Using multiple media players to insert data items into a media stream of a streaming media

• US 20040003102A1
• Filed: 06/26/2002
• Published: 01/01/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: iHeartMedia Management Services, Inc. (iHeartMedia, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Clear Channel Management Services LP (iHeartMedia, Inc.)
• Inventors: DuVall, Mark, Gilbert, Alan
• Granted Patent: US 7,711,791 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/231
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0263 based upon Internet or website rating
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/60 Network streaming of media packets
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/765 intermediate
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching

Abstract

The present invention discloses a method, apparatus, and article of manufacture for processing a content stream at a client computer. According to one embodiment of the present invention, a tagged content stream that was received from a media source is displayed at the client computer by using a first media player. The first media player is embedded in a Web page. When the first media player receives notification that a tag was found, the first media player is muted. Then an untagged content stream that contains data items is displayed by using a second media player. The second media player is embedded in the Web page. In one embodiment of the present invention, when the second media player receives notification that the untagged content has completed, the second media player is muted. The tagged content stream that was received from the media source is then displayed by using the first media player.

In a further embodiment of the present invention, the untagged content stream is received by a third instance of the media player. The third instance of the media player stores the untagged content stream in a cache connected to the client computer. When the first media player receives notification that a tag was found, the first media player is muted. Then the untagged content stream that was received from the cache is displayed by using the second instance of the media player.

In another embodiment of the present invention, registration information is collected from a user. A spot list is created by using the collected registration information. The untagged content stream contains one or more targeted data items that were selected from the spot list.

Claims

1. A method of processing a content stream at a client computer, comprising:

displaying a tagged content stream that was received from a media source by using a first media player, wherein the first media player is embedded in a Web page;

when the first media player receives notification that a tag was found, muting the first media player; and

displaying an untagged content stream by using a second media player, wherein the second media player is embedded in the Web page.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

when the second media player receives notification that the untagged content stream has ended, muting the second media player; and

displaying the tagged content stream that was received from the media source by using the first media player.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the media source is a radio station and the tagged content stream is an audio stream.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the untagged content stream was received from a server computer.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

before displaying the tagged content stream, collecting registration information from a user.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the untagged content stream contains targeted data items that were selected from a spot list, wherein the spot list was created using the collected registration information.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the untagged content stream in a cache connected to the client computer by using a third media player, wherein the third media player is embedded in the Web page.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein displaying the untagged content stream comprises displaying the untagged content stream that was received from the cache by using the second media player, wherein the second media player is embedded in the Web page.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein displaying the untagged content stream comprises displaying the untagged content stream that was received from both the cache and a server computer by using the second media player, wherein the second media player is embedded in the Web page.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a user-interface to access the tagged content stream.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the user-interface comprises access to a database of radio stations.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the user-interface is a portal.

13. A method of content stream switching at a client computer, comprising:

collecting registration information from a user at the client computer;

displaying a tagged content stream that was received from a media source by using a first media player, wherein the first media player is embedded in a Web page, and the Web page is displayed via a Web browser which is stored on the client computer;

receiving a targeted untagged content stream from a server by using a second media player, wherein the targeted untagged content stream is based on the collected registration information, and wherein the second media player is embedded in the Web page;

when the first media player receives notification that a tag was found, muting the first media player; and

displaying the targeted untagged content stream by using the second media player.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

when the second media player receives notification that the untagged content stream has ended, muting the second media player; and

displaying the tagged content stream that was received from the media source by using the first media player.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the media source is a radio station and the tagged content stream is a radio stream.

16. The method of claim 13, the untagged content stream is an audio stream that contains one or more advertisements.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising storing the untagged content stream in a cache connected to the client computer by using a third media player, wherein the third media player is embedded in the Web page.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein displaying an untagged content stream that was received from a server computer by using a second media player comprises displaying an untagged content stream that was received from the cache by using a second media player.

