Method and apparatus for interacting with broadcast programming

• US 20060062363A1
• Filed: 09/15/2005
• Published: 03/23/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cufer Asset Ltd LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Sirenada, Inc.
• Inventors: Albrett, Adam
• Granted Patent: US 7,610,011 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/101.10
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/106 Receiver-side switching
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/26 Arrangements for switching distribution systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/31 using in-band signals, e.g. subsonic or cue signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/34 using an out-of-band subcarrier signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/38 Arrangements for distribution where lower stations, e.g. receivers, interact with the broadcast
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/16 on playing information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/23 using cryptography, e.g. encryption, authentication, key distribution
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/37 for identifying segments of broadcast information, e.g. scenes or extracting programme ID
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/40 for identifying broadcast time
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/43 for identifying broadcast channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/46 for recognising users' preferences
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/51 of receiving stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/65 for using the result on users' side
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/72 using electronic programme guides [EPG] focusing on identifying broadcast space time H04H60/39 ; menu type display of EPG in television receivers H04N21/47
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/74 using programme related information, e.g. title, composer or interpreter
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/80 characterised by transmission among terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/252 Processing of multiple end-users' preferences to derive collaborative data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41407 embedded in a portable device, e.g. video client on a mobile phone, PDA, laptop constructional details of equipment or arrangements specially adapted for portable computer application G06F1/1626; arrangements specially adapted for mobile receivers in broadcast systems H04H20/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4331 Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4383 : Accessing a communication channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44224 : Monitoring of user activity on external systems, e.g. Internet browsing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 : involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/472 : End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content end-user interfaces for retrieving video data from a database G06F16/739; network services for supporting unicast streaming H04L65/612
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4758 : for providing answers, e.g. voting
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/478 : Supplemental services, e.g. displaying phone caller identification, shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6582 : Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8113 : comprising music, e.g. song in MP3 format
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 : involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 : by receiver means only
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 : Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

A method of and apparatus for allowing a user using a communications device to interact with first media material that is broadcast on a first broadcast channel y a first broadcast media source and second media material that is broadcast on a second broadcast channel by a second broadcast media source, the first media material and the second media material include a first media item and a second media item, respectively, the first media item and the second media item are associated with a first representation of the first media item and a representation of the second media item, respectively, that are received and presented by a broadcast reception device while the broadcast reception device is tuned to a third broadcast channel. The method includes maintaining in a temporary storage an item identifier, the item identifier identifies one of a first media item-related information and a second media item-related information. Additionally, when the broadcast reception device is tuned to the third broadcast channel and presents the first representation of the first media item, the method includes providing the item identifier as a basis for identifying the first media item-related information, the first media item-related information is a basis for a response to an interactivity activation made in reaction to presentation of the first representation of the first media item by the broadcast reception device. When the broadcast reception device is tuned to the third broadcast channel and presents the first representation of the second media item, the method includes providing the item identifier as a basis for identifying the second media item-related information, the second media item-related information is a basis for a response to an interactivity activation made in reaction to presentation of the representation of the second media item by the broadcast reception device.

Claims

1. A method of allowing a user using a communications device to interact with first media material that is broadcast on a first broadcast channel by a first broadcast media source and second media material that is broadcast on a second broadcast channel by a second broadcast media source, the first media material and the second media material include a first media item and a second media item, respectively, the first media item and the second media item are associated with a first representation of the first media item and a representation of the second media item, respectively, that are received and presented by a broadcast reception device while the broadcast reception device is tuned to a third broadcast channel, the method comprising:

maintaining in a temporary storage an item identifier, the item identifier identifies one of a first media item-related information and a second media item-related information; and

when the broadcast reception device is tuned to the third broadcast channel and presents the first representation of the first media item, providing the item identifier as a basis for identifying the first media item-related information, the first media item-related information is a basis for a response to an interactivity activation made in reaction to presentation of the first representation of the first media item by the broadcast reception device; and

when the broadcast reception device is tuned to the third broadcast channel and presents the first representation of the second media item, providing the item identifier as a basis for identifying the second media item-related information, the second media item-related information is a basis for a response to an interactivity activation made in reaction to presentation of the representation of the second media item by the broadcast reception device.

115. The method of claim 114, further comprising tuning a transmitter to transmit on the channel to which the broadcast reception device is tuned.

117. The method of claim 114, wherein the broadcast media source broadcasts on a second channel and the broadcast reception device is tuned to the first channel, and the first channel is different from the second channel.

641. The method of claim 1, wherein the broadcast announcement is a television announcement.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a representation of the item identifier.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising sending the first item identifier to a second communications device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the second communications device is a server and the first media item is a song, further comprising, in response to receiving the first item identifier, the server sends a digital representation of the song.

11. The method of claim 6, wherein the interactivity activation occurs during presentation of the first media item representation and the item identifier identifies the first media item-related information, and responding to the interactivity activation includes presenting, based upon the first media item-related information, at least one choice associated with the first media item.

30. The method of claim 25, wherein responding to the interactivity activation includes, for the first media item, storing in the temporary storage an indication of user interest.

36. The device of claim 32, wherein in response to the interactivity activation, for the first media item, the control logic unit stores in the temporary storage an indication of user interest.

45. The method of claim 44, further comprising:

receiving from a second communications device a request for the channel indication; and

wherein providing the channel indication includes sending to the second communications device a representation of the channel indication.

53. A communications device that allows a user to interact with media material that is broadcast on a broadcast channel by a broadcast media source, the first media material and the second media material include a first media item and a second media item, respectively, the first media item and the second media item are associated with a first media item representation and a second media item representation, respectively, that are received and presented by a broadcast reception device while the broadcast reception device is tuned to a third broadcast channel, the device comprising:

a channel detector that is to determine a channel indication indicative of the broadcast channel to which the broadcast reception device is tuned;

a temporary storage that is to maintain the channel indication;

a control logic unit that is to retrieve from the temporary storage the channel indication and provide the channel indication as a basis for identifying a first media item-related information;

wherein the temporary storage is to maintain a data structure that includes the first media item-related information, the first media item-related information associated with a timeslot and identifiable in the data structure based upon the channel indication;

a input interface that is to accept an interactivity activation; and

in response to the interactivity activation, when the interactivity activation occurs during the timeslot and the channel indication indicates the first broadcast channel, the control logic unit responds based upon the first media item-related information.

54. The device of claim 53, wherein the control logic unit is to identify in the data structure the first media item-related information based upon a geographic location indication.

55. The device of claim 53, wherein the first media item-related information includes a first item identifier associated with the first media item and, in response to the interactivity activation, the control logic unit is to send the first item identifier to a second communications device.

56. The device of claim 55, wherein the first media item is a song, and in response to sending the first item identifier, the control logic unit is to receive a digital representation of the song.

57. The device of claim 53, wherein in response to the interactivity activation, for the first media item, the control logic unit stores in the temporary storage an indication of user interest.

58. The device of claim 53, wherein the interactivity activation occurs during the first timeslot and the channel indication indicates the first broadcast channel, further comprising an output interface, and wherein the control logic unit, in response to the interactivity activation, based upon the first media item-related information, presents on the output interface at least one choice associated with the first media item.

59. A communications device that allows a user to interact with first media material that is broadcast on a first broadcast channel by a first broadcast media source and second media material that is broadcast on a second broadcast channel by a second broadcast media source, the first media material and the second media material include a first media item and a second media item, respectively, the first media item and the second media item are associated with a first media item representation and a second media item representation, respectively, that are received and presented by a broadcast reception device while the broadcast reception device is tuned to a third broadcast channel, the device comprising:

channel detector means that is to determine a channel indication indicative of the broadcast channel to which the broadcast reception device is tuned;

temporary storage means that is to maintain the channel indication;

control logic means that is to retrieve and provide the channel indication as a basis for identifying the first media item-related information;

wherein the temporary storage means is to maintain a data structure that includes the first media item-related information, the first media item-related information associated with a timeslot and identifiable in the data structure based upon the channel indication;

input interface means that is to accept an interactivity activation;

in response to the interactivity activation, when the interactivity activation occurs during the timeslot and the channel indication indicates the broadcast channel, the control logic means responds based upon the first media item-related information.

60. The device of claim 59, wherein the control logic means is to identify in the data structure the first media item-related information based upon a geographic location indication.

61. The device of claim 59, wherein the first media item-related information includes a first item identifier associated with the first media item and, in response to the interactivity activation, the control logic means is to send the first item identifier to a second communications device.

62. The device of claim 61, wherein the first media item is a song, and in response to sending the first item identifier, the control logic means is to receive a digital representation of the song.

63. The device of claim 59, wherein in response to the interactivity activation, for the first media item, the control logic means stores in the temporary storage an indication of user interest.

64. The device of claim 59, wherein the interactivity activation occurs during the first timeslot and the channel indication indicates the first broadcast channel, further comprising output interface means, and wherein the control logic means, in response to the interactivity activation, based upon the first media item-related information, presents on the output interface means at least one choice associated with the first media item.

65. A method of a communications device substituting media material that is presented by a broadcast reception device to a user, the media material including a set of media items that is broadcast by a broadcast media source, the method comprising:

accepting a substitution indication, the substitution indication indicative of a request to have a representation of a first media item being presented by the broadcast reception device substituted, the set of media items includes the first media item;

in response to the substitution indication, retrieving from a temporary storage a first representation of a second media item; and

providing to the broadcast reception device, based upon the first representation of the second media item, a second representation of the second media item for presentation instead of the representation of the first media item.

66. The method of claim 65, further comprising:

receiving a second representation of the first media item from the broadcast media source; and

providing to the broadcast reception device, based upon the second representation of the first media item, the first representation of the first media item.

67. The method of claim 66, wherein providing to the broadcast reception device the first representation of the first media item includes transmitting, based upon the second representation of the first media item, the first representation of the first media item for reception by the broadcast reception device.

68. The method of claim 65, wherein the broadcast media source broadcasts on a broadcast channel the first representation of the first media item, and providing the second representation of the second media item includes transmitting on the broadcast channel the second representation of the second media item.

69. The method of claim 68, wherein the broadcast media source broadcasts on a broadcast channel the first representation of the first media item, further comprising maintaining in the temporary storage a channel indication indicative of the broadcast channel.

70. The method of claim 69, further comprising a channel detector identifying a channel to which the broadcast reception device is tuned.

71. The method of claim 70, wherein the broadcast channel is the channel to which the broadcast reception device is tuned.

72. The method of claim 65, further comprising:

accepting a second substitution indication, the substitution indication indicative of a request to have the second representation of the second media item being presented by the broadcast reception device substituted;

in response to the second substitution indication, retrieving from a temporary storage a first representation of a third media item; and

providing to the broadcast reception device, based upon the first representation of the third media item, a second representation of the third media item for presentation instead of the second representation of the second media item.

73. The method of claim 72, wherein the second media item is associated with a second media item indicator, further comprising updating, based upon the second media item indicator, item acceptability information in a data structure stored in the temporary storage.

