REMOTE CONTROL PROGRAM SELECTION BY GENRE

A remote control system in which a program-up or program-down activation on a control remote device effects the selection of the next or prior available channel that is likely to contain a program of a particular selected genre, or category. The system includes an identification of those programs that are likely to relate to each particular category. When the user selects a category, the user incrementally selects from the programs contained within the selected category. In the system, a list builder includes a number of capabilities for improving the selective quality of the program selection, having access, for example, to an information source that provides the time of each scheduled program on each channel, and an indication of each program's genre, rating, and other related items.