network 508 (FIG. 5). User equipment 510 receives the information (step 1506) and stores it in storage 308 (FIG. 3). Using this information, the user equipment 510 processing circuit 306 (eg, under the control of instructions of an interactive media guidance application), for example, counts the number of users for each media ( Step 1508) The media with the most users are selected for recording (step 1510) to determine the most popular media. The user equipment 510 starts recording after the selection is made (step 1514). Step 1512 represents continuing to find the most popular media that can change over time.

16 illustrates an embodiment in which the process of determining the most popular media is performed at a remote server 502 (FIG. 5). At step 1602, remote server 502 receives input to record the most popular media between a subset of users of the interactive media delivery system (e.g., users 2 through N) (FIG. 5). From the user equipment 510 via. The remote server 502 sends a request for information indicative of media selection to the devices 520-540 of the users 2 through N via the communication network 508 (step 1604), and the devices of the users 2 through N through 508. This information is received from 520 through 540 and stored in 506 (FIG. 5) (step 1606). Depending on the criteria set for the "Set Popularity Criteria" option (described in relation to FIG. 10), this information may be, for example, the media that users 2 to N are currently watching or using, and the users 2 to N are currently Media being recorded, media scheduled for recording by users 2 through N, or a combination thereof. The remote server 502 can process this information to generate identifier data representing the most popular media. The remote server processing circuitry 504 (eg, under the control of instructions of a guided application server application), for example, counts the number of users for each media (step 1608) and is used by the most users. By selecting the recorded media for recording (step 1610), identifier data is generated. The remote server 502 sends identifier data to the user equipment 510 via the communication network 508 (FIG. 5) (step 1614). The user equipment 510 starts recording after receipt of the identifier data. Step 1612 illustrates continuing to find the most popular media that can change over time.

17 illustrates a process 1700 for determining and recording popular media that meets a minimum popularity threshold between at least one user subset of an interactive media delivery system. Process 1700 may occur in the environment shown in FIG. Step 1702 determines the media that meets the minimum popularity threshold between at least one user subset of the interactive media delivery system and selects such media for recording. Depending on the media delivery technique used, selecting media for recording may include tuning to an analog channel or decoding a digital signal. Step 1704 indicates that the other media is selected if the other media meets the threshold. Step 1706 records at least a portion of the selected popular media. Steps 1702, 1704, and 1706 may be performed by remote server 502 (FIG. 5) or user equipment 300 (FIG. 3).

FIG. 18 illustrates a process for determining popular media that meets a minimum popularity threshold, implemented at user equipment 510 (FIG. 5). In step 1802, user equipment 510 (FIG. 5) sets criteria for recording popular media that meets a minimum popularity threshold between user subsets of the interactive media delivery system (eg, users 2 through N). Set it. User equipment 510 (FIG. 5) sends a reference to remote server 502 via communication network 508 (FIG. 5) (step 1804). The remote server 502 receives the input and the processing circuit 502 interprets the input (FIG. 5). The processing circuit 504 sends a request for information indicative of media selection to the devices 520-540 of the users 2 through N via the communication network 508, and the devices of the users 2 through N through 508 (FIG. 5). This information is received from 520 through 540. Depending on the criteria set for the "Set Popularity Criteria" option (described in relation to FIG. 10), this information may be, for example, the media that users 2 to N are currently watching or using, and the users 2 to N are currently Media being recorded, media scheduled for recording by users 2 through N, or a combination thereof. User equipment 510 receives the information (step 1806) and stores it in 308 (FIG. 3). Using this information, the user equipment 510 processing circuit 306 determines the media that meets the minimum popularity threshold (eg, under the control of instructions in the interactive media guidance application). For example, if the minimum popularity threshold is 50% of all current users of the interactive media delivery system, and there are 100,000 users using the current system, then the user equipment 510 may determine the number of users for each media. Are counted (step 1808), the number of users for each media is compared against a threshold (50,000 users) (step 1810), and media with at least 50,000 users are selected for recording (step 1812). The user equipment 510 starts recording after the selection is made (step 1816). Step 1814 indicates that the process continues to look for popular media that meets the minimum threshold that can change over time.

