JPH1098704A - Television broadcasting system and information display device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To provide an information display device suitable for use in a television broadcasting system capable of providing a service for discounting a charge for a program according to a user's program viewing status. SOLUTION: A means 11 for storing received program information.
A means 12 for creating a program guide based on the program information stored in the storage means 11 and providing the same on a screen of a monitor 13; a means 14 for providing a cursor on the program guide;
Means 15 for detecting the position of the cursor and selecting the program at the detected position; storage means 16 for storing the user's viewing status of the program; and a charge for the selected program provided by the sender of the program Means 17 for comparing the discount condition of the user with the information on the user's program viewing status stored in the storage means 16; and, when the user's program viewing status satisfies the discount condition, a program information section on the selected program. Means 18 for changing the amount to an amount discounted based on the discount conditions.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a television broadcasting system and an information display device, and more particularly, to a television broadcasting system of a charging system for collecting a fee according to a program watched by a user. The present invention relates to a television broadcasting system capable of providing a service for discounting a charged amount of a program, and an information display device suitable for use in the television broadcasting system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Digital broadcasting, which has been put into practical use in recent years, can provide tens to hundreds of channels. Program information is transmitted together with video data, and this is analyzed by a receiver. Therefore, an electronic program guide service for displaying a program guide on a monitor becomes important. In order to realize such an electronic program guide service, a broadcast station distributes program information including a lot of information such as a channel number, a program title, and a broadcast time of a plurality of programs so as to be superimposed on the broadcast program. . And in the conventional information display device,
Viewers receive services in the form of providing a time axis in the horizontal direction and displaying programs in the vertical direction in association with each other, for example, as shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. The user selects a desired program by operating a cursor displayed on the screen using an input device such as a remote controller and selecting a cell representing the selected program, thereby selecting a desired program. Viewing and recording reservation can be easily performed.

[0003] As one of the billing systems for pay broadcasting of television programs which are becoming widespread with the practical use of digital broadcasting systems, a billing amount is determined for each program and a fee is collected according to the program watched by the user. There is a pay-per-view method. In a pay-per-view television broadcasting system, information (charging information) relating to the amount charged for a program to which the pay-per-view method is applied is distributed as program information on the program. If the program viewed by the user is a chargeable program, a viewing fee will be collected based on the charge information in the program information. In addition, if the information display device displays the charge amount of the program in the program guide, the user can confirm the charge amount of the program to be selected in the program guide.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A conventional television broadcasting system of a billing system in which a billing amount is determined for each program and a fee is collected according to the program watched by the user is configured as described above. Is fixed on the service side and fixed, and there was no idea of discounting the charging amount according to the viewing situation of the user. Therefore, for example, when the user frequently watches a specific channel, the user cannot enjoy a benefit according to the viewing situation such that a charge for a program to be viewed on the specific channel is discounted. Was.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a television broadcasting system capable of providing a service for discounting a program billing amount according to a user's program viewing situation. It is intended to be realized. Another object of the present invention is to obtain an information display device used in the television broadcasting system.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a television broadcasting system according to the present invention (claim 1) is characterized in that a sender of a program determines a billing amount for each program, and a program viewed by a user. In a billing television broadcasting system, a program sender provides a user with discount condition information of a billing amount for a specific program, and the program viewing status of the user is reduced by the discount condition. When the information discount condition is satisfied, the user is charged a discounted amount for viewing the specific program.

[0007] An information display apparatus according to the present invention (claim 2) receives program information composed of data indicating the contents of a plurality of programs superimposed on a broadcast and distributed, and displays a program table. A program information storage unit for storing program information composed of data indicating the contents of the received plurality of programs, and a program table based on the program information stored in the program information storage unit. A program table providing means for providing the program table on the display screen, a cursor providing means for providing a cursor on the program table, a position of the cursor on the program table, and a program at the detected cursor position. Cursor position detecting means for selecting a program, user information storing means for storing information on a user's program viewing status, and sending of a program for the program selected by the cursor position detecting means. Is compared with the information on the user's program viewing status stored in the user information storage means, and determines whether the user's program viewing status satisfies the discount condition. A discount condition determining means for determining whether or not the program viewing status of the user satisfies the discount condition of the billing amount of the selected program; Program information updating means for changing to a discounted amount.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Embodiment 1 FIG. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an information display device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing program information superimposed on program broadcast and distributed in an information transmission system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the above.