74. The method of claim 65, wherein the first media item is associated with a first media item indicator, further comprising updating, based upon the first media item indicator, item acceptability information in a data structure stored in the temporary storage.

75. The method of claim 72, wherein updating item acceptability information includes storing in an unacceptable item indicators list a representation of the first media item indicator.

76. The method of claim 65, wherein the broadcast media source is a frequency modulation (FM) radio station.

630. The method of claim 76, wherein even when the audience member switches from the channel on which the announcement was received to another channel immediately after performing the action the device consistently and properly processes the action to satisfy the audience member'"'"'s reply.

77. A method of a communications device substituting media material that is presented by a broadcast reception device to a user, the media material including a set of media items that is broadcast by a broadcast media source, the method comprising:

receiving a first representation of a first media item broadcast by the broadcast media source, the set of media items includes the first media item;

providing to the broadcast reception device, based upon the first representation of the first media item, a second representation of the first media item;

accepting a substitution indication, the substitution indication indicative of a request to have the second representation of the first media item being presented by the broadcast reception device substituted;

in response to the substitution indication, retrieving from a temporary storage a first representation of a second media item; and

providing to the broadcast reception device, based upon the first representation of the second media item, a second representation of the second media item for presentation instead of the representation of the first media item.

78. The method of claim 77, further comprising:

accepting a second substitution indication, the substitution indication indicative of a request to have the second representation of the second media item being presented by the broadcast reception device substituted;

in response to the second substitution indication, retrieving from a temporary storage a first representation of a third media item; and

providing to the broadcast reception device, based upon the first representation of the third media item, a second representation of the third media item for presentation instead of the second representation of the second media item.

79. The method of claim 78, wherein the second media item is associated with a second media item indicator, further comprising updating, based upon the second media item indicator, item acceptability information in a data structure stored in the temporary storage.

80. The method of claim 77, wherein the first media item is associated with a first media item indicator, further comprising updating, based upon the first media item indicator, item acceptability information in a data structure stored in the temporary storage.

81. The method of claim 80, wherein updating item acceptability information includes storing in an unacceptable item indicators list a representation of the first media item indicator.

82. A communications device that allows substitution of media material that is presented by a broadcast reception device to a user, the media material including a set of media items that is broadcast by a broadcast media source, the method comprising:

a receiver that is to receive a first representation of a first media item broadcast by the broadcast media source, the set of media items includes the first media item;

a communications unit that is to provide to the broadcast reception device, based upon the first representation of the first media item, a second representation of the first media item;

an input interface that is to accept a substitution indication, the substitution indication indicative of a request to have the second representation of the first media item being presented by the broadcast reception device substituted;

a temporary storage that is to store a representation of a second media item;

in response to the substitution indication, a control logic unit that is to retrieve from a temporary storage a first representation of a second media item; and

wherein the communications unit is to provide to the broadcast reception device, based upon the first representation of the second media item, a second representation of the second media item for presentation instead of the representation of the first media item.

83. The device of claim 82, wherein the input interface is to accept a second substitution indication, the substitution indication indicative of a request to have the second representation of the second media item being presented by the broadcast reception device substituted, in response to the second substitution indication, the control logic unit is to retrieve from the temporary storage a first representation of a third media item, and the communication unit is to provide to the broadcast reception device, based upon the first representation of the third media item, a second representation of the third media item for presentation instead of the second representation of the second media item.

84. The device of claim 83, wherein the second media item is associated with a second media item indicator, and the control logic unit, based upon the second media item indicator, is to update item acceptability information in a data structure stored in the temporary storage.

85. The device of claim 82, wherein the first media item is associated with a first media item indicator, and the control logic unit, based upon the first media item indicator, is to update item acceptability information in a data structure stored in the temporary storage.

86. The device of claim 85, wherein the control logic unit is to update item acceptability information by storing in an unacceptable item indicators list a representation of the first media item indicator.

87. A communications device that allows substitution of media material that is presented by a broadcast reception device to a user, the media material including a set of media items that is broadcast by a broadcast media source, the method comprising:

an input interface that is to accept a substitution indication, the substitution indication indicative of a request to have a first representation of a first media item being presented by the broadcast reception device substituted, the set of media items includes the first media item;

a temporary storage that is to store a first representation of a second media item;

in response to the substitution indication, a control logic unit that is to retrieve from the temporary storage the first representation of a second media item; and

wherein the communications unit is to provide to the broadcast reception device, based upon the first representation of the second media item, a second representation of the second media item for presentation instead of the first representation of the first media item.

88. The device of claim 87, wherein the input interface is to accept a second substitution indication, the substitution indication indicative of a request to have the second representation of the second media item being presented by the broadcast reception device substituted, in response to the second substitution indication, the control logic unit is to retrieve from the temporary storage a first representation of a third media item, and the communication unit is to provide to the broadcast reception device, based upon the first representation of the third media item, a second representation of the third media item for presentation instead of the second representation of the second media item.

89. The device of claim 88, wherein the second media item is associated with a second media item indicator, and the control logic unit, based upon the second media item indicator, is to update item acceptability information in a data structure stored in the temporary storage.

90. The device of claim 87, wherein the first media item is associated with a first media item indicator, and the control logic unit, based upon the first media item indicator, is to update item acceptability information in a data structure stored in the temporary storage.

91. The device of claim 90, wherein the control logic unit is to update item acceptability information by storing in an unacceptable item indicators list a representation of the first media item indicator.

92. A communications device that allows substitution of media material that is presented by a broadcast reception device to a user, the media material including a set of media items that is broadcast by a broadcast media source, the method comprising:

input interface means that is to accept a substitution indication, the substitution indication indicative of a request to have a first representation of a first media item being presented by the broadcast reception device substituted, the set of media items includes the first media item;

temporary storage means that is to store a first representation of a second media item;

in response to the substitution indication, control logic means that is to retrieve from the temporary storage the first representation of a second media item; and

communications means is to provide to the broadcast reception device, based upon the first representation of the second media item, a second representation of the second media item for presentation instead of the first representation of the first media item.

93. The device of claim 92, wherein the input interface means is to accept a second substitution indication, the substitution indication indicative of a request to have the second representation of the second media item being presented by the broadcast reception device substituted, in response to the second substitution indication, the control logic means is to retrieve from the temporary storage a first representation of a third media item, and the communication unit is to provide to the broadcast reception device, based upon the first representation of the third media item, a second representation of the third media item for presentation instead of the second representation of the second media item.

94. The device of claim 93, wherein the second media item is associated with a second media item indicator, and the control logic means, based upon the second media item indicator, is to update item acceptability information in a data structure stored in the temporary storage.

95. The device of claim 92, wherein the first media item is associated with a first media item indicator, and the control logic means, based upon the first media item indicator, is to update item acceptability information in a data structure stored in the temporary storage.

96. The device of claim 95, wherein the control logic means is to update item acceptability information by storing in an unacceptable item indicators list a representation of the first media item indicator.

97. A method of a communications device substituting media items that are selected by a media source for presentation by multiple programming presentation devices, the multiple programming presentation devices include a media presentation device, the method comprising:

receiving, for a first media item selected for presentation by the media source, a first media item substitution determination generic information that is a basis for substitution determinations performed for multiple programming presentation devices;

providing, in a data structure in temporary memory, a media item acceptability information for determining the acceptability of at least some of the media items, the media item acceptability information including first media item specific complementary information that complements the first media item generic substitution determination information and is a basis for a first media item substitution determination at the communications device;

determining based upon the first media item substitution determination generic information and the first media item specific complementary information whether the first media item is to be subjected to substitution with a second media item; and

when the first media item is to be subjected to substitution, providing a representation of the second media item, the representation of the second media item a basis for presentation of the second media item by the media presentation device.

98. The method of claim 97, further comprising when the first media item is not to be subjected to substitution, allowing a representation of the first media item to be presented.

99. The method of claim 97, wherein the media source is a radio frequency (RF) broadcast media source, the multiple programming presentation devices include multiple broadcast receivers, and the media presentation device includes a broadcast reception device.

100. The method of claim 99, wherein the broadcast reception device includes a frequency modulation (FM) receiver, and the representation of the second media item is presented by the FM receiver.

101. The method of claim 99, wherein the broadcast media source is a frequency modulation (FM) radio station

102. The method of claim 99, wherein providing a representation of the second media item for presentation includes transmitting the representation of the second media item for presentation by the broadcast reception device.

103. The method of claim 99, further comprising, when the first media item is not to be subjected to substitution, allowing a first representation of the first media item to be presented by the broadcast reception device.

104. The method of claim 103, wherein allowing the first representation of the first media item to be presented includes retrieving a second representation of the first media item from the temporary memory and providing, based upon the second representation of the first media item, the first representation of the first media item to the broadcast reception device.

105. The method of claim 104, wherein providing the first representation of the first media item includes transmitting the first representation of the first media item to the broadcast reception device.

106. The method of claim 103, further comprising receiving a second representation of the first media item.

107. The method of claim 106, wherein allowing the first representation of the first media item to be presented by the broadcast reception device includes transmitting, based upon the second representation of the first media item, the first representation of the first media item for presentation by the broadcast reception device.

108. The method of claim 107, wherein the second representation of the first media item is broadcast by the broadcast media source.

109. The method of claim 108, wherein receiving the second representation of the first media item includes tuning a receiver to receive the second representation of the first media item.

110. The method of claim 109, wherein the first representation of the first media item is transmitted while the broadcast media source is broadcasting the second representation of the first media item.

111. The method of claim 109, wherein the receiver is tuned to a channel on which the broadcast media source broadcasts.

112. The method of claim 111, wherein the broadcast media source broadcasts on a first channel, and the first representation of the first media item is transmitted on a second channel different from the first channel.

113. The method of claim 103, wherein the broadcast media source broadcasts on a broadcast channel to which the broadcast reception device is tuned, and allowing the broadcast reception device to present the first representation of the first media item includes terminating transmission on the broadcast channel.

114. The method of claim 103, further comprising a channel detector identifying a channel to which the broadcast reception device is tuned.

116. The method of claim 114, wherein the broadcast media source broadcasts on the channel to which the broadcast reception device is tuned.

118. The method of claim 99, further comprising tuning the broadcast reception device to a channel.

119. The method of claim 99, further comprising the broadcast media source broadcasting a representation of the first media item.

120. The method of claim 97, further comprising:

providing, in the data structure, alternate media item acceptability information for determining the acceptability of at least some of an alternate set of media items whose corresponding representations are stored in the temporary memory, the alternate set of media items including the second media item; and

identifying, based upon the alternate media item acceptability information, the second media item as being acceptable for presentation when the first media item is to be subjected to substitution.

121. The method of claim 97, wherein providing the representation of the second media item for presentation by the broadcast reception device includes decoding an audio file.

122. The method of claim 97, wherein the media item acceptability information includes an unacceptable item indicators field.

123. The method of claim 122, wherein the first media item substitution determination generic information includes a first media item indicator and the unacceptable item indicators field includes a representation of the first media item indicator.