19 illustrates an embodiment in which the process of determining popular media that meets the minimum popularity threshold is performed at the remote server 502 (FIG. 5). In step 1902, remote server 502 (FIG. 5) is connected to a user subset (e.g., user) of an interactive media delivery system from user equipment 510 (FIG. 5) via communication network 508 (FIG. 5). Receive an input for recording popular media that meets a minimum popularity threshold between 2 and N). Remote server 502 (FIG. 5) receives the write request, and processing circuitry 504 (FIG. 5) interprets it. The processing circuit 504 sends a request for information indicative of media selection to the equipment 520-540 of the users 2 through N via the communication network 508 (step 1904) and the equipment of the users 2 through N through 508. This information is received from 520 through 540 and stored in 506 (step 1906) (FIG. 5). Depending on the criteria set for the "Set Popularity Criteria" option (described in relation to FIG. 10), this information may be for example the media currently being watched or used by users 2 to N, currently recorded by users 2 to N Media being scheduled, media scheduled for recording by users 2 through N, or combinations thereof. The remote server 502 can process this information to generate identifier data representing popular media. The remote server processing circuit 504 generates identifier data (eg, under the control of instructions of a guided application server application). For example, if the minimum popularity threshold is 50% of all current users of the interactive media delivery system, and there are 100,000 users currently using the system, count the number of users for each media (step 1908, by comparing the number of users for each media against a threshold (step 1910) and selecting the media used by at least 50,000 users for recording (step 1912), identifier data is generated. The remote server 502 sends identifier data to the user equipment 510 via the communication network 508 (FIG. 5) (step 1916). The user equipment 510 starts recording after receipt of the identifier data. Step 1914 indicates that the process continues to find popular media that meets the minimum threshold that can change over time.

The order in which the steps of the method are performed is purely illustrative in nature. In fact, the steps may be performed in any order or concurrently unless otherwise indicated by the present disclosure. The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. Accordingly, the foregoing embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive.

300: user equipment device
304: control circuit
306: processing circuit
308: storage device
310: user input interface
312: display
314: speaker
502: remote server
504 processing circuit
506: storage device
508: communication network

Claims (126)

A method of recording popular media in an allocated space on a storage device in an interactive media delivery system, the method comprising:
Dedicate space on the storage device to recording the most popular media between at least one user subset of the interactive media delivery system;
For a defined period of time, determine the most popular media within the interactive media delivery system to select the most popular media for recording, and that other media is selected whenever the other media becomes most popular during the defined period. ;
Recording at least a portion of the selected most popular media in the dedicated space. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the most popular media includes identifying media that most users are watching or using in an interactive media delivery system. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the most popular media includes identifying media that the largest number of users have recorded or scheduled recording in an interactive media delivery system. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the most popular media is performed by a server remote from the user's equipment.