[0009] In the television broadcasting system according to the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the program information distributed from the program sender by being superimposed on the program broadcast includes the channel numbers of a plurality of programs and the program titles. , Broadcast time, billing information, genre, audience rating, and the like, and for a specific program, discount condition information of the billing amount of the specific program is included in a predetermined format.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 11 denotes program information storage means for receiving and recording the program information. 12 is a program table providing means for allocating each piece of program information to one of a plurality of divided cells and displaying the information on a monitor 13.
4 is a cursor providing means for providing a cursor to the program table, 15 is a cursor position detection for detecting which cell in the program table the cursor is located at, and selecting a program at the detected cursor position. Means. Also, 16
Is user information storage means for storing the viewing time of each channel. A discount condition determination unit 17 compares the discount condition of the program selected by the cursor position detection unit 15 with the user information stored in the user information storage unit 16 to determine whether the user information satisfies the discount condition. Means. Reference numeral 18 denotes the user information stored in the program information storage unit 11 when the user information, that is, the program viewing status of the user satisfies the discount condition of the selected program, according to the result of the determination by the discount condition determination unit 17. This is program information updating means for changing the charge amount of the program information of the selected program to an amount discounted based on a discount condition. Reference numeral 19 denotes an information output unit that outputs the user information stored in the user information storage unit 16 to a program sender using a telephone line or the like.

Next, the operation of the information display device according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, in step 1, the program information storage means 11 receives the program information and stores the program information as shown in FIG. In step 2, the program guide providing means 1
2 provides the stored program information to the monitor 13 as a program table. In the present embodiment, for example, as shown in FIG.
The schedule for two hours of the channel is displayed on the monitor as a program table. As shown in FIG. 4, a program title is usually displayed on a program table. In step 3, the position of the cursor provided by the cursor providing means 14 is detected by the cursor position detecting means 15, and the program at the cursor position is selected. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that “program A” in the program table is selected. Here, as shown in FIG. 3, “Program A” (1
(Broadcast from 9:00 to 21:00) is 1
000 yen, and the discount condition of the program is "20% discount on the charged amount if this channel (channel number 101) has been viewed for 100 hours or more". In step 4, the discount condition determination unit 17 compares the discount condition of the selected program with the user information stored in the user information storage unit as shown in FIG. 5, and the user information satisfies the discount condition. Determine whether or not. If the user information, that is, the program viewing status of the user satisfies the discount condition of the selected program, the process proceeds to step 5 where the program information updating means 18 reduces the charge amount of the program information of the selected program. Change to the discounted amount based on the conditions and end the operation. Here, channel 101
Has been watched for 120 hours last month, it is determined that the discount condition is satisfied, and the charge for program A is 800 yen. Here, the fact that the billing amount has been changed may be displayed on a monitor screen or the like so that the user can confirm this. For example, "The charge amount of the selected program is 1000
Although this was a yen, this program will be discounted by 20% if you watch the channel for more than 100 hours last month. Your viewing time last month was 120 hours, so your bill will be 800 yen. And the like may be displayed. On the other hand, when the user's program viewing status does not satisfy the discount condition of the selected program, the operation ends without changing the program information. The user information stored in the user information storage unit is transmitted from the information output unit 19 to the sender of the program via a telephone line or the like, and the sender of the program collects a viewing fee based on the user information. As described above, when the viewing status of the program by the user satisfies the discount condition, the billing amount for the user's viewing of the program is discounted, whereby the user can select a specific program according to the viewing status of the program. The service of the discount of the charge amount can be enjoyed.

As described above, in the television broadcasting system according to the first embodiment, the sender of the program determines the billing amount for each program and collects the fee according to the program watched by the user. In broadcast systems,
The program sender provides the user with the discount condition information of the billing amount for the specific program, and when the program viewing status of the user satisfies the discount condition of the discount condition information, Since the user is charged a discounted fee for viewing the program, a television broadcast system capable of providing a service for discounting the fee for the program according to the user's program viewing status can be realized.

The information display device according to the first embodiment receives program information composed of data indicating the contents of a plurality of programs superimposed on a broadcast and distributed, and displays a program table. In the apparatus, a program information storage means 11 for storing program information composed of data indicating the contents of the received plurality of programs, and a program table created based on the program information stored in the program information storage means 11; Program guide providing means 1 for providing this program guide on the display screen of monitor 13
2, cursor providing means 14 for providing a cursor on the program guide; cursor position detecting means 15 for detecting the position of the cursor on the program guide and selecting the program at the detected cursor position; User information storage means 16 for storing information on the viewing time of the program, information on the discount condition of the billing amount of the program provided by the program sender for the program selected by the cursor position detecting means 15, and user information. A discount condition determining unit that compares the user's program viewing status stored in the storage unit with information on the user's program viewing status and determines whether the user's program viewing status satisfies the discount condition of the billing amount of the selected program; When the user's program viewing status satisfies the discount condition of the charge amount of the selected program, the charge amount of the program information related to the selected program is increased. Since the system is provided with the program information updating means 18 for changing to a discounted amount based on a discount condition, a service for discounting the billing amount of the program according to the user's program viewing status (viewing time of each channel) is provided. An information display device suitable for use in a television broadcast system that can perform the information display can be realized.

