JP2002009715A - Program scheduling schedule creation method and voting program scheduling type digital broadcasting system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a program organization schedule generating method that can contribute to the remarkable improvement of a degree of the customer satisfaction and to provide a voting program organization type digital broadcast system. SOLUTION: The program organization schedule generating method introduces a new concept of reflecting voting results from viewers on a program organization schedule to flexibly generate the program organization schedule through a step where a plan of which program in a plurality of programs being voting objects is to be assigned to which organization frame is dynamically altered thereby assigning a proper organization frame to each of the programs in interlocking with a degree of its popularity.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technology belonging to the category of digital broadcasting that can realize a multi-channel broadcasting service such as digital CATV, terrestrial digital broadcasting, CS digital broadcasting, or BS digital broadcasting. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for creating a program schedule that can contribute to a dramatic improvement in customer satisfaction, and a voting program type digital broadcasting system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, digital CATV and CS
2. Description of the Related Art Digital broadcasting services that can realize multi-channel broadcasting services such as digital broadcasting are becoming widespread.

[0003] In digital broadcasting, a broadcasting station and a digital broadcasting receiver installed in each home are connected via a telephone line, and broadcasting and communication are integrated to enable bidirectional information exchange. By doing so, it is expected that a variety of services can be provided, such as a program broadcasting service of a viewer participation type including a quiz program with a premium.

[0004]

[0006] However, when a service request survey of viewers who expect digital broadcasting including such various services is conducted, it is urgent that they want to watch a program that matches their taste as much as they want. If you can satisfy those needs,
It was found again that it would contribute to improving customer satisfaction.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned knowledge, and has introduced a new concept of reflecting a result of voting from a viewer in a program scheduling schedule. Through a stage of dynamically changing which program is assigned to which scheduling frame, a new program scheduling schedule is flexibly created, and a new scheduling schedule is assigned to each of a plurality of programs in association with the degree of popularity. It is an object of the present invention to provide a program scheduling schedule creation method and a voting program scheduling type digital broadcasting system that can contribute to a dramatic improvement in customer satisfaction by maintaining a simple mechanism.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for creating a program schedule which is used when allocating a program to an empty schedule frame. The method, by providing to the viewer information about a plurality of programs that are candidates for allocation to the composition frame, and voting target program information including that the plurality of programs are voting targets, Soliciting voting from viewers for a plurality of programs, and dynamically changing which program among the plurality of programs is assigned to which composition frame, according to a voting situation for the plurality of programs, The gist is to create a program scheduling schedule through both steps including

[0007] A program scheduling schedule creating method according to a second aspect of the present invention is the program scheduling schedule creating method according to the first aspect, wherein, in addition to the two stages, a voting status for each of the plurality of programs and A further object of the present invention is to create a program scheduling schedule further through a step of providing voting result information, which is dynamically changed in accordance with the voting status, including the allocation status of the program to the empty schedule frame, to the viewer. .

[0008] The program scheduling schedule creation method according to the first aspect of the invention introduces a viewer-oriented concept of reflecting the result of voting from viewers in the program scheduling schedule.

More specifically, for example, a popularity voting screen 51 shown in FIG. 3 is sent to the receiving terminal 21 on the viewer side shown in FIG.
Is displayed, and information on a plurality of programs to be voted is sent via a data broadcast, a communication line such as a public telephone network, or a distribution of a recording medium such as a CD. On the viewer side, while displaying the information of the popularity voting screen 51 shown in FIG. 3 on the display of the receiving terminal 21, there is no program matching the user's preference from the plurality of program groups 53 to be voted. I will investigate what. At this time, when the user wants to know detailed information about the program “City Lights”, the user operates the remote controller (not shown) to select the “City Lights” icon, for example, and then selects the information shown in FIG. The synopsis button 57 is pressed. Then, on the display of the receiving terminal 21, detailed information such as a performer and a synopsis of the program "Town Light" is displayed. In addition, when the user wants to view “City Lights” in the movie: Charles Chaplin series, he selects “City Lights” by operating the remote controller in the same manner as described above, and then selects the voting button in FIG. 55 is pressed. Then, the receiving terminal 21 uses a communication function such as a modem or a terminal adapter TA / digital service unit DSU (not shown) built in the terminal 21 to indicate that the viewer has voted for “town light”. And the individual information unique to the viewer including the address, name, age, gender, telephone number, etc., which is registered in the IC card along with the voting program information including
5 is sent. In response to this, the counting center 25 registers the voting program information transmitted from the viewer and the viewer-specific information in the customer database 27 which manages the customer information including the voting contents of the viewer participation type program.

