AppleInsider discovers an August 2006 patent filing by Apple for features having to do with broadcast video sent over Apple TV. The patent discusses interesting ideas for widgets that overlay the screen to allow such display of information as data related to what is on, and interactions such as purchasing tickets to performances, and doing video chat.
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/02/07/apple_filing_depicts_apple_tv_with_ichat_widget_interface.html