This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/834,605, filed Jul. 31, 2006 and 60/903,808, filed Feb. 26, 2007, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.
This invention relates generally to media systems and, more particularly, to media systems with sports-specific viewing and tuning enhancements.
An interactive media guidance application, such as an interactive television program guide, allows a user to tune to and display a wide array of media content that is available within a media system. It also facilitates the display of additional information (e.g., program schedule and summary information) about the media content. This additional information may be accessed from a variety of data sources and data feeds and may include, for example, content summaries, genre classifications, and ratings information. The interactive media guidance application may also support advanced features, such as content searching and filtering, channel scanning, and access to other interactive applications, such as a home shopping application.
Such media guidance applications are typically generalized applications that support basic media guidance functionality for a wide array of media content of a variety of different genres and subgenres. These applications, however, typically fail to provide a custom set of features and functionality for specific types of media content, such as sporting events and other sports-related content.
In addition, some media guidance applications fail to take full advantage of today's high-end user equipment devices. For example, current user equipment devices may support multiple digital or analog tuners, allowing for more than one channel or media content to be tuned, displayed, and/or recorded simultaneously. Current media guidance applications fail to efficiently manage and leverage the capabilities of multiple tuners to better match how certain types of viewers (e.g., sports viewers) commonly watch and interact with sporting events displayed on the user equipment device. As a result, idle tuners are often untuned or tuned to content that is not of particular interest to the viewer. In addition, traditional tuner management schemes for multi-tuner systems are not optimized for certain types of viewing, such as sports viewing.
For example, in order to tune and display a digital television channel, many steps typically are performed. The digital content may first be demodulated from a digital carrier frequency and then FEC decoded from the demodulated transport stream (TS). The digital content may then be demultiplexed from the demodulated transport stream. After the digital content is demultiplexed from the transport stream, the content may be extracted from a particular packet identifier (PID) stream. In addition, decryption and decoding (e.g., MPEG-2 or H.264 decoding) may be required. These digital tuning and decoding processes may take an appreciable amount of time, during which a blank or black screen is typically displayed to the viewer. This idle time is particularly noticeable to users who switch back and forth between a small number of content selections, like the way sports viewers switch back and forth between a small number of televised sporting events.
In addition, a viewer is unable to efficiently switch between sporting events of interest to the viewer at any given time. For example, although some user equipment devices support last channel recall or similar functionality, last channel recall functions are typically limited to switching back only to the most recently accessed television channel. The ability to efficiently switch between multiple high-interest content selections is severely limited. Real-time buffering and immediate video control (e.g., pause and rewind functions) after switching to a sporting event of interest are also severely limited because of idle tuners or tuners tuned to arbitrary content.
In accordance with principles of the present invention, systems and methods for providing enhanced information access and viewing functionality for sports-related programming are provided. An interactive “sports watcher” application may execute at least partially on a local user equipment device to support the enhanced access and viewing functionality. In some embodiments, the interactive sports watcher application is integrated as a mode of another interactive application already resident on the user equipment device. For example, the sports watcher application may be integrated with an interactive media guidance application, such as an interactive television program guide. In other embodiments, a separate interactive sports watcher application or module is provided. This application or module may be automatically invoked by the interactive media guidance application when certain pre-determined conditions are met (e.g., when sports-related programming or information is requested, accessed, or displayed).
A user may designate a first sporting event as a primary sporting event and up to N−1 additional sporting events as secondary sporting events, where N is the number of available tuners in the user equipment device. One tuner may be designated as the primary tuner that, whenever possible, is tuned to the primary sporting event. The other N−1 tuners may be designated secondary tuners, each of which may be assigned a lower priority than the primary tuner. After receiving a request to change channels or access content that requires an available tuner, the secondary tuner with the lowest priority may be used to tune to the requested channel or access the requested content. In this way, the primary sporting event may be tuned on the primary tuner whenever possible. Sporting events designated as primary or secondary sporting events may be manually selected by the user, or the interactive sports watcher application may automatically designate certain events as primary or secondary sporting events. This designation may be based, at least in part, on user profile information, user preferences, active user monitoring, user history information, network viewing statistics, third-party ratings information (e.g., Nielson ratings), or any other suitable criterion or combination of criteria.
The interactive sports watcher application may maintain a dynamic, real-time buffer for each tuned sporting event. The user may have full control over each real-time buffer, including pause, instant replay, and slow motion replay control. In some embodiments, the characteristics of the buffers (e.g., buffer size, buffer window, and/or buffer resolution) may differ depending on the type of sport, whether the buffered sporting event is designated as a primary sporting event, secondary sporting event, or otherwise matches the user's predefined sports viewing event preferences. For example, a high-speed basketball game may be buffered at the highest available resolution (e.g., in high-definition, if available), while a golf tournament may be buffered in a lower resolution (e.g., standard definition). In addition, the buffer window (i.e., the length of time buffered) may be longer for the basketball game than the golf tournament, depending on user preferences.
In some embodiments, the interactive sports watcher application may monitor all media content access requests on the user equipment device. When sports-related content is accessed, an interactive scoreboard may be automatically displayed in one area of the display screen while the requested sports-related content (e.g., a sporting event, sports news, or sports commentary) is displayed in another area of the screen. The interactive scoreboard may include an identification of a plurality of sporting events that are in progress, recently ended, or match user-defined preference criteria. The current score of each sporting event may be provided within the interactive scoreboard. A user may interact with the scoreboard to obtain more detailed information about a sporting event, automatically tune a sporting event, or automatically designate a sporting event as a primary or secondary sporting event.
The interactive scoreboard may also feature a variety of icons that indicate the status of sporting events associated with scores displayed in the scoreboard. For example, one icon may indicate that the sporting event is currently tuned by a tuner in the user equipment device. Another icon may indicate that the event is currently displayed in the main screen or active window. Game status icons may also be included in the interactive scoreboard. These game status icons may indicate that a sporting event has returned from a commercial break (e.g., a live action notification), is almost over (e.g., a time remaining notification), currently has exciting action taking place, or any other suitable content characteristic. Through these icons in the scoreboard, a user may be presented with additional information about sporting events of interest.
In some embodiments, value-added features, such as sports wagering and fantasy leagues, are provided by the interactive sports watcher application. Users may be credited with electronic wagering points or dollars that may be redeemable for sports-related merchandise (e.g., team clothing), on-demand content, sports package subscriptions, premium channels and services, or cash. Various incentives may be offered to encourage participation in the wagering and/or the fantasy league features of the present invention.