Receive data indicative of a user's media selection from a user subset of equipment;
Process the data to generate identifier data representing the most popular media;
Transmitting said identifier data to said user's equipment. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the user's equipment starts recording upon receipt of the identifier data from a server. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the most popular media,
Receive popularity information from a remote server;
Processing the popular information to generate identifier data representing the most popular media. The method of claim 1, further comprising excluding from the selection for recording the most popular media that does not meet user preferences. The method of claim 1, wherein the media is a television program, video-on-demand (VOD), Internet-delivered video, or digitally transmitted music. The method of claim 1, wherein the defined time period is user defined. The method of claim 1, wherein the storage device is in a user's equipment. The method according to claim 1,
The storage device is in a server remote from the user's equipment,
And said dedicated space is associated with a user. The method of claim 1, wherein recording at least a portion of the selected most popular media includes overwriting previously recorded media when the dedicated space is full. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the media for recording comprises tuning to an analog channel or decoding a digital signal. The method according to claim 1,
To determine the most popular media,
Determine the most popular media among user subsets within the interactive media delivery system;
Selecting the most popular media between the user subsets,
Recording at least a portion of the selected most popular media comprises recording the selected most popular media for the user subset. The method of claim 1, wherein the user subset is defined by postal code, geographic area, similar channel lineup, city, autonomous state or state, depending on the user population. 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising displaying population or neighborhood information for the user subset. 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising displaying the most popular media for the user subset. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying information about the popularity level of the recorded media. The method of claim 18, wherein the popularity level includes the total number of users of the media, the users of the media as a percentage of the total number of people in the user subset, the total number of accesses to the media, or the total amount of time the user dedicates to the media. The recording method of popular media. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying an option to record the most popular media in an interactive media guidance application. 21. The method of claim 20, wherein the interactive media guide application is implemented on a user's equipment including the storage device, processor, memory, and user interface control device. A system for recording popular media in an allocated space on a storage device in an interactive media delivery system,
A control circuit and a storage device, wherein the control circuit comprises:
Dedicate space on the storage device to recording the most popular media between at least one user subset of the interactive media delivery system;
For a defined period of time, determine the most popular media within the interactive media delivery system to select the most popular media for recording, and that other media is selected whenever the other media becomes most popular during the defined period. ;
And instruct the storage device to record at least a portion of the selected most popular media in the dedicated space. 23. The system of claim 22, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to identify media that most users are watching or using in an interactive media delivery system. 23. The system of claim 22, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to identify media that the most users have recorded or scheduled recording in an interactive media delivery system. The method of claim 22, wherein the control circuit is remote from the user's equipment, and wherein the control circuit is
Receive data indicative of a user's media selection from a user subset of equipment;
Process the data to generate identifier data representing the most popular media;
And, further configured to transmit the identifier data to the user's equipment. 27. The system of claim 25, wherein the user's equipment starts recording upon receipt of the identifier data from a server. The method of claim 22, wherein the control circuit,
Receive popular information from a remote server;
And further configured to process the popularity information to generate identifier data representing the most popular media. 23. The system of claim 22, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to exclude from the selection for recording the most popular media that does not meet user preferences. The system of claim 22, wherein the media is a television program, video on demand (VOD), Internet delivery video, or digitally transmitted music. The system of claim 22, wherein the defined time period is user defined. The system of claim 22, wherein the storage device is in a user's equipment. The method according to claim 22,
The storage device is in a server remote from the user's equipment,
The dedicated space is associated with a user. 23. The system of claim 22, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to instruct the storage device to overwrite previously recorded media when the dedicated space is full. 23. The system of claim 22, wherein the control circuit is further configured to tune to an analog channel or to decode a digital signal. The method of claim 22, wherein the control circuit,
Determine the most popular media among user subsets within the interactive media delivery system;
Select the most popular media between the user subset;
