This invention relates to recording of television programs. More particularly, this invention relates to promotional techniques used in conjunction with recording of television programs.
Since the advent of video cassette recording, individuals have had the opportunity to record television programs for their personal use. Traditionally, these recordings were on magnetic tape. More recently, personal video recording has developed to allow recording to be accomplished through the use of digital storage media.
In the past, visual advertisements have been highly effective in marketing goods and services. Thus, both advertisers and consumers alike may see advantages to incorporating promotional materials within recorded programs.
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide systems and methods for providing promotions with recorded programs.
In accordance with this and other objects of the present invention, systems and methods for providing promotions with recorded programs are provided. These systems and methods may record promotional materials (“promotions”) at the beginning, at the end, at the beginning and the end, or at any other point or points of a recording. For example, when a record feature of a program guide is selected to record a program, a promotion record feature may record a promotion (e.g., a movie preview) at the beginning, at the end, at the beginning and the end, or at any other point or points of the program that is to be recorded. The promotion may then be displayed to the user when the user plays the recorded program.
These systems and methods may also record programs and control the integration of selected promotions and recorded programs during playback of the recorded programs.
In one embodiment of the invention, a system may include: a transceiver that transmits and/or receives signals and/or data; a processor that selects a program, that selects a promotion, and that causes both the selected program and the selected promotion to be recorded; and a storage device or a plurality of storage devices for storing signals and/or data.
In another embodiment of the invention, a system may include a processor that selects a program, that selects a promotion, that causes the selected program to be recorded, and that controls the integration of the recorded program and the selected promotion during playback of the recorded program.
The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout and in which:
The present invention provides methods and systems for providing promotions with recorded programs.
In one embodiment of the invention, a system may include: a one or more receivers that receives signals and/or data; a processor that selects a program, that selects a promotion, and that causes both the selected program and selected promotion to be recorded; a storage unit or a plurality of storage units for storing signals and/or data; and a display for presenting the recorded programs and promotions to a viewer. The signals and data may be stored locally after being received until needed by the processor, may be available on-demand from a distribution facility, or may be periodically available on a video stream of a broadcast channel.
The transceiver may transmit and/or receive signals and/or data (e.g., programs, promotions, program guides, applications, URL addresses, etc). These signals and/or data may be transmitted and/or received by the user's equipment through any communications network (e.g., a cable system, a satellite system, a modem, wireless paging frequencies, the Internet, etc.). For example, a program may be received on a program channel and a promotion may be received, through this program channel's vertical blanking interval (VBI). These signals and/or data may be transmitted and/or received by the user's equipment on one or a plurality of broadcast channels. For example, a program may be received on one channel and a promotion may be received on another channel.
The processor may select a program to record based on a user's input. A user's input may include the selection of a specific program. Alternatively, a user's input may be a user designation. The input of a user designation may cause a processor to perform an automatic search and a record function. A user designation may consist of a viewing time, a program channel, and/or specific program content (e.g., recommended audience ratings, date and/or time of telecast, and/or a program theme). The input of a designation may indicate to the processor to search for all programs that have a user specified theme. For example, a user may select “Westerns” as a desired program theme. The processor may then search for and select all programs that have a theme related to westerns (e.g., “Blazing Saddles,” “City Slickers,” “The Quick and The Dead,” etc.) The processor may then cause these selected programs to be recorded. A designation may be entered by the user through an interactive program guide or an online program guide. Examples of such guides are provided by TV Guide and Gemstar Guide Plus. The program guide may include the ability to select from a menu of designation choices, the ability to accept direct input through text, or the ability to perform keyword searches. A user may submit a designation through a wire or wireless remote operating unit (e.g., a keyboard, a touch screen display, or any other processor input device).
The processor may select a promotion to record based on specific content of the selected program. For example, when a program with specific content is being recorded, the processor may select a promotion corresponding to the content of a program that is being recorded. The processor may determine a selected program's content from program guide data, from the program itself, from data accompanying the program, or from any other suitable source. The program guide data may be received prior to or concurrently with the program. Similarly, the processor may determine a promotion's content from promotion data accompanying the promotion, promotion data received separately from the promotion, from the promotion itself, or from any other suitable source. The content of a program or a promotion may be indicated by tags, thumbnails, closed-caption or teletext data, speech-to-text data recognition, audio classification (e.g., speech and music), clip markings, recommended audience ratings, program informational display screens, or any other information. Alternatively, the promotion may be unrelated to the program, and may be selected on the basis or time, user demographics, or any other criterion, or may be selected on a random basis.
The Processor may then cause the selected program and the selected promotion to be recorded on storage media. The recording of a selected promotion may be at the beginning, at the end, at the beginning and at the end, or at any other desired point or points within a recorded program. The insertion of a selected promotion during the recording of a program may cause the processor to buffer all, of or portions of a program in a storage unit. After the promotion is inserted, the processor may then cause the remaining portion of the program to be recorded from the storage unit. A program may indicate where a promotion is or promotions are to be inserted using one or more tagged promotion points within a program's signal or data. These promotion points may be located at the beginning, at the end, at the beginning and at the end, or at any other desired point or points within a program. For example, when recording multiple programs, one or more Promotions may be recorded between the programs.