The above and other features of the present invention, its nature and various advantages will be more apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and in which:
FIG. 1 is an illustrative block diagram of a media system in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2A is an illustrative block diagram of the control circuitry shown in FIG. 1 in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2B shows illustrative tuner data tables in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 3 is an illustrative display screen with an interactive scoreboard in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 4 is an illustrative display screen with an interactive scoreboard and flip panel in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 5 is an illustrative display screen with an interactive scoreboard and informational status icons in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 6 is an illustrative full-screen game information display screen in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 7 is an illustrative sports watcher main menu display screen in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 8 is another illustrative sports watcher main menu display screen in accordance with another embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 9 is an illustrative display screen for searching for sports-related content and programming in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
FIGS. 10-13 are illustrative display screens for setting user favorites in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 14 is an illustrative parental control display screen in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 15 is an illustrative display screen for wagering on sporting events in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
FIGS. 16-21 are illustrative fantasy league display screens in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 22 is an illustrative display screen for setting sports-related reminders in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 23 is an illustrative display screen for scheduling recordings in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 24 is an illustrative display screen for scheduling category recordings in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 25 is an illustrative display screen for viewing sports commentary from a variety of difference sources in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
FIGS. 26-28 show illustrative sports watcher setup display screens for customizing sports watcher features in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 29 shows an illustrative sports watcher preferences display screen in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; and
FIGS. 30, 31A, 31 B, 32 , and 33 are flow charts showing illustrative processes for providing the enhanced sports watcher features and functionality in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.
The interactive sports watcher application described herein may be implemented as a stand-alone application executing at least partially on a user equipment device, or the application may be implemented as a module or mode of an existing interactive application. If implemented as a module or mode of an existing interactive application, such as an interactive media guidance application, all the display screens, prompts, and overlays shown herein may be integrated with the display screens, prompts, and overlays of the existing application. For example, fonts, colors, and overall layouts may be changed from those depicted to better match the fonts, colors, and overall layouts of the already existing application. In addition, features of an existing interactive media guidance application (or any other interactive application) may be incorporated into the sports watcher application in order to provide added flexibility and functionality without leaving the sports watcher application, if desired.
The interactive sports watcher application may monitor all media content access requests, including television channel requests, Internet webpage requests, requests for on-demand and pay-per-view content, and requests for locally-recorded content. The sports watcher application may automatically launch after a request for a sporting event or sports-related content is received or after such content is displayed. Alternatively, a user may manually launch the sports watcher application by issuing a suitable command to the user equipment device. For example, a user may press a button on a remote control to launch the sports watcher application in some embodiments.
Although the terms “sporting event” and “sports-related content” are sometimes used interchangeably herein, both of these terms include content, such as television programming, on-demand movies, and Internet websites, that is accessible from a user equipment device and is related to, or affiliated with, a sport, sports team, or athlete. In addition to traditional television programming, these terms may include webpages, online discussion boards, chat rooms, web logs (blogs), interactive games, and digital music. For example, in some embodiments, an online sports commentary or sports blog may be considered a sporting event or sports-related content by the interactive sports watcher application. As another example, sports-themed movies and sports news may also be considered sports-related content by the interactive sports watcher application. As described below, accessing this content may automatically launch the sports watcher application (and automatically display any of the sports watcher display screens described herein).
FIG. 1 shows illustrative interactive media system 100 that may be used with the sports watcher application in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. User equipment device 102 receives content in the form of signals from content source 130 and/or supplemental content source 120 over communications paths 150 and 152 , respectively. Any suitable number of users may have one or more user equipment devices, such as user equipment 102 , coupled to content source 130 , data sources 140 , and supplemental content source 120 . For the clarity of the figure, however, only a single user equipment device is shown. In addition, although in practice there may be numerous instances of content source 130 and supplemental content source 120 , for clarity only one instance of each source has been shown in the example of FIG. 1.
Content source 130 may be any suitable source of media content, such as, for example, a cable system headend, satellite television distribution facility, television broadcast facility, on-demand server (e.g., video-on-demand (VOD) server), Internet or network media/web server, or any other suitable facility or system for originating or distributing passive or interactive content to user equipment 102 . Media content that may be provided by content source 130 to user equipment 102 includes broadcast programming, VOD programming, digital music, news, interactive applications (e.g., interactive games), Internet resources and web services (e.g., websites, newsgroups, and chat rooms), and any other content capable of being displayed by, presented to, recorded, or interacted with, using user equipment 102 .
Supplemental content source 120 may be any suitable content source configured to provide real-time sports scores and game summary information, tournament brackets and tournament information, sports commentary, athlete biographies, spread and wagering data, and any other sports-related information to user equipment 102 . In some embodiments, this sports-related information is provided to user equipment 102 as a plurality of real-time data feeds. Each data feed may be individually accessed or subscribed to by user equipment 102 . For example, sports score and game status information may be included in one real-time data feed, while sports commentary may be included in another feed. The sporting events with associated data available from supplemental content source 120 may include events in progress or events that have recently ended. In addition, supplemental content source 120 may include information relating to sporting events not available for viewing in media system 100 . For example, a non-televised game may nevertheless have associated sports-related information available on supplemental content source 120 .
Some or all of this sports-related information may be stored in database 122 and provided to content source 130 or directly to user equipment 120 over communications paths 154 and 152 , respectively. Supplemental content source 120 may include any third-party application provider, data manager, content manager, content aggregator, or intermediate content provider. Supplemental content source 120 may also be contracted to provide enhanced parental control services on behalf of user equipment 102 . For example, supplemental content source 120 may provide ratings information for media types that traditionally are not associated with ratings information. Supplemental content source 120 may provide sports news ratings, website ratings, interactive application and sports games ratings, as well as ratings information for any other type of content accessible by user equipment 102 . The ratings information may be derived, at least in part, from government agencies and public or private ratings bureaus (e.g., the TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), and the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB)).
Database 122 may also store network viewing statistics and editor picks of sporting events. By accessing network viewing statistics, user equipment 102 may determine which sporting events are currently being watched by a large number of viewers. This may be used as an indication of the popularity of the sporting event. The sports watcher application may then advertise these games to the user, as discussed in more detail with regard to FIG. 5 below.
Database 122 may also store the interactive sports watcher application itself. Upon receiving a request from user equipment 102 , supplemental content source 120 may transmit the interactive sports watcher application directly to user equipment 102 via communications path 152 (or supplemental content source 120 may transmit the interactive content control application to content source 130 for transmission to user equipment 120 , if desired). In one embodiment, the interactive sports watcher application is a self-executing OpenCable Applications Platform (“OCAP”) application downloaded by middleware to user equipment 102 . User equipment 102 (or a proxy acting on behalf of the user equipment) may periodically query supplemental content source 120 for application updates, or supplemental content source 120 may push application updates to user equipment 102 automatically as updates become available. Database 122 may also store data generated by the interactive sports watcher application. By providing centralized storage of such data, it may allow a user to access these features from multiple locations. It may also allow for collation of the data from multiple users. Data stored in database 122 may include user preferences, setup options, active and recent wagers, wager bank balances, wagering leader boards, sports reminders, sports recordings, sports parental controls, user-defined sports searches, fantasy sports teams and standings, or any other suitable data.
Content source 130 and supplemental content source 120 may be configured to transmit signals to user equipment 102 over any suitable communications paths 150 and 152 including, for example, a satellite path, a fiber-optic path, a cable path, or any other suitable wired or wireless path. The signals may be transmitted as a broadcast, multicast, unicast, or any other suitable transmission stream. Content source 130 may also include control circuitry 132 for performing operations on the signals transmitted by content source 130 , such as, for example, generating new signals or communicating with user equipment 102 to provide on-demand functionality.
