Method and apparatus for providing non-resident program guide information to a media subscriber

Abstract

A system and method for providing program guide information to subscribers is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method is applied to a satellite broadcasting system having a first satellite broadcasting a first signal having a first set of program material and first program guide information describing at least a portion of said set of program material, and a second satellite broadcasting a second signal having a second set of program material and second program guide information describing at least a portion of said second set of program material, wherein the first broadcast signal and the second broadcast signal each include service channels uniquely described by a service channel identifier. The method comprises the steps of mapping at least a portion of the first program guide information to a first service channel of the first broadcast signal; mapping at least a portion of the second program guide information to a second service channel of the first broadcast signal, wherein the second service channel is logically offset from the first service channel; and transmitting the first signal to the subscriber.