JP2002171231A - Broadcast program guide system, broadcast program guide method, broadcast program guide device, broadcast terminal device, and program recording medium used for realizing those devices - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] An object of the present invention is to provide a new broadcast program guide technology for guiding a user to a favorite broadcast program. SOLUTION: History information of a broadcast program watched by a user is obtained, preference information represented by a numerical value is created for each user from attribute information possessed by the obtained broadcast program, and a user of a service request issuing user is created. By searching for preference information similar to the preference information shown, a plurality of users having similar broadcast program preferences to the user of the service request issuer are searched, and identification information of the broadcast program viewed by those users is extracted. A search is made for a broadcast program scheduled to be broadcast that has attribute information similar to the attribute information of the extracted broadcast program, and the identification information of the searched broadcast program is presented to the user who issued the service request. To process. As a result, the user can acquire his / her favorite broadcast program without performing any operation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a broadcast program guide system and a broadcast program guide method for guiding a user to a desired broadcast program, and a broadcast program guide apparatus used in the broadcast program guide system and the broadcast program guide method. In addition, the present invention relates to a broadcast terminal device and a program recording medium storing a program used for realizing the broadcast program guide device and the broadcast terminal device.

[0002] Digital TV broadcasting will be fully launched in the future, for example, BS digital broadcasting will start on December 1 of this year. As a result, broadcast programs are diversified, and the number of programs corresponding to personal preferences is increased.

[0003] From now on, viewers need to select a TV program that suits their taste from a large number of TV programs. However, current newspapers and TV information magazines merely cover TV programs, and do not become effective program guides when digital TV broadcasting becomes full-scale. From now on, the construction of new program guide technology is being called for.

[0004]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, when viewing a broadcast program such as a TV program, the viewer generally collects information of the broadcast program from a broadcast program section of a newspaper or a television information magazine, and from among the collected information, You have selected your favorite broadcast program.

Some viewers use a broadcast program guide based on the data broadcast portion of the CS broadcast and information on the WWW. Among these, there is a system having a function of extracting a desired program content by giving a keyword of a performer or a program name by a prospective viewer, and presenting it.

For example, inter-on TV Jap on WWW
an (http://www.ontvjapan.com/index.php3) provides a guide function for a user-specified genre program and a guide function for a program including a specified person or keyword.

[0007]

However, according to such a conventional technique, there is a problem that a viewer cannot easily find a broadcast program that suits his / her preference.

[0008] That is, in a program guide using a list such as a newspaper or a TV information magazine, the user needs to investigate all program information, and the burden on the user increases as the number of programs increases. This causes a problem that viewing opportunities may be lost due to this.

[0009] Further, when a system for guiding a program with reference to a keyword input by a viewer is used, there is a problem that a user is forced to input a keyword.

Further, when using this system,
Unless the user updates the keyword according to the change in interest, a mismatch occurs between the guided program and the user's preference, or the program that is guided unless the user inputs an appropriate keyword. There is a problem that a mismatch occurs between the user and the user's preference.

In addition, when using this system, a plurality of programs are generally guided. However, if the user does not grasp the contents of each program and does not select it, the guided program and the user are not guided. There is also a problem that a mismatch occurs with the preference of the user.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and has as its object to provide a new broadcast program guide technology for guiding a user to a desired broadcast program.

[0013]

In order to achieve this object, a broadcast program guide system constructed according to the present invention comprises: an obtaining means for obtaining history information of a broadcast program viewed by a user; Creation means for creating preference information represented by numerical values (for example, preference information defined by the appearance frequency of each attribute value) from attribute information possessed by a broadcast program, and similar to preference information indicated by a user who issued a service request. Extracting means for retrieving a plurality of users having similar broadcast program preferences to the service request issuing user by searching for preference information to be performed, and extracting identification information of broadcast programs viewed by the users; Search means for searching for broadcast programs having attribute information similar to the attribute information of the extracted broadcast program, and identifying the broadcast program identification information to the service. Configured to and a presentation means for presenting the determined issuing user.

In the broadcast program guide system of the present invention configured as described above, the obtaining means obtains the identification information of the broadcast program watched by the user by detecting the switching of the channel, so that the user can view the broadcast program. Obtain history information of the broadcast program.

Receiving the identification information of the broadcast program watched by each user stored in this manner, the creating means defines, for each user, for example, the appearance frequency of each attribute value of the obtained broadcast program. Such preference information is quantified.