User equipment 102 may receive interactive application data from one or more instances of data sources 140 , content source 130 , and supplemental content source 120 . Data sources 140 may provide data for a particular type of content or for a particular application running on user equipment 102 . For example, one data source 142 may provide data for an interactive media guidance application and another data source may provide data for interactive sports watcher application 106 . In some embodiments, data sources 140 may provide data to the applications running on user equipment 102 using a client-server model. There may be one server per data source, one server for all sources, or, in some embodiments, a single server may communicate as a proxy between user equipment 102 and various data sources 140 .
Content source 130 , supplemental content source 120 , and data sources 140 are shown in FIG. 1 as separate elements. In practice, their functionality may be combined into a single mechanism and provided from a single system at a single facility, or their functionality may be provided by multiple systems at multiple facilities. For example, supplemental content source 120 , content source 130 , and data sources 140 may be combined to provide broadcast television content and associated broadcast television data, including ratings information, sports-related information, or other suitable information to user equipment 102 .
User equipment 102 may include any equipment suitable for presenting media content to a user. For example, user equipment 102 may include computer equipment, such as a personal computer with a television card (PCTV) and/or Open Cable Unidirectional Receiver (OCUR). User equipment 102 may also include television equipment such as a television and set-top box, a recording device, a video player, a user input device (e.g., remote control, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch pad, a touch screen, and/or a voice recognition/verification module) or any other device suitable for providing a complete, interactive experience. For example, user equipment 102 may include a DCT 2000, 2500, 5100, 6208 or 6412 set-top box provided by Motorola, Inc.
In the example of FIG. 1, user equipment 102 includes control circuitry 110 , display device 104 , interactive sports watcher application 106 , recording device 112 , and user input device 108 , all of which may be implemented as separate devices or as a single, integrated device. In addition to interactive sports watcher application 106 , other interactive applications, such as an interactive media guidance application, may be implemented on user equipment 102 . In some embodiments, these interactive applications may, for example, direct a tuner in control circuitry 110 to display, on display device 104 , the content transmitted by content source 130 or supplemental content source 120 over communications paths 150 and 152 and to provide interactive application features.
Display device 104 may be any suitable device capable of presenting human-perceivable media, such as, for example, a television monitor, computer monitor, LCD display, video projection device, holographic projector, or virtual reality simulator. Display device 104 may also be configured to provide audio and other sensory output.
Control circuitry 110 is adapted to receive user input from input device 108 , execute the instructions of interactive sports watcher application 106 , execute the instructions of any other interactive applications, and direct display device 104 to display media content and interactive application display screens and overlays. Control circuitry 110 may include one or more tuners (e.g., analog or digital tuners), encoders and decoders (e.g., MPEG encoders and decoders), processors (e.g., MIPs and/or Motorola 68000 family processors), memory (e.g., RAM, ROM, flash memory, and hard disks), communications circuitry (e.g., cable modem and ATSC 256QAM receiver circuitry), input/output circuitry (e.g., graphics circuitry), connections to the various devices of user equipment 102 (e.g., recording device 112 ), and any other suitable components for providing analog or digital television programming and supplemental sports-related information. In one embodiment, control circuitry 110 may be included as part of one of the devices of user equipment 102 such as, for example, part of display 104 or any other device (e.g., a set-top box, television, and/or video player).
Control circuitry 110 may be connected to recording device 112 for storing data from data sources 140 , content source 130 , or supplemental content source 120 . For example, recording device 112 may include one or more digital video recorders (DVRs), hard disks, or any other storage mechanism. Control circuitry 110 may also be configured to execute the instructions of interactive sports watcher application 106 from memory, which may include any type of storage or memory mechanism (e.g., RAM, ROM, hybrid types of memory, hard disks, and/or optical drives).
Although, in the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 1, interactive sports watcher application 106 is internal to user equipment 102 , interactive sports watcher application 106 may be implemented externally or partially implemented externally to user equipment 102 . For example, interactive sports watcher application 106 may be implemented at supplemental content source 120 or content source 130 and may run using a client-server or distributed architecture where some of the application is implemented locally on user equipment 102 in the form of a client process and some of the application is implemented at a remote location in the form of a server process. Sports watcher application 106 may also be implemented on any suitable server, computer equipment, or set-top box accessible by user equipment 102 . In some embodiments, interactive sports watcher application 106 is integrated with another interactive application or is implemented as a standalone application, subprocess, or class (e.g., in an OCAP environment). In one embodiment, interactive sports watcher application 106 is completely integrated within an interactive media guidance application running on user equipment 102 . In this embodiment, the management and administrative functionality of interactive sports watcher application 106 may be invoked directly by the interactive media guidance application or the underlying operating system after some user input from input device 108 .
In at least some embodiments, interactive sports watcher application 106 is implemented in software. However, an implementation of software and/or hardware may be used in other embodiments. These arrangements are merely illustrative. Other suitable techniques for implementing interactive sports watcher application 106 may be used if desired.
Interactive sports watcher application 106 may use application data from data sources 140 to determine the type of content currently being displayed on display device 104 or recorded on recording device 112 . For example, media guidance application data, which may include genre information (e.g., sports, mystery, comedy) and subgenre information (e.g., football, baseball, or any other sport) about media content accessible within media system 100 , may be accessed to determine what content is sports-related as well as the type of sport. Although, in some embodiments, interactive sports watcher application 106 may consult the genre data associated with media content to determine if media content is sports-related, in other embodiments other methods may be used. For example, content titles and descriptions may be searched for keywords (e.g., “baseball” or “Yankees”). Content matching the search criteria may be deemed sports-related for the purposes of interactive sports watcher application 106 . Content available on specific channels (e.g., ESPN or the YES network) may also be deemed sports-related in some embodiments.
After sports-related content is displayed on user equipment 102 , the user equipment may automatically enter sports watcher mode and/or execute the sports watcher application. Alternatively or additionally, the user may manually select to enter sports watcher mode. For example, the user may select a button on input device 108 to enter sports watcher mode. After entering sports watcher mode, interactive sports watcher application 106 may automatically display any of the screens shown in FIGS. 3-29 below.
FIG. 2A shows illustrative control circuitry 110 in more detail. Control circuitry 110 may include one or more tuners 202 , 204 , 206 , and 208 . These tuners may be digital tuners, analog tuners, or a combination of digital and analog tuners. Control circuitry 110 may also include processor 212 , which may include one or more MIPS/RISC and/or Motorola 68000 family processors. Graphics circuitry 210 may be used to decode video signals from tuners 202 , 204 , 206 , and 208 and output the decoded video signals to one or more display devices, such as display device 104 (FIG. 1). As is currently understood in the art, the output from more than one tuner may be decoded and displayed simultaneously on a single display screen if desired. For example, picture-in-picture (PIP) or picture-on-picture (POP) modes may be implemented to allow for multiple video windows to be displayed simultaneously.
Graphics circuitry 210 may also include scaled video output circuitry to perform operations on the outputs of tuners 202 , 204 , 206 , and 208 . For example, PIP windows may be dynamically resized by the user in real-time. In addition, graphics circuitry 210 may support the conversion from one output format or resolution to another output format or resolution. For example, a high-definition (HD) video output may be converted to a standard-definition (SD) output and vice versa. A variety of highly compressed video codecs, such as an H.264/MPEG-4 AVC codec, may also be used by graphics circuitry 210 to decode/encode additional formats.