The voting result, that is, the voting result information including the voting status for each of the plurality of programs and the allocation status of the program to the empty schedule frame dynamically changed according to the voting status is obtained by the viewer. It changes every moment with the increase in the number of votes from. Here, there is a request from viewers to perform voting while referring to such voting result information. Therefore, as described in claim 2, the information screen about such occasional bulletin breaking news,
It is displayed on the display of the receiving terminal 21 by the selection operation of the viewer or along with the popularity voting screen 51 shown in FIG. As a result, the viewer can vote for a program that matches his or her preference while referring to the current bulletin breaking news.

[0011] The voting reception period may be, for example, from 0:00 to 24:00 on the previous day in order to create a program scheduling schedule on a daily basis, or a program scheduling on a weekly basis. In order to create a schedule, 00:00 of the previous week to Saturday 2 of the same week
Various modes can be adopted as necessary, such as setting the reception period at 4:00.

[0012] Further, regarding the restriction on the number of voting actions of the viewer during the voting reception period for creating a certain program scheduling schedule, a configuration that allows only one voting per receiver can be adopted, or Alternatively, a configuration that allows a plurality of voting actions may be adopted. At this time, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which it is assumed that the viewer has made a reservation for viewing the voted program at the same time as the voting action, and a recording reservation for the program is automatically made. At this time, the program may be configured to charge when the program is recorded, or may be set free without charging. Furthermore, regardless of whether the program is paid or free, a configuration may be adopted in which a service such as voting evaluation for the program or a service in return for having the user view the program, such as giving some points or refund, is adopted.

[0013] At this time, when providing some kind of reward service, from the grades set in advance in terms of quality and / or quantity, the final vote number of the program voted by oneself is determined. It is possible to adopt a configuration for providing a reward service of a grade corresponding to the grade. More specifically, for example, when the final vote of the program "Town Light" voted by itself is the highest rank, as a reward service of a grade corresponding to the rank, for example, prepared for the present system 11 The program scheduling is performed by allocating the program “Town Light” to the time frame where the broadcast start time comes early or the time frame where high audience rating can be expected among the scheduled frames. Can be adopted. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, if a discount rate of the viewing fee of 10% is applied to the program “Town Lights”, or if a certain number of points are accumulated by returning points, It is conceivable to provide a variety of rewarding services, such as exchanging for some prizes including free viewing of paid programs.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a new concept of reflecting a voting result from a viewer in a programming schedule is introduced. A new mechanism for assigning an appropriate knitting frame in accordance with the degree of popularity has been developed, which can contribute to a dramatic improvement in customer satisfaction. Such a viewer-oriented program scheduling schedule creation method makes it possible to partially open a scheduling frame to general users and partially delegate organization rights to general users, which have conventionally been monopolized by broadcasting stations. In this sense, it can be said that this is an epoch-making attempt to completely overturn a user's fixed idea of conventional broadcasting.

According to the program scheduling schedule creation method of the present invention, a viewer can vote for a program that matches his / her preference while referring to the current bulletin breaking report.

Claims 1 and 2 refer to a viewer-oriented program scheduling schedule creation method. Claims 3 to 5 specify a digital broadcasting system that embodies the method described in claims 1 and 2. ing.

