Program recommendation device, program, and method

Abstract

Improve user convenience. [Solution] The program recommendation device has a viewing degree derivation unit that derives, for each channel, the degree to which the programs of that channel have been selected as viewing targets for each day of the week and time period as a viewing degree based on the programs selected by the user; a regular viewing channel identification unit that identifies, based on the viewing degree, the days of the week and time periods on which programs regularly selected by the user are broadcast; and a recommendation unit that recommends a program currently being broadcast on the channel when the current day of the week matches the identified day of the week and the current time is within the identified time period.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a program recommendation device, a program, and a method. [Background technology]

[0002] There is a technology for displaying programs recommended to a user on a television screen (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Patent Document 1 discloses a program recommendation device (set-top box) that presents programs that are likely to be viewed by recommending programs that correspond to a genre specified for the day of the week and time slot to which the current time belongs. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6641204 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] A typical set-top box is activated by the user and displays a list of programs after activation, but since the program that the user wants to watch may not be recommended, there is room for improvement in improving the convenience of the program recommendation device.

[0005] Non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure contribute to providing a program recommendation device, program, and method that improves user convenience. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A program recommendation device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes a viewing degree derivation unit that derives, for each channel, the degree to which a program on that channel has been selected as a viewing target for each day of the week and time period based on the program selected by the user; a regular viewing channel identification unit that identifies, based on the viewing degree, the day of the week and time period on which a program regularly selected by the user is broadcast; and a recommendation unit that recommends a program currently being broadcast on the channel when the current day of the week matches the identified day of the week and the current time is within the identified time period.

[0007] A program according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is a program for causing a computer to function as a viewing degree derivation unit that derives, for each channel, the degree to which a program on that channel is selected as a viewing target for each day of the week and time period based on the program selected by the user; a regular viewing channel identification unit that identifies, based on the viewing degree, the day of the week and time period on which a program regularly selected by the user is broadcast; and a recommendation unit that recommends a program currently being broadcast on the channel when the current day of the week matches the identified day of the week and the current time is within the identified time period.

[0008] A method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is a method of executing a program to cause a computer to function as: a viewing degree derivation unit that derives, for each channel, the degree to which a program on that channel is selected as a viewing target for each day of the week and time period, based on the program selected by the user; a regular viewing channel identification unit that identifies, based on the viewing degree, the day of the week and time period on which a program regularly selected by the user is broadcast; and a recommendation unit that recommends a program currently being broadcast on the channel when the current day of the week matches the identified day of the week and the current time is within the identified time period.

[0009] These comprehensive or specific aspects may be realized as a system, an apparatus, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, or a recording medium, or may be realized as any combination of a system, an apparatus, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, and a recording medium. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] Non-limiting examples of the present disclosure improve user convenience.

[0011] Further advantages and benefits of an embodiment of the present disclosure will become apparent from the specification and drawings. Such advantages and / or benefits may be provided by some of the embodiments and features described in the specification and drawings, respectively, but not necessarily all of them may be provided to obtain one or more identical features. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] A diagram showing an example of the configuration of a program recommendation system. [Figure 2] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a recommended program screen. [Figure 3] Block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a program recommendation device [Figure 4] A diagram showing an example of identified days of the week and time periods [Figure 5] A diagram showing an example of identified days of the week and time periods [Figure 6] Flowchart showing the flow of processing of the program recommendation device [Figure 7] Diagram showing the detection content of 10 channels [Figure 8] A diagram showing genre detection [Figure 9] Flowchart showing the processing flow of the recommendation unit [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a program recommendation device when generating a program list. [Figure 11] A flowchart showing the flow of a list generation process for generating a program list. [Figure 12]A flowchart showing the flow of a list generation process for generating a program list. [Figure 13] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a program recommendation device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] Preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this specification and drawings, components having substantially the same functions are designated by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

[0014] 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a program recommendation system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The program recommendation system 10 includes a program recommendation device 100, an STB (set-top box) 200, a program information providing device 300, and a television 400. By communicating with the STB 200 and the program information providing device 300, the program recommendation device 100 can identify programs that a user has viewed or recorded, and recommends programs to the user via the STB 200.