Control circuitry 110 may be configured to automatically buffer media content tuned by one or more of tuners 202 , 204 , 206 , and 208 . This content may be buffered in memory 214 , which may include RAM, ROM, hard disks, and hybrid types of memory. Each tuner may be associated with its own buffer in memory 214 . For example, the output of tuner 202 may be buffered in a first buffer file and stored in memory 214 . Similarly, the outputs of tuners 204 , 206 , and 208 may also be buffered in one or more separate buffer files in memory 214 . The buffer files may include real-time buffers corresponding to a sliding window of time for each tuner output. For example, in some embodiments, a 30-minute buffer window may be used. In other embodiments, a maximum buffer size is used in addition to, or in lieu of, a buffer time window. The characteristics of the buffer (e.g., buffer size, buffer window, and/or buffer resolution) may be dependent on the type of media content being buffered as well as user preferences. For example, certain sports may be given larger (or longer) buffers than the buffers for other sports. In addition, tuner outputs may be transcoded and buffered in a format other than the format transmitted to the user equipment device. For example, graphics circuitry 210 may be configured to buffer high-definition content in standard definition, depending on the type of sporting event and user preferences. This may save space in memory 214 for the buffers of other tuners.
For example, a user's profile may determine which sports are buffered in high-definition, which sports are buffered in standard-definition, and which sports are buffered in H.264 format. The user's profile may also indicate the preferred length or size of the buffers. For example, a user may select to give football sporting events a 45-minute buffer window, while basketball events are buffered for only a 30-minute window.
As described above, an interactive media guidance application may include a sports watcher mode, or the sports watcher application may be a separate module or application (both approaches are collectively referred to herein as “sports watcher mode”). A user may enter the sports watcher mode to actively watch one or more sporting events. The sports watcher mode may be optimized for the multi-tuner user equipment devices, such as a dual-tuner DVR, and for widescreen or normal aspect ratio television. For example, in some embodiments, there may be always N active sporting events or games, where N is the number of tuners in the user equipment. One tuner may be designated as the primary game tuner (i.e., “primary tuner”). This tuner may not change or tune away while the primary game is in progress. The primary game may be selected based on preferences of the user, and the user may change these preferences at any time. The other N−1 tuners may be tuned to user-selected secondary sporting events or games, but these tuners can also be used to view other events, games, and programming. Any of the N tuners can be in view, or more than one tuner can be in view with PIP/POP or split screen mode. Smart channel changing, or flipping, may be enabled whereby if a user-selected channel can be brought up with a tuner swap, no actual tune will take place. In this way, the primary sporting event or game may be always tuned, allowing for advanced navigation functionality, such as fast-forward, rewind, and slow motion replay, using the real-time buffers described above.
FIG. 2B shows illustrative tuner data tables 220 and 230 in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. In some embodiments, only one sporting event is designated as the primary sporting event at any given time. One or more sporting events other than the primary sporting event may be designated as secondary sporting events. The user may change or swap primary and/or secondary sporting events at any time. In other embodiments, however, each tuner within the user equipment is assigned a primary sporting event. Each tuner may remain tuned to the tuner's primary sporting event whenever possible. If the user requests media content that requires tuning away from a primary sporting event, the tuner currently tuned to the sporting event with the lowest user profile score (or other priority designation) may be tuned to the requested media content, and the newly tuned content may then be displayed to the user. The other tuners may remain tuned on their respective primary games.
In the example of FIG. 2B, tables 220 and 230 may be stored in memory 214 of control circuitry 110 (FIG. 2A). Table 220 may associate each tuner in tuner column 222 (e.g., all four tuners in the user equipment device) with a primary sporting event or other sports-related content. The source identifier (e.g., channel identifier) of the primary sporting event for the tuner may be included in primary source identifier column 224 . Table 230 may associate each sporting event available in the media system with a user profile score. For example, source identifier column 232 may include the source identifiers of all the sports-related media content currently being broadcast (or otherwise available within the media system, for example, via a VOD service). The type of content (e.g., sports-themed movie, game, sports news, or sports commentary) may be listed in type column 234 . Finally, profile score column 236 may include the user profile score for the sports-related media content. For example, the user may define a number of sports viewing preferences or criteria, such as the user's favorite sport or sports, favorite sports team or teams, favorite player or players, favorite venue or venues, favorite league or leagues, or any other suitable criteria, in the user's profile. In some embodiments, the user may setup the user's viewing preferences from a sports watcher options screen, such as display screen 2900 of FIG. 29, which is described in more detail below. The user may optionally assign a weight to each criterion as well as a rank for each entry within the criterion. For example, the user may designate the NY Yankees as the user's first favorite baseball team and the NY Mets as the user's second favorite baseball team, and so on.
Using the weights assigned to each criterion and the rank assigned to each entry within each criterion, a user profile score may be calculated by the sports watcher application and assigned to each sporting event or sports-related content accessible by the user equipment. The user profile score may be computed in accordance with:
where N is the total number of criteria defined in the user's profile (and applicable to the media content), w is the weight assigned to the criterion, and r is the rank within the criterion. The profile score may also be scaled, if desired, so that, for example, all the scores have a maximum value of 100 (or any other convenient number). In general, the higher the user profile score, the more user profile matches the media content has and the more interested the user will be in the media content. In addition to using the user profiles scores in column 236 to determine a priority order for sports-related content, the sports watcher application may also use the user profile scores to automatically designate primary and/or secondary games. For example, as shown in table 220 , the media content with the greatest user profile score (i.e., “sourceid_ 2 ” in the example of FIG. 2B) may be assigned as the primary event for tuner 1 , the media content with the next greatest user profile score (i.e., “sourceid_ 1 ” in the example of FIG. 2B) may be assigned as the primary event for tuner 2 , and so on. In this way, tuners may be assigned a priority ranking. This ranking may determine the order in which tuners are tuned away from their respective primary game, as described in more detail below in regard to FIG. 31B.
Sports watcher mode may also include dual picture capability. The user may select letterbox or standard aspect ratio, and may additionally select a single video, PIP (with location complementary to an interactive scoreboard, described below in more detail with regard to FIG. 3), side by side view, or multiple video windows, in which case any of the N tuners may be active. Audio may be played from the active window, and channel flipping may be relative to the active window. Video controls (e.g., pause, rewind, slow motion replay) may also be relative to the active window.
Enhanced video controls may also be provided in some embodiments. The enhanced controls may include all standard video controls (e.g., pause, multi-speed rewind/fast-forward, multi-speed slow forward/reverse, frame advance/reverse, and live play). Sports-oriented additions may also be included, such as a user-configurable or sport-specific instant replay time. For example, replay requests for football games may automatically replay the last 15 seconds of play, while replay requests for basketball games may automatically replay only the last 10 seconds of play. Replays may be automatically displayed in various user-selected or system-selected slow motion or accelerated speeds, if desired. For example, football may be replayed at ¾ normal speed while basketball may be replayed at ½ normal speed, depending on user preferences. A user may set replay times and speeds for specific sports in a sports watcher options display screen, such as display screen 2900 (FIG. 29).