19. A method of content stream switching at a client computer, comprising:

collecting registration information from a user at a client computer;

receiving a targeted untagged content stream from a server by using a first media player, wherein the targeted untagged content stream is based on the collected registration information, and wherein the first media player is embedded in the Web page;

storing the targeted untagged content stream in a cache that is connected to a Web browser by using the first media player;

displaying a tagged content stream that was received from a media source by using a second media player, wherein the second media player is embedded in a Web page, and the Web page is displayed via a Web browser which is stored on the client computer;

when the second media player receives notification that a tag was found, muting the second media player; and

displaying the targeted untagged content stream that was received from the cache by using the third media player, wherein the third media player is embedded in a Web page, and the Web page is displayed via the Web browser.

20. An apparatus of processing a content stream at a client computer, comprising:

a server computer;

a computer program, that resides at the server computer and is executed by the client computer that (a) displays a tagged content stream that was received from a media source by using a first media player, wherein the first media player is embedded in a Web page, (b) when the first media player receives notification that a tag was found, mutes the first media player, and (c) displays an untagged content stream by using a second media player, wherein the second media player is embedded in the Web page.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising:

a computer program, that resides at the server computer and is executed by the client computer that (a) when the second media player receives notification that the untagged content stream has ended, mutes the second media player, and (b) displays the tagged content stream that was received from the media source by using the first media player.

22. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the media source is a radio station and the tagged content stream is an audio stream.

23. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the untagged content stream was received from another server computer.

24. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising:

a computer program, that resides at the server computer and is executed by the client computer that, before displaying the tagged content stream, collects registration information from a user.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the untagged content stream contains targeted data items that were selected from a spot list, wherein the spot list was created using the collected registration information.

26. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising a computer program, that resides at the server computer and is executed by the client computer that stores the untagged content stream in a cache connected to the client computer by using a third media player, wherein the third media player is embedded in the Web page.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein displaying the untagged content stream comprises displaying the untagged content stream that was received from the cache by using the second media player, wherein the second media player is embedded in the Web page.

28. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein displaying the untagged content stream comprises displaying the untagged content stream that was received from both the cache and a server computer by using the second media player, wherein the second media player is embedded in the Web page.

29. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising a computer program, that resides at the server computer and is executed by the client computer that provides a user-interface to access the tagged content stream.

30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the user-interface comprises access to a database of radio stations.

31. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the user-interface is a portal.

32. An apparatus for content stream switching at a client computer, comprising:

a server computer;

a computer program, that resides at the server computer and is executed by the client computer that (a) collects registration information from a user at the client computer, (b) displays a tagged content stream that was received from a media source by using a first media player, wherein the first media player is embedded in a Web page, and the Web page is displayed via a Web browser which is stored on the client computer, (c) receives a targeted untagged content stream from a server by using a second media player, wherein the targeted untagged content stream is based on the collected registration information, and wherein the second media player is embedded in the Web page;

(d) when the first media player receives notification that a tag was found, mutes the first media player, and (d) displays the targeted untagged content stream by using the second media player.

33. The apparatus of claim 32, further comprising:

a computer program, that resides at the server computer and is executed by the client computer that (a) when the second media player receives notification that the untagged content stream has ended, muting the second media player, and (b) displays the tagged content stream that was received from the media source by using the first media player.

34. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the media source is a radio station and the tagged content stream is a radio stream.

35. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the untagged content stream is an audio stream that contains one or more advertisements.

36. The apparatus of claim 32, further comprising a computer program, that resides at the server computer and is executed by the client computer that (a) store the untagged content stream in a cache connected to the client computer by using a third media player, wherein the third media player is embedded in the Web page.

37. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein displaying an untagged content stream that was received from a server computer by using a second media player comprises displaying an untagged content stream that was received from the cache by using a second media player.

38. An apparatus for content stream switching at a client computer, comprising:

a server computer;

a computer program, that resides at the server computer and is executed by the client computer that (a) collects registration information from a user at a client computer (b) receives a targeted untagged content stream from a server by using a first media player, wherein the targeted untagged content stream is based on the collected registration information, and wherein the first media player is embedded in the Web page, (c) stores the targeted untagged content stream in a cache that is connected to a 10 Web browser by using the first media player, (d) displays a tagged content stream that was received from a media source by using a second media player, wherein the second media player is embedded in a Web page, and the Web page is displayed via a Web browser which is stored on the client computer, (e) when the second media player receives notification that a tag was found, mutes the second media player, and (f) displays the targeted untagged content stream that was received from the cache by using the third media player, wherein the third media player is embedded in a Web page, and the Web page is displayed via the Web browser.