[0015] The program information providing device 300 provides program information to the program recommendation device 100. The program information in this embodiment includes the broadcast program name, broadcast time slot, channel, and genre. Among these, the genre is not essential, and if the genre is not included in the program information, the program recommendation device 100 may set the genre output by the generation AI, or a keyword may be set manually. Note that multiple genres and keywords may be set for one program.

[0016] The STB 200 receives programs recommended by the program recommendation device 100 as recommended program screen information, and displays them on the television 400 as a recommended program screen indicated by the recommended program screen information. The STB 200 also transmits viewing information indicating the names of programs that the user has viewed, recorded, or scheduled to be recorded (hereinafter also referred to as "viewed program names") to the program recommendation device 100. In this embodiment, the viewing information includes, in addition to the name of the viewed program, information specifying the channel on which the program was or will be broadcast, and the time period during which the program was or will be broadcast. The STB 200 outputs programs supplied from a cable television company (not shown) or the like to the television 400.

[0017] Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a recommended program screen that the STB 200 displays on the television 400. The recommended program screen is made up of multiple program display fields P, which are shown as rectangles. As shown in Fig. 2, the program display field P includes the time period in which the program will be broadcast (19:00-19:30 in the example of Fig. 2), a thumbnail of the program, the program name ("7 o'clock news" in the example of Fig. 2), and the program provider ("news broadcast station" in the example of Fig. 2).

[0018] The recommended program screen displays a program display column P in five lines, which can be scrolled horizontally. The programs displayed in "Recommended programs currently on air" on the first line are programs currently being broadcast. In this first line, the leftmost specific program display column 600 displays programs (hereinafter also referred to as "specific programs") that fall under the "regularly watched channels" described below. The method for determining specific programs will be described later. In the first line other than the specific program display column 600, which programs are displayed in which positions may be determined randomly.

[0019] The programs displayed in "Recommendations for you" on the second line are programs recommended to users who use STB200. The method for determining the programs to be displayed on this second line will be described later. The programs displayed in "Featured Programs" on the third line are programs set by the program provider. The programs displayed in "Favorite Performers" on the fourth line are programs featuring performers preset by the user. If no settings are made, programs featuring default performers (for example, popular performers) will be displayed. The programs displayed in "Your Favorite Genres" on the fifth line are programs in genres preset by the user. Furthermore, it may be possible to scroll vertically to display recommended programs from different perspectives on the sixth line and beyond.

[0020] In addition to the program display section described above, the recommended program screen may also display a user interface for performing other functions, such as searching for programs, displaying a program guide, displaying viewing or recording reservation details, displaying recorded programs, and specifying the genre of programs to display.

[0021] 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the program recommendation device 100. The program recommendation device 100 includes a viewing degree deriving unit 110, a regular viewing channel identifying unit 120, a genre identifying unit 130, and a recommendation unit 140.

[0022] The viewing degree derivation unit 110 receives program information from the program information providing device 300 and also receives viewing information from the STB 200. The program information is information about programs that will be broadcast within, for example, one week from the input date, and the program recommendation device 100 stores the input program information. The stored program information is not deleted for a certain period (for example, one year). Therefore, the program recommendation device 100 also stores past program information.

[0023] Viewing information is input periodically (for example, once a day) from the STB 200. The program recommendation device 100 stores the input viewing information. The stored viewing information is not deleted for a certain period (for example, six months). Therefore, the program recommendation device 100 also stores past viewing information.

[0024] The viewing degree derivation unit 110 compares the stored program information with the viewing information, and derives the degree to which the program of the channel was selected for viewing by the user for each channel, as a viewing degree for each day of the week and time period, based on the program selected by the user as the viewing target, and outputs the viewing degree to the regular viewing channel identification unit 120.

[0025] Furthermore, the viewing degree derivation unit 110 derives, for each genre, the degree to which programs of that genre were selected for each day of the week and time period based on the genre of the program selected by the user, and outputs the genre degree to the genre identification unit 130.

[0026] The timing at which the viewing degree derivation unit 110 derives the viewing degree and genre degree is, for example, when viewing information is input.