That is, in the voting program scheduling type digital broadcasting system according to the third aspect, a service providing side for providing a digital broadcasting service and a service receiving side for enjoying the broadcasting service provided by the service providing side are provided. In a digital broadcasting system configured to connect each of them via a communication line and to perform bidirectional information exchange between the two, the service providing side includes a plurality of candidates to be allocated to vacant formation frames. Information about each program,
And a voting target program information providing means for providing voting target program information including that the plurality of programs are voting targets to the service receiving side, and voting program information transmitted from the service receiving side. Counting means for counting the voting status of each of the plurality of programs; and assigning appropriate programs to each of the free scheduling frames based on the voting status calculated by the counting means. Information processing means for performing information processing relating to the allocation status of each program to the frame, voting status calculated by the totaling means, and voting including the allocation status of each program to the free formation frame obtained by the information processing means Voting result information providing means for providing result information to the service receiving side;
Means for creating a program schedule by referring to the allocation status of each program to the free time frame obtained by the information processing means. The voting target program information provided by the providing means, and the voting result information provided by the voting result information providing means, an information presenting means for presenting to a viewer; Voting reception means for waiting for a voting operation of a favorite program and transmitting voting program information to the service providing side via the communication line when the voting operation is performed. The gist is to reflect the result on the program scheduling schedule.

In a voting program scheduling type digital broadcasting system according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the voting program scheduling type digital broadcasting system according to the third aspect, the information processing means on the service providing side counts by the counting means. In allocating an appropriate program to each of the vacant schedules based on the voting situation, the time slots in which the broadcast start time comes early among the vacant schedules are sequentially assigned from the programs with the largest number of votes. The point is to go.

The voting program scheduling type digital broadcasting system according to the fifth aspect is the voting program scheduling type digital broadcasting system according to the third or fourth aspect, wherein the information processing means on the service providing side includes the counting means. In allocating appropriate programs to each of the empty schedules based on the voting status tabulated in the above, in order from the programs with the most votes, the time slots in which the high audience rating can be expected among the empty schedules are sequentially allocated The point is to go.

In the voting program scheduling type digital broadcasting system according to the third aspect, in order to reflect the voting result on the service receiving side to the program scheduling schedule, the voting result is set between the service providing side and the service receiving side. The information described below is transmitted via broadcast or communication line 2.
3 are exchanged in both directions.

First, the function of each function means in the service providing side, that is, the broadcasting station 13 shown in FIG. 1 and the counting center 25, will be described. The target program information is transmitted to the service receiving side, that is, the receiving terminal 2 shown in FIG.
Provide to one. This information provision may be transmitted via broadcasting such as BS digital or CATV,
It may be transmitted via a communication line such as a public telephone network.
The counting center 25 functioning as a counting means counts the voting status for each of the plurality of programs based on the voting program information transmitted from the service receiving side. The broadcasting station 13 functioning as the information processing means assigns an appropriate program to each of the free scheduling frames based on the voting status counted by the counting means, thereby assigning each program to the free scheduling frame. Such information processing is performed. The broadcasting station 13 functioning as voting result information providing means provides the above-mentioned voting result information to the service receiving side. And a broadcasting station 13 functioning as a program scheduling schedule creating means.
Creates a program schedule by referring to the allocation status of each program to the free frame obtained by the information processing means.

On the other hand, the function of each functional means in the receiving terminal 21 on the service receiving side will be described. The receiving terminal 21 functioning as information presenting means includes voting target program information provided from the voting target program information providing means, The voting result information provided from the voting result information providing means is presented to the viewer. The receiving terminal 21 functioning as a voting reception unit waits for a voting operation of a favorite program from the viewer on the service receiving side, and provides the voting program information via the communication line when the voting operation is performed. Send to the side.