124. The method of claim 123, wherein determining whether the first media item is to be subjected to substitution with a first alternate media item includes examining the unacceptable item indicators field for presence of the representation of the first media item indicator.

125. The method of claim 124, wherein presence of the representation of the first media item indicator in the unacceptable item indicators field indicates that the first media item is to be subjected to substitution.

126. The method of claim 97, wherein the first media item substitution determination generic information includes a first media item indicator, the media item acceptability information includes an acceptable item indicators field, and determining whether the first media item is to be subjected to substitution with the second media item includes examining the acceptable item indicators field for presence of a representation of the first media item indicator.

127. The method of claim 97, wherein the first media item substitution determination generic information includes a first group code indicative of a first group of at least two users who ranked the first media item, the media item acceptability information includes a user-group codes field, and determining whether the first media item is to be subjected to substitution with the second media item includes examining the user-group codes field for presence of a representation of the first group code.

128. The method of claim 97, wherein the first media item substitution determination generic information includes at least one group code each indicative of a different group whose group members ranked the first media item, the at least one group code including a first group code associated with a first group, the first group having associated first group members, further comprising:

providing in the media item acceptability information of the data structure a user-first group similarity coefficient indicative of a degree to which items of programming in which the first group is interested are also of interest to the user, the user-first group similarity coefficient is a basis for determining a predicted rank for the first media item;

providing in the media item acceptability information of the data structure a first group first media item average rank, wherein the first group first media item average rank is an average of ranks given to the first media item by the first group members; and

wherein determining whether the first media item is to be subjected to substitution with the second media item includes

retrieving from the data structure the user-first group similarity coefficient, and

determining a predicted rank for the first media item based upon the user-first group similarity coefficient and the first group first media item average rank.

129. The method of claim 128, wherein the at least one group code includes a second group code associated with a second group, the second group having associated first group members, further comprising:

providing in the media item acceptability information of the data structure a user-second group similarity coefficient indicative of a degree to which items of programming in which the second group is interested are also of interest to the user;

providing in the media item acceptability information of the data structure a second group first media item average rank, wherein the second group first media item average rank is an average of ranks given to the first media item by the at second group members; and

wherein determining whether the first media item is to be subjected to substitution with the first alternate media item includes

retrieving from the data structure, based upon the second group code, the user-second group similarity coefficient, and

determining the predicted rank for the first media item based upon the user-second group similarity coefficient and the second group first media item average rank.

130. The method of claim 129, wherein determining the predicted rank includes determining a weighted average based upon a sum of a first product of the user-first group similarity coefficient and the first group first media item average rank and a second product of the user-second group similarity coefficient and the second group first media item average rank.

131. The method of claim 129, further comprising providing in the temporary memory a rank threshold entry, and wherein determining whether the first media item is to be subjected to substitution with the first alternate media item includes comparing the predicted rank to the rank threshold entry.

132. The method of claim 129, wherein the media material includes a set of ranked media items ranked by the user, the first group, and the second group, further comprising providing in the data structure a user average ranking for the set of ranked media items, and wherein the predicted rank is determined based upon the user average ranking for the set of ranked media items.

133. The method of claim 129, wherein the user-first group similarity coefficient is a user-first group first item quality similarity coefficient indicative of a degree to which a first item quality for items of media material in which the first group is interested is also of interest to the user, further comprising:

providing in the media item acceptability information of the data structure a first group first media item first item quality average rank, wherein the first group first media item first item quality average rank is an average of ranks given to the first media item first item quality by at least some of the first group members;

wherein the user-second group similarity coefficient is a user-second group first item quality similarity coefficient indicative of a degree to which the first item quality for items of media material in which the second group is interested are also of interest to the user;

providing in the media item acceptability information of the data structure a second group first media item first item quality average rank, wherein the second group first media item first item quality average rank is an average of ranks given to the first media item first item quality by at least some of the second group members; and

wherein determining whether the first media item is to be subjected to substitution with the first alternate media item includes,

retrieving from the data structure, based upon the first group code and the second group code, respectively, the user-first group first item quality similarity coefficient, and user-second group first item quality similarity coefficient, and

determining the predicted rank for the first media item based upon the user-first group first item quality similarity coefficient, the first group first media item first item quality average rank, user-second group first item quality similarity coefficient, and the second group first media item first item quality average rank.

134. The method of claim 97, wherein the first media item substitution determination generic information includes at least one item indicator associated with the first media item, further comprising:

providing in the data structure a list of acceptable item indicators; and

wherein determining whether the first media item is to be subjected to substitution with the second media item includes determining whether the at least one item indicator has an associated representation present in the acceptable item indicators list

135. The method of claim 134, wherein the at least one item indicator is a first media item indicator that identifies the first media item.

136. The method of claim 97, wherein the first media item substitution determination generic information includes at least one item category indicator associated with the first media item, the at least one item category indicator associated with at least one of the media items, further comprising:

providing in the media item acceptability information of the data structure an acceptable item category indicators list; and

wherein determining whether the first media item is to be subjected to substitution with the second media item includes determining whether the at least one item category indicator has an associated representation present in the acceptable item category indicators list.

137. The method of claim 97, wherein the first media item substitution determination generic information includes at least one item indicator, each of the at least one item indicator having a one-to-one correspondence to an item of programming, the at least one item indicator including a first related item indicator associated with a related first media item included in the items of programming, further comprising:

providing in the media item acceptability information of the data structure a related first media item similarity coefficient indicative of a degree to which the related first media item is similar to the first media item;

providing in the media item acceptability information of the data structure a related first media item rank, wherein the related first media item rank is a rank assigned by the user to the related first media item; and

wherein determining whether the first media item is to be subjected to substitution with the second media item includes

retrieving the related first media item similarity coefficient, and

determining a predicted rank for the first media item based upon the related first media item rank and the related first media item similarity coefficient.

138. The method of claim 137, wherein the at least one item indicator includes a second related first item indicator associated with a second related first media item, further comprising:

providing in the media item acceptability information of the data structure a second related first media item similarity coefficient indicative of a degree to which the second related first media item is similar to the first media item;

providing in the media item acceptability information of the data structure a second related first media item rank, wherein the second related first media item rank is a rank assigned by the user to the second related first media item; and

wherein determining whether the first media item is to be subjected to substitution with the second media item includes

retrieving the second related first media item similarity coefficient, and

determining the predicted rank for the first media item based upon the second related first media item rank and the second related first media item similarity coefficient.

140. The method of claim 97, wherein the first media item substitution determination generic information includes at least one category indicator each indicative of a different category with which the first media item is associated, the at least one category indicator including a first category indicator associated with a first category that includes multiple first category items, further comprising:

providing in the media item acceptability information of the data structure a first category similarity coefficient indicative of a degree to which the first media item is similar to at least some of the multiple first category items;

providing in the media item acceptability information of the data structure a first category average rank, wherein the first category average rank is an average of ranks given by the user to a set of ranked first category items included in the multiple first category items; and

wherein determining whether the first media item is to be subjected to substitution with the second media item includes

retrieving from the data structure the first category similarity coefficient, and

determining a predicted rank for the first media item based upon the first category similarity coefficient and the first category average rank.

141. The method of claim 140, wherein the at least one category indicator includes a second category indicator associated with a second category that includes multiple second category items, further comprising:

providing in the media item acceptability information of the data structure a second category similarity coefficient indicative of a degree to which the first media item is similar to at least some of the multiple second category items;

providing in the media item acceptability information of the data structure a second category average rank, wherein the second category average rank is an average of ranks given by the user to a set of ranked second category items included in the multiple second category items; and

wherein determining whether the first media item is to be subjected to substitution with the first alternate media item includes

retrieving from the data structure the second category similarity coefficient, and

determining a predicted rank for the first media item based upon the second category similarity coefficient and the second category average rank.

142. The method of claim 97, wherein the media source is a networked online radio station.

143. The method of claim 97, wherein the communications device includes the media presentation device.

144. The method of claim 143, wherein the communications device includes a computer that is adapted to be networked to an online radio station, and the media source is the online radio station.

145. The method of claim 97, further comprising receiving a media item list, and wherein the first media item is identified in the media item list.

146. The method of claim 145, wherein the media item list is a schedule.

147. The method of claim 146, wherein the media source is a broadcast media source.

148. The method of claim 147, wherein the representation of the second media item is a second media item indicator that identifies a digital file associated with the second media item, the play list includes a time slot field and an associated item indicator field both of which are associated with the first media item, and providing the representation of the second media item includes storing the second media item indicator in the item indicator field.

149. The method of claim 148, comprising:

identifying based upon the second media item indicator the digital file; and

providing to the media presentation device for presentation a representation of the digital file.

150. The method of claim 149, wherein providing the representation of the second media item includes decoding the digital file to produce an output signal.

151. The method of claim 150, wherein providing the representation of the second media item includes transmitting the output signal to the media presentation device.

152. The method of claim 145, wherein a third media item is identified in the play list and is associated with a third media item substitution determination generic information and a third media item specific complementary information, further comprising determining based upon the third media item substitution determination generic information and the third media item specific complementary information whether the third media item is to be subjected to substitution with a fourth media item.

153. A device for substituting media items that are selected by a broadcast media source for presentation by a broadcast reception device, the device comprising:

a first communications unit that is to receive, for a first media item that is to be broadcast by the broadcast media source, first media item-related substitution determination information that is a basis for determining whether the first media item is to be substituted;

a temporary storage coupled to the communications unit and that is to provide, in a data structure, media item acceptability information for determining the acceptability of at least some of the media items;

a control logic unit coupled to the temporary storage and that is to determine based upon the media item acceptability information and the first media item-related substitution determination information whether the first media item is to be subjected to substitution with a first alternate media item; and

a second communications unit that is to provide, when the first media item is to be subjected to substitution, to the broadcast reception device a representation of the first alternate media item for presentation by the broadcast reception device.

154. A device for substituting, based upon a media item substitution determination at a communications device, media items that are broadcast by a broadcast media source for presentation by a broadcast reception device, the media items include a set of acceptable items and a set of unacceptable items that are identified at the communications device, the device comprising:

first communications means that is to receive, for a first media item that is to be broadcast by the broadcast media source, first media item-related substitution determination information that is a basis for determining whether the first media item is to be substituted;

temporary storage means coupled to the communications unit and that is to provide, in a data structure, media item acceptability information for determining the acceptability of at least some of the media items;

control logic means coupled to the temporary storage and that is to determine based upon the media item acceptability information and the first media item-related substitution determination information whether the first media item is to be subjected to substitution with a first alternate media item; and

second communications means that is to provide, when the first media item is to be subjected to substitution, to the broadcast reception device a representation of the first alternate media item for presentation by the broadcast reception device.