39. An article of manufacture comprising a computer program carrier readable by a computer and embodying one or more instructions executable by the computer to perform the method of processing a content data stream at a client computer, the method comprising:

displaying a tagged content stream that was received from a media source by using a first media player, wherein the first media player is embedded in a Web page;

when the first media player receives notification that a tag was found, muting the first media player; and

displaying an untagged content stream by using a second media player, wherein the second media player is embedded in the Web page.

40. The article of manufacture of claim 39, further comprising:

when the second media player receives notification that the untagged content stream has ended, muting the second media player; and

displaying the tagged content stream that was received from the media source by using the first media player.

41. The article of manufacture of claim 39, wherein the media source is a radio station and the tagged content stream is an audio stream.

42. The article of manufacture of claim 39, wherein the untagged content stream was received from a server computer.

43. The article of manufacture of claim 39, further comprising:

before displaying the tagged content stream, collecting registration information from a user.

44. The article of manufacture of claim 43, wherein the untagged content stream contains targeted data items that were selected from a spot list, wherein the spot list was created using the collected registration information.

45. The article of manufacture of claim 39, further comprising storing the untagged content stream in a cache connected to the client computer by using a third media player, wherein the third media player is embedded in the Web page.

46. The article of manufacture of claim 45, wherein displaying the untagged content stream comprises displaying the untagged content stream that was received from the cache by using the second media player, wherein the second media player is embedded in the Web page.

47. The article of manufacture of claim 45, wherein displaying the untagged content stream comprises displaying the untagged content stream that was received from both the cache and a server computer by using the second media player, wherein the second media player is embedded in the Web page.

48. The article of manufacture of claim 39, further comprising providing a user-interface to access the tagged content stream.

49. The article of manufacture of claim 48, wherein the user-interface comprises access to a database of radio stations.

50. The article of manufacture of claim 48, wherein the user-interface is a portal.

51. An article of manufacture comprising a computer program carrier readable by a computer and embodying one or more instructions executable by the computer to perform the method of content stream switching at a client computer, comprising:

collecting registration information from a user at the client computer;

displaying a tagged content stream that was received from a media source by using a first media player, wherein the first media player is embedded in a Web page, and the Web page is displayed via a Web browser which is stored on the client computer;

receiving a targeted untagged content stream from a server by using a second media player, wherein the targeted untagged content stream is based on the collected registration information, and wherein the second media player is embedded in the Web page;

when the first media player receives notification that a tag was found, muting the first media player; and

displaying the targeted untagged content stream by using the second media player.

52. The article of manufacture of claim 51, further comprising:

when the second media player receives notification that the untagged content stream has ended, muting the second media player; and

displaying the tagged content stream that was received from the media source by using the first media player.

53. The article of manufacture of claim 51, wherein the media source is a radio station and the tagged content stream is a radio stream.

54. The article of manufacture of claim 51, wherein the untagged content stream is an audio stream that contains one or more advertisements.

55. The article of manufacture of claim 51, further comprising storing the untagged content stream in a cache connected to the client computer by using a third media player, wherein the third media player is embedded in the Web page.

56. The article of manufacture of claim 55, wherein displaying an untagged content stream that was received from a server computer by using a second media player comprises displaying an untagged content stream that was received from the cache by using a second media player.

57. An article of manufacture comprising a computer program carrier readable by a computer and embodying one or more instructions executable by the computer to perform the method of content stream switching at a client computer, comprising:

collecting registration information from a user at a client computer;

receiving a targeted untagged content stream from a server by using a first media player, wherein the targeted untagged content stream is based on the collected registration information, and wherein the first media player is embedded in the Web page;

storing the targeted untagged content stream in a cache that is connected to a Web browser by using the first media player;

displaying a tagged content stream that was received from a media source by using a second media player, wherein the second media player is embedded in a Web page, and the Web page is displayed via a Web browser which is stored on the client computer;

when the second media player receives notification that a tag was found, muting the second media player; and

displaying the targeted untagged content stream that was received from the cache by using the third media player, wherein the third media player is embedded in a Web page, and the Web page is displayed via the Web browser.