Importance

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Abstract

A system and method for enabling television watchers to 'channel surf' faster and reduce the amount of bandwidth used over a network to communicate television channels to end-users. Electronic programming guide information and images associated therewith may be communicated to an end-user. An image associated with a video program may be displayed on an electronic display (e.g., television) in response to an end-user selecting a channel prior to video programming being displayed. By displaying an image prior to the video programming, the end-user may determine whether he or she wants to watch the video program prior to the video programming being displayed, which improves the speed of 'channel surfing.' Because end-users can view the image when selecting a channel, a network can be configured to distribute the channels that are currently being watched rather than distributing many on a continuous basis, thereby preserving bandwidth.

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First Claim