155. A method of a communications device producing data that is a basis for determining acceptance of media material that is presented by a broadcast reception device to a user, the media material includes a first set of media items that is selected by a media source for presentation by multiple programming presentation devices, the multiple programming presentation devices include the broadcast reception device, the method comprising:

receiving a first representation of a first media item, the first set of media items includes the first media item;

providing to the broadcast reception device, based upon the first representation of the first media item, a second representation of the first media item for presentation;

identifying occurrence of a first media item acceptability indication event that is indicative of acceptability of the first media item; and

in response to identifying occurrence of the first media item acceptability indication event, providing in a temporary memory, based upon the first media item indicator, a first media item indicator-related information for determining acceptance of at least some of the first set of media items.

156. The method of claim 155, further comprising sending the first media item indicator-related information to a server for processing.

157. The method of claim 155, wherein the server includes a recommender system.

158. The method of claim 155, wherein the first media item acceptability indication event is an implicit ranking event.

159. The method of claim 158, wherein the implicit ranking event occurs when the second representation of the first media item is presented without occurrence of an explicit ranking event.

160. The method of claim 159, wherein the explicit ranking event includes occurrence of a reject key activation.

161. The method of claim 159, wherein the explicit ranking event is occurrence of a ranking key activation.

162. The method of claim 159, wherein the explicit acceptance event is occurrence of an acceptance key activation.

163. The method of claim 159, wherein the explicit ranking event is occurrence of an interactivity key activation.

164. The method of claim 159, wherein, when the first representation of the first media item is presented without occurrence of an implicit non-acceptance event, the implicit ranking event is an implicit acceptance event

165. The method of claim 159, wherein the implicit ranking event includes one of an implicit non-acceptance event and an implicit acceptance event.

166. The method of claim 159, wherein the implicit non-acceptance event includes occurrence of a change channel activation.

167. The method of claim 155, wherein the first media item acceptability indication event includes an explicit ranking event.

168. The method of claim 155, wherein the explicit ranking event is an explicit non-acceptance event.

169. The method of claim 168, wherein the explicit non-acceptance event is activation of a reject key.

170. The method of claim 155, wherein providing, based upon the first media item indicator, in the temporary memory, the first media item indicator-related information includes storing the first media item indicator in an unacceptable media item indicators field.

171. The method of claim 170, wherein the first media item acceptability indication event includes an explicit non-acceptance event.

172. The method of claim 171, wherein providing, based upon the first media item indicator, in the temporary memory, first media item indicator-related information includes storing the first media item indicator in an acceptable media item indicators field.

173. The method of claim 172, wherein the first media item acceptability indication event includes an explicit acceptance event..

174. The method of claim 155, wherein the first media item is associated with at least one first media item category indicator, and providing, based upon the first media item indicator, in the temporary memory, first media item indicator-related information includes storing the at least one first media item category indicator in an acceptable media item category indicators field.

175. The method of claim 155, further comprising;

accepting a ranking key activation indicative of a user ranking for the first media item, and wherein the first media item acceptability indication event includes the ranking key activation;

storing in the temporary memory a representation of the user ranking; and

sending to a server the representation of the user ranking and a representation of the first media item indicator.

176. The method of claim 155, further comprising:

accepting a ranking key activation indicative of a user ranking for an item quality associated with the first media item, and wherein the first media item acceptability indication event includes the ranking key activation;

storing in the temporary memory a representation of the user ranking for the item quality; and

sending to a server the representation of the user ranking for the item quality, a representation of the first media item indicator, and a representation of the item quality.

177. The method of claim 155, further comprising:

accepting an interactivity key activation indicative of a request to interact with the first media item, and wherein the first media item acceptability indication event includes the interactivity key activation;

storing in the temporary memory an indication of the interactivity key activation; and

sending to a server a representation of the a representation of the indication of the interactivity key activation.

178. The method of claim 155, further comprising:

accepting a substitute key activation indicative of a request to substitute the first media item with a second media item, and wherein the first media item acceptability indication event includes the substitute key activation;

storing in the temporary memory an indication of the substitute key activation; and

sending to a server a representation of the indication of the substitute key activation, and a representation of the first media item indicator.

179. The method of claim 178, wherein storing in the temporary memory an indication of the substitute key activation includes incrementing a first media item substitute activation counter field that maintains a first media item substitute activation entry, and the representation of the indication of the substitute key activation includes a representation of the first media item substitute activation entry.

180. The method of claim 179, further comprising storing in the temporary memory an indication of provision of the second representation of the first media item to the broadcast reception device.

181. The method of claim 180, wherein the first media item acceptability indication event includes an implicit ranking event, further comprising:

storing in the temporary memory an indication of implicit ranking of the first media item;

sending to a server a representation of the indication of implicit ranking of the first media item, and a representation of the first media item indicator.

182. The method of claim 179, wherein storing in the temporary memory an indication of implicit ranking of the first media item includes incrementing a first media item implicit acceptance counter field that maintains a first media item implicit acceptance entry, and the representation of the indication of the implicit acceptance includes a representation of the first media item implicit acceptance entry.

183. The method of claim 179, wherein storing in the temporary memory an indication of implicit ranking of the first media item includes incrementing a first media item implicit non-acceptance counter field that maintains a first media item implicit non-acceptance entry, and the representation of the indication of the implicit ranking includes a representation of the first media item implicit non-acceptance entry.

184. The method of claim 155, further comprising;

accepting a reject key activation indicative of rejection of the first media item, and wherein the first media item acceptability indication event includes the reject key activation;

storing in the temporary memory an indication of the reject key activation; and

sending to a server the representation of the indication of the reject key activation and a representation of the first media item indicator.

185. The method of claim 155, further comprising;

accepting an acceptance key activation indicative of acceptance of the first media item, and wherein the first media item acceptability indication event includes the acceptance key activation;

storing in the temporary memory an indication of the acceptance key activation; and

sending to a server the representation of the indication of the acceptance key activation and a representation of the first media item indicator.

186. The method of claim 155, wherein the first media item indicator is associated with at least one first media item indicator group code, each of the at least one first media item indicator group code having a one-to-one correspondence with a group with associated group members at least some of whom have an associated acceptance indication with respect to the first media item.

187. The method of claim 186, further comprising receiving the at least one first media item indicator group code, and wherein providing, based upon the first media item indicator, in the temporary memory, the first media item indicator-related information includes storing, in a user group codes field, the at least one first media item indicator group code.

188. The method of claim 186, wherein the at least one first media item indicator group code includes a first group code associated with a first group and a first group first item quality average rank for the first media item, the first group first item quality average is associated with a first item quality associated with the first media item, further comprising:

providing, in the temporary storage, the first group first item quality average rank;

providing, in the temporary storage, a user ranking for the first item quality of the first media item;

receiving the at least one first media item indicator group code; and

wherein providing, based upon the first media item indicator, in the temporary memory, the first media item indicator-related information includes determining, based upon the user ranking for the first item quality of the first media item and the first group first item quality average rank, a user-first group first item quality similarity coefficient.

189. The method of claim 186, wherein the at least one first media item indicator group code includes a first group code associated with a first group and a first group average rank for the first media item, further comprising:

providing, in the temporary memory, the first group average rank;

providing, in the temporary memory, a user ranking for the first media item;

receiving the first group code;

retrieving, based upon the first group code, from the temporary memory the first group average rank; and

wherein providing, based upon the first media item indicator, in the temporary memory, the first media item indicator-related information includes determining, based upon the user ranking for the first media item and the first group average rank, a user-first group similarity coefficient.

190. The method of claim 186, wherein each group has an associated group ranking for the first media item, the group ranking indicative of an average rank given by at least some of the group members, further comprising:

providing, in the temporary storage, for each group the group ranking for the first media item;

providing, in the temporary storage, a user ranking for the first media item;

receiving the at least one first media item group code;

retrieving, based upon the at least one first media item indicator group code, for each group the group ranking for the first media item; and

wherein providing, based upon the first media item indicator, in the temporary memory, the first media item indicator-related information includes determining for each group a user-group similarity coefficient, the user-group similarity coefficient based upon the user ranking for the first media item and the group ranking for the first media item.

191. The method of claim 189, further comprising accepting a ranking key activation indicative of the user ranking for the first media item, and wherein the first media item acceptability indication event includes the ranking key activation.

192. The method of claim 155, wherein the first media item indicator is associated with at least one item category indicator, each of the at least one item category indicator associated with a list of media item indicators, and the at least one item category indicator includes a first item category indicator associated with a first list of media item indicators, further comprising:

providing in temporary memory the first list of media item indicators; and

wherein providing, based upon the first media item indicator, in the temporary memory, the first media item indicator-related information includes storing in the first list of media item indicators the first media item indicator;

193. The method of claim 192, further comprising:

providing in temporary memory a user ranking for the first media item;

wherein providing, based upon the first media item indicator, in the temporary memory, the first media item indicator-related information includes determining a first item category average rank based upon the user ranking for the first media item; and

storing in the temporary memory the first item category average rank.

194. The method of claim 155, further comprising:

determining whether a second media item is to be subjected to substitution with a third media item;

when the second media item is to be subjected to substitution, providing to the broadcast reception device a representation of the third item for presentation by the broadcast reception device, and identifying occurrence of a third media item acceptability indication event that is indicative of acceptability of the second media item;

when occurrence of the third media item acceptability indication event is identified, providing, based upon the third media item indicator, in a data structure, third media item indicator-related information for determining the acceptability of at least some of the media material.

195. The method of claim 194, further comprising:

accepting a substitution key activation;

wherein determining whether the second item is to be subjected to substitution includes identifying occurrence of a substitute key activation.

196. The method of claim 194, wherein the determining whether the second item is to be subjected to substitution includes determining a predicted user ranking for the second media item.

197. The method of claim 155, wherein the broadcast reception device includes a frequency modulation (FM) receiver, further comprising tuning the FM receiver.

198. The method of claim 155, wherein the second representation of the first media item includes a signal for driving a magnetic head of a tape cassette interface.

199. The method of claim 198, wherein the broadcast reception device includes the magnetic head, and providing a second representation of the first media item includes applying the signal to the magnetic head.

200. The method of claim 155, further comprising tuning a receiver to receive the first representation of the first media item.

201. The method of claim 200, wherein the first representation of the first media item is broadcast by the broadcast media source.

202. The method of claim 201, wherein the broadcast reception device presents the second representation of the first media item while the broadcast media source is broadcasting the first representation of the first media item.

203. The method of claim 200, wherein the receiver is tuned to a channel on which the broadcast media source broadcasts.

204. The method of claim 200, wherein the broadcast reception device is tuned to a channel on which the broadcast media source does not broadcast.

207. The method of claim 155, further comprising identifying a channel to which the broadcast reception device is tuned.

205. A method of a communications device producing data indicative of user acceptance of media material that is presented by a broadcast reception device, the media material includes a first set of media items that is selected by a media source for presentation by multiple programming presentation devices, the multiple programming presentation devices include the broadcast reception device, the method comprising:

a receiver receiving a first representation of a first media item, the first set of media items includes the first media item;

a transmitter transmitting to the broadcast reception device, based upon the first representation of the first media item, a second representation of the first media item for presentation;

identifying occurrence of a first media item acceptability indication event that is indicative of acceptability of the first media item; and

when occurrence of the first media item acceptability indication event is identified, providing in a temporary memory, based upon the first media item indicator, a first media item indicator-related information for determining the acceptability of at least some of the media material.

