US 5,589,892 · Granted 1996-12-31

The 1995 Patent That Invented the Modern TV Guide

Before your phone could show you what's on TV, someone had to invent an electronic guide that actually worked. This patent describes a system that blends stored TV schedules with live updates—like real-time scores during a football game—all displayed on your television screen and controlled by a remote. It's the ancestor of every streaming guide and live sports ticker you see today.

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The plain-English version

What it protects

The claim covers a system that combines stored television program schedule data with live data feeds (like sports scores or status updates) and displays both simultaneously on a TV screen. What's protected here is the specific method of receiving schedule information and live feed information in parallel, processing them together in a data processor, and generating a unified display signal that a user can control via remote commands. The system also includes the concept of category-specific interfaces that let users access TV schedules, live data feeds, shopping services, and games all from one dashboard.

Why it matters

In 1995, finding out what was on TV meant flipping through a printed guide or scrolling through a cable menu. This patent introduced the idea of a dynamic, data-driven program guide that could update in real time—a foundational concept for every electronic program guide that followed, from cable boxes to today's streaming apps. It bridged the gap between static schedules and live information, which became essential as sports and event broadcasting demanded instant status updates.

Real-world use

Every time you check a streaming app and see both the scheduled air time for a show and a live score ticker or status update at the same time, you're using the logic this patent established.

Original USPTO abstract

An electronic program schedule system with access to both stored television program schedule information and data feeds containing status information for live programs such as sporting events. The system includes a data processor for receiving program schedule information for a plurality of programs and data feeds containing status information for certain of the programs, and a video display generator for generating a display signal simultaneously comprising information from both the stored schedule information and the received data feed. The system is further provided with user control means such as a remote controller for generating user control commands and transmitting signals to the data processor in response thereto so as to control the content of the display signal. The display signal may be displayed on a display apparatus such as a television receiver. In addition, the program schedule system of the present invention utilizes category-specific user interfaces providing access to multiple services including television programs, received data feeds, home shopping services, and video games as well as the stored program schedule information.

Patent details

Publication number: US 5,589,892
Filing date: 1995-06-07
Grant date: 1996-12-31
Assignee: Knee; Robert A. / Favia; Anthony R. / Davis; Bruce / Miller; Larry
Inventor(s): KNEE; ROBERT A., FAVIA; ANTHONY R., DAVIS; BRUCE, MILLER; LARRY
CPC class: H04N21/43

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