According to the voting program scheduling type digital broadcasting system of the third aspect, a new idea of reflecting the voting result from the viewer in the program scheduling schedule is introduced, and a plurality of programs to be voted are introduced. Since a new mechanism for assigning an appropriate knitting frame in accordance with the degree of popularity has been prepared, it can contribute to a dramatic improvement in customer satisfaction. Such a viewer-oriented digital broadcasting system with voting programs can realize the release of a part of the scheduling frame to general users and the delegation of the organization right to general users, which were previously monopolized by broadcasting stations. In this sense, it can be said that this is an epoch-making attempt to completely overturn the user's fixed idea of conventional broadcasting.

In the voting program scheduling type digital broadcasting system according to the fourth aspect, in allocating an appropriate program to each of the empty scheduling frames based on the voting status, an empty schedule is selected from programs with a large number of votes. Of the frames, the time period frames whose broadcast start time comes early are sequentially allocated. In such a configuration, for example, when a program schedule is created with a relatively long period such as a week as a circulation unit, whether it is broadcast on Monday or Saturday in the same week is considered to be Chiaki a day. This can be a huge difference for viewers waiting for the program to air.

According to the voting program scheduling type digital broadcasting system of the fourth aspect, the more popular programs are broadcasted earlier and delivered to viewers, and as a result, it is possible to improve customer satisfaction. it can. Also, for example, if the number of programs to be voted on is larger than the number of open slots, programs that are not popular are excluded from the schedule and are necessarily eliminated. Ancillary effects such as the qualitative enhancement of the program content resulting from the introduction can also be expected.

In the voting program scheduling type digital broadcasting system according to the fifth aspect, when assigning an appropriate program to each of the free scheduling frames based on the voting status, the programs with the highest number of votes are sorted out from the free scheduling. Among the frames, the time frame in which a high audience rating can be expected is sequentially allocated. Here, the time slot in which a high audience rating can be expected means a time slot such as 19:00 to 21:00, which has a high possibility of being viewed from the viewpoint of a general viewer's life cycle. Specifically, for example, in the case where the free organization frame is 20:00 to 24:00, a two-hour program with the largest number of votes is set as a time zone frame in which a high audience rating can be expected from 20:00 to 22 hours. 0:00 can be assigned.

According to the voting program scheduling type digital broadcasting system according to the fifth aspect, in allocating an appropriate program to each of the empty scheduling frames based on the voting status, an empty schedule is selected from programs with a large number of votes. Since time slots that can be expected to have a high audience rating are allocated sequentially, the more popular programs are broadcasted in the time slots that can be expected to have a higher audience rating, the higher the degree of popularity of the program itself is As a result of the synergistic effect of the viewer attraction effect of the time slot and the viewer attraction effect, a dramatic increase in the audience rating can be expected.

[0028]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a voting program scheduling type digital broadcasting system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing the overall configuration of a voting program scheduling type digital broadcasting system according to the present invention, and FIGS. 2 to 4 are diagrams for explaining the operation of this digital broadcasting system.

As shown in FIG. 1, a voting program organization type digital broadcasting system 11 according to the present invention includes a broadcasting station 13 for managing broadcasting, a transmission antenna 15 provided in the broadcasting station 13 for transmitting broadcast waves. Receive the broadcast radio wave transmitted from the transmission antenna 15 and transmit the received broadcast radio wave to the receiving terminal 2 described below.
1 and the broadcast radio waves distributed from the broadcast satellite 17 are received and interpreted via the reception antenna 19, and a plurality of broadcast radio waves presented on the popularity voting screen 51 shown in FIG. A receiving terminal 21 having a function of selectively voting a program that suits the viewer's preference from among programs, a communication network 23 such as the Internet for connecting the receiving terminal 21 and a counting center 25 described below, A counting center 25 that counts the voting results transmitted from the receiving terminal 21 via the communication network 23 in a batch processing format at a predetermined timing such as date and time, and transmits the counting results to the broadcast station 13; It is comprised including. In the schematic block diagram of FIG. 1, each block is divided by focusing on individual functional units. For example, the broadcasting station 13 and the aggregation center 25 integrate these as functions within an integrated organization. Alternatively, the broadcasting station 13 and the counting center 25 may be divided as functions in different organizations.