206. A method of producing data indicative of user acceptance of media material that is presented by a broadcast reception device, the media material including a first set of media items that is broadcast by a broadcast media source and an alternate set of media items that a communications device obtains from an alternate media item source and provides to the broadcast reception device, the method comprising:

determining whether a first media item that is about to be broadcast by the broadcast media source is to be subjected to substitution with a first alternate media item;

when the first media item is to be subjected to substitution,

providing to the broadcast reception device a representation of the first alternate media item for presentation by the broadcast reception device, the first alternate media item identified by a first alternate media item indicator, and

identifying occurrence of a first alternate media item acceptability indication event that is indicative of acceptability of the first alternate media item;

when the first media item is not to be subjected to substitution,

allowing the broadcast reception device to present a first representation of the first media item, the first media item identified by a first media item indicator, and

identifying occurrence of a first media item acceptability indication event that is indicative of acceptability of the first media item;

when occurrence of the first alternate media item acceptability indication event is identified, providing, based upon the first alternate media item indicator, in a data structure, first alternate media item indicator-related information for determining the acceptability of at least some of the media material; and

when occurrence of the first media item acceptability indication event is identified, providing, based upon the first media item indicator, in the data structure first media item indicator-related information for determining the acceptability of at least some of the media material.

208. The method of claim 206, further comprising tuning a transmitter to transmit on the identified channel to which the broadcast reception device is tuned.

209. A method of interspersing, based upon at least one presentation rule, substitute media items into a stream of media items, the method comprising:

receiving a first media item indicator associated with a first media item in the stream of media items;

providing in a temporary memory indicators for at least some of the media items, wherein each of the at least some of the media items has an associated presentation rule that is represented by associated presentation rule information, the temporary memory includes the presentation rule information of each of the at least some of the media items and a first media item presentation rule information associated with the first media item;

identifying in the temporary memory, based upon a representation of the first media indicator, the first media item presentation rule information;

determining, based upon the first media item presentation rule information, whether the first media item in the stream of media items is to be subjected to substitution;

providing in the temporary memory multiple substitute media items;

when the first media item is to be subjected to substitution, selecting a substitute item from among the multiple substitute media items for presentation; and

when the first media item is not to be subjected to substitution, updating the first media item presentation rule information.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving from a second communications device a request for the item identifier; and

wherein providing the item identifier includes sending to the second communications device a representation of the item identifier.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving from the first broadcast media source a second representation of the first media item; and

providing, based upon the second representation of the first media item, the first media item representation to the broadcast reception device.

210. The method of claim 209, wherein the first media item has an associated last presentation time and an associated upcoming presentation time, the upcoming presentation time is chronologically later relative to the last presentation time, the first media item presentation rule information includes a first media item last presentation time indication indicative of the last presentation time, and the temporary memory includes an upcoming presentation time indication indicative of the upcoming presentation time.

211. The method of claim 210, wherein the first media item presentation rule information includes a minimum time spacing indication indicative of a minimum span of time between repetitions of the first media item.

209-1. A method of method of exploiting identification information in media files associated with a first user to personalize presentation of media material to a second user, the method comprising:

extracting media item identification information from multiple media files associated with the first user, the multiple media file stored in a temporary storage, and the media item identification information including an item indicator for each file of the multiple media files;

sending the media item identification information to a computing system;

receiving, for a first media item selected for presentation by the media source, a first media item substitution determination generic information that is a basis for substitution determinations performed for multiple programming presentation devices;

providing, in a data structure in the temporary storage, a media item acceptability information for determining the acceptability of at least some of the media items, the media item acceptability information including first media item specific complementary information that complements the first media item generic substitution determination information and is a basis for a first media item substitution determination, and the media item acceptability information generated partly based upon the media item identification information;

determining based upon the first media item substitution determination generic information and the first media item specific complementary information whether the first media item is to be subjected to substitution with a second media item; and

when the first media item is to be subjected to substitution, providing a representation of the second media item, the representation of the second media item a basis for presentation of the second media item to the second user.

210-2. The method of claim 209, wherein the first user is also the second user.

211-3. The method of claim 209, further comprising, when the first media item is not to be subjected to substitution, allowing a first representation of the first media item to be presented to the second user.

212. The method of claim 211, wherein determining, based upon the first media item presentation rule information, whether the first media item is to be subjected to substitution includes determining whether the upcoming presentation time and the last presentation time are separated by at least the minimum span of time.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising a receiver receiving a representation of the item identifier on a sub-carrier associated with one of the first broadcast channel and the second broadcast channel.

6. A method of allowing a user using a communications device to interact with first media material that is broadcast on a first broadcast channel by a first broadcast media source and second media material that is broadcast on a second broadcast channel by a second broadcast media source, the first media material and the second media material include a first media item and a second media item, respectively, the first media item and the second media item are associated with a first media item representation and a second media item representation, respectively, that are received and presented by a broadcast reception device while the broadcast reception device is tuned to a third broadcast channel, the method comprising:

maintaining in a temporary storage an item identifier, the item identifier identifies one of a first media item-related information and a second media item-related information; and

when the broadcast reception device is tuned to the third broadcast channel and presents the first media item representation, providing the item identifier as a basis for identifying the first media item-related information;

when the broadcast reception device is tuned to the third broadcast channel and presents the second media item representation, providing the item identifier as a basis for identifying the second media item-related information;

providing in the temporary storage a data structure that includes the first media item-related information and the second media item-related information, the first media item-related information identifiable in the data structure based upon the item identifier, and the second media item-related information identifiable in the data structure based upon the item identifier;

accepting an interactivity activation;

when the interactivity activation occurs during presentation of the first media item representation and the item identifier identifies the first media item-related information, responding to the interactivity activation based upon the first media item-related information; and

when the interactivity activation occurs during presentation of the second media item representation and the item identifier identifies the second media item-related information, responding to the interactivity activation based upon the second media item-related information.

213. The method of claim 212, wherein updating the first media item presentation rule information includes storing a representation of the upcoming presentation time indication in the first media item last presentation time indication.

214. The method of claim 209, wherein the temporary memory includes a maximum number of repetitions indication and repetitions time period indication, the maximum number of repetitions indication indicative of a maximum number of times the first media item is to be allowed to be repeated during a certain time period defined by the repetitions time period indication, and updating the first media item presentation rule information includes incrementing a first media item presentation counter, and the first media item presentation counter is stored in the temporary memory and is indicative of a number of times the first media item is presented.

212-4. A method of method of exploiting identification information in media files associated with a first user to personalize presentation of media material to a second user, the method comprising:

extracting media item identification information from multiple media files associated with the first user, the multiple media file stored in a temporary storage, and the media item identification information including an item indicator for each file of the multiple media files;

sending the media item identification information to a computing system;

receiving a first representation of a recommended media item for storage in the temporary storage, the recommended media item identified based upon media item acceptability information generated partly based upon the media item identification information;

determining whether a first media item is to be substituted; and

when the first media item is to be substituted, providing for presentation to the second user, based upon the first representation of the recommended media item, a second representation of the recommended media item.

213-5. The method of claim 212, wherein the first user is also the second user.

214-6. The method of claim 212, further comprising, when the first media item is not to be substituted, providing for presentation a first representation of the first media item.

215. The method of claim 209, wherein updating the first media item presentation rule information includes, when the maximum number of times the first media item is allowed to be repeated during the certain period of time is reached, resetting the first media item presentation counter to begin a new cycle of repetitions.

215-7. A method of method of exploiting identification information in media files associated with a first user to personalize presentation of media material to a second user, the method comprising:

extracting media item identification information from multiple media files associated with the first user, the media item identification information including an item indicator for each file of the multiple media files;

presenting the media item identification information, the media item identification information including multiple item indicators;

accepting a category assignment indication for at least one item indicator in the multiple item indicators, the assignment indication indicating that the at least one item indicator is to be assigned to a first category that has an associated first category rank;

associating the first category with the at least one item indicator;

sending to a computing system a representation of the at least one item indicator and a representation of the first category;

receiving a first representation of a recommended media item for storage in the temporary storage, the recommended media item identified based upon media item acceptability information generated partly based upon a representation of the at least one item indicator and a representation of the first category;

determining whether a first media item is to be substituted; and

when the first media item is to be substituted, providing for presentation to the second user, based upon the first representation of the recommended media item, a second representation of the recommended media item.

216. The method of claim 209, further comprising allowing the first media item to be presented.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the first media item is a song, further comprising, in response to sending the first item identifier, receiving a digital file representation of the song.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein responding to the interactivity activation includes storing, based upon the item identifier, in the temporary storage an indication of user interest.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the second communications device is a server and the first media item is a song, further comprising, in response to receiving the first item identifier, the server sends a digital representation of the song.

217. The method of claim 209, further comprising:

providing in the temporary memory for the first substitute item an associated first substitute item presentation rule information representing an associated first substitute item presentation rule.

218. The method of claim 217, further comprising:

wherein selecting the substitute item includes determining, based upon the first substitute item presentation rule information, whether the first media item is to be subjected to substitution with the first substitute item;

when the first media is to be subjected to substitution with the first substitute item, updating the first substitute item presentation rule information;

when the first media item is not to be subjected to substitution, selecting a second substitute item from among the multiple substitute media items for presentation.

236. The method of claim 235, wherein the first representation of the first media item is transmitted while the broadcast media source is broadcasting the second representation of the first media item.

216-8. A method of method of exploiting identification information in media files associated with a first user to personalize presentation of media material to a second user, the method comprising:

extracting media item identification information from multiple media files associated with the first user, the media item identification information including an item indicator for each file of the multiple media files;

presenting the media item identification information, the media item identification information including multiple item indicators;

accepting a category assignment indication for at least one item indicator in the multiple item indicators, the assignment indication indicating that the at least one item indicator is to be assigned to a first category that has an associated first category rank;

associating the first category with the at least one item indicator;

sending to a computing system a representation of the at least one item indicator and a representation of the first category;

receiving, for a first media item selected for presentation by the media source, a first media item substitution determination generic information that is a basis for substitution determinations performed for multiple programming presentation devices;

providing, in a data structure in the temporary storage, a media item acceptability information for determining the acceptability of at least some of the media items, the media item acceptability information including first media item specific complementary information that complements the first media item generic substitution determination information and is a basis for a first media item substitution determination, and the media item acceptability information generated partly based upon the representation of the at least one item indicator and the representation of the first category;

determining based upon the first media item substitution determination generic information and the first media item specific complementary information whether the first media item is to be subjected to substitution with a second media item; and

when the first media item is to be subjected to substitution, providing a representation of the second media item, the representation of the second media item a basis for presentation of the second media item to the second user.

217-9. The method of claim 216, wherein the first user is also the second user.

218-10. The method of claim 216, further comprising, when the first media item is not to be substituted, providing for presentation a first representation of the first media item.

