Information reception apparatus, information reception method, computer program for information reception, and information distribution apparatus

Abstract

An information reception apparatus which allows a user to easily understand, from an electronic program guide, the information announced in a broadcast program, and which contributes to increasing viewer ratings of the broadcast program. The information reception apparatus (broadcast reception apparatus) is provided with: an electronic program information acquisition unit (tuner, control unit) for acquiring electronic program information; an announcement information acquisition unit (control unit, DEMUX unit) for acquiring information announced in the broadcast program from information included in the electronic program information acquired by the electronic program information acquisition unit or from information transmitted together with the electronic program information; and an announcement information output unit (control unit, AV output unit) for outputting the electronic program information and for outputting information indicating the presence or absence of the announcement information, based on the information acquired by the announcement information acquisition unit.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An information reception apparatus comprising:
 an electronic program information acquisition unit which acquires electronic program information   an announcement information acquisition unit which acquires information announced in a program from information included in the electronic program information acquired by the electronic program information acquisition unit or from information transmitted along with the electronic program information; and   an announcement information output unit which outputs the electronic program information and information indicating the presence or absence of the announcement information based on the information acquired by the announcement information acquisition unit,   in which:   the announcement information is prize information, and   when an application deadline of the prize information is set within the airtime of the program, the announcement information output unit differentiates the display of a program field including the prize information from the display of other program fields.   
     
     
         2 . The information reception apparatus according to  claim 1 , in which:
 the announcement information output unit differentiates the display of a program field including the announcement information from the display of other program fields that do not include announcement information when outputting the electronic program information.   
     
     
         3 . The information reception apparatus according to  claim 1 , in which:
 the announcement information acquisition unit acquires information indicating an application method of the prize information from information included in the electronic program information acquired by the electronic program information acquisition unit or from information transmitted along with the electronic program information, and   the announcement information output unit outputs the information indicating the application method when outputting the electronic program information.   
     
     
         4 . An information reception method comprising:
 an electronic program information acquisition step of acquiring electronic program information   an announcement information acquisition step of acquiring information announced in a program from information included in the electronic program information acquired by the electronic program information acquisition step or from information transmitted along with the electronic program information; and   an announcement information output step of outputting the electronic program information and information indicating the presence or absence of the announcement information on the basis of the information acquired by the announcement information acquisition step,   wherein:   the announcement information is prize information, and   in the announcement information output step, when an application deadline of the prize information is set within the airtime of the program, the display of a program field including the prize information is differentiated from the display of other program fields.   
     
     
         5 . A computer program for information reception causing a computer to function as:
 an electronic program information acquisition unit which acquires electronic program information;   an announcement information acquisition unit which acquires information announced in a program from information included in the electronic program information acquired by the electronic program information acquisition unit or from information transmitted along with the electronic program information; and   an announcement information output unit which outputs the electronic program information and information indicating the presence or absence of the announcement information on the basis of the information acquired by the announcement information acquisition unit,   wherein:   the announcement information is prize information, and   when an application deadline of the prize information is set within the airtime of the program, the announcement information output unit differentiates the display of a program field including the prize information from the display of other program fields.   
     
     
         6 . An information distribution apparatus which provides prize information as at least either one of the electronic program information and information announced in a program included in the electronic program information to the information reception apparatus according to  claims 1 . 
     
     
         7 . An information reception apparatus comprising:
 an electronic program information acquisition unit which acquires electronic program information;   an announcement information acquisition unit which acquires information announced in a program from information included in the electronic program information acquired by the electronic program information acquisition unit or from data transmitted along with the electronic program information; and   a recording reservation reception unit which, when reserving recording of a program, displays whether or not the program to be reserved for recording includes the announced information on the basis of the information acquired by the announcement information acquisition unit,   in which:   the announced information is prize information, and   the recording reservation reception unit notifies of a program whose application deadline is within the airtime of the program among candidates to be reserved for recording in the electronic program information.   
     
     
         8 . The information reception apparatus according to  claim 7 , further comprising:
 a search unit which searches the electronic program information satisfying a predetermined condition to be a candidate to be reserved for recording before reserving recording.   
     
     
         9 . An information reception method comprising:
 an electronic program information acquisition step of acquiring electronic program information;   an announcement information acquisition step of acquiring information announced in a program from information included in the electronic program information acquired by the electronic program information acquisition step or from data transmitted along with the electronic program information; and   a recording reservation reception step of, when reserving recording of a program, displaying whether or not the program to be reserved for recording includes the announced information on the basis of the information acquired by a process of the announcement information acquisition step,   wherein:   the announced information is prize information, and   in the recording reservation reception step, a program whose application deadline is within the airtime of the program is notified among candidates to be reserved for recording in the electronic program information.   
     
     
         10 . A computer program for information reception causing a computer to function as:
 an electronic program information acquisition unit which acquires electronic program information;   an announcement information acquisition unit which acquires information announced in a program from information included in the electronic program information acquired by the electronic program information acquisition unit or from data transmitted along with the electronic program information; and   a recording reservation reception unit which, when reserving recording of a program, displays whether or not the program to be reserved for recording includes the announced information on the basis of the information acquired by the announcement information acquisition unit,   wherein:   the announced information is prize information, and   the recording reservation reception unit notifies of a program whose application deadline is within the airtime of the program among candidates to be reserved for recording in the electronic program information.   
     