For example, in a broadcast program viewed by a certain user, a sports broadcast program has an appearance frequency of "1/3", and a broadcast program in which actor A appears has an appearance frequency of "1/10". That is, it creates good taste information.

In response to the creation of the preference information, when a certain user issues a program guide service provision request, the extraction means searches for preference information similar to the preference information indicated by the user, and broadcasts to the user. A plurality of users having similar program preferences are searched for, and the identification information of the broadcast programs watched by the searched users is extracted from the stored identification information of the broadcast programs watched by each user.

That is, using the digitized preference information, a plurality of users who have similar viewing preferences to the service request issuing user are searched, and the broadcast programs watched by those users are extracted.

In response to the extraction of the broadcast program watched by the user having a similar preference, the search means has, from among the broadcast programs to be broadcast, attribute information similar to the attribute information of the extracted broadcast program. Search for things.

For example, using the ratio of those having the same attribute value as a scale, a program having attribute information similar to the attribute information of the extracted broadcast program is searched from broadcast programs to be broadcasted from now on. .

In response to the search, the presentation means presents the identified broadcast program identification information to the user who issued the service request, thereby guiding the user who issued the service request a favorite broadcast program. .

Thus, according to the present invention, the user is not forced to enter a keyword, and
You can get your favorite broadcast program from many broadcast programs to be broadcasted without doing an act of searching from the list and without selecting it. become able to.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to guide a user to a desired broadcast program in a manner following a change in the user's interest.

Further, according to the present invention, a broadcast program watched by a user having a similar preference is used to obtain a broadcast program desired by each user from broadcast programs to be broadcast from now on and guide the user to the acquired broadcast program. , It is possible to guide the user to a desired broadcast program with high accuracy.

[0025]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail according to embodiments.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 1 is a user home, 2 is a broadcast station, 3 is a broadcast program guide server for providing a recommended TV program guide service to the user, 4 is a user home 1 and the broadcast program guide server 3 It is a network that connects between.

Each user's home 1 includes a personal computer 10, a television 11, a program information database 12, and a viewing history database 13. The broadcasting program guide server 3 includes a personal computer 30, a viewing history group database 31, and a user profile. A group database 32 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, the program information database 12 provided in the user's premises 1 stores the broadcast date and time of the TV program and the broadcast channel of the program in association with the program name of the TV program broadcasted by the broadcast station 2. And various attribute values of the program, such as genre and cast, are managed as attribute information.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of functions of the user home 1.

As shown in this figure, in the user's house 1,
In addition to the television 11, the program information database 12, and the viewing history database 13, by detecting channel switching, the history of TV programs viewed by the user in the user's home 1 is collected and registered in the viewing history database 13. Unit 100, a user profile generation unit 101 that generates user profile information (preference information) defined by the appearance frequency of an attribute value of a TV program from the collected viewing history, and collected viewing history information and generation. Data transmitting section 102 for transmitting the obtained user profile information to broadcast program guide server 3 and data for receiving the ID (identification information) of the TV program viewed by the similar user group sent from broadcast program guide server 3 The receiving unit 103 and the received TV
A recommended program determining unit 104 for determining a recommended TV program to be presented to a user from a program, and a recommended program display unit 105 for displaying the determined recommended TV program on the television 11 are provided.

Here, as shown in FIG. 4, the viewing history collection unit 100 is provided with an existing audience rating meter (online meter).
In some cases, a process may be performed to collect the history of TV programs viewed by the user using the viewing history in units of seconds detected by.

The various functions provided in the user's premises 1 are specifically realized by programs running on the personal computer 10, and these programs are executed by a computer-readable semiconductor memory or the like. Storage medium.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of the functions of the broadcast program guide server 3.

As shown in this figure, the broadcast program guide server 3 includes, in addition to the viewing history group database 31 and the user profile group database 32, viewing history information / user profile sent from each user's home 1. The information is received, registered in the viewing history group database 31 / user profile group database 32, and the user ID sent from the user home 1 which is the guide service request source
A data receiving unit 300 for receiving (identification information defined in association with the device in the user's home 1) and a similarity for extracting a plurality of users whose TV program viewing tendency is similar to the user indicated by the received user ID A user group extraction unit 301;
A similar-user-group-viewed-program extracting unit 302 that extracts a TV program with a high rating from the extracted TV programs viewed by the similar-user-group, and stores the extracted TV program ID in the user home 1 that is the source of the user ID. And a data transmission unit 303 for transmitting.