219. The method of claim 218, further comprising allowing the first substitute item to be presented.

12. A communications device that allows a user to interact with first media material that is broadcast on a first broadcast channel by a first broadcast media source and second media material that is broadcast on a second broadcast channel by a second broadcast media source, the first media material and the second media material include a first media item and a second media item, respectively, the first media item and the second media item are associated with a first media item representation and a second media item representation, respectively, that are received and presented by a broadcast reception device while the broadcast reception device is tuned to a third broadcast channel, the device comprising:

a temporary storage that is to maintain an item identifier, the item identifier identifies one of a first media item-related information and a second media item-related information; and

a control logic unit that is to retrieve, when the broadcast reception device is tuned to the third broadcast channel and presents the first media item representation, from the temporary storage the item identifier and provide the item identifier as a basis for identifying the first media item-related information;

wherein, the control logic unit is to retrieve, when the broadcast reception device is tuned to the third broadcast channel and presents the second media item representation, from the temporary storage the item identifier and provide the item identifier as a basis for identifying a second media item-related information;

wherein the temporary storage is to maintain a data structure that includes the first media item-related information and the second media item-related information, the first media item-related information identifiable in the data structure based upon the item identifier, and the second media item-related information identifiable in the data structure based upon the item identifier;

an input interface that is to accept an interactivity activation;

in response to the interactivity activation, when the interactivity activation occurs during presentation of the first media item representation and the item identifier identifies the first media item-related information, the control logic unit responds based upon the first media item-related information; and

in response to the interactivity activation, when the interactivity activation occurs during presentation of the second media item representation and the item identifier identifies the second media item-related information, the control logic unit responds to the interactivity activation based upon the second media item-related information.

13. The device of claim 12, wherein, in response to the interactivity activation, the control logic unit is to send the first item identifier to a second communications device.

14. The device of claim 13, wherein the first media item is a song, and in response to sending the first item identifier, the control logic unit is to receive a digital representation of the song.

15. The device of claim 12, wherein, in response to the interactivity activation, the control logic unit, based upon the item identifier, stores in the temporary storage an indication of user interest in the first media item.

16. The device of claim 12, wherein the interactivity activation occurs during presentation of the first media item representation and the item identifier identifies the first media item-related information, further comprising an output interface, and wherein the control logic unit, in response to the interactivity activation, based upon the first media item-related information, presents on the output interface at least one choice associated with the first media item.

17. A communications device that allows a user to interact with first media material that is broadcast on a first broadcast channel by a first broadcast media source and second media material that is broadcast on a second broadcast channel by a second broadcast media source, the first media material and the second media material include a first media item and a second media item, respectively, the first media item and the second media item are associated with a first media item representation and a second media item representation, respectively, that are received and presented by a broadcast reception device while the broadcast reception device is tuned to a third broadcast channel, the device comprising:

temporary storage means that is to maintain an item identifier, the item identifier identifies one of the first media item-related information and the second media item-related information;

control logic means that is to retrieve, when the broadcast reception device is tuned to the third broadcast channel and presents the first media item representation, from the temporary storage the item identifier and provide the item identifier as a basis for identifying the first media item-related information;

wherein, the control logic means is to retrieve, when the broadcast reception device is tuned to the third broadcast channel and presents the second media item representation, from the temporary storage means the channel indication and provide the channel indication as a basis for identifying a second media item-related information;

wherein the temporary storage means is to maintain a data structure that includes the first media item-related information and the second media item-related information, the first media item-related information associated with a first timeslot and identifiable in the data structure based upon the channel indication, and the second media item-related information associated with a second timeslot and identifiable in the data structure based upon the channel indication;

input interface means that is to accept an interactivity activation;

in response to the interactivity activation, when the interactivity activation occurs during the first timeslot and the channel indication indicates the first broadcast channel, the control logic means responds based upon the first media item-related information; and

in response to the interactivity activation, when the interactivity activation occurs during the second timeslot and the channel indication indicates the second broadcast channel, the control logic means responds based upon the second media item-related information.

18. The device of claim 17, wherein, in response to the interactivity activation, the control logic means is to send the item identifier to a second communications device.

19. The device of claim 18, wherein the first media item is a song, and in response to sending the item identifier, the control logic means is to receive a digital representation of the song.

20. The device of claim 17, wherein in response to the interactivity activation, the control logic means stores, based upon the item identifier, in the temporary storage an indication of user interest.

21. The device of claim 17, wherein the interactivity activation occurs during the first timeslot and the item identifier identifies the first media item-related information, further comprising output interface means, and wherein the control logic means, in response to the interactivity activation, based upon the first media item-related information, presents on the output interface means at least one choice related to the first media item.

22. A method of allowing a user using a communications device to interact with first media material that is broadcast on a first broadcast channel by a first broadcast media source and second media material that is broadcast on a second broadcast channel by a second broadcast media source, the first media material and the second media material include a first media item and a second media item, respectively, the first media item and the second media item are associated with a first representation of the first media item and a representation of the second media item, respectively, that are received and presented by a broadcast reception device while the broadcast reception device is tuned to a third broadcast channel, the method comprising:

maintaining in a temporary storage a channel indication, the channel indication identifies one of the first broadcast channel and the second broadcast channel; and

when the broadcast reception device is tuned to the third broadcast channel and presents the first representation of the first media item, providing the channel indication as a basis for identifying a first media item-related information, the first media item-related information is a basis for a response to an interactivity activation made in reaction to presentation of the first representation of the first media item by the broadcast reception device; and

when the broadcast reception device is tuned to the third broadcast channel and presents the first representation of the second media item, providing the channel indication as a basis for identifying the second media item-related information, the second media item-related information is a basis for a response to an interactivity activation made in reaction to presentation of the representation of the second media item by the broadcast reception device.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

receiving from a second communications device a request for the channel indication; and

wherein providing the channel indication includes sending to the second communications device a representation of the channel indication.

24. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

receiving from the first broadcast media source a second representation of the first media item; and

providing, based upon the second representation of the first media item, the first media item representation to the broadcast reception device.

25. A method of allowing a user using a communications device to interact with first media material that is broadcast on a first broadcast channel by a first broadcast media source and second media material that is broadcast on a second broadcast channel by a second broadcast media source, the first media material and the second media material include a first media item and a second media item, respectively, the first media item and the second media item are associated with a first media item representation and a second media item representation, respectively, that are received and presented by a broadcast reception device while the broadcast reception device is tuned to a third broadcast channel, the method comprising:

maintaining in a temporary storage a channel indication, the channel indication identifies one of the first broadcast channel and the second broadcast channel;

when the broadcast reception device is tuned to the third broadcast channel and presents the first media item representation, providing the channel indication as a basis for identifying a first media item-related information;

when the broadcast reception device is tuned to the third broadcast channel and presents the second media item representation, providing the channel indication as a basis for identifying a second media item-related information;

providing in the temporary storage a data structure that includes the first media item-related information and the second media item-related information, the first media item-related information associated with a first timeslot and identifiable in the data structure based upon the channel indication, and the second media item-related information associated with a second timeslot and identifiable in the data structure based upon the channel indication;

accepting an interactivity activation;

when the interactivity activation occurs during the first timeslot and the channel indication indicates the first broadcast channel, responding to the interactivity activation based upon the first media item-related information; and

when the interactivity activation occurs during the second timeslot and the channel indication indicates the second broadcast channel, responding to the interactivity activation based upon the second media item-related information.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising identifying in the data structure the first media item-related information based upon a geographic location indication.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein the first media item-related information includes a first item identifier associated with the first media item, further comprising sending the first item identifier to a second communications device.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein the first media item is a song, further comprising, in response to sending the first item identifier, receiving a digital representation of the song.

139. The method of claim 138, further comprising providing in the data structure a rank threshold field that includes a rank threshold entry, and wherein determining whether the first media item is to be subjected to substitution with the second media item includes comparing the predicted rank to the rank threshold entry.

220. The method of claim 218, further comprising:

providing in the temporary memory for the second substitute item an associated second substitute item presentation rule information representing an associated second substitute item presentation rule;

presenting the second substitute item and the first substitute item in the stream of media items in accordance with a ratio defined by the first substitute item presentation rule information and the second substitute item presentation rule information.

221. The method of claim 217, further comprising presenting the first media item and the first substitute item in the stream of media items in accordance with a ratio defined by the first media item presentation rule information and the first substitute item presentation rule information.

222. A method of a communications device substituting, based upon at least one presentation rule, media items that are selected by a media source for presentation by multiple programming presentation devices, the multiple programming presentation devices include a media presentation device, the method comprising:

receiving a first media item indicator associated with a first media item in the stream of media items;

providing in a temporary memory indicators for at least some of the media items, wherein each of the at least some of the media items has an associated presentation rule that is represented by associated presentation rule information, the temporary memory includes the presentation rule information of each of the at least some of the media items and a first media item presentation rule information associated with the first media item;

identifying in the temporary memory, based upon a representation of the first media indicator, the first media item presentation rule information;

determining, based upon the first media item presentation rule information, whether the first media item in the stream of media items is to be subjected to substitution;

providing in the temporary multiple substitute media items;

when the first media item is to be subjected to substitution,

selecting a substitute item from among the multiple substitute media items for presentation, and

providing a representation of the substitute item, the representation of the substitute item a basis for presentation of the substitute item; and

when the first media item is not to be subjected to substitution,

updating the first media item presentation rule information, and

allowing a representation of the first media item to be presented.

223. The method of claim 222, wherein the media source is a networked online radio station.

224. The method of claim 222, wherein the communications device includes the media presentation device.

225. The method of claim 224, wherein the communications device includes a computer that is adapted to be networked to an online radio station, and the media source is the online radio station.

226. The method of claim 222, wherein the media source is a radio frequency (RF) broadcast media source, the multiple programming presentation devices include multiple broadcast receivers, and the media presentation device includes a broadcast reception device.

227. The method of claim 226, wherein the broadcast reception device includes a frequency modulation (FM) receiver, and the representation of the substitute item is presented by the FM receiver.

228. The method of claim 226 wherein the broadcast media source is a frequency modulation (FM) radio station

229. The method of claim 226, wherein providing a representation of the substitute item includes transmitting the representation of the substitute item for presentation by the broadcast reception device.

230. The method of claim 226, wherein allowing the first representation of the first media item to be presented includes retrieving a second representation of the first media item from the temporary memory and providing, based upon the second representation of the first media item, the first representation of the first media item to the broadcast reception device.

231. The method of claim 230, wherein providing the first representation of the first media item includes transmitting the first representation of the first media item to the broadcast reception device.

232. The method of claim 231, further comprising receiving a second representation of the first media item.

233. The method of claim 232, wherein allowing the first representation of the first media item to be presented by the broadcast reception device includes transmitting, based upon the second representation of the first media item, the first representation of the first media item for presentation by the broadcast reception device.

234. The method of claim 233, wherein the second representation of the first media item is broadcast by the broadcast media source.

235. The method of claim 234, wherein receiving the second representation of the first media item includes tuning a receiver to receive the second representation of the first media item.