The general operation of the voting program scheduling type digital broadcasting system 11 configured as described above will be described. In the broadcasting system 11, the broadcasting station 13 is a material appropriately including information such as video, audio, data and the like. For broadcast signals,
For example, MPEG2 (Moving Picture Experts Group phase2)
And the like, packetized, multiplexed in packet units together with various types of additional information of the program, digitally modulated, and transmitted via the transmission antenna 15.

The broadcast satellite 17 in geosynchronous orbit receives this broadcast radio wave and distributes it to the receiving terminal 21 provided in each home. The receiving terminal 21 that has received this broadcast wave via the receiving antenna 19 performs digital demodulation in a tuner and a demodulation circuit (not shown). At this time, if the broadcast signal has been scrambled, it is canceled by using an encryption / decryption circuit and an IC card (not shown). The video or audio of the program obtained through these various processes is presented via an output device such as a display or a speaker (not shown) and used for entertainment or the like.

Here, referring to a typical flow of processing in a viewer-participation type program such as a quiz program in the conventional digital broadcasting system, in the conventional digital broadcasting system, first, a question and a plurality of Is displayed on the display of the receiving terminal 21. The viewer selects an arbitrary option from among a plurality of answer options by operating an arrow button on a remote control (not shown), and determines the option by operating an enter button on the remote control. Then, the receiving terminal 21 is connected to a modem or terminal adapter TA / digital service unit DSU (not shown) built in the terminal 21.
Using the communication functions such as, etc., the address, name, age,
Individual information unique to the viewer, including gender, telephone number, and the like as appropriate, is transmitted to the aggregation center 25 via the communication network 23.
In response to this, the aggregation center 25 manages customer information including voting for viewer-participation-type programs in a customer database 27.
Then, the options transmitted from the viewer and the individual information unique to the viewer are registered. This is a typical processing flow of a viewer participation type program in a conventional digital broadcasting system.

On the other hand, the voting program scheduling type digital broadcasting system 11 according to the present invention introduces a viewer-oriented concept of reflecting a voting result from the viewer in the program scheduling schedule, and introduces a plurality of voting targets. Of the programs,
Through a stage of dynamically changing which program is assigned to which scheduling frame, a new program scheduling schedule is flexibly created, and a new scheduling schedule is assigned to each of a plurality of programs in association with the degree of popularity. We are trying to maintain a simple mechanism.

Here, a detailed description will be given of a mechanism constituting a main part of the present invention for dynamically changing the scheduling frame to which each program is allocated according to the number of popular votes. In the system 11, first, it is necessary for the broadcasting station to secure a knitting frame to be used in the present system 11 in advance. The composition frame includes, for example, a concept of a time zone having a certain width defined by a broadcast start time and a broadcast end time or a duration, and further includes a concept of a transmission channel assigned to the frame. About the composition frame prepared here, B
For example, as shown in FIG. 2, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, of the transmission bandwidth of 22 slots (one slot has a transmission capacity of 1.08 Mbps) allocated for a broadcaster, that is, its own station, as shown in FIG. From the viewpoint of time zone and / or transmission channel, it is possible to adopt a knitting frame that is appropriately divided as needed (or not divided if necessary). FIG. 2 shows an example in which a program guide screen 31 called an EPG (Electronic Program Guide) is displayed on a display of the receiving terminal 21. Reference numeral 41 in the figure is a "return to program" button, and when the viewer selects this button, the display mode is switched from the program guide screen 31 to the normal program display screen. Program A shown in the figure is a high definition video (HDT
V), the composition frame occupied by the program A includes a time zone of 20:00 to 22:00 on the time axis 35 and CH0 to CH3 of the transmission channel 33.
And a transmission channel extending over four transmission channels. As shown in FIG. 2, the knitting frame used in the present system 11 is, for example, 22:00 to 0
A knitting frame 39 defined by an eight-hour time period up to 6:00 and three transmission channels CH1 to CH3 among the transmission channels 33 is secured.
The knitting frame 37 defined by, for example, a time period of 8 hours from 22:00 to 06:00 the next time and one of the transmission channels 33 of the transmission channel 33 shown in FIG. This is a scheduling frame for providing conventional programs B, C, D,... In parallel with the provided voting-linked scheduling frame allocation type digital broadcasting service. By coexisting such a conventional program scheduling frame and the new voting-number-linked scheduling frame according to the present invention, limited transmission band resources are effectively used.