And is further configured to instruct the storage device to record the selected most popular media for the user subset. 23. The system of claim 22, wherein the user subset is defined by postal code, geographic area, similar channel lineup, city, autonomous state or state, depending on the user population. 37. The system of claim 36, further comprising a display device, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to instruct the display device to display population or neighborhood information for the user subset. 37. The system of claim 36, further comprising a display device, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to instruct the display device to display the most popular media for the user subset. 23. The system of claim 22, further comprising a display device, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to instruct the display device to display information about a popularity level of recorded media. The method of claim 39, wherein the popularity level comprises the total number of users of the media, the users of the media as a percentage of the total number of people in the user subset, the total number of accesses to the media, or the total amount of time the user dedicates to the media. It is a recording system of popular media. 23. The system of claim 22, further comprising a display device, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to instruct the display device to display in the interactive media guidance application an option to record the most popular media. . 42. The system of claim 41 wherein the interactive media guide application is implemented on a user's equipment that includes the storage device, processor, memory, and user interface control device. A system for recording popular media in an allocated space on a storage device in an interactive media delivery system,
Means for dedicating space on the storage device to recording the most popular media between at least one user subset of the interactive media delivery system;
Means for determining the most popular media within the interactive media delivery system for a defined period of time and selecting the most popular media for recording, each time the other media becomes most popular during the defined period. ; And
Means for recording at least a portion of the selected most popular media in the dedicated space. The system of claim 43, wherein the means for determining the most popular media comprises means for identifying media that is being viewed or used by the most users in an interactive media delivery system. 44. The system of claim 43, wherein the means for determining the most popular media comprises means for identifying media that has been recorded by the largest number of users or scheduled recording in an interactive media delivery system. 44. The system of claim 43, wherein the means for determining the most popular media is remote from a user's equipment, and wherein the recording system of the popular media is:
Means for receiving data indicative of a user's media selection from a user subset of equipment;
Means for processing the data to generate identifier data representing the most popular media; And
Means for transmitting said identifier data to said user's equipment. The system of claim 46, wherein the user's equipment begins recording upon receipt of the identifier data from a server. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the means for determining the most popular media is:
Means for receiving popularity information from a remote server; And
And means for processing said popularity information to generate identifier data indicative of the most popular media. 44. The system of claim 43, further comprising means for excluding from the selection for recording the most popular media that does not meet user preferences. 45. The system of claim 43, wherein the media is a television program, video on demand (VOD), Internet delivery video, or digitally transmitted music. The system of claim 43, wherein the defined time period is user defined. The system of claim 43, wherein the storage device is in a user's equipment. The method of claim 43,
The storage device is in a server remote from the user's equipment,
The dedicated space is associated with a user. 44. The system of claim 43, wherein the means for recording at least a portion of the selected most popular media includes means for overwriting previously recorded media when the dedicated space is full. 44. The system of claim 43, wherein the means for selecting media for recording comprises means for tuning to an analog channel or decoding a digital signal. The method of claim 43,
Means for determining the most popular media,
Means for determining the most popular media among user subsets within an interactive media delivery system; And
Means for selecting the most popular media between the user subsets,
And means for recording at least a portion of the selected most popular media comprises means for recording the selected most popular media for the user subset. The system of claim 43, wherein the user subset is defined by postal code, geographic area, similar channel lineup, city, autonomous state or state, depending on the user population. 58. The system of claim 57, further comprising means for displaying population or neighborhood information for the user subset. 58. The system of claim 57, further comprising means for displaying the most popular media for the user subset. 44. The system of claim 43, further comprising means for displaying information about a popularity level of recorded media. 61. The method of claim 60, wherein the popularity level includes the total number of users of the media, the users of the media as a percentage of the total number of people in the user subset, the total number of accesses to the media, or the total amount of time the user dedicates to the media. It is a recording system of popular media. 44. The system of claim 43, further comprising means for displaying in the interactive media guidance application an option to record the most popular media. 63. The system of claim 62 wherein the interactive media guidance application is implemented on a user's equipment including the storage device, processor, memory, and user interface control device. A method of recording popular media on a storage device in an interactive media delivery system, the method comprising:
Determine media that meets the minimum popularity threshold between at least one user subset of the interactive media delivery system and select such media for recording-each time the other media meets the threshold, the other media. Is selected-;
And recording at least a portion of the selected popular media. The method of claim 64,