237. The method of claim 235, wherein the receiver is tuned to a channel on which the broadcast media source broadcasts.

219-11. A method of instructing a recording device to record an item of programming to be presented, the method comprising:

sending to a server a user identifier that is a basis for the server to identify the recording device, from among multiple recording devices, as a recipient of a command to record the item of programming;

accepting, in response to an announcement inviting an activation be made to have the recording device record the item of programming, the invited activation, the activation indicative of a request to have the recording device record the item of programming; and

sending to the server an indication of the activation.

220-12. The method of claim 219, further comprising the server sending to the recording device the command to record the item of programming.

221-13. The method of claim 219, further comprising the server identifying the recording device, from among the multiple recording devices, based upon the user identifier.

222-14. The method of claim 219, further comprising generating a representation of the time at which the activation was accepted, wherein the indication of the activation is based upon the representation of the time.

223-15. The method of claim 222, wherein the announcement is presented on a channel, further comprising determining an indication of the channel, the indication of the activation is also based upon the indication of the channel.

224-16. The method of claim 223, further comprising determining an indication of geographic position, the indication of the activation is also based upon the indication of geographic position.

225-17. The method of claim 222, further comprising the server determining that the indication of the activation refers to instructing the recording device to record the item of programming.

226-18. The method of claim 225, wherein determining that the indication of the activation refers to instructing the recording device includes:

indexing into a schedule of announcements based upon the indication of activation to identify at least one instruction related to the announcement.

227-19. The method of claim 226, further comprising the server locating additional information needed to fulfill the request based upon the user identifier.

228-20. The method of claim 227, wherein the additional information includes an email address for an email account accessible by the recording device.

229-21. The method of claim 227, wherein the additional information includes a telephone number that, when called, the recording device responds.

230-22. The method of claim 227, wherein the additional information includes an internet protocol address associated with the recording device.

231-23. The method of claim 226, further comprising the recording device contacting the server to retrieve the command.

232-24. The method of claim 219, further comprising the server sending to a client system an announcement identifier.

233-25. The method of claim 232, wherein the indication of the activation is based upon the announcement identifier.

234-26. The method of claim 233, further comprising the server locating additional information needed to fulfill the request based upon the indication of the activation.

235-27. The method of claim 232, further comprising the server sending information descriptive of the item of programming to the client system.

236-28. The method of claim 218, further comprising receiving from the server a record command, wherein the indication of the activation is based upon the record command.

237-29. The method of claim 219, wherein the user identifier is sent to the server in response to accepting the activation.

238. The method of claim 237, wherein the broadcast media source broadcasts on a first channel, and the first representation of the first media item is transmitted on a second channel different from the first channel.

31. The method of claim 25, wherein the interactivity activation occurs during the first timeslot, the channel indication indicates the first broadcast channel, and responding to the interactivity activation includes presenting, based upon the first media item-related information, at least one choice associated with the first media item.

32. A communications device that allows a user to interact with first media material that is broadcast on a first broadcast channel by a first broadcast media source and second media material that is broadcast on a second broadcast channel by a second broadcast media source, the first media material and the second media material include a first media item and a second media item, respectively, the first media item and the second media item are associated with a first media item representation and a second media item representation, respectively, that are received and presented by a broadcast reception device while the broadcast reception device is tuned to a third broadcast channel, the device comprising:

a temporary storage that is to maintain a channel indication, the channel indication identifies one of the first broadcast channel and the second broadcast channel;

a control logic unit that is to retrieve, when the broadcast reception device is tuned to the third broadcast channel and presents the first media item representation, from the temporary storage the channel indication and provide the channel indication as a basis for identifying a first media item-related information;

wherein, the control logic unit is to retrieve, when the broadcast reception device is tuned to the third broadcast channel and presents the second media item representation, from the temporary storage the channel indication and provide the channel indication as a basis for identifying a second media item-related information;

wherein the temporary storage is to maintain a data structure that includes the first media item-related information and the second media item-related information, the first media item-related information associated with a first timeslot and identifiable in the data structure based upon the channel indication, and the second media item-related information associated with a second timeslot and identifiable in the data structure based upon the channel indication;

a input interface that is to accept an interactivity activation;

in response to the interactivity activation, when the interactivity activation occurs during the first timeslot and the channel indication indicates the first broadcast channel, the control logic unit responds based upon the first media item-related information; and

in response to the interactivity activation, when the interactivity activation occurs during the second timeslot and the channel indication indicates the second broadcast channel, the control logic unit responds to the interactivity activation based upon the second media item-related information.

33. The device of claim 32, wherein the control logic unit is to identify in the data structure the first media item-related information based upon a geographic location indication.

34. The device of claim 32, wherein the first media item-related information includes a first item identifier associated with the first media item and, in response to the interactivity activation, the control logic unit is to send the first item identifier to a second communications device.

35. The device of claim 34, wherein the first media item is a song, and in response to sending the first item identifier, the control logic unit is to receive a digital representation of the song.

239. The method of claim 226, wherein the broadcast media source broadcasts on a broadcast channel to which the broadcast reception device is tuned, and allowing the broadcast reception device to present the first representation of the first media item includes terminating transmission on the broadcast channel.

240. The method of claim 226, further comprising a channel detector identifying a channel to which the broadcast reception device is tuned.

241. The method of claim 240, further comprising tuning a transmitter to transmit on the channel to which the broadcast reception device is tuned.

242. The method of claim 240, wherein the broadcast media source broadcasts on the channel to which the broadcast reception device is tuned.

243. The method of claim 240, wherein the broadcast media source broadcasts on a second channel and the broadcast reception device is tuned to the first channel, and the first channel is different from the second channel.

238-30. A method of processing a media composition-related activation at an interface, the activation indicative of how media items in media categories are to be combined, the method comprising:

providing a composition interface having at least two media category indications each indicative of an associated media type, the at least two media category indications including a first media category indication and a second media category indication associated with a first media category and a second media category, respectively, the first media category and the second media category including first media category items and second media category items, respectively;

providing a composition indication element, the composition indication element having multiple representations each indicative of a corresponding combination of the first media category items of the first media category and the second media category items of the second media category;

accepting at the composition interface a composition activation indicative of a first representation for the composition indication element;

in response to the composition activation, representing on the composition interface the composition indication element in accordance with the first representation, wherein the first representation of the composition indication element has an associated first representation position and a first representation combination, and the first media category indication and the second media category indication have a first media category indication position and a second media category indication position; and

based upon the first media category indication position, the second media category indication position and the first representation position, deriving a first ratio indicative of the first representation combination of the first media category items relative to the second media category items.

239-31. The method of claim 238, further comprising:

wherein the composition interface has a third media category indication associated with a third media category and a third media category indication position, the third media category including third media category items; and

wherein the multiple representations composition indication element are each indicative of the corresponding combination that includes the third media category items of the third media category; and

deriving a second ratio indicative of the first representation combination of first media category items relative to the third media category items.

240-32. The method of claim 239, further comprising presenting at least some of the first media category items, at least some of the second media category items, and at least some of the second media category items in accordance with the first ratio and the second ratio.

241-33. The method of claim 238, further comprising presenting at least some of the first media category items, and at least some of the second media category items in accordance with the first ratio.

242-34. The method of claim 238, further comprising associating with the first media category indication a genre indication

243-35. The method of claim 242, wherein the genre indication is indicative of a musical composition genre.

244. The method of claim 209, further comprising receiving a media item list including multiple media item indicators, the multiple media item indicators including the first media item indicator.

37. The device of claim 32, wherein the interactivity activation occurs during the first timeslot and the channel indication indicates the first broadcast channel, further comprising an output interface, and wherein the control logic unit, in response to the interactivity activation, based upon the first media item-related information, presents on the output interface at least one choice associated with the first media item.

38. A communications device that allows a user to interact with first media material that is broadcast on a first broadcast channel by a first broadcast media source and second media material that is broadcast on a second broadcast channel by a second broadcast media source, the first media material and the second media material include a first media item and a second media item, respectively, the first media item and the second media item are associated with a first media item representation and a second media item representation, respectively, that are received and presented by a broadcast reception device while the broadcast reception device is tuned to a third broadcast channel, the device comprising:

temporary storage means that is to maintain a channel indication, the channel indication identifies one of the first broadcast channel and the second broadcast channel;

control logic means that is to retrieve, when the broadcast reception device is tuned to the third broadcast channel and presents the first media item representation, from the temporary storage the channel indication and provide the channel indication as a basis for identifying a first media item-related information;

wherein, the control logic means is to retrieve, when the broadcast reception device is tuned to the third broadcast channel and presents the second media item representation, from the temporary storage means the channel indication and provide the channel indication as a basis for identifying a second media item-related information;

wherein the temporary storage means is to maintain a data structure that includes the first media item-related information and the second media item-related information, the first media item-related information associated with a first timeslot and identifiable in the data structure based upon the channel indication, and the second media item-related information associated with a second timeslot and identifiable in the data structure based upon the channel indication;

input interface means that is to accept an interactivity activation;

in response to the interactivity activation, when the interactivity activation occurs during the first timeslot and the channel indication indicates the first broadcast channel, the control logic means responds based upon the first media item-related information; and

in response to the interactivity activation, when the interactivity activation occurs during the second timeslot and the channel indication indicates the second broadcast channel, the control logic means responds based upon the second media item-related information.

39. The device of claim 38, wherein the control logic means is to identify in the data structure the first media item-related information based upon a geographic location indication.

40. The device of claim 38, wherein the first media item-related information includes a first item identifier associated with the first media item and, in response to the interactivity activation, the control logic means is to send the first item identifier to a second communications device.

41. The device of claim 40, wherein the first media item is a song, and in response to sending the first item identifier, the control logic means is to receive a digital representation of the song.

42. The device of claim 40, wherein the interactivity activation occurs during the first timeslot and the channel indication indicates the first broadcast channel, further comprising output interface means, and wherein the control logic means, in response to the interactivity activation, based upon the first media item-related information, presents on the output interface means at least one choice associated with the first media item.

43. The device of claim 38, wherein in response to the interactivity activation, for the first media item, the control logic means stores in the temporary storage an indication of user interest.

44. A method of allowing a user using a communications device to interact with media material that is broadcast on a broadcast channel by a broadcast media source and second media material that is broadcast on a second broadcast channel by a second broadcast media source, the first media material and the second media material include a first media item and a second media item, respectively, the first media item and the second media item are associated with a representation of the first media item and a representation of the second media item, respectively, that are received and presented by a broadcast reception device while the broadcast reception device is tuned to the broadcast channel, the method comprising:

a channel detector determining a channel indication indicative of the broadcast channel to which the broadcast reception device is tuned;

maintaining in a temporary storage the channel indication; and

when the broadcast reception device is tuned to the broadcast channel and presents the representation of the first media item, providing the channel indication as a basis for identifying a first media item-related information, the first media item-related information is a basis for a response to an interactivity activation made in reaction to presentation of the first representation of the first media item by the broadcast reception device.