[0027] The regular viewing channel specifying unit 120 specifies the days of the week and time slots on which programs regularly selected by the user are broadcast based on the viewing level, and outputs the specified days of the week and time slots for each channel to the recommendation unit 140.

[0028] Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of days of the week and time periods identified by the regular viewing channel identification unit 120. Fig. 4 shows a table in which the days of the week are set at the top of the table and time periods (hourly intervals from midnight to 11pm) are set on the side of the table. A horizontal bar in a field of the table indicates that no identified channel exists, and three dots in the fields, at the top, or on the side of the table indicate an omitted portion. "ch" indicates a channel.

[0029] 4, the identified days of the week and time periods are exemplified as the time period from 1:00 to 2:00 on Tuesdays, the time period from 2:00 to 3:00 on Tuesdays, and the time period from 22:00 to 23:00 on Sundays. It also shows that channel 10 was viewed during the time period from 1:00 to 2:00 on Tuesdays and the time period from 2:00 to 3:00 on Tuesdays, and channel 8 was viewed during the time period from 22:00 to 23:00 on Sundays. The days of the week, time periods, and channels identified in this way are stored in a storage device (not shown) provided in the program information providing device 300.

[0030] Returning to FIG. 3, the genre identification unit 130 identifies a genre selected by the user for each day of the week and time period based on the genre degree, and outputs the identified day of the week and time period to the recommendation unit 140 for each channel.

[0031] Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of days of the week and time periods identified by the genre identification unit 130. Fig. 5 shows a table in which the days of the week are set at the top of the table and time periods (morning (5:00 to 10:00), afternoon (10:00 to 14:00), afternoon (14:00 to 18:00), evening (18:00 to 22:00), and late night (22:00 to 5:00 the next morning)) are set on the front side. A horizontal bar in a field of the table indicates that no identified channel exists, and three dots in the field or at the top of the table indicate an omitted portion. The letters A to E indicate genres.

[0032] 5, the identified days of the week and time periods are exemplified as Monday morning, afternoon, night, and late night, Tuesday morning, afternoon, night, and Sunday morning, afternoon, and late night. For example, it is shown that programs belonging to genres A and B were viewed during the Monday morning time period. The identified days of the week, time periods, and genres are stored in a storage device (not shown) provided in the program information providing device 300.

[0033] 3, the recommendation unit 140 recommends a program currently being broadcast on a channel when the current day of the week matches the day of the week identified by the regular viewing channel identification unit 120 and the current time is within the time slot identified by the regular viewing channel identification unit 120. For example, using the example shown in FIG. 4, if the current day of the week is Tuesday and the current time is 1:30, a program on channel 10 is recommended.

[0034] Furthermore, the recommendation unit 140 recommends programs in the genre identified by the genre identification unit 130. For example, using the example shown in Fig. 5, if the current day is Monday and the current time is during the daytime, a program in genre C is recommended.

[0035] Set-top boxes are often shared among families. However, viewers vary depending on the day of the week and time of day. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the preferred genres of a family member watching on Monday morning are genres A and B, the preferred genre of a family member watching on Monday afternoon is genre C, and the preferred genre of a family member watching late at night on Monday night is genre D. Therefore, if the current day of the week is Monday and the current time is during the daytime, a family member who prefers genre C is likely to be watching, so a program of genre C is recommended. Furthermore, since a family member who prefers genre C may continue to watch after noon, programs of genre C that are broadcast after noon on Mondays may also be recommended.

[0036] In some cases, the set-top box may not be shared among family members but may be used by an individual. In this case, if the current day is Monday and the current time is during the daytime, programs of genre C may be recommended, and programs of genre D that are broadcast after noon on Monday may also be recommended.

[0037] The recommendation unit 140 generates recommended program screen information including the recommended programs and consisting of program display columns P for each program shown in Figure 2 above, including "Currently airing recommendations," "Recommendations for you," "Featured programs," "Favorite performers," and "Your favorite genres," and outputs this to the STB 200.