Sports-oriented video controls may also include a turbo replay function. Turbo replay allows a user to hold a button (e.g., a “replay” button) on an input device, such as input device 108 (FIG. 1), to skip back continuously by a user-configurable amount of time (for example, 0.5 seconds). The user may then release the button to replay the portion of play from the desired location. The user may also select to automatically repeat or loop the selected replay portion at normal, slow, or increased speeds while the replay button is pressed. To allow for greater flexibility, a user may also use a mark/nudge/loop function whereby a user may mark a spot in a video using the replay/slow/pause buttons on an input device, such as input device 108 (FIG. 1), and then nudge the marked location using the arrow or cursor buttons. A nudge timeline may be displayed for use with the mark/nudge/loop function in some embodiments. By nudging the marked location, the user may set the start and end positions of the replay window relative to the marked location. The user may then replay the replay window repeatedly at regular, slow, or increased speeds.
In some embodiments, the sports watcher mode may include an interactive scoreboard feature. Display screen 300 of FIG. 3 shows interactive scoreboard 302 in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. Interactive scoreboard 302 is a sports scoreboard that is available in sports watcher mode. It may be displayed and dismissed with a single keystroke or button press on an input device, such as input device 108 (FIG. 1). Interactive scoreboard 302 may include a number of passive and interactive features. For example, interactive scoreboard 302 may be automatically displayed when sports watcher mode is entered or it may be automatically displayed when the user requests or accesses sports-related programming (e.g., a sporting event). Although interactive scoreboard 302 may be displayed and dismissed with a single keystroke, in some embodiments it may not time out and may persist until manually dismissed by the user. Interactive scoreboard 302 may include a list of currently tuned sporting events and games, such as scoreboard entries 304 and 306 . Icon 310 may indicate that the game associated with the score listed next to icon 310 is viewable in an active or main window (e.g., in the foreground area of main window 320 ). Icon 310 may also indicate that the game associate with the score listed next to icon 310 is viewable somewhere on the current display screen (e.g., in a PIP or POP window). Interactive scoreboard 302 may also include scrollable list 308 of other sports scores. The scores displayed in scrollable list 308 may include scores of one or more of currently televised games, non-televised games, and games that have recently ended (e.g., games that have ended earlier in the day or within a 24-hour period). The user may press left or right arrow keys on an input device, such as input device 108 (FIG. 1), to manually scroll through additional sports scores in scrollable list 308 .
Interactive scoreboard 302 may be displayed as an overlay on main window 320 , which may be currently displaying sports programming. As shown in the example of FIG. 3, interactive scoreboard 302 may occupy approximately 1/9 of one corner of display screen 300 . As described in more detail with regard to FIG. 28 below, interactive scoreboard 302 may also be dynamically resized and/or repositioned as desired by the user. Although interactive scoreboard 302 takes a square or rectangular shape in the example of FIG. 3, interactive scoreboard 302 may also run horizontally or vertically across the entire width or length of display screen 300 in a banner or sports ticker format in other embodiments. A highlight cursor may surround one of scoreboard entries 304 and 306 or scrollable list 308 to indicate which scoreboard element is currently selected by the user. In some embodiments, the font size and/or font color of the highlighted element may change to further indicate which scoreboard element is selected.
In some embodiments, scrollable list 308 may scroll through the scores of a plurality of different games automatically without any user input. Each score in scrollable list 308 may be flashed for a user-configurable amount of time, or the games may be displayed in a scrolling fashion, whereby the score enters scrollable list 308 from right to left or left to right and is scrolled out after a user-configurable amount of time. A user may also select a predefined subset of all the available sports scores for display in scrollable list 308 . For example, the user may set preferences in the user's profile to include only scores of a certain sport, a certain league, or a certain tournament in scrollable list 308 . The user may also indicate one or more custom subsets of scores for display in scrollable list 308 . For example, the user may wish to see scores of his or her favorite teams, leagues, or sports. This information may be saved to a user profile and used to select which scores are displayed in scrollable list 308 . As such, scoreboard 302 may offer users a method to customize which scores are included or excluded in the display (e.g., football and baseball games, but not basketball games). In some embodiments, games may be ranked based on user preferences for multiple attributes (e.g., sport, team, venue, league, tournament, etc.). In such embodiments, inclusion on the scoreboard (and order) may be determined based on the calculated rank. Games that are currently tuned or which have been recently tuned may be included in the scoreboard even if their ranks would not otherwise cause them to be included. The data for use by scoreboard 302 (e.g., the scores and any related game summary information) may be accessed from one or more real-time data feeds received from any suitable content or data source (e.g., content source 130 , supplemental content source 120 , or data sources 140 (all of FIG. 1)).
In some embodiments, scoreboard 302 may be adjusted to include more or less information about each game. In addition to real-time scores, the information displayed in scoreboard 302 may include channel names, channel numbers, team names, clock time, time remaining, performance of specific players in the game (e.g., configured in such a manner that only select players' statistics are displayed, thus becoming a fantasy team tracking feature), other current status and game summary information from real-time data feeds, sports news information that is not related to any specific game, or any other suitable information. Depending on the size and location of scoreboard 302 , this additional information may be displayed within each scoreboard entry (e.g., next to the appropriate score), above or below the scores, or at any other suitable location within scoreboard 302 . This information may also be displayed in a separate window from scoreboard 302 , if desired. In some embodiments, when a user highlights or selects a score in scoreboard 302 that is associated with a game that is currently tuned, the interactive media guidance application may automatically swap the display to that tuner. If the user highlights or selects a score associated with a game that is available but not currently tuned, the interactive media guidance application may tune that game on an available tuner. The tuner used to tune the selected game may be the tuner with the lowest priority so that the user's primary game or games remain tuned whenever possible.
As shown in display screen 400 of FIG. 4, the user may highlight a score in scoreboard 302 and press an “Info” button on an input device, such as input device 108 (FIG. 1), to view a game information screen or banner for the game associated with the selected score. In the example of FIG. 4, banner 402 displays more detailed game information, including time remaining, quarter, down, yards remaining to first down, field location, and summary information for the Seattle at Pittsburgh football game highlighted in scoreboard 302 . Banner 402 may also display the channel number and call letters that the game is currently being broadcast on. The amount and type of information displayed in flip banner 402 may be customized via a user preferences screen, such as sports watcher options display screen 2900 (FIG. 29), which is described in more detail below.
Scoreboard 302 may also include television icon 404 next to one or more of the scores listed in scoreboard 302 . Television icon 404 may indicate that the game associated with the score is currently available on at least one television channel accessible by the user equipment device. Similar to icon 310 (FIG. 3), television icon 404 (FIG. 4) provides more information to the user in a convenient, highly-visible way. If the user wishes to tune a different game on a foreground or background tuner, the user may select any score in scoreboard 302 that shows television icon 404 (FIG. 4) to automatically tune the game associated with the selected score. Icon 310 may then be displayed adjacent to the selected score, indicating that this game is now tuned in the active window. In some embodiments, a tuned icon (not shown) may be used to indicate that the game is tuned by a tuner other then the tuner being shown in the active window. More than one instance of tuned icon may appear in scoreboard 302 if the user equipment device includes more than one tuner. In some embodiments, the order in which games are shown on the scoreboard may reflect the priority of the games. For example, the top game on the scoreboard may be for the primary game, and the second game on the scoreboard may be for the secondary game with the highest priority. Games that are not currently tuned may be included in scrollable list 308 .