Next, the operation of the voting program scheduling type digital broadcasting system 11 will be described. First, a popularity voting screen 51 as shown in FIG. 3 is displayed, for example, at the receiver terminal 21 on the viewer side shown in FIG. Information on a plurality of programs to be voted is sent in a form such as data broadcasting, via a communication line such as a public telephone network, or distribution of a recording medium such as a CD. On the viewer side, while displaying the information of the popularity voting screen 51 shown in FIG. 3 on the display of the receiving terminal 21, there is no program matching the user's preference from the plurality of program groups 53 to be voted. I will investigate what. At this time, when the user wants to know detailed information about the program “City Lights”, the user operates the remote controller (not shown) to select the “City Lights” icon, for example, and then selects the information shown in FIG. Synopsis button 57
Is pressed. Then, on the display of the receiving terminal 21, detailed information such as a performer and a synopsis of the program "Town Light" is displayed. In addition, when the user wants to view “City Lights” in the movie: Charles Chaplin series, he selects “City Lights” by operating the remote controller in the same manner as described above, and then selects the voting button in FIG. 55 is pressed. Then, the receiving terminal 21 is connected to a modem or terminal adapter TA / digital service unit DSU (not shown) built in the terminal 21.
The address, name, age, gender, phone number, etc., registered in the IC card, as appropriate, along with the voting program information including the fact that the viewer has voted for "town light" using communication functions such as The personal information including the viewer-specific information is transmitted to the aggregation center 25 via the communication network 23. In response, the aggregation center 2
In 5, the voting program information transmitted from the viewer and the individual information unique to the viewer are registered in the customer database 27 which manages the customer information including the voting contents of the viewer participation type program. By storing the program voting histories for each of a plurality of customers registered in the customer database 27, it is possible to estimate the preference for the program for each customer. If the personal information unique to the customer guessed in this way is used on the premise of the customer's consent, for example, for direct sales of paid programs, the commercial transaction effect is considerably more effective than in the case of indiscriminate advertising and promotion Can be expected.

The voting result, that is, the voting result information including the voting status for each of the plurality of programs and the allocation status of the program to the empty schedule frame dynamically changed in accordance with the voting status is obtained by the viewer. It changes every moment with the increase in the number of votes from. Here, there is a request from viewers to perform voting while referring to such voting result information. Therefore, the information screen about the occasional balloting flash report is displayed on the receiving terminal 21 by the selection operation of the viewer or along with the popularity voting screen 51 shown in FIG.
Will be displayed on the display. As a result, the viewer can vote for a program that matches his or her preference while referring to the current bulletin breaking news.

For example, in order to create a program scheduling schedule in units of one day, the voting reception period may be set to 00:02:00 to 24:00 on the previous day, or may be set in one week. In order to create a schedule, 00:00 of the previous week to Saturday 2 of the same week
Various modes can be adopted as necessary, such as setting the reception period at 4:00.

[0039] Regarding the restriction on the number of voting actions of the viewer in the voting reception period for creating a certain program scheduling schedule, a configuration that allows only one voting per receiver can be adopted, or Alternatively, a configuration that allows a plurality of voting actions may be adopted. At this time, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which it is assumed that the viewer has made a reservation for viewing the voted program at the same time as the voting action, and a recording reservation for the program is automatically made. At this time, the program may be configured to charge when the program is recorded, or may be set free without charging. Furthermore, regardless of whether the program is paid or free, a configuration may be adopted in which a service such as voting evaluation for the program or a service in return for having the user view the program, such as giving some points or refund, is adopted.

