Importance

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Abstract

A device for determining the desirability of programming events receives metadata for programming events and determines a desirability of each of said programming events with respect to viewing preferences represented in one or more viewer profiles. The metadata includes goodness of fit scores associated with categories of a classification hierarchy, and the viewer profiles include preference scores associated with categories of the classification hierarchy. The device determines a desirability of each of said programming events with respect to viewing preferences represented in the viewer profiles using the metadata. The device may determine the desirability of a programming event by determining categories of the classification hierarchy for which there is a goodness of fit score in the metadata of the programming event and a preference score in one or more of the viewer profiles, and then determining a desirability score for the programming event as a function of the goodness of fit scores and preference scores of the matched categories. That function may be weighted in accordance with the specificities of the matched categories. The device may determine the desirability score for a programming event by determining a score for each matched category that is a function of the goodness of fit score and a preference score of each category in a branch of the hierarchy terminating in the matched category, and then determine a maximum score among the matched category scores. The preference score of each category in a branch of the hierarchy may be weighted in accordance with its ordinal level within the hierarchy. Alternatively, the device may determine a desirability score for a programming event by determining a score for each matched category that is a function of the goodness of fit score and a preference score for the matched category in each of the viewer profiles that is weighted in accordance with a priority of the respective viewer profile, and then determine a maximum score among the matched category scores. Alternatively, the device may determine a desirability score for a programming event by determining a score for each matched category that is function of the goodness of fit score, the preference score in each of the viewer profiles for the matched category, and a specificity weight of the matched category, and then determining a maximum score among the matched category scores. The metadata may include time data that enables determination of a time and duration of a programming event, and the device may determine a schedule of preferred programming events in accordance with desirability scores and times and durations of programming events. The device may alert a viewer of the availability of a programming event in the schedule, or may record programming events in accordance with the schedule. Also disclosed are processes performed in a device for determining the desirability of programming events. Also disclosed is a viewer profile encoded in a computer readable medium. The viewer profile includes a profile identifier and preference scores associated with categories of the classification hierarchy. The viewer profile may further include an activation time, a priority of the viewer profile relative to other viewer profiles, contact information indicating where a programming event alert should be sent for that viewer, or an amount of time in advance of a programming event for providing an alert regarding that programming event to the viewer.

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First Claim