Interactive television systems with digital video recording and adjustable reminders

摘要

An interactive television system is provided in which an interactive television application is used to support network-based or local personal video recorder capabilities. A user may use this application to view lists of program listings. The user may select a program listing of interest. The interactive television application may allow the user to set a reminder for the selected program at the scheduled broadcast time. This application may also allow the user to set a reminder for the selected program at a later time at which the program is not scheduled to be broadcast. The user may be provided with a reminder at this later time. In response, the user may direct the network-based or local personal video recorder to play back the program or may defer the reminder again. The interactive television application may collect information on program usage and popularity to determine how long to retain certain programming.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
determining at a server that is remote to a user equipment device, whether a broadcast program matches a criterion, wherein the criterion is not set by a user; and selecting the broadcast program for storage in response to determining that the broadcast program matches the criterion, wherein the user equipment device can access, during a predefined access-period that is based on a type of the broadcast program, the broadcast program that has been selected for storage once the broadcast program has been stored; and not selecting the broadcast program for storage in response to determining that the broadcast program does not match the criterion.