[0038] Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing flow of the program recommendation device 100. The processing shown in Fig. 6 shows the processing up to deriving the viewing degree (hereinafter also referred to as "C score") and genre degree (hereinafter also referred to as "G score") and identifying the regularly viewed channel and genre. Note that in this embodiment, it is assumed that the channel and time period can be uniquely identified from the broadcast program name. Similarly, it is assumed that the channel and time period can be uniquely identified from the viewed program name.

[0039] 6, the viewing level determination unit 110 uses program information to associate a broadcast program name, a channel, and a genre (step S101). For example, the viewing level determination unit 110 associates a program "professional baseball night game," a channel, and a genre "sports." This association is performed for programs that are not otherwise associated.

[0040] Next, the viewing degree determination unit 110 uses the viewing information to associate the name of the viewed program, the channel, and the genre (step S102). The viewing degree determination unit 110 matches the program information with the viewing information, and derives a C score for each channel, day of the week, and time slot (step S103), and derives a G score (step S104). The method for deriving the C score and G score will be described later. The C score and G score will have larger values ​​as the degree increases.

[0041] Next, the regularly viewed channel identification unit 120 determines whether the C-score derived for each day of the week and time period exceeds a threshold in order to identify regularly viewed channels (step S105). This determination is made first for the C-score from midnight to 1:00 on Monday, then for the C-score from 1:00 to 2:00 on Monday, and so on, until finally for the score from 10:00 to 11:00 on Sunday, and so on for all days of the week and time periods.

[0042] In step S105, if the C-score exceeds the threshold (step S105: YES), the regular viewing channel identification unit 120 identifies regular viewing channels (step S106) and proceeds to step S107. For example, if the C-score for the time slot from 1:00 to 2:00 on Tuesday exceeds the threshold, channel 10 is identified as a regular viewing channel for that time slot, as shown in the example of FIG.

[0043] If the C score is equal to or less than the threshold (step S105: NO), the regular viewing channel identification unit 120 determines that there is no match for that day of the week and time period (corresponding to the horizontal bar in FIG. 4), and proceeds to step S107. The regular viewing channel identification unit 120 then determines whether or not a determination has been made for the C scores for all days of the week and time periods (step S107). If the determination in step S107 is affirmative (step S107: YES), the process proceeds to step S108, and if the determination is negative (step S107: NO), the process returns to step S105 to determine the undetermined C scores. The programs to be displayed in the program display column P600 are determined by the processing in the above steps S105 to S107.

[0044] After identifying the viewing channel, the genre identification unit 130 determines whether the G-score derived for each day of the week and time period exceeds a threshold value in order to identify the genre (step S108). This determination is made first for the G-score for Monday morning, then for the G-score for Monday afternoon, and so on, until finally for the score for late Sunday night, and so on for the G-scores for all days of the week and time periods.

[0045] In step S108, if the G score exceeds the threshold (step S108: YES), the genre identification unit 130 identifies the genre (step S109) and proceeds to step S110. For example, if the G score for Monday afternoon exceeds the threshold, genre B is identified for that time period, as shown in the example of Fig. 5. In the following description, the identified genre is also referred to as a specific genre.

[0046] If the G score is equal to or less than the threshold (step S108: NO), the genre identification unit 130 determines that there is no match for that day of the week and time period (corresponding to the horizontal bar in FIG. 5), and proceeds to step S110. The genre identification unit 130 then determines whether or not a determination has been made for the G scores for all days of the week and time periods (step S110). If a positive determination is made in step S110 (step S110: YES), the process ends, and if a negative determination is made (step S110: NO), the process returns to step S108 to determine the undetermined G scores. By the processes of steps S108 to S110, the program to be displayed in the "Recommendations for You" section on the second line is determined.

[0047] Next, an example of a method for deriving the C score and G score will be described. The C score and G score are derived with different weighting depending on whether the program selected by the user is recorded and not viewed, recorded and viewed, or viewed without recording.

[0048] First, an example of a method for deriving the C-score will be described. The C-score is derived using a parameter x indicating whether the user watched without recording on a day of the week and in a time slot, and a parameter y indicating whether the user recorded and watched on a day of the week and in a time slot. x is 0.2 if the user watched, and 0 if the user did not watch. y is 0.5 if the user recorded and then watched, and 0.3 if the user did not watch. If the program was not recorded, y is 0.

