Prioritized placement of content elements for iTV application

• US 10,491,942 B2
• Filed: 03/01/2018
• Issued: 11/26/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Comcast Cable Communications Management LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Comcast Cable Communications Management LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Inventors: de Andrade, David, Carney, John, Moreau, Samuel, Singer, Tyson, Ganapavarapu, Srikanth
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong, Michael H
• Application Number:
  US15/909,123
• Publication Number:
  US 20190045261A1
• Time in Patent Office: 635 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25808 Management of client data terminal profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/303
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25866 Management of end-user data customer care in data networks H04L41/5077
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/262 Content or additional data distribution scheduling, e.g. sending additional data at off-peak times, updating software modules, calculating the carousel transmission frequency, delaying a video stream transmission, generating play-lists scheduling strategies for dispatcher in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/4881; arrangements for scheduling broadcast services or broadcast-related services H04H60/06; flow control in packet networks H04L47/10; establishing a time schedule or organising the servicing of application requests H04L67/62
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26241 involving the time of distribution, e.g. the best time of the day for inserting an advertisement or airing a children program
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2668 Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles information retrieval from the Internet by querying with filtering and personalisation G06F16/9535; arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast H04H20/10; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/063
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4316 for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4725 using interactive regions of the image, e.g. hot spots details of information retrieval from the Internet by using URLs G06F16/955; processing chained hypermedia data for information retrieval G06F16/94
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4828 for searching program descriptors retrieval of video data G06F16/739
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/488 Data services, e.g. news ticker systems specially adapted for using meteorological information in broadcast systems H04H60/71
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8126 involving additional data, e.g. news, sports, stocks, weather forecasts
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8543 using a description language, e.g. Multimedia and Hypermedia information coding Expert Group [MHEG], eXtensible Markup Language [XML] information retrieval of semistructured data, the underlying structure being taken into account, e.g. mark-up language structure data G06F16/80
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/45 Picture in picture , e.g. displaying simultaneously another television channel in a region of the screen

Abstract

Preferred placement of programming content is provided by a system and method to organize or sequence the display of a set of programmable content elements of an iTV application to a viewer, using business rules that describe the preferred placement conditions or criteria. Such criteria include brand, content owner, application location, current channel, current channel family, current channel category, time of day, content category, current program, current program genre, current iTV application, current content type, and/or subscriber and set-top box profile and behavior data. In one implementation, the present invention allows for managing the ‘shelf space’ within and for iTV applications.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a first computing device and a second computing device;

wherein the first computing device comprises;

one or more first processors; and

first memory storing first executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more first processors, cause the first computing device to;

access content placement rules that (a) define conditions for placement of content elements at defined user-selectable locations along multiple dimensions within a user interface and (b) prioritize placement of one of the content elements at one of the defined user-selectable locations relative to placement of other content elements at other ones of the defined user-selectable locations,

place, at one or more of the defined user-selectable locations, one or more of the content elements based on a reference to a definition of a programming campaign, wherein the definition of the programming campaign comprises a key for uniquely identifying the programming campaign, a listing of candidate content elements, and at least one rule for selecting the one or more of the content elements from the candidate content elements, and

send, to the second computing device, the user interface, wherein the user interface comprises the one or more of the content elements placed at the one or more of the defined user-selectable locations; and

wherein the second computing device comprises;

one or more second processors; and

second memory storing second executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more second processors, cause the second computing device to;

receive, from the first computing device, the user interface, and

output, for display, the user interface.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the content placement rules comprise one or more first rules for controlling placement of one or more tiles within a tiled user interface, one or more second rules for permitting groupings of the one or more tiles within the tiled user interface, and one or more third rules for permitting transitions between the groupings of the one or more tiles within the tiled user interface.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the placing of the one or more of the content elements is further based on parameters, associated with the content placement rules, that comprise one or more of:

current application, application type, location, current channel, current network family, current channel category, current program, current program genre, current program attributes, or current content type.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the placing of the one or more of the content elements is further based on one or more of:

demographics, service tier, geography, or viewer behavior.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the content placement rules prioritize the placement of each of the content elements based on pay-for-placement criteria.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the content placement rules prioritize the placement of each of the content elements based on one or more of:

brand, content owner, application, location, current channel, current channel family, current channel category, time of day, content category, current program, current program genre, current application, current content type, or viewer behavior data.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the defined user-selectable locations comprise tiles reserved for advertisements.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the conditions for placement of the content elements within the user interface comprise time shifting so as to present different elements within the defined user-selectable locations based on a time of day.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more of the content elements placed at the one or more of the defined user-selectable locations comprise one or more linear content elements and one or more on-demand content elements.

10. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing executable instructions that, when executed, cause an apparatus to:

access content placement rules that (a) define conditions for placement of content elements at defined user-selectable locations along multiple dimensions within a user interface and (b) prioritize placement of one of the content elements at one of the defined user-selectable locations relative to placement of other content elements at other ones of the defined user-selectable locations;

place, at one or more of the defined user-selectable locations, one or more of the content elements based on a reference to a definition of a programming campaign that includes a key for uniquely identifying the programming campaign, a listing of candidate content elements, and at least one rule for selecting the one or more of the content elements from the candidate content elements; and

cause display of the user interface, wherein the user interface comprises the one or more of the content elements placed at the one or more of the defined user-selectable locations.

11. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 10, wherein the content placement rules comprise one or more first rules for controlling placement of one or more tiles within a tiled user interface, one or more second rules for permitting groupings of the one or more tiles within the tiled user interface, and one or more third rules for permitting transitions between the groupings of the one or more tiles within the tiled user interface.

12. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 10, wherein the placing of the one or more of the content elements is further based on parameters, associated with the content placement rules, that comprise one or more of:

current application, application type, location, current channel, current network family, current channel category, current program, current program genre, current program attributes, or current content type.

13. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 10, wherein the placing of the one or more of the content elements is further based on one or more of:

demographics, service tier, geography, or viewer behavior.

14. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 10, wherein the content placement rules prioritize the placement of each of the content elements based on pay-for-placement criteria.

15. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 10, wherein the content placement rules prioritize the placement of each of the content elements based on one or more of:

brand, content owner, application, location, current channel, current channel family, current channel category, time of day, content category, current program, current program genre, current application, current content type, or viewer behavior data.

16. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 10, wherein the defined user-selectable locations comprise tiles reserved for advertisements.

17. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 10, wherein the conditions for placement of the content elements within the user interface comprise time shifting so as to present different elements within the defined user-selectable locations based on a time of day.

18. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 10, wherein the one or more of the content elements placed at the one or more of the defined user-selectable locations comprise one or more linear content elements and one or more on-demand content elements.

19. A system comprising:

a first computing device and a second computing device;

wherein the first computing device comprises;

one or more first processors; and

first memory storing first executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more first processors, cause the first computing device to;

access content placement rules that (a) define conditions for placement of content elements at defined locations along multiple dimensions within a content listing user interface and (b) prioritize placement of one of the content elements at one of the defined locations relative to placement of other content elements at other ones of the defined locations,

place, at one or more of the defined locations, one or more of the content elements based on a reference to a definition of a programming campaign, wherein the definition of the programming campaign comprises a key for uniquely identifying the programming campaign, a listing of candidate content elements, and at least one rule for selecting the one or more of the content elements from the candidate content elements, and

send, to the second computing device, the user interface, wherein the user interface comprises the one or more of the content elements placed at the one or more of the defined locations; and

wherein the second computing device comprises;

one or more second processors; and

second memory storing second executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more second processors, cause the second computing device to;

receive, from the first computing device, the user interface, and

output, for display, the user interface.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the content placement rules comprise one or more first rules for controlling placement of one or more tiles within a tiled user interface, one or more second rules for permitting groupings of the one or more tiles within the tiled user interface, and one or more third rules for permitting transitions between the groupings of the one or more tiles within the tiled user interface.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the placing of the one or more of the content elements is further based on parameters, associated with the content placement rules, that comprise one or more of:

current application, application type, location, current channel, current network family, current channel category, current program, current program genre, current program attributes, or current content type.

22. The system of claim 19, wherein the placing of the one or more of the content elements is further based on one or more of:

demographics, service tier, geography, or viewer behavior.

23. The system of claim 19, wherein the content placement rules prioritize the placement of each of the content elements based on pay-for-placement criteria.

24. The system of claim 19, wherein the content placement rules prioritize the placement of each of the content elements based on one or more of:

brand, content owner, application, location, current channel, current channel family, current channel category, time of day, content category, current program, current program genre, current application, current content type, or viewer behavior data.

25. The system of claim 19, wherein the defined locations comprise tiles reserved for advertisements.

26. The system of claim 19, wherein the conditions for placement of the content elements within the user interface comprise time shifting so as to present different elements within the defined locations based on a time of day.

27. The system of claim 19, wherein the one or more of the content elements placed at the one or more of the defined locations comprise one or more linear content elements and one or more on-demand content elements.

28. A system comprising:

a first computing device and a second computing device;

wherein the first computing device comprises;

one or more first processors; and

first memory storing first executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more first processors, cause the first computing device to;

access content placement rules that (a) describe conditions for placement of content elements within a user interface of an interactive television (iTV) application at defined locations along multiple dimensions and (b) prioritize placement of one of the content elements at one of the defined locations relative to placement of other content elements at other ones of the defined locations,

place, at one or more of the defined locations, one or more of the content elements based on a reference to a definition of a programming campaign, wherein the definition of the programming campaign comprises a key for uniquely identifying the programming campaign, a listing of candidate content elements, and at least one rule for selecting the one or more of the content elements from the candidate content elements, and

send, to the second computing device, the user interface, wherein the user interface comprises the one or more of the content elements placed at the one or more of the defined locations; and

wherein the second computing device comprises;

one or more second processors; and

second memory storing second executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more second processors, cause the second computing device to;

receive, from the first computing device, the user interface, and

output, for display, the user interface.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the content placement rules comprise one or more first rules for controlling placement of one or more tiles within a tiled user interface, one or more second rules for permitting groupings of the one or more tiles within the tiled user interface, and one or more third rules for permitting transitions between the groupings of the one or more tiles within the tiled user interface.

30. The system of claim 28, wherein the placing of the one or more of the content elements is further based on parameters, associated with the content placement rules, that comprise one or more of:

current application, application type, location, current channel, current network family, current channel category, current program, current program genre, current program attributes, or current content type.

31. The system of claim 28, wherein the placing of the one or more of the content elements is further based on one or more of:

demographics, service tier, geography, or viewer behavior.

32. The system of claim 28, wherein the content placement rules prioritize the placement of each of the content elements based on pay-for-placement criteria.

33. The system of claim 28, wherein the content placement rules prioritize the placement of each of the content elements based on one or more of:

brand, content owner, application, location, current channel, current channel family, current channel category, time of day, content category, current program, current program genre, current application, current content type, or viewer behavior data.

34. The system of claim 28, wherein the defined locations comprise tiles reserved for advertisements.

35. The system of claim 28, wherein the conditions for placement of the content elements within the user interface comprise time shifting so as to present different elements within the defined locations based on a time of day.

36. The system of claim 28, wherein the one or more of the content elements placed at the one or more of the defined locations comprise one or more linear content elements and one or more on-demand content elements.