The storage unit or plurality of storage units may be used to store signals and data (e.g., programs, promotions, program guides and guide data, video recordings, and any other desired content and/or data).
Each storage unit may be located locally at or near a user's television viewing equipment (e.g., in the user's home or at a cable node near the user's home), or may be located remotely from the user's television viewing equipment such that the storing of programs, promotions, and data on the storage unit may be controlled by the processor over a communications network. If a storage unit is located locally, during playback, the processor may cause a program, promotion, or data to be retrieved from the storage unit and displayed to the user. If a storage unit is located remotely, during playback, the storage unit storage unit may transmit the program, promotion, and data over the communications network so that the program, promotion, or data can be displayed to the user.
In order to facilitate playback of recorded programs, an interactive user interface may be provided to enable a user to select recorded programs for playback. This interface may cause a flag to be recorded at the beginning of each portion of a storage medium. For example, with a video cassette, each time a recording is made, a flag may be recorded at the beginning of the recording. When a promotion is recorded at the beginning of a program, a flag may be recorded at the beginning of the promotion. The flag may then be used to identify the beginning of the program during subsequent playback. For example, when a list of previously recorded programs is presented to a user in an interactive user interface, upon the user selecting a program from the list, the invention may rewind or advance a storage medium, such as a video cassette, to the corresponding flag and playback the program until the next flag is detected.
In another embodiment of the invention, a system may include a processor that selects a program, that selects a promotion, that causes the program to be recorded, and that controls the integration of the recorded program and the selected promotion during playback of the selected program on a display.
The processor may select and record a program and select a promotion, as set forth in detail above. The processor may also control playback of a recorded program by inserting promotions at a promotion point during the playback of the selected program. The processor may determine promotion points using tags within a program's signal or data or using any other suitable method. The insertion of a selected promotion during playback of the recorded program may cause the processor to send, for example, a pause or stop command or signal to halt the playback of the recorded program. After, the promotion is inserted and played, the processor may then send a command or signal to continue the playback of the remaining portion or portions of the recorded program.
Communication network 140 may be any suitable network for transmitting signals and/or data to and/or from broadcast equipment 110, 120, and 130. For example, network 140 may be the Internet, a satellite communications system, a cable system, a Local Area Network, a Wide Area Network, etc., or any combination of the same. Communication network 140 may use digital or analog technology or any combination thereof.
User equipment 150 may be any suitable equipment for receiving, processing and displaying signals and/or data received from and/or transmitted to broadcast equipment 110, 20, and 130. For example, user equipment 150 may be a one or two-way set-top box, a television with processing and recording capability, a personal video recorder, a video cassette recorder with suitable processing capabilities, a personal computer, etc.
Communication links 160 may be any suitable link for communicating data and/or signals, such as a dial-up connection, a fiber optic cable, a coax cable, a DSL connection, etc. or any combination of the same.
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Screen 500 may also include a program list 530 that displays the results of a user's program search. Program list 530 may include program cells 535 and 536 that display program information. One or more program cells may be automatically selected based upon the theme or search term selected, as shown by selected program cells 536. Record button 560 may be used to initiate recording. Program list 530 may also include program rating cells 537 that categorize program cells according to their rating (e.g., G, PG, PG-13, R). Program list 530 may further include a program list header 540 that identifies the number of programs that meet the program search selection criteria.
In addition, program designation screen 500 may also include a sort menu 550 that enables a user to sort programs that have met the program search criteria and that are displayed in program list 530. Sort menu 550 may include sort cells 555 and 556 that allow the user to select a sorting technique. For example, programs that meet a user's search criteria may be sorted by viewing time, by rating, by alphabetically arranging, etc. One or more sort cells may be selected, as shown by selected sort cells 556. Sort activation cell 558 may be used to initiate the user's selected sorting techniques.
Screens 410 and 500 are merely illustrative of screens and methods that may be used to designate programs to be recorded. Any suitable screens and methods may be used in accordance with the present invention.
Processes 600, 700, 800, 900, and 1000 may be used in any suitable combination to record multiple promotions before, during, and/or after a program.
Next, at test 1108, process 1100 may determine whether to play a promotion. Determining whether to play a promotion may be made using any suitable criterion. If a promotion is to be played, process 1100 may next play the promotion at step 1112. If a promotion is not to be played, however, process may determine whether playback is complete at test 1114. If play back is complete, then process 1100 may loop back to step 1102 to wait for another program to be selected for recording.
If the playback is determined not to be complete at test 1114, or after playing a promotion at step 1112, process 1100 determines whether to play a portion of the program at test 1116. If a portion of the program (such as a first half of the program, a second half program, the whole program, or any other portion of the program) is to be played, process 1100 plays the portion at step 1118. Once the portion has been played at step 1118, or if it is determined that no portion is to be played at test 1116, then process 1100 loops back to test 1108.
Thus, systems and methods for providing promotions with recorded programs are provided. Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can be practiced by other than the described embodiments, which are presented for purposes of illustration rather than of limitation, and that the present invention is limited only by the claims that follow.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/179,548, filed Feb. 1, 2000, which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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60179548 | Feb 2000 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 12571055 | Sep 2009 | US |
Child | 13089883 | US | |
Parent | 09775202 | Feb 2001 | US |
Child | 12571055 | US |