Selecting the most popular media for recording if more than one media meets the threshold at a given time. 65. The method of claim 64, wherein the popularity threshold comprises a number indicating a percentage of users in an interactive media delivery system that is watching or using media for the media to be selected for recording. 65. The recording of popular media of claim 64, wherein the popularity threshold comprises a number indicating a percentage of users in an interactive media delivery system that is recording or scheduled to record media for the media to be selected for recording. Way. The method of claim 64, wherein determining the media that meets the minimum popularity threshold is performed by a server remote from the user's equipment, wherein the method of recording popular media comprises:
Receive data indicative of a user's media selection from a user subset of equipment;
Process the data to generate identifier data representing popular media;
Transmitting said identifier data to said user's equipment. 69. The method of claim 68, wherein the user's equipment begins recording upon receipt of the identifier data from a server. The method of claim 64, wherein determining the media that meets the minimum popularity threshold is:
Receive popular information from a remote server;
And processing the popularity information to generate identifier data representing popular media. 65. The method of claim 64, further comprising excluding from the selection for recording popular media that does not meet user preferences. 65. The method of claim 64, wherein the media is a television program, video on demand (VOD), Internet delivery video, or digitally transmitted music. 65. The method of claim 64, wherein the storage device is in a user's equipment. 65. The method of claim 64, wherein the storage device is in a server remote from the user's equipment. 65. The method of claim 64, further comprising dedicating space on a storage device to recording the selected popular media, wherein recording at least a portion of the selected popular media overwrites previously recorded media when the dedicated space is full. The recording method of the popular media which includes. 65. The method of claim 64, wherein selecting the media for recording comprises tuning to an analog channel or decoding a digital signal. The method of claim 64,
Determining the popular media,
Determine popular media that meet the threshold between user subsets within an interactive media delivery system;
Selecting the popular media between the user subset,
Recording at least a portion of the selected popular media comprises recording the selected popular media for the user subset. 65. The method of claim 64, wherein the user subset is defined by postal code, geographic area, similar channel lineup, city, autonomous state or state, depending on the user population. 80. The method of claim 78, further comprising displaying population or neighborhood information for the user subset. 80. The method of claim 78, further comprising displaying popular media for the user subset. 65. The method of claim 64, further comprising displaying information about a popularity level of the recorded media. 82. The method of claim 81, wherein the popularity level comprises the total number of users of the media, the users of the media as a percentage of the total number of people in the user subset, the total number of accesses to the media, or the total amount of time the user dedicates to the media. The recording method of popular media. 65. The method of claim 64, further comprising displaying an option to record popular media in an interactive media guidance application. 84. The method of claim 83, wherein the interactive media guide application is implemented on a user's equipment including the storage device, processor, memory, and user interface control device. In a system for recording popular media in an interactive media delivery system,
A control circuit and a storage device, wherein the control circuit comprises:
Determine which media meets the minimum popularity threshold between at least one user subset of the interactive media delivery system and select such media for recording, each time the other media meets the threshold;
And instruct the storage device to record at least a portion of the selected popular media. 86. The system of claim 85 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to select the most popular media for recording if more than one media meets the threshold at a given time. 86. The system of claim 85 wherein the popularity threshold includes a number indicating a percentage of users in an interactive media delivery system that is watching or using the media for the media to be selected for recording. 86. The recording of popular media of claim 85, wherein the popularity threshold includes a number indicating a percentage of users in an interactive media delivery system that is recording or scheduled to record media for the media to be selected for recording. system. 86. The system of claim 85, wherein the control circuit is in a server remote from the user's equipment, wherein the control circuit is:
Receive data indicative of a user's media selection from a user subset of equipment;
Process the data to generate identifier data representing popular media;
And, further configured to transmit the identifier data to the user's equipment. 90. The system of claim 89 wherein the user's equipment begins recording upon receipt of the identifier data from a server. 86. The system of claim 85, wherein the control circuit is
Receive popular information from a remote server;
And further configured to process the popularity information to generate identifier data representing popular media. 86. The system of claim 85 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to exclude from the selection for recording popular media that does not conform to user preferences. 86. The system of claim 85, wherein the media is a television program, video on demand (VOD), Internet delivery video, or digitally transmitted music. 86. The system of claim 85 wherein the storage device is in a user's equipment. 86. The system of claim 85 wherein the storage device is in a server remote from the user's equipment. 86. The system of claim 85, wherein the control circuit is
Dedicate space on the storage device to recording the selected popular media;
And further configured to instruct the storage device to overwrite the previously recorded media when the dedicated space is full. 86. The system of claim 85 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to tune to an analog channel or to decode a digital signal. 86. The system of claim 85, wherein the control circuit is