[0049] The reason why the value is larger for recording than for viewing is that in the case of viewing, it may be that the content is viewed by chance, for example as background music, but in the case of recording, it is thought to be done because the user wants to watch it.

[0050] Using the above parameters x and y and the number of times a and b, the C score is calculated as ax+by. Here, the number of times refers to the number of times the target channel was detected when deriving the C score of a channel, assuming that the channels watched or recorded by the user are detected every 10 minutes, for example, and six channels are detected per hour. For example, if the target channel is watched three times and a non-target channel is watched twice, the number of times is 3.

[0051] This will be explained in detail using Figure 7. Figure 7 shows the detection details of channel 10 in each time slot on Tuesday. Figure 7 shows the time and the channels being viewed and recorded at that time. For example, it shows that channel 10 was detected as both being viewed and recorded at 2:00 on Tuesday.

[0052] In the example of Figure 7, six viewings were detected from 2:00 to 2:50, and two recordings (assumed to have been viewed) were detected. In this case, the C score for channel 10 is 6 x 0.2 + 2 x 0.5 = 2.2. This C score is compared with a threshold. The method for determining this threshold may be set by the user, or the C score may be assumed to follow a normal distribution and the threshold may be set to the mean value + 2 x standard deviation.

[0053] Next, an example of a method for deriving a G score will be described. The G score is derived using a parameter z indicating whether or not the user watched without recording on a day of the week and in a time slot, and a parameter w indicating whether or not the user recorded and watched on a day of the week and in a time slot. z is 0.2 if the user watched, and 0 if the user did not watch. w is 0.5 if the user recorded and then watched, and 0.3 if the user did not watch. w is 0 if the program was not recorded.

[0054] The reason why the value is larger for recording than for viewing is that in the case of viewing, it may be that the content is viewed by chance, for example as background music, but in the case of recording, it is thought to be done because the user wants to watch it.

[0055] Using the above parameters z and w and the counts c and d, the G score = cz + dw. Here, the count refers to the number of times that the target genre was detected when deriving the G score for a genre. For example, if the genre of a program watched or recorded by a user is detected every 10 minutes, and six genres are detected per hour, the count is 3. For example, if the target genre is watched three times and a non-target genre is watched twice, the count is 3.

[0056] This will be explained in detail using Figure 8. Figure 8 is a diagram showing the content of genre detection in each time slot on Tuesday. Figure 8 shows the time, the programs being viewed at that time, their genres, and the programs being recorded, their genres. For example, at 7:00 on Tuesday, genres A and B were detected for viewing, but nothing was detected for recording.

[0057] In the example of FIG. 8, assume that 10 viewings of genre A were detected from 7:00 to 8:30 (not shown), and one recording (assumed to have been viewed here) was detected at 9:50. In this case, the G score of genre A is 10×0.2+1×0.5=2.5. Also, assume that 10 viewings of genre B were detected from 7:00 to 8:30 (not shown), and no recordings were detected. In this case, the G score of genre B is 10×0.2+0×0.5=2.0. Furthermore, assume that one viewing of genre C was detected at 9:50, and one recording (assumed to have been viewed here) was detected at 9:50. In this case, the G score of genre A is 1×0.2+1×0.5=0.7.

[0058] Furthermore, any number of genres can be set for each program, but when calculating the G score, the weight of viewing and recording for each program may be averaged by dividing by the number of genres set for the program. For example, in the example of Fig. 8, if genre A was detected as being viewed 10 times from 7:00 to 8:30 (not shown), and one recording (assumed to have been viewed here) was detected at 9:50, then two genres, A and B, are set for the viewed programs, and two genres, A and Z, are set for the recorded programs, so the G score may be 10 x 0.2 / 2 + 1 x 0.5 / 2 = 1.25.

[0059] These G scores are compared with a threshold. The method for determining this threshold may be set by the user, or the G scores may be assumed to follow a normal distribution, and the threshold may be set to the mean value + 2 × standard deviation.

[0060] Regarding the weighting of the C score and G score described above, different weightings may be applied at least when the program selected by the user is recorded (regardless of whether it is recorded and viewed) and when it is viewed without recording.