     
         11 . An information distribution apparatus which provides prize information as information announced in a program included in at least either one of the electronic program information and the electronic program information to the information reception apparatus according to  claim 7 . 
     
     
         12 . An information reception apparatus comprising:
 an electronic program information acquisition unit which acquires electronic program information;   an announcement information acquisition unit which acquires information announced in a program from information included in the electronic program information acquired by the electronic program information acquisition unit or from data transmitted along with the electronic program information; and   an announcement information output unit which selects and outputs the electronic program information including information of the program related to the announced information acquired by the announcement information acquisition unit when outputting the electronic program information,   in which:   the announcement information output unit outputs content of the electronic program information when the number of the electronic program information pieces selected as the electronic program information pieces including the program related to the announced information is smaller than or equal to a predetermined number, and outputs titles of the electronic program information pieces when the number is greater than the predetermined number.   
     
     
         13 . An information reception apparatus comprising:
 an electronic program information acquisition unit which acquires electronic program information;   an announcement information acquisition unit which acquires information announced in a program from information included in the electronic program information acquired by the electronic program information acquisition unit or from data transmitted along with the electronic program information; and   an announcement information output unit which selects and outputs the electronic program information including information of the program related to the announced information acquired by the announcement information acquisition unit when outputting the electronic program information,   in which:   the announcement information output unit selects the channel of the broadcast station broadcasting the program when the number of the electronic program information pieces selected as the electronic program information pieces including the program related to the announced information is one, and outputs the electronic program information when the number is two or more.   
     
     
         14 . The information reception apparatus according to  claim 13 , in which:
 the announcement information output unit outputs content of the electronic program information when the number of the electronic program information pieces selected as the electronic program information pieces including the program related to the announced information is smaller than or equal to a predetermined number, and outputs titles of the electronic program information pieces when the number is greater than the predetermined number.   
     
     
         15 . The information reception apparatus according to  claim 12 , in which:
 the announcement information output unit selects and outputs the electronic program information including information of the program related to the announced information effective in a predetermined period of time with respect to the time when the power is turned on.   
     
     
         16 . The information reception apparatus according to  claim 13 , in which:
 the announcement information output unit selects and outputs the electronic program information including information of the program related to the announced information effective in a predetermined period of time with respect to the time when the power is turned on.   
     
     
         17 . The information reception apparatus according to  claim 12 , in which:
 the announcement information output unit selects and outputs the electronic program information including information of the program related to the announced information satisfying a predetermined condition.   
     
     
         18 . The information reception apparatus according to  claim 13 , in which:
 the announced information is prize information, and   the predetermined condition is a condition for specifying information among a plurality of information pieces included in the announced information.   
     
     
         19 . An information reception method comprising:
 an electronic program information acquisition step of acquiring electronic program information;   an announcement information acquisition step of acquiring information announced in a program from information included in the electronic program information acquired by the electronic program information acquisition step or from data transmitted along with the electronic program information; and   an announcement information output step of selecting and outputting the electronic program information including information of the program related to the announced information acquired by a process of the announcement information acquisition step when outputting the electronic program information,   wherein:   in the announcement information output step, content of the electronic program information is outputted when the number of the electronic program information pieces selected as the electronic program information pieces including the program related to the announced information is smaller than or equal to a predetermined number, and titles of the electronic program information pieces are outputted when the number is greater than the predetermined number.   
     
     
         20 . An information reception method comprising:
 an electronic program information acquisition step of acquiring electronic program information;   an announcement information acquisition step of acquiring information announced in a program from information included in the electronic program information acquired by the electronic program information acquisition step or from data transmitted along with the electronic program information; and   an announcement information output step of selecting and outputting the electronic program information including information of the program related to the announced information acquired by a process of the announcement information acquisition step when outputting the electronic program information,   wherein:   in the announcement information output step, the channel of the broadcast station broadcasting the program is selected when the number of the electronic program information pieces selected as the electronic program information pieces including the program related to the announced information is one, and the electronic program information is outputted when the number is two or more.   
     
     
         21 . A computer program for information reception causing a computer to function as:
 an electronic program information acquisition unit which acquires electronic program information;   an announcement information acquisition unit which acquires information announced in a program from information included in the electronic program information acquired by the electronic program information acquisition unit or from data transmitted along with the electronic program information; and   an announcement information output unit which selects and outputs the electronic program information including information of the program related to the announced information acquired by the announcement information acquisition unit when outputting the electronic program information,   wherein:   the announcement information output unit selects the channel of the broadcast station broadcasting the program when the number of the electronic program information pieces selected as the electronic program information pieces including the program related to the announced information is one, and outputs the electronic program information when the number is two or more.   
     
     
         22 . An information distribution apparatus which provides prize information as at least either one of the electronic program information and information announced in a program included in the electronic program information to the information reception apparatus according to  claim 13 .