At this time, in providing any reward service, the final vote number of the program voted by oneself is selected from the grades set in advance in advance from the viewpoint of quality and / or quantity. It is possible to adopt a configuration for providing a reward service of a grade corresponding to the grade. More specifically, for example, when the final vote of the program "Town Light" voted by itself is the highest rank, as a reward service of a grade corresponding to the rank, for example, prepared for the present system 11 The program scheduling is performed by allocating the program “Town Light” to the time frame where the broadcast start time comes early or the time frame where high audience rating can be expected among the scheduled frames. Can be adopted. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, if a discount rate of the viewing fee of 10% is applied to the program “Town Lights”, or if a certain number of points are accumulated by returning points, It is conceivable to provide a variety of rewarding services, such as exchanging for some prizes including paid viewing fees for programs.

As described above, according to the program scheduling schedule creation method or the voting program scheduling type digital broadcasting system 11 according to the present invention, a new concept of reflecting the voting result from the viewer in the program scheduling schedule is provided. With the introduction of a new mechanism for assigning an appropriate organization frame in conjunction with the degree of popularity of each of the multiple programs to be voted on, a new mechanism has been developed, which can contribute to a dramatic improvement in customer satisfaction. The viewer-oriented program scheduling schedule creation method or the voting program scheduling type digital broadcasting system 11 has been disclosed in the past. It can be said that this is an epoch-making attempt to completely overturn a user's fixed idea of conventional broadcasting in the sense that partial delegation can be realized.

The above embodiment has been described by way of example to facilitate understanding of the present invention.
It is not described to limit the technical scope of the present invention. That is, the present invention naturally includes all embodiments belonging to the technical scope and includes any equivalents thereof.

[0043]

As described above in detail, according to the method for creating a program schedule according to the first aspect, it is possible to contribute to a dramatic improvement in customer satisfaction. Such a viewer-oriented program scheduling schedule creation method makes it possible to partially open a scheduling frame to general users and partially delegate organization rights to general users, which have conventionally been monopolized by broadcasting stations. In this sense, it can be said that this is an epoch-making attempt to completely overturn a user's fixed idea of conventional broadcasting.

According to the program scheduling schedule creation method of the present invention, the viewer can vote for a program that matches his or her preference while referring to the current bulletin breaking report.

According to the voting program scheduling type digital broadcasting system according to the third aspect, it is possible to contribute to a dramatic improvement in customer satisfaction as in the first aspect of the invention. These audience-oriented digital broadcasting systems with voting programs are:
Users' fixed idea of conventional broadcasting in the sense that it is possible to partially release the organizational frame to general users and partially delegate organization rights to general users, which were previously monopolized by broadcasting stations. Can be said to be a groundbreaking attempt to fundamentally overturn.

According to the voting program organization type digital broadcasting system according to the fourth aspect, the more popular programs are broadcasted earlier and delivered to the viewers, the result is that it contributes to the improvement of customer satisfaction. it can. Also, for example, if the number of programs to be voted on is larger than the number of open slots, programs that are not popular are excluded from the schedule and are necessarily eliminated. Ancillary effects such as the qualitative enhancement of the program content resulting from the introduction can also be expected.