[0061] Next, the process following that of Fig. 6 will be described. Fig. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of the process of the recommendation unit 140 that is performed after the process of Fig. 6. This process of the recommendation unit 140 shows the process of generating recommended program screen information. Note that this flowchart only shows the process of determining the arrangement of programs to be displayed on the first and second lines among the programs to be arranged on the first to fifth lines of the recommended program screen.

[0062] The recommendation unit 140 determines whether the specific program identified by the regular viewing channel identification unit 120 is currently being broadcast (step S201). If the specific program is currently being broadcast (step S201: YES), the recommendation unit 140 places the specific program in a specific program display column 600 on the recommended program screen, and randomly arranges other currently broadcasting programs as programs to be placed in the "Recommended Currently Broadcasting" column on the first line (step S202). Note that instead of just placing the specific program in the specific program display column 600, when the recommended program screen is displayed on the television 400, the specific program may be focused on on the recommended program screen, for example, so that the user can immediately select the specific program.

[0063] If the specific program is not currently being broadcast (step S201: NO), the recommendation unit 140 randomly arranges other currently broadcast programs in the first row of the recommended program screen in program display columns other than the specific program display column 600 in the first row of the recommended program screen (step S203).

[0064] Next, the recommendation unit 140 determines whether a program of a specific genre is currently being broadcast (step S204). If a program of a specific genre is currently being broadcast (step S204: YES), the recommendation unit 140 ranks the programs of the specific genre using the G score derived by the viewing degree derivation unit 110 (step S205). Ranking here means, for example, sorting the programs in descending order of G score. The recommendation unit 140 arranges the programs in the second row on the recommended program screen according to their rank and time slot (step S207), and ends the process. For example, the recommendation unit 140 arranges the programs so that the higher the rank and the closer the time slot they are broadcast to the current time are displayed on the left side of the second row.

[0065] If no programs of the specific genre are currently being broadcast (step S204: NO), the recommendation unit 140 places the program on the second line of the recommended program screen in accordance with a predetermined rule (step S206), and ends the process. Here, the predetermined rule means, for example, that the user selects a program in a series of programs that the user has previously viewed, and the selected program is placed on the second line of the recommended program screen.

[0066] The recommendation unit 140 generates recommended program screen information that shows a recommended program screen in which the program is placed at the position determined by the above-described processing, and transmits it to the STB 200, which then displays the recommended program screen on the television 400.

[0067] <Modification> Next, a configuration example of the program recommendation device 100 when generating a program list of programs that will be continuously broadcast within a specified period will be described. Fig. 10 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the program recommendation device 100 when generating a program list. The configuration shown in Fig. 10 is a configuration in which a channel selection setting unit 150 is newly added to the configuration shown in Fig. 3. The channel selection setting unit 150 sets the program list generated by the recommendation unit 140 in the STB 200. In addition, a desired specified period is input to the recommendation unit 140 from the STB 200.

[0068] 11 and 12 are flowcharts showing the flow of a list generation process for generating a program list. The recommendation unit 140 determines whether a specific program will be broadcast within the specified period received from the STB 200 (step S301). The specified period is a period set in the STB 200 by the user; for example, a setting such as a "multitasking viewing mode" may be prepared, and the specified period may be set to two hours after the user selects that mode, or a future period may be set.

[0069] If the specific program will not be broadcast (step S301: NO), the process proceeds to step S401 in Fig. 12. If the specific program will be broadcast (step S301: YES), the recommendation unit 140 acquires the day of the week and time slot when the specific program will be broadcast (step S302).

[0070] The recommendation unit 140 determines whether a program is already registered in the program list for the acquired day of the week and time period (step S303). If a program is already registered (step S303: YES), the process proceeds to step S305. If a program is not registered (step S303: NO), the recommendation unit 140 registers the specific program in the program list (step S304).

[0071] The recommendation unit 140 determines whether or not the processes of steps S302 to S304 have been performed for all specific programs that will be broadcast within the specified period (step S305). If the determination in step S305 is affirmative (step S305: YES), the process proceeds to step S401 in Fig. 12, and if the determination is negative (step S305: NO), the process returns to step S302.