The various functions provided in the broadcast program guide server 3 are specifically realized by programs running on the personal computer 30. These programs are implemented by a computer-readable semiconductor memory or the like. Can be stored in an appropriate recording medium.

FIG. 6 shows the overall configuration of the user home 1 and the broadcast program guide server 3 configured as described above.

FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of a processing flow executed by the viewing history collection section 100 provided in the user home 1, and FIG.
User profile generation unit 1 provided in user home 1
FIG. 9 shows a similar user group extracting unit 301 included in the broadcast program guide server 3.
FIG. 10 shows an example of a processing flow executed by the similar user group viewing program extraction unit 302 included in the broadcast program guide server 3, and FIG.
FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a processing flow executed by the recommended program determining unit 104 provided in the user home 1.

Next, according to these processing flows, FIG.
The processing of the embodiment configured as described above will be described in detail.

Viewing history collection unit 10 provided in user home 1
0 is activated in response to turning on the power of the television 11,
As shown in the processing flow of FIG. 7, first, in step 1, it is determined whether or not the end of viewing of the TV program has been issued by the user. When it is determined that the viewing end is not issued, the process proceeds to step 2 to determine whether or not the user has switched the channel of the television 11.

When it is determined by this determination process that the channel has been switched, the process proceeds to step 3, where “0” indicating that the channel has not been registered in the viewing history database 13 is set for the “registered flag”. set. Subsequently, in step 4, by referring to the program information database 12, the ID of the TV program which has been newly viewed by switching the channel is specified, and the process returns to step 1.

As will be described later, the user's home 1 may not be provided with the program information database 12,
In this case, instead of the TV program ID, paired data of the channel number and the viewing date and time is used as the TV program ID.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step 2 that the channel is not switched, the process proceeds to step 5 to determine whether or not "0" is set in the "registered flag". When it is determined that “1” indicating the already registered in the viewing history database 13 is set instead of “0”, the process returns to step 1 as it is.

On the other hand, in step 5, "registered flag"
Is determined to be set to "0",
Proceeding to step 6, the viewing time of the TV program which has been newly watched by switching the channel is measured, and in the following step 7, it is determined whether or not the viewing time has exceeded a specified time.

In this determination processing, when it is determined that the viewing time does not exceed the specified time, the process returns to step 1; when it is determined that the viewing time has exceeded the specified time, the process proceeds to step 8, and The ID of the TV program which has been newly watched by the switching is registered in the viewing history database 13, and in step 9, “1” is set in the “registered flag”, and the process returns to step 1.

In this manner, the viewing history collection unit 100 provided in the user home 1 detects the switching of the channel of the television 11, thereby collecting the TV programs watched by the user, and viewing the IDs of the TV programs. History database 1
3 to be registered.

In the processing flow of FIG. 7, the TV program watched for a certain time or more is registered in the viewing history database 13. However, in synchronization with the switching of the channel, the TV program newly started to be watched is processed. Processing may be performed such that the program is immediately registered in the viewing history database 13.

Upon receiving the viewing history database 13 constructed in this manner, the user profile generation unit 101 provided in the user home 1 is activated upon reaching a certain period, for example, and the processing flow of FIG. As shown in
First, in step 1, the viewing history database 13
From the user's viewing history.

Subsequently, in step 2, by referring to the program information database 12 using the ID of the TV program described in the read viewing history as a search key, the attribute value of each TV program watched by the user is obtained. get.

For example, as shown in FIG. 12, when reading “program 1” / “program 3” / “program 6” as the viewing history, the program information database 12 is referred to and the attribute value of program 1 is used. A certain "sports" / "baseball" /
“Team A” / “Team B”, attribute values of program 3 “drama” / “actor 1” / “actress 1” and attribute values of program 6 “drama” / “actor 2” / “ Actress 1 "is obtained.

Subsequently, in step 3, the number of appearances of each of the acquired attribute values is counted. In the example of FIG. 12, "sports" is performed once, "drama" is performed twice, and "baseball" is performed.
Once, "A team" once, "B team" once,
"Actor 1" once, "Actor 2" once, "Actress 1" 2
It counts times.