For traditional analog television systems, tuned content may include content acquired or locked from a particular channel carrier frequency. For digital television systems, tuned content may include content demodulated from a digital carrier frequency, content FEC decoded from the demodulated transport stream (TS), content demultiplexed from the transport stream, and/or content extracted from a particular packet identifier (PID) stream. This digital content may be received by the user equipment device over a number of switched digital television channels. For IPTV, tuned content may include content to be delivered on a particular network address (e.g., multicast address) on which an IP socket is currently joined.
As mentioned above, one feature of the sports watcher application is more efficient sports tuning, especially in dual-tuner or multi-tuner systems. In the example of FIG. 4, scoreboard 302 lists the Seattle at Pittsburgh score in position 1 (e.g., the top row) of scoreboard 302 and the ASU at USC football game in position 2 (e.g., the second row) of scoreboard 302 . The game associated with the score in position 1 of scoreboard 302 may be designated as the user's primary game. The game associated with the score in position 2 of scoreboard 302 may be designated as the user's secondary game (for example, in user equipment with two tuners). A user may set or switch the primary game at any time. The sports watcher application may keep the sporting event designated as the primary game tuned whenever possible. For example, if a user requests media content (e.g., by changing channels), the tuner tuned to the primary sporting event may persist on the primary sporting event while another available tuner tunes to the requested media content. In this way, channel changing or flipping may be generally performed on a secondary tuner (i.e., a tuner other than the tuner that is currently tuned to the primary sporting event), so that the primary tuner can remain tuned on the primary sporting event. Flipping to the primary sporting event may perform a tuner output swap (i.e., display the output from the tuner already tuned to the primary sporting event) rather than a new tune. Flipping from the primary sporting event may perform a tuner output swap first, and then a tune, if required.
In some embodiments, a sport pilot feature may allow the sports watcher application to automatically designate particular sporting events as primary and/or secondary sporting events. In this way, the most pertinent game or games that are active at the moment may be automatically tuned without the user requesting that the game or games be tuned. For example, network access or network usage statistics may be received by the user equipment device from a network usage monitoring service. The network statistics may be used to determine which games are popular within the entire network or some subset of the entire network (e.g., the local geographic region in which the user equipment device is currently located). In some embodiments, the geographic location of the user equipment device may be derived from the user equipment device's network address (e.g., IP address) or a multicast address of a local cable headend that the user equipment device is subscribed to. The user equipment device may use the received network statistics along with user profile or preference information to automatically designate one or more sporting events as primary and/or secondary events. Some weighted function (e.g., taking into account both network activity and user preferences) may be used to determine which events qualify as primary and/or secondary events. The weighted function may be similar to EQ 1, described above, which may be used to calculate user profile scores for sports content. Network access or usage statistics may represent one criterion in EQ 1.
In addition to, or in lieu of, receiving network statistics, system selections of primary and/or secondary sporting events may be automatically received by the user equipment device in some embodiments. The system selections may include events with high network access requests in a local geographic region or throughout the entire media system or network. Primary sporting events may also be selected by one or more sports editors. For example, an artificial intelligent agent, live agent, or other editor (e.g., at the headend or the production facility) may monitor all sporting events currently in progress and designate popular games, high action games, high excitement games, or games that might be of interest to the user as primary sporting events. An indication of the designated primary sporting events may then be provided to user equipment 102 (FIG. 1) in the form of a primary sporting event flag. For example, a game that has a tie score with two minutes left or a game where a high number of points are being scored could be flagged as more interesting than a shut-out or a low scoring game. User equipment 102 (FIG. 1) may automatically designate a sporting event, based on the editor-selected events and user viewing preferences, as the primary sporting event (and optionally automatically tune a foreground or background tuner to the event).
In some embodiments, historical information related to a match-up is also made available. For example, in a text-oriented addition, scores, statistics, player differences, etc., can be provided of prior match-ups between the two teams featured in the game or games currently being displayed on the user equipment device. This match-up information may then be displayed in the display screen simultaneously with the sporting event. As another example, the prior match-ups between these teams or highlights of those match-ups can be provided via a VOD service for the game or games currently being displayed on the user equipment device. This prior match-up information may be accessible from the game information screen (e.g., display screen 600 of FIG. 6), if desired.
Primary sporting events may also be automatically selected by the sports watcher application itself. For example, the sports watcher application may monitor one or more real-time data feeds and designate games, for example, that are on the verge of scoring opportunities, almost over, or have players approaching statistical milestones (e.g., 400 yard passer or 1,000 yard rusher), as primary games. In some embodiments, a primary game flag may be included in media guidance application data associated with sporting events and other sports-related media content that are designated as primary sporting events. This allows for virtually any criterion or combination of criteria (user-selected, editor-selected, or application-selected) to be used to select and designate primary games. The sports watcher application may parse the media guidance application data for primary game flags and compile a list of games that are primary game candidates. From the candidate list, the sports watcher application may select and designate one or more primary games based on user preferences or profile information. In some embodiments, after entering sports watcher mode, the primary games may be automatically tuned by one or more tuners in the user equipment device. The scores of these games may also be displayed in an interactive scoreboard, such as scoreboard 302 . For example, if the user equipment device includes three tuners, three games may be selected and tuned automatically after sports mode is entered.
The sports watcher application may also support intelligent channel changing, or flipping. Channel changing may change the video in the active window. The active window may be the main window, PIP window, POP window, or either side window. In some embodiments, the active window is surrounded by a cell or region highlight to visually distinguish the active window from other windows in display screen 400 . The channel up/down buttons on an input device, such as input device 108 (FIG. 1), may change channels relative to the channel of the active window. As described above, channel changing may swap tuners (if the requested content is already tuned) or tune one of the secondary tuners.
In some embodiments, an all-sports channel flipping function may be defined, whereby flipping is constrained to channels currently showing sporting events or sports-related programming. Other channels may be automatically skipped in the flipping sequence. The sports watcher application may maintain a list or table of channels currently showing sports programs in memory. This list or table may be derived from media guidance application data transmitted to the user equipment device. This media guidance application data may include genre (e.g., “sports”) and subgenre (e.g., “football”) information about all channels currently accessible by the user equipment device. The all-sports flipping function may include in the channel line-up one or more of all channels showing sporting events, all channels showing any sports-related programming (sporting events, sports commentary, sports news, sports-themed movies, etc.), or all channels showing sporting events of a particular type of sport (e.g., football). The channels included in the all-sports channel flipping function may be set using sports watcher options display screen 2900 (FIG. 29), which is described in more detail below.
Using the all-sports flipping function, the interactive media guidance application may also automatically scan through the all-sports channel lineup. Each channel in the lineup may be displayed for a predetermined or user-configurable amount of time before the next channel in the lineup is displayed. The channels may be displayed in any order, for example, by channel number (low to high or high to low), by profile score (low to high or high to low), or by priority (low to high or high to low).