[0072] 12, the recommendation unit 140 determines whether or not a program of a specific genre will be broadcast within a specified period (step S401). If a program of a specific genre will be broadcast (step S401: YES), the recommendation unit 140 ranks the program of the specific genre using the G score derived by the viewing degree derivation unit 110 (step S402). The ranking here is the same as that in step S205 above.

[0073] The recommendation unit 140 determines the programs as candidate programs to be registered in the program list according to the G score (step S403), and proceeds to step S405. For example, the recommendation unit 140 determines programs in a genre with the top five G scores. In step S401, if no programs of a specific genre are broadcast (step S401: NO), the recommendation unit 140 determines the programs according to a predetermined rule (step S404). The predetermined rule, as in step S206 above, is to select programs that will be broadcast within a specified period from programs in a series of programs that the user has previously viewed, and determine, for example, five of these programs as candidate programs to be registered in the program list.

[0074] The recommendation unit 140 acquires the day of the week and time slot on which the determined program (hereinafter referred to as "candidate program") will be broadcast (step S405). The recommendation unit 140 determines whether a program has already been registered on the acquired day of the week and time slot in the program list (step S406). If the program has already been registered (step S406: YES), the process proceeds to step S408. If the program has not been registered (step S406: NO), the recommendation unit 140 registers the candidate program in the program list (step S407).

[0075] The recommendation unit 140 determines whether or not the processes in steps S405 to S407 have been performed on all candidate programs that will be broadcast within the specified period (step S408). If a positive determination is made in step S408 (step S408: YES), the process proceeds to step S409, and if a negative determination is made (step S408: NO), the process returns to step S405. A program list is generated by the above processes, and the program list is output to the channel selection setting unit 150. The channel selection setting unit 150 sets the program list in the STB 200 (step S409), and ends the process.

[0076] <Effects> As described above, according to this embodiment, the day of the week and time slot on which a program regularly selected by the user is broadcast are identified based on the viewing degree indicating the degree to which the program has been selected by the user as a program to be viewed, and when the current day of the week matches the identified day of the week and the current time is within the identified time slot, the program currently being broadcast on the channel is recommended, thereby improving user convenience. A typical set-top box is started up by the user and displays a list of programs after startup. At this time, programs regularly selected by the user are recommended, allowing the user to immediately select the program and also making the user aware that the program is being broadcast even if the user has forgotten about it, thereby improving user convenience. Furthermore, the degree to which a program is selected by a user as a viewing target is derived as a genre degree for each program genre, day of the week, and time period, and the genre selected by the user for each day of the week and time period is identified based on the genre degree, and programs of the identified genre are recommended. This allows the system to recommend programs that are likely to interest the user, thereby improving user convenience. In addition, since the user's preferences may differ between the case where the program is recorded but not viewed, the case where the program is recorded and viewed, and the case where the program is viewed without being recorded, the user's preferences can be better determined by deriving the viewing degree or genre degree with different weightings for each case, thereby improving the user's convenience. Furthermore, the programs included in the program list of programs that will be continuously broadcast within the specified period include programs that will be broadcast on the day and time period specified by the regular viewing channel specification unit, or programs of the genre specified by the genre specification unit. This allows the user to view the programs that he or she regularly selects without missing them, even if the user specifies a specified period to watch while doing other things, and to view programs that the user is likely to be interested in, thereby improving user convenience.

[0077] In the above-described embodiment, the program recommendation device 100 is a device different from the STB 200, but the functions of the program recommendation device 100 may be incorporated into the STB 200. For example, the viewing degree derivation unit 110, regular viewing channel identification unit 120, genre identification unit 130, recommendation unit 140, and channel selection setting unit 150, which are used to realize the functions of the program recommendation device 100, can be realized by software, and therefore the functions of the program recommendation device 100 can be incorporated into the STB 200 by incorporating them into the firmware of the STB 200.

[0078] The program recommendation device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may function as a computer that performs processing of the control method of the present disclosure. Fig. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the program recommendation device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The above-described program recommendation device 100 may be physically configured as a computer device including a processor 1001, a memory 1002, a storage 1003, a communication device 1004, an input device 1005, an output device 1006, a bus 1007, etc.