Subsequently, in step 4, user profile information is created by obtaining the appearance frequency of each of the acquired attribute values according to the counted number of appearances. In the example of FIG. 12, "Sports: 1/3, Drama: 2 /
3, Baseball: 1/3, Team A: 1/3, Team B: 1 /
3, actor 1: 1/3, actor 2: 1/3, actress 1: 2 /
The user profile information "3" is created.

As described above, the user profile generation unit 101 provided in the user home 1 stores the T
Processing is performed so as to generate user profile information defined by the appearance frequency of the attribute value of the V program.

As described above, the data transmission unit 102 provided in each user's home 1 transmits the collected viewing history information and the generated user profile information to the broadcast program guide server 3, The data receiving unit 300 included in the broadcast program guide server 3 receives the viewing history information sent from each user's home 1 and registers it in the viewing history group database 31, and the user sent from each user's home 1. The profile information is received and registered in the user profile group database 32.

According to this processing, the broadcast program guide server 3
Then, a viewing history group database 31 for storing the viewing history of each user is constructed, and a user profile group database 32 for storing user profile information of each user is constructed.

When the user in the user home 1 wishes to receive the recommended program guide service, the user ID
, And issues a recommended program guide service to the broadcast program guide server 3.

When this guide service is issued, the similar user group extracting unit 301 provided in the broadcast program guide server 3
As shown in the processing flow of FIG. 9, first, the ID of the user who requested the service is received.

Subsequently, in step 2, user profile information of all users is obtained from the user profile group database 32. Subsequently, in step 3, the similarity between the acquired user profile information of the service requesting user and the acquired user profile information of the other users is calculated.

That is, as shown in FIG. 13, the similarity between the user profile information of the service requesting user and the user profile information of other users is calculated. At this time, for example, the similarity is calculated by treating the user profile information as a vector and calculating the inner product value of the two vectors.

Subsequently, in step 4, a specified number of users having a high similarity is extracted according to the calculated similarity.

As described above, the similar user group extracting unit 301 provided in the broadcast program guide server 3 performs processing to extract a plurality of users whose viewing tendency is similar to the service requesting user.

In response to the extraction of the similar user group, the similar user group viewing program extraction unit 3 provided in the broadcast program guide server 3
In step 02, as shown in the process flow of FIG. 10, first, in step 1, the ID of a user group having a viewing tendency similar to the service request source user is received from the similar user group extraction unit 301.

Subsequently, in step 2, by referring to the viewing history group database 31 using the received similar user group ID as a search key, the T
Acquire a V program. Subsequently, in step 3, according to the acquired TV programs, the TV programs viewed by the similar user group are totaled, and the audience rating of those TV programs is calculated. Subsequently, in step 4, a specified number of TV programs having a high rating are extracted according to the calculated rating.

In this way, as shown in FIG. 14, the similar user group viewing program extraction unit 302 included in the broadcast program guide server 3 performs the TV program viewing by the user group having a viewing tendency similar to the service requesting user. Is processed so as to extract a specified number of TV programs having a high audience rating.

As described above, the data transmission section 303 provided in the broadcast program guide server 3 returns the ID of the TV program extracted by the similar user group viewing program extraction section 302 to the user home 1 of the service request source. To process.

When the TV program ID is returned, the recommended program determining unit 104 provided in the user home 1 of the service requester first starts the process 1 in step 1 as shown in the processing flow of FIG. The broadcast program guide server 3 receives IDs of a plurality of TV programs having a high audience rating and viewed by a group of users having similar viewing trends.

Subsequently, in step 2, the received T
Program information database 1 using V program ID as search key
2, the attribute values of those TV programs are acquired. Subsequently, in step 3, the attribute values of the TV program to be broadcasted are acquired from the program information database 12.

Subsequently, in step 4, the obtained TV
According to the attribute value of the program, the similarity between the attribute value of the TV program with a high audience rating watched by the similar user group and the attribute value of the TV program scheduled to be broadcast (which can be extracted from the broadcast date and time) is calculated. Thus, a recommended TV program is determined from TV programs to be broadcast.

As described above, the recommended program determining unit 104 provided in the user premises 1 of the service request source, as shown in FIG.
By calculating the similarity between the attribute value of the V program and the attribute value of the TV program to be broadcast, a recommended TV program is determined from the TV programs to be broadcast. At this time, for example, the similarity is calculated by calculating a ratio having the same attribute value.