In the above embodiment, the discount condition information of the billing amount of a specific program is provided by being included in the program information which is superimposed and distributed on the program broadcast. It does not include the discount condition information of the billing amount, and the information display device is configured to be able to transmit a discount request signal from the user for a specific program to the sender via a telephone line or the like. When the program is received, the discount condition information of the charge amount of the program for the program to be discounted may be provided to the information display device that has issued the discount request signal via a telephone line or the like.

In the above embodiment, the user information storage means 16 stores the viewing time of each channel. However, discount conditions such as the number of times each channel is viewed or whether each program is viewed or not are set. Other information indicating a program viewing situation of the user, which is suitable for performing the program, may be used.

[0017]

As described above, according to the television broadcasting system of the present invention (claim 1), the sender of the program determines the billing amount for each program, and collects the fee according to the program watched by the user. In a billing television broadcasting system, a program sender provides a user with discount condition information of a billing amount for a specific program, and the user's program viewing status satisfies the discount condition of the discount condition information. In this case, the user is charged for the discounted charge for viewing the specific program, so that a service for discounting the charge for the program according to the user's program viewing status can be provided. A television broadcasting system can be realized, and if the user can watch the program at a low price according to the user's viewing situation instead of the fixed billing amount as before. There is a cormorant effect.

According to the information display apparatus of the present invention (claim 2), program information including data indicating the contents of a plurality of programs superimposed on a broadcast and distributed is received, and a program table is displayed. A program information storage unit for storing program information composed of data indicating the contents of the received plurality of programs, and a program table based on the program information stored in the program information storage unit. A program table providing means for providing the program table on the display screen, a cursor providing means for providing a cursor on the program table, a position of the cursor on the program table, and a program at the detected cursor position. Cursor position detecting means for selecting a user, user information storage means for storing information on the user program viewing situation,
For the program selected by the cursor position detecting means, information on the discount condition of the billing amount of the program, provided from the program sender, and information on the program viewing status of the user stored in the user information storage means. And compare
Discount condition determining means for determining whether or not the program viewing status of the user satisfies the discount condition of the charging amount of the selected program; and the program viewing status of the user satisfies the discount condition of the charging amount of the selected program. In this case, the program information updating means for changing the charge amount of the program information relating to the selected program to an amount discounted based on the discount condition is provided. There is an effect that an information display device suitable for use in a television broadcasting system capable of providing a service for discounting the charge amount can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an information display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the information display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of contents of program information distributed by broadcasting from a program sender in the television broadcasting system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a program table created and displayed based on program information.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of information stored in a user information storage unit of the information display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 11 program information storage means 12 program table providing means 13 monitor 14 cursor providing means 15 cursor position detecting means 16 user information storing means 17 discount condition determining means 18 program information updating means 19 information output means

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A billing television broadcasting system in which a program sender determines a billing amount for each program and collects a fee according to the program watched by the user. Providing discount condition information of a billing amount for a specific program, and when the program viewing status of the user satisfies the discount condition of the discount condition information, the discount amount for the viewing of the specific program by the user is calculated. A television broadcasting system characterized by charging. 2. Receiving program information composed of data indicating the contents of a plurality of programs, which is distributed by being superimposed on a broadcast,
An information display device for displaying a program guide, comprising: a program information storage unit configured to store program information including data indicating the contents of the received plurality of programs; and a program information storage unit configured to store the program information based on the program information stored in the program information storage unit. A program guide providing means for creating a program guide and providing the program guide on a display screen; a cursor providing means for providing a cursor on the program guide; and detecting the position of the cursor on the program guide and detecting the detected cursor. A cursor position detecting means for selecting a program at a position; a user information storing means for storing information on a user's program viewing status; and a program selected by the cursor position detecting means, provided by a program sender. Comparing the information on the discount condition of the charge amount of the program with the information on the program viewing status of the user stored in the user information storage means,
Discount condition determining means for determining whether or not the user's program viewing status satisfies the discount condition; and selecting the selected program when the user's program viewing status satisfies the discount condition of the billing amount of the selected program. An information display device comprising: a program information updating unit that changes a charge amount of program information related to the discount amount based on the discount condition.