[0079] The present disclosure can be realized in software, hardware, or software in conjunction with hardware.

[0080] Each functional block used in the description of the above embodiments may be partially or entirely realized as an LSI, which is an integrated circuit, and each process described in the above embodiments may be partially or entirely controlled by a single LSI or a combination of LSIs. The LSI may be composed of individual chips, or may be composed of a single chip that includes some or all of the functional blocks. The LSI may have data input and output. Depending on the degree of integration, the LSI may be called an IC, system LSI, super LSI, or ultra LSI.

[0081] The integrated circuit method is not limited to LSI, but may be realized by a dedicated circuit, a general-purpose processor, or a dedicated processor. Also, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) that can be programmed after LSI manufacturing, or a reconfigurable processor that can reconfigure the connections and settings of circuit cells within the LSI, may be used. The present disclosure may be realized as digital processing or analog processing.

[0082] Furthermore, if an integrated circuit technology that can replace LSI emerges due to advances in semiconductor technology or other derivative technologies, it is natural that such technology may be used to integrate functional blocks. The application of biotechnology, etc. is also a possibility.

[0083] Although various embodiments have been described above with reference to the drawings, it goes without saying that the present disclosure is not limited to such examples. It is clear that a person skilled in the art can conceive of various modifications or alterations within the scope of the claims, and it is understood that these also naturally fall within the technical scope of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the components of the above-described embodiments may be combined in any manner without departing from the spirit of the disclosure.

[0084] Although specific examples of the present disclosure have been described in detail above, these are merely examples and do not limit the scope of the claims. The technology described in the claims includes various modifications and alterations of the specific examples exemplified above. [Industrial Applicability]

[0085] An embodiment of the present disclosure is suitable for a program recommendation device. [Explanation of symbols]

[0086] 100 Program Recommendation Device 110 Viewing degree derivation unit 120 Regular viewing channel identification section 130 Genre Specific Section 140 Recommendation Department 150 Channel selection setting section

Claims

1. a viewing degree derivation unit that derives, for each channel, a degree to which a program on the channel has been selected as a viewing target by a user, as a viewing degree for each day of the week and time period; a regular viewing channel specifying unit that specifies the day of the week and the time slot on which the program regularly selected by the user is broadcast based on the degree of viewing; a channel selection setting unit that receives an input from a user of a designated period that is a predetermined period in the future; a recommendation unit that extracts a plurality of programs that will be broadcast within the designated period input by the channel selection setting unit from among the programs that will be broadcast on the day of the week and in the time period specified by the regular viewing channel specification unit, to generate a program list, and sets the programs that will be broadcast within the designated period to be automatically switched based on the generated program list; A program recommendation device having the above.

2. Computer, a viewing degree derivation unit that derives, for each channel, a degree to which a program on the channel has been selected as a viewing target by a user, as a viewing degree for each day of the week and time period; a regular viewing channel specifying unit that specifies the day of the week and the time slot on which the program regularly selected by the user is broadcast based on the degree of viewing; a channel selection setting unit that receives an input from a user of a designated period that is a predetermined period in the future; a recommendation unit that extracts a plurality of programs that will be broadcast within the designated period input by the channel selection setting unit from among the programs that will be broadcast on the day of the week and in the time period specified by the regular viewing channel specification unit, to generate a program list, and sets the programs that will be broadcast within the designated period to be automatically switched based on the generated program list; A program to function as a

3. Computer, a viewing degree derivation unit that derives, for each channel, a degree to which a program on the channel has been selected as a viewing target by a user, as a viewing degree for each day of the week and time period; a regular viewing channel specifying unit that specifies the day of the week and the time slot on which the program regularly selected by the user is broadcast based on the degree of viewing; a channel selection setting unit that receives an input from a user of a designated period that is a predetermined period in the future; a recommendation unit that extracts a plurality of programs that will be broadcast within the designated period input by the channel selection setting unit from among the programs that will be broadcast on the day of the week and in the time period specified by the regular viewing channel specification unit, to generate a program list, and sets the programs that will be broadcast within the designated period to be automatically switched based on the generated program list; How to run a program to function as a

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