A favorites flipping function may also be defined in some embodiments, whereby only channels showing media content that matches the user's favorites (as determined by the user profile or user favorites list) are tuned in the flipping sequence. Other channels may be automatically skipped. The favorites flipping function and the all-sports flipping function may also be combined in some embodiments, so that only channels showing content that matches the user's favorites and the user's all-sports flipping options are included in the channel line-up. All other channels may be automatically skipped.
In some embodiments, an interactive listing of the channels included in the all-sports and/or favorites flipping functions may be displayed on the screen in a scrollable overlay. The interactive listing may also be displayed in a PIP/POP window anywhere on the screen. A user may navigate a cursor within the interactive listing and select one or more entries in the listing. After selecting one or more entries in the listing, a media guidance application function may be automatically invoked. For example, the selected channel or channels may be automatically tuned and displayed in the main window, added to the user's favorites, scheduled for recording, added to an alert list, or a reminder may be set. The user may select to reorder the interactive listing by channel name, channel number, title, time started, or sport. In this way, the user may have access to a complete list of the channels currently showing sporting events. By reordering the interactive listing by sport, the user may view a list of all the channels currently showing a particular type of sport (e.g., baseball) in a convenient on-screen overlay without entering the main guidance application screen or tuning away from media content currently being displayed on the display screen.
In some embodiments, scoreboard 302 may be moved to different screen positions to support avoidance of different on-screen displays, overlays, and windows. For example, scoreboard 302 may be dynamically moved to another area of the screen or reduced/enlarged in size in response to another overlay, window (e.g., PIP/POP window), or prompt being displayed. Scoreboard 302 may also be made into a ticker (e.g., displayed horizontally across the bottom of the screen or displayed vertically across the side of the screen). Such a ticker may be somewhat translucently overlaid, partially blocking a portion of the video, may be opaquely overlaid, fully blocking a portion of the video, or the video portion may be squeezed in such a way that the ticker can coexist without overlap with the video, and without either the ticker or the video interfering with each other.
As previously mentioned, the scores listed in scoreboard 302 may include scores of games that are currently airing and of interest to the user. After entering sports watcher mode, a real-time data feed including sports scores of a plurality of sporting events may be received by the user equipment device. The scores selected for inclusion in scoreboard 302 may be based on user sports preferences previously stored. The user may modify the list at any time while sports watcher mode is active. The list may include several games; however, as previously described, the first two positions in scoreboard 302 may be special. For example, the first position may display the score of the primary game. This game is assigned to a primary tuner and generally the tuner may not be tuned away from the primary game. The second position in scoreboard 302 may be the secondary game. It is assigned to the second tuner, but the tuner may be tuned to another game in the list. Tuned games are automatically buffered in real-time on the user equipment device to support standard and advanced video controls, such as rewind, pause, instant replay, slow motion replay, etc.
The user may highlight any score in scoreboard 302 using an input device, such as input device 108 (FIG. 1), and immediately tune to the game associated with the selected score or perform any available media guidance function on the game associated with the selected score. If the game is already tuned on one of the tuners in the user equipment device, no tune may actually take place. Rather, the output of the tuner already tuned to the sporting event is displayed (i.e., a tuner swap) or made active. While sports watcher mode is active, flipping through channels via the “Favorites” key may be constrained to the games associated with scores in scoreboard 302 . The scores displayed in scoreboard 302 may update automatically as games start and end. In some embodiments, scores may remain in scoreboard 302 for some time after the game associated with the score has ended.
In a typical usage scenario, when a user presses the “OK” key while any scoreboard entry is highlighted, if the game associated with the highlighted score is on television but not tuned, the selected game may be tuned using a secondary tuner, and the game may be brought into foreground view. If the selected game is already tuned on a background (e.g., secondary) tuner, the game may be brought to foreground view. If the user is in PIP or POP mode, the selected game may be made the active video window. A flip banner, such as flip banner 402 , may be automatically displayed with detailed game information after a new sporting event is tuned, brought into foreground view, or designated an active window. The flip banner may time out after some predetermined amount of time.
FIG. 5 shows display screen 500 with enhanced game status icons in interactive scoreboard 302 . Display screen 500 may be similar to display screen 400 (FIG. 4). In the example of FIG. 5, scoreboard 302 includes game status icons 502 and 504 . Game status icon 502 , which in some embodiments may resemble a lightning bolt, may be positioned adjacent to any of the entries in scoreboard 302 , including scrollable list 308 . The sports watcher application may display icon 502 next to a score associated with a sporting event that has resumed play or is back from a commercial break. In a typical usage scenario, a user may access another sporting event after the primary event goes to commercial by selecting another score listed in scoreboard 302 . Even though the game may not be currently viewable in display screen 500 , the sports watcher application may monitor a real-time data feed for one or more game status flags. These status flags may indicate any suitable characteristics about the sporting events associated with scores displayed in scoreboard 302 . For example, the status flags may indicate that the game has resumed play, is back from commercial, has gone to commercial, the current clock time, or any other suitable game status information. Using these status flags, the sports watcher application may display appropriate game status icons, such as icon 502 and 504 within scoreboard 302 . These icons provide additional information to the user about games associated with scores displayed in scoreboard 302 . Game status icons may be associated with any score in any position within scoreboard 302 , including scores in scrollable list 308 .
Game status icons may be displayed near other icons within the scoreboard. Each entry in scoreboard 302 may be associated with zero, one, or more icons. For example, game status icons 502 and/or 504 may be positioned near icon 310 (FIG. 3), icon 404 (FIG. 4), or any other suitable icons described herein. Multiple icons adjacent to the same entry in scoreboard 302 may indicate that all the icons are applicable to the given scoreboard entry. For example, if, in the example of FIG. 5, the Seattle at Pittsburgh game was currently displayed in the active window, tuned on a tuner within the user equipment device, and back from commercial, all three icons may be displayed next to the appropriate entry in scoreboard 302 .
Action icon 504 is a special type of game status icon. Action icon 504 , which may resemble an exclamation point in some embodiments, indicates that exciting action is currently taking place in the game associated with the score that action icon 504 is displayed adjacent to. For example, action icon 504 may be displayed when there is a scoring drive, rally, or any other suitable event of interest currently occurring in the game associated with the score. In the example of FIG. 5, action icon 504 is presented as a time remaining warning, indicating that less than two minutes of clock time is remaining in the fourth quarter of the football game. Time remaining indicator 506 may display the current quarter and clock time remaining. This information may be received from the same real-time data feed as the game status information, or this information may be received from another real-time data feed. As shown in display screen 500 , time remaining indicator 506 may be displayed within a scoreboard entry or adjacent to a scoreboard entry.
Although FIGS. 3-5 show some of the most common icons that may be associated with scores displayed in scoreboard 302 , other icons may also be defined and displayed within the scoreboard at the appropriate times. For example, as described above, when certain milestones are about to be reached by a team or a particular player on a team, a milestone icon may be displayed in the scoreboard. In general, a user may choose which icons the user would like to appear in the scoreboard using a sports watcher options display screen, such as display screen 2900 of FIG. 29.