As described above, the recommended program display unit 105 provided in the user home 1 of the service requester displays the determined recommended TV program on the television 11,
Provide a recommended TV program to the user.

As described above, according to the present invention, from the TV programs scheduled to be broadcast, a program which is considered to be preferred by the user is selected with high accuracy, and processing is performed so as to present it to the user. is there.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, a configuration is adopted in which the user profile generation unit 101 and the recommended program determination unit 104 are arranged in the user's home 1. However, as shown in FIG. It is also possible to adopt a configuration (A in the figure) in which the generation unit 101 is arranged in the broadcast program guide server 3.

In the case of employing this configuration, it is necessary to employ a configuration (B in the figure) in which the broadcast program guide server 3 also includes the program information database 12.

When the configuration shown in FIG. 16 is adopted, there is an advantage that only one user profile generation unit 101 needs to be prepared for the entire system, and an advantage that the processing load on the user home 1 can be reduced. .

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the user profile generation unit 101 and the recommended program determination unit 104
Is arranged in the user's house 1, but it is also possible to adopt a structure (C in the figure) in which the recommended program determination unit 104 is arranged in the broadcast program guide server 3 as shown in FIG. It is.

In the case of employing this configuration, it is necessary to employ a configuration (B in the figure) in which the broadcast program guide server 3 also includes the program information database 12.

When the configuration shown in FIG. 17 is adopted, there is an advantage that only one recommended program determination unit 104 is required as the whole system, and an advantage that the processing load on the user's home 1 can be reduced. .

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the user profile generation unit 101 and the recommended program determination unit 104
Is arranged in the user's home 1, but as shown in FIG. 18, the user profile generation unit 101 is arranged in the broadcast program guide server 3 (A in the figure). It is also possible to adopt a configuration (C in the figure) in which the recommended program determination unit 104 is arranged in the broadcast program guide server 3.

In the case of adopting this configuration, it is necessary to adopt a configuration (B in the figure) in which the broadcast program guide server 3 also includes the program information database 12.

On the other hand, the user home 1 does not always need to have the program information database 12, but if the user does not have the program information database 12, the viewing history cannot be recorded using the ID of the TV program. As described above, a configuration is adopted in which the viewing history is recorded using the pair data of the broadcast date and time and the channel number.

The configuration shown in FIG. 18 has the advantage that only one user profile generation unit 101 / recommended program determination unit 104 / program information database 12 is required for the entire system, and There is an advantage that the processing load on the house 1 can be reduced.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the illustrated embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, in the embodiment, the present invention has been described with a specific example of provision of a TV program, but the present invention can be applied to provision of a radio program as it is.

Further, in the embodiment, the description has been made by using the user profile information defined by the appearance frequency of the attribute value of the TV program. However, the user profile information is calculated by the numerical value calculated from the attribute value of the TV program. Whatever is represented may be used.

[0084]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The user is not forced to enter a keyword, does not have to perform an action such as searching from a list, and does not have to perform an action such as selecting a broadcast program. From among them, you can get your favorite broadcast program.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to guide a user to a favorite broadcast program in a manner following a change in the user's interest.

Further, according to the present invention, a broadcast program watched by a user having a similar preference is used to acquire a broadcast program desired by each user from broadcast programs to be broadcast from now on and to guide the user. , It is possible to guide the user to a desired broadcast program with high accuracy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a program information database.

FIG. 3 is an example of an embodiment of a user home.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a viewing history collection process.

FIG. 5 is an example of an embodiment of a broadcast program guide server.

FIG. 6 is an overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary embodiment of a processing flow executed by a viewing history collection unit;

FIG. 8 is an embodiment of a processing flow executed by a user profile generation unit.

FIG. 9 is an embodiment of a processing flow executed by a similar user group extracting unit.

FIG. 10 is an embodiment of a processing flow executed by a similar user group viewing program extraction unit;

FIG. 11 is an exemplary embodiment of a processing flow executed by a recommended program determining unit;

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of a process executed by a user profile generation unit.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of a process executed by a similar user group extraction unit.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of a process executed by a similar user group viewing program extraction unit.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of a process executed by a recommended program determination unit.

