A personalised TV listings service for the digital TV age

The Internet has brought unprecedented access to vast quantities of informa tion. However, in recent times, the problem of information overload has bec ome more and more marked, and we are now reaching a point where it is becom ing increasingly difficult to locate the right information at the right tim e. One avenue of research that is set to improve information access, and re lieve the information overload problem, is to develop technologies for auto matically personalising information, both in terms of its content and mode of presentation. In this paper we describe the development of the PTV (Pers onalised Television Listings-http://www.ptv.ie) system which tackles the in formation overload associated with modern TV listings data, by providing an Internet-based personalised listings service. PTV is capable of automatica lly compiling personalised guides to match the likes and dislikes of indivi dual users. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.