Pressing the “Info” key on any scoreboard entry may cause a flip banner, such as flip banner 402 (FIG. 4), for that entry to be displayed if not already displayed (even if the game is not tuned). Full-screen game information may also be displayed if the flip banner is already displayed for that game, as shown in game information display screen 600 of FIG. 6. The flip banner or full-screen game information 604 may be co-located on the screen with scoreboard 302 and available for any game on scoreboard 302 , including games not on television. Alternatively, scoreboard 302 may be removed from the display and the game itself may be displayed in picture-in-guide (PIG) window 602 . A supplemental data source (e.g., supplemental content source 120 of FIG. 1) may be accessed to retrieve information for games not broadcast on television. The flip banner or full-screen game information 604 may also include additional live update data that is not shown on scoreboard 302 . As shown in display screen 600 , full-screen game information 604 may feature a scrollable description, live score and status updates, point spread, money line, and other wagering information, and other game-specific information.
Display screen 600 may also include a number of game-specific options in a game menu. The game specific options may include watch option 608 . Watch option 608 may change depending on the status of the game. For example, if the game is on television but not tuned, selecting watch option 608 may tune the game using a secondary tuner and bring it to foreground view (i.e., makes the game the active window). If the game is tuned in the background, selecting watch option 608 may bring it to foreground view. If the game is in the foreground on a secondary tuner, the label of watch option 608 may change to “Make Primary Game.” Selecting watch option 608 after the label has changed to “Make Primary Game” may designate the game as the user's primary game. If appropriate, the label of watch option 608 may also change to “Watch Pregame” or “Watch Postgame” if the game has ended or not yet started (and postgame or pregame content is available). Pregame and postgame video may be available from the same channel the game is to be broadcast on, or was broadcast on, or from a supplemental content source, such as supplemental content source 120 (FIG. 1). If the selected game is not on television, but the same team is playing, the label of watch option 608 may change to “Watch [team name].” In this case, after selecting watch option 608 , a listing of available games (e.g., both prerecorded and live games) featuring the team or teams in the game the user requested more information about may be displayed to the user. The user may then select any game from the listing to watch the selected game.
The user may also set game reminders using reminders option 610 . Reminders may be set for specific games, or any of a specific game's categories (e.g., sport, league, event, or team). Reminders on categories may result in any game with a matching category designation to automatically receive a reminder. Standard reminders may be created that will appear whether sports watcher mode, the interactive media guidance application, or any other application is active. Reminders are discussed in more detail below with regard to display screen 2200 (FIG. 22), which shows an example game reminder screen.
A recordings page may also be accessed from the game information screen, such as display screen 600 . After selecting recordings option 612 , one or more display screens may be presented to the user that allow for recordings to be scheduled for specific games. Recordings may also be scheduled for any of a game's categories (e.g., sport, league, event, or team). Schedule a category for recording may result in any game with same category designation to be automatically recorded (or scheduled for recording). Standard recording options may also be available that are present whether sports watcher mode, the interactive media guidance application, or any other application is active. Recordings are discussed in more detail with regard to display screens 2300 (FIG. 23) and 2400 (FIG. 24) below.
Game commentary may also be accessed from the game information screen, such as display screen 600 . After selecting commentary option 614 , the user may access multiple sources of additional information about the game, including recommendations, analysis and predictions, and odds and spreads. Game commentary may also feature scrollable text and may include images and links to video clips. Game commentary is discussed in more detail below with regard to display screen 2500 (FIG. 25), which shows an illustrative game commentary screen.
The sports watcher application may also provide comprehensive wagering support. A user may access a wagering interface from the game information screen by selecting wagering option 616 . After selecting wagering option 616 , a wagering interface, such as display screen 1500 (FIG. 15), may be displayed to the user. The wagering interface may be customized to the currently selected game. For example, after the user selects wagering option 616 , a custom wagering interface for the Detroit at Colorado game may be displayed. This interface may allow the user to wager on the game, to modify a previous wager on the game, or to view a wager previously made on the game, including any results. Wagering functionality is described in more detail below with regard to FIG. 15.
To set or view user favorites, the user may select favorites option 618 . Favorites may be set for specific game, or any of a game's categories (e.g., sport, league, event, or team). For example, display screen 1100 (FIG. 11) may be displayed after a user selects favorites option 618 . Favorites are described in more detail below with regard to FIG. 11.
Sports-related parental control features may also be supported in some embodiments. After the user selects lock option 620 , a parental control display screen, such as display screen 1400 (FIG. 14), may be displayed. From the parental control display screen, the user may create, remove, or modify parental control locks for the game, any of the game's categories (e.g., sport, league, event, tournament, or team), or the channel the game is being broadcast on. Locks may be set by sport (e.g., lock “Auto Racing”), and may be enforced during regular (i.e., non-sports) television watching even if the sports watcher application or interactive media guidance application is not currently active. Alternately, locks may be enforced only while the sports watcher application is active and running. Parental control locks are described in more detail below with regard to FIG. 14.
Information shown on the game information screen, such as display screen 600 (FIG. 6), may also include all or a part of the information from the media guidance application program database (if applicable), score and other information from the live data feed (for current or recent games), odds, point spreads, or other wagering information, advance or real-time commentary, and any other suitable information. A textual game summary may also be provided as an option. In some embodiments, a video summary may be provided via VOD or some other mechanism. This video summary may include a half-time highlights reel or key plays video, for example. The text game summary may be configured to not only display to the user on television, but to also send the summaries as an e-mail, text message, or Instant Message (IM) to a cellular telephone, PDA, or other mobile device. Audio highlights may also be generated as a result and sent as voice mails to home or mobile phone voice mailboxes. To return to the main display screen, such as display screen 500 (FIG. 5), the user may select back option 606 .
As shown in display screen 700 of FIG. 7, a user may access a sports watcher quick menu, such as Quick Menu 702 , when the sports watcher application is active. In some embodiments, the user may press a “Menu” button on an input device, such as input device 108 (FIG. 1) in order to display Quick Menu 702 . Quick Menu 702 may be displayed as an overlay while video content is being watched in the background. Quick Menu 702 may include a number of sports-specific functions and features. These features and functions may include the most commonly accessed features and functions of the sports watcher application.
For example, the user may select “TV Guide” option 712 , which displays the interactive media guidance application main menu, allowing the viewer access to non-sports functions. The user may select Search option 704 to access a set of search screens that can be used to find sports programming. For example, after selecting search option 704 , display screen 900 (FIG. 9) may be displayed to the user. The user may select favorites option 706 to set specific sports, leagues, teams, and tournaments as favorites. After selecting favorites option 706 , display screen 1000 (FIG. 10) or 1100 (FIG. 11) may be displayed to the user. The user may select wagering option 708 to access a wagering interface. For example, display screen 1500 (FIG. 15) may be displayed after a user selects wagering option 708 .
To access fantasy league functions, the user may select fantasy option 710 . After selecting fantasy option 710 , display screen 1600 (FIG. 16) or 1700 (FIG. 17) may be displayed to the user. Through these screens, a user may create or join a private or public fantasy sports league, as described in more detail with regard to FIGS. 16 and 17. The user may customize many of the sports watcher features via setup option 714 . For example, after selecting setup option 714 , display screen 2600 (FIG. 26) may be displayed to the user. To exit sports watcher mode or terminate the sports watcher application, the user may select exit sports watcher option 716 . After selecting exit sports watcher option 716 , the user may be presented with a traditional med