FIG. 16 is another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 User home 2 Broadcasting station 3 Broadcast program guide server 4 Network 10 Personal computer 11 Television 12 Program information database 13 Viewing history database 30 Personal computer 31 Viewing history group database 32 User profile group database

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Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A broadcast program guide system for guiding a user to a favorite broadcast program, comprising: means for acquiring history information of a broadcast program watched by the user; Means for generating preference information represented by numerical values from the attribute information; and searching for the preference information similar to the preference information indicated by the user who issued the service request, thereby obtaining a plurality of programs having similar broadcast program preferences to the user. Means for searching for users and extracting identification information of broadcast programs watched by those users, and having attribute information similar to the attribute information of the extracted broadcast programs among broadcast programs to be broadcasted from now on. A broadcast program guide system, comprising: means for searching for a broadcast program; and means for presenting identification information of the searched broadcast program to a user who issued a service request. 2. A broadcast program guiding method for guiding a user to a favorite broadcast program, the method comprising: obtaining history information of a broadcast program watched by a user; A process of creating preference information represented by numerical values from attribute information, and searching for the preference information similar to the preference information indicated by the user who issued the service request, the plurality of preference programs having similar broadcast program preferences to the user. Searching for users and extracting identification information of broadcast programs watched by those users, and having, from among broadcast programs to be broadcast from now on, attribute information similar to the attribute information of the extracted broadcast programs. A broadcast program guide method comprising: searching for a broadcast program; and presenting the identified broadcast program identification information to a user who issued the service request. 3. A broadcast program guide device for guiding a user's favorite broadcast program to a broadcast terminal device, comprising: history information of a broadcast program watched by the user sent from each broadcast terminal device; Means for receiving user preference information represented by numerical values created from the attribute information of the broadcast program; and searching for the preference information similar to the preference information indicated by the user who issued the service request. Means for retrieving a plurality of users having similar broadcast program preferences to the user and extracting identification information of the broadcast program watched by the users; Means for transmitting to a broadcast terminal device to be operated. 4. A broadcast program guide device for guiding a user's favorite broadcast program to a broadcast terminal device, wherein the broadcast program guide device receives history information of a broadcast program watched by the user sent from each broadcast terminal device. Means for creating preference information of each user represented by a numerical value from attribute information of the received broadcast program, and searching for the preference information similar to the preference information indicated by the user who issued the service request. Means for searching for a plurality of users whose broadcast program preferences are similar to the user and extracting identification information of the broadcast program watched by those users; Means for transmitting to a broadcast terminal device operated by an issuer user. 5. The broadcast program guide device according to claim 3, wherein a broadcast program to be broadcast from now on is searched for one having attribute information similar to the attribute information of the extracted broadcast program. Means for transmitting, wherein the transmitting means transmits the searched broadcast program identification information instead of the extracted broadcast program identification information. 6. A broadcast terminal device for receiving a guide service provided by a broadcast program guide device, comprising: means for obtaining history information of a broadcast program watched by a user; Means for creating user preference information represented by: a means for transmitting the acquired broadcast program history information and the preference information to a broadcast program guide device; and a broadcast program guide in response to a guide service provision request. Means for receiving identification information of a broadcast program viewed by a plurality of users having similar broadcast program preferences transmitted from the apparatus, and attribute information of the received broadcast program from broadcast programs to be broadcasted And a means for presenting identification information of the searched broadcast program to a user. 7. A broadcast terminal device for receiving a guide service provided by a broadcast program guide device, comprising: means for obtaining history information of a broadcast program watched by a user; Means for transmitting to a device; means for receiving identification information of a broadcast program viewed by a plurality of users having similar broadcast program preferences sent from the broadcast program guide device in response to a request for providing a guidance service; A means for searching, from among broadcast programs to be broadcast, those having attribute information similar to the attribute information of the received broadcast program; and a means for presenting identification information of the searched broadcast program to a user. A broadcast terminal device. 8. A broadcast terminal device for receiving a guide service provided by a broadcast program guide device, comprising: means for obtaining history information of a broadcast program watched by a user; Means for creating user preference information represented by: a means for transmitting the acquired broadcast program history information and the preference information to a broadcast program guide device; and a broadcast program guide in response to a guide service provision request. Means for receiving identification information of a broadcast program selected from broadcast programs to be broadcast, which is sent from the apparatus, and means for presenting identification information of the received broadcast program to a user, A broadcast terminal device. 9. A program recording medium having recorded thereon a program for causing a computer to execute a process used for realizing the broadcast program guide device according to claim 3. Description: 10. A program recording medium having recorded thereon a program for causing a computer to execute a process used for realizing the broadcast terminal device according to claim 6.