Determine popular media that meet the threshold between user subsets within an interactive media delivery system;
Select the popular media between the user subset;
And further configured to instruct the storage device to record the selected popular media for the user subset. 86. The system of claim 85 wherein the user subset is defined by postal code, geographic area, similar channel lineup, city, autonomous state or state, depending on the user population. The system of claim 99, further comprising a display device, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to instruct the display device to display population or neighborhood information for the user subset. The system of claim 99, further comprising a display device, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to instruct the display device to display the popular media for the user subset. 86. The system of claim 85, further comprising a display device, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to instruct the display device to display information about a popularity level of recorded media. 107. The method of claim 102, wherein the popularity level comprises the total number of users of the media, the users of the media as a percentage of the total number of people in the user subset, the total number of accesses to the media, or the total amount of time the user dedicates to the media. It is a recording system of popular media. 86. The system of claim 85, further comprising a display device, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to instruct the display device to display an option to record popular media in an interactive media guidance application. 107. The system of claim 104, wherein the interactive media guide application is implemented on a user's equipment including the storage device, processor, memory, and user interface control device. A system for recording popular media on a storage device in an interactive media delivery system,
Means for determining the media that meets the minimum popularity threshold between at least a user subset of the interactive media delivery system and selecting such media for recording, the other media being selected each time the other media meets the threshold; And
Means for recording at least a portion of the selected popular media. 107. The method of claim 106,
And means for selecting the most popular media for recording if more than one media meets the threshold at a given time. 107. The system of claim 106, wherein the popularity threshold includes a number indicating a percentage of users in an interactive media delivery system that is watching or using the media for the media to be selected for recording. 107. The recording of popular media of claim 106, wherein the popularity threshold includes a number indicating a percentage of users in the interactive media delivery system that are recording or scheduled to record media for the media to be selected for recording. system. 107. The method of claim 106, wherein the means for determining media that meets the minimum popularity threshold is remote from the user's equipment, and wherein the recording system of the popular media is:
Means for receiving data indicative of a user's media selection from a user subset of equipment;
Means for processing the data to generate identifier data representing popular media; And
Means for transmitting said identifier data to said user's equipment. 117. The system of claim 110, wherein the user's equipment begins recording upon receipt of the identifier data from a server. 107. The method of claim 106, wherein the means for determining media that meets the minimum popularity threshold is:
Means for receiving popularity information from a remote server; And
And means for processing said popularity information to generate identifier data indicative of popular media. 107. The system of claim 106, further comprising means for excluding from the selection for recording popular media that does not meet user preferences. 107. The system of claim 106, wherein the media is a television program, video on demand (VOD), Internet delivery video, or digitally transmitted music. 107. The system of claim 106, wherein the storage device is in a user's equipment. 107. The system of claim 106, wherein the storage device is in a server remote from the user's equipment. 107. The apparatus of claim 106, further comprising means for dedicating space on a storage device to recording the selected popular media, wherein the means for recording at least a portion of the selected popular media includes the previously recorded media when the dedicated space is full. And a means for overwriting. 107. The system of claim 106, wherein the means for selecting media for recording comprises means for tuning to an analog channel or decoding a digital signal. 107. The method of claim 106,
Means for determining the popular media,
Means for determining popular media that meets the threshold between a subset of users in an interactive media delivery system; And
Means for selecting the popular media between the user subset;
Means for recording at least a portion of the selected popular media comprises means for recording the selected popular media for the user subset. 107. The system of claim 106, wherein the user subset is defined by postal code, geographic area, similar channel lineup, city, autonomous state, or state, depending on the user population. 123. The system of claim 120, further comprising means for displaying population or neighborhood information for the user subset. 123. The system of claim 120, further comprising means for displaying popular media for the user subset. 107. The system of claim 106, further comprising means for displaying information about a popularity level of recorded media. 126. The method of claim 123, wherein the popularity level comprises the total number of users of the media, the users of the media as a percentage of the total number of people in the user subset, the total number of accesses to the media, or the total amount of time the user dedicates to the media. It is a recording system of popular media. 107. The system of claim 106, further comprising means for displaying an option to record popular media in an interactive media guidance application. 126. The system of claim 125, wherein the interactive media guide application is implemented on a user's equipment including the storage device, processor, memory, and user interface control device.

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