According to the voting program scheduling type digital broadcasting system of the fifth aspect, in allocating an appropriate program to each of the empty scheduling frames based on the voting status, the programs with the largest number of votes are sorted out from the empty scheduling. Since time slots that can be expected to have a high audience rating are allocated sequentially, the more popular programs are broadcasted in the time slots that can be expected to have a higher audience rating, the higher the degree of popularity of the program itself is As a result of the synergistic effect of the viewer's attraction effect of the time zone and the viewer's attraction effect, it is possible to expect a remarkable effect of greatly improving the audience rating.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing the entire configuration of a voting program scheduling type digital broadcasting system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an EPG screen showing an example of a program scheduling schedule created by applying the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a popularity voting screen provided for explaining the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a difference between discount rates of viewing fees used for explaining the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Digital voting program broadcasting system 13 Broadcasting station 15 Transmitting antenna 17 Broadcast satellite 19 Receiving antenna 21 Receiving terminal 23 Communication network 25 Aggregation center 27 Customer database 31 Electronic program guide (EPG) screen 33 Transmission channel 35 Time axis 37 Conventional program Scheduling frame for voting 39 Scheduling frame for voting-type programs 41 "Return to program" button 51 Popular voting screen 53 Multiple programs to be voted 55 Voting button 57 Synopsis button

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Kenji Katagai 3-32-42 Higashi-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Inside Fuji Creative Corporation (72) Inventor Fumiaki Aoyama 3-32-42 Higashi-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo No. F-term (reference) in Fuji Creative Corporation 5C064 BA01 BA07 BB10 BC16 BC17 BC22 BC23 BC27 BD03 BD08

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A program scheduling schedule creation method used when allocating a program to a vacant schedule, comprising: information on a plurality of programs which are candidates for assignment to the schedule; By providing voting target program information including that it is a voting target to the audience, soliciting voting from viewers for the plurality of programs, and according to the voting status for the plurality of programs, Dynamically changing which program is assigned to which scheduling frame among a plurality of programs; and creating a programming schedule through both steps including: 2. The program scheduling schedule creation method according to claim 1, wherein, in addition to the two stages, a voting status for each of the plurality of programs and dynamically changed according to the voting status, A program scheduling schedule creating method, further comprising creating a program scheduling schedule through a step of providing voting result information including an allocation status of a program to an empty schedule frame to a viewer. 3. A service providing side for providing a digital broadcasting service and a service receiving side for receiving a broadcasting service provided by the service providing side are connected via a communication line, and the two sides are connected to each other. In the digital broadcasting system configured to perform two-way information exchange in the above, the service providing side, information on each of a plurality of programs that are candidates for allocation to vacant organization slots, and each of the plurality of programs Voting target program information including a message indicating that the voting target program information is provided to the service receiving side, and voting target program information transmitted from the service receiving side. Tallying means for counting voting statuses, and appropriate programs are assigned to each of the free scheduling frames based on the voting statuses tallyed by the tallying means. Information processing means for performing information processing on the allocation status of each program to the free scheduling frame, voting status counted by the counting means, and each program for the free scheduling frame obtained by the information processing means. Voting result information providing means for providing voting result information including the allocation status of the program to the service receiving side; and allocating each program to the free scheduling frame obtained by the information processing means. And a program scheduling schedule creating unit that creates the voting target program information provided by the voting target program information providing unit, and the voting result information providing unit provided by the voting result information providing unit. Information presenting means for presenting voting result information to viewers, and voting of favorite programs by viewers on the service receiving side And voting reception means for transmitting voting program information to the service providing side via the communication line when the voting operation is performed, and voting results on the service receiving side are programmed. A voting program scheduling type digital broadcasting system characterized by being reflected in a schedule. 4. The voting program scheduling type digital broadcasting system according to claim 3, wherein the information processing means on the service providing side, for each of the free scheduling frames, based on the voting status counted by the counting means. A voting program scheduling type digital broadcasting system characterized in that in allocating appropriate programs, a time zone frame whose broadcast start time comes early in a free scheduling frame is sequentially allocated from programs having a large number of votes. 5. The voting program scheduling type digital broadcasting system according to claim 3, wherein the information processing means on the service providing side is configured to execute each of the free scheduling frames based on the voting status counted by the counting means. A voting-program-organization-type digital broadcasting system characterized by sequentially assigning appropriate time-programs to programs having a high number of votes in allocating the appropriate programs to the time slots in which the high audience rating can be expected.