245. The method of claim 244, wherein the media item list is a schedule.

246. A method of serving media item lists for presentation of media items by a media item presentation device, the method comprising:

receiving item indicators that identify media items stored in a temporary storage of the media item presentation device;

storing the item indicators in a device-specific stored items list in a temporary memory;

selecting at least one received item indicator from the device-specific stored items list for inclusion in a play list;

providing in the temporary memory a supplementary item indicator that is associated with a supplementary media item;

determining whether the supplementary item indicator is to be included in the play list; and

when the representation of the supplementary item indicator is not present in the device specific list, providing the supplementary item indicator as a basis for sending a representation of a supplementary media item to the media item presentation device.

247. The method of claim 246, further comprising:

providing in the temporary memory a representation of the supplementary media item; and

sending a representation of the supplementary media item identified by the supplementary item indicator to the media item presentation device.

248. The method of claim 246, further comprising including a representation of the supplementary item indicator in the play list.

249. The method of claim 246, further comprising storing in the device-specific stored items list a representation of the supplementary item indicator.

250. The method of claim 246, further comprising sending the representation of the supplementary item indicator to the media item presentation device.

251. The method of claim 246, further comprising receiving a schedule of media material that is broadcast by a broadcast media source, the schedule including at least one schedule item indicator that identifies an item that is represented in the schedule of the broadcast media source, and wherein composing the play list includes including in the play list the at least one schedule item indicator.

252. The method of claim 246, wherein the play list includes sequential item fields and composing the play list includes storing in a first item field a replacement indication that indicates that the media item presentation device is to select a replacement media item for presentation during a time slot associated with the first item field.

421. The method of claim 42, wherein the first announcement identifier is provided after accepting from the user the response to the first personal information related query.

422. The method of claim 42, wherein the first announcement identifier is provided before accepting from the user the response to the first personal information related query.

244-36. A method of distributing media items that takes advantage of introduction to the items by non-retail entities one of whom is introduced to media items by a media source, the method comprising:

identifying a first media item presented by a media presentation device based upon the identification of the first media item, providing to the first non-retail entity access to a representation of the first media item;

storing, in a first communications device under control of a first non-retail entity, multiple media item representations including the representation of the first media item;

accepting an activation indicative of a request to transfer a copy of the first media item from the first communications device to a second communications device, under control of a second non-retail entity, the first media item has a first set of digital rights management attributes, and the copy of the first media item is based upon the representation of the first media item;

transferring to the second communications device the copy of the first media item;

determining whether one of an account stored on the first communications device and an account stored on the second communications device can be debited;

assigning to the copy of the first media item a second set of digital rights management attributes that grant complete rights to the copy of the first media item, even though a license for the copy of the first media item has not be purchased through one of the copyright holder and an agent of the copyright holder, when one of the accounts can be debited;

assigning to the copy of the first media item a third set of digital rights management attributes that grant incomplete rights to the copy of the first media item, when one of the accounts cannot be debited; and

one of the first communications device and the second communications device informing a server of the transfer so that proper royalties are paid to the copyright holder of the first media item when the account can be debited.

245-37. The method of claim 244, assigning complete rights to the copy of the second media item when the account on the second communications device can be debited.

246-38. The method of claim 244, further comprising granting a credit to one of the first communications device and the second communications device when the server is informed.

247-39. The method of claim 244, further comprising granting a credit to the first communications device when the transfer is made.

248-40. The method of claim 244, further comprising granting a credit to the second communications device when the transfer is made.

249-41. The method of claim 244, wherein the incomplete rights permit reduced quality playback.

250-42. The method of claim 244, wherein the incomplete rights permit playback for a predetermined number of times.

251-43. The method of claim 244, wherein the first set of digital rights management attributes are the incomplete rights and the account on the second communications device can be debited, whereby, after the transfer, the second communications device has the copy of the first media item with a second set of digital rights management attributes that grant the complete rights.

252-44. The method of claim 244, wherein the incomplete rights provide for complete rights for a predetermined limited time period.

253. The method of claim 252, further comprising the media item presentation device selecting the replacement media item.

46. A method of allowing a user using a communications device to interact with first media material that is broadcast on a first broadcast channel by a first broadcast media source and second media material that is broadcast on a second broadcast channel by a second broadcast media source, the first media material and the second media material include a first media item and a second media item, respectively, the first media item and the second media item are associated with a first media item representation and a second media item representation, respectively, that are received and presented by a broadcast reception device while the broadcast reception device is tuned to a third broadcast channel, the method comprising:

a channel detector determining a channel indication indicative of the broadcast channel to which the broadcast reception device is tuned;

maintaining in a temporary storage the channel indication; and

when the broadcast reception device is tuned to the broadcast channel and presents the first representation of the first media item, providing the channel indication as a basis for identifying a first media item-related information, the first media item-related information is a basis for a response to an interactivity activation made in reaction to presentation of the first representation of the first media item by the broadcast reception device;

providing in the temporary storage a data structure that includes the first media item-related information, the first media item-related information associated with a timeslot and identifiable in the data structure based upon the channel indication;

accepting an interactivity activation; and

when the interactivity activation occurs during the timeslot and the channel indication indicates the broadcast channel, responding to the interactivity activation based upon the first media item-related information.

47. The method of claim 46, further comprising identifying in the data structure the first media item-related information based upon a geographic location indication.

48. The method of claim 46, wherein the first media item-related information includes a first item identifier associated with the first media item, further comprising sending the first item identifier to a second communications device.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein the second communications device is a server and the first media item is a song, further comprising, in response to receiving the first item identifier, the server sends a digital representation of the song.

50. The method of claim 48, wherein the first media item is a song, further comprising, in response to sending the first item identifier, receiving a digital representation of the song.

51. The method of claim 46, wherein responding to the interactivity activation includes, for the first media item, storing in the temporary storage an indication of user interest.

52. The method of claim 46, wherein the interactivity activation occurs during the timeslot, the channel indication indicates the broadcast channel, and responding to the interactivity activation includes presenting, based upon the first media item-related information, at least one choice associated with the first media item.

254. The method of claim 252, wherein the play list is a schedule of a broadcast media source.

255. The method of claim 246, wherein the at least one received item indicator includes a first media item indicator associated with a first media item, further comprising:

providing in the temporary memory a first media item presentation rule information associated with the first media item;

identifying in the temporary memory, based upon a representation of the first media indicator, the first media item presentation rule information;

determining, based upon the first media item presentation rule information, whether the first media item is to be included in the play list;

when the first media item is to be included in the play list, including a representation of the first media item indicator in the play list; and

wherein determining whether the supplementary item indicator is to be included occurs when the first media item is not to be included in the play list.

256. The method of claim 246, further comprising:

providing in the temporary memory a supplementary media item presentation rule information associated with the supplementary media item;

identifying in the temporary memory, based upon a representation of the supplementary media item indicator, the supplementary media item presentation rule information; and

wherein, based upon the supplementary media item presentation rule information, the supplementary item indicator is determined to be selected for inclusion in the play list.

257. The method of claim 246, further comprising:

providing in the temporary memory a second supplementary media item presentation rule information associated with a second supplementary media item and a second supplementary item indicator;

identifying in the temporary memory, based upon a representation of the second supplementary item indicator, the second supplementary media item presentation rule information;

determining, based upon the second supplementary media item presentation rule information, whether the second supplementary item indicator is to be included in the play list;

when the second supplementary item indicator is to be included in the play list, including a representation of the second supplementary item indicator in the play list; and

wherein when the second supplementary item indicator is not to be included in the play list the first supplementary item indicator is included in the play list.

258. The method of claim 253, wherein the communications device includes a receiver, further comprising tuning a receiver to a digital broadcast channel to receive the second representation of the media item, and the digital broadcast channel is associated with the first broadcast media source channel.

259. The method of claim 258, wherein providing the set of replacement frames includes receiving at least some of the set of replacement frames on the digital broadcast channel.

260. The method of claim 253, wherein the communications device includes a receiver, further comprising:

tuning a receiver to a digital broadcast channel to receive the second representation of the media item, and the digital broadcast channel is associated with the first broadcast media source channel;

tuning a receiver to a second digital broadcast channel to receive a third representation of the media item, and the second digital broadcast channel is associated with a second broadcast media source channel; and

deriving from the third representation of the media item at least some of the set of replacement frames.

261. The method of claim 253, wherein the broadcast device representation is the second representation of the media item.

262. The method of claim 253, wherein the broadcast device representation is in an analog frequency modulation signal.

263. The method of claim 253, further comprising requesting that the set of replacement frames be sent to the communications device.

264. The method of claim 253, wherein receiving the set of replacement frames includes retrieving the set of replacement frames from a temporary storage.

253-45. A method of providing for acquisition at a communications device a first representation of a media item, the media item is included in media material that is broadcast by a broadcast media source and is associated with a broadcast reception device representation that is received by a broadcast reception device for presentation, the broadcast media source associated with a first broadcast media source channel on which the media material is broadcast, the method comprising:

detecting a channel to which the broadcast reception device is tuned, the channel is the same as the first broadcast media source channel;

receiving an indication of interest in the media item;

in response to the indication of interest, determining a media item indicator that identifies the media item;

receiving at the communications device, a second representation of the media item;

deriving from the second representation of the media item a second representation set of media frames;

examining the second representation set of media frames for errors;

based upon the error examination, in the second representation set of media frames, identifying a first set of frames needing replacement;

providing a set of replacement frames;

replacing the first set of frames needing replacement with the set of replacement frames;

producing, based upon the second representation set of media frames and the set of replacement frames, the first representation of the media item;

based upon the media item indicator, identifying in a temporary storage the first representation of the media item; and

in response to receipt of the indication of interest, offering for acquisition the first representation of the media item.

254-46. The method of claim 253, wherein the communications device includes a receiver, further comprising tuning the receiver to the first broadcast media source channel to receive the second representation of the media item.

255-47. The method of claim 254, further comprising:

receiving on a second broadcast media source channel a third representation of the media item; and

deriving from the third representation of the media item at least some of the set of replacement frames.

256-48. The method of claim 255, wherein the second broadcast media source channel is the same as the first broadcast media source channel.

257-49. The method of claim 255, wherein deriving from the third representation includes

deriving from the third representation of the media item a third representation set of media frames,

examining the third representation set of media frames for errors, and

based upon the error examination, in the third representation set of media frames, identifying a set of frames that are not to be subjected to replacement, wherein the set of frames that are not be subjected to replacement includes the at least some of the set of replacement frames.

265. A method of providing at a communications device a first representation of a media item, the media item is presented by a broadcast reception device and is included in media material that is broadcast by a broadcast media source, the method comprising:

receiving at the communications device a second representation of the media item;

deriving from the second representation of the media item a second representation set of media frames;

examining the second representation set of media frames for errors;

based upon the error examination, in the second representation set of media frames, identifying a first set of frames needing replacement;

receiving a first set of replacement frames;

replacing the first set of frames needing replacement with the first set of replacement frames;

producing, based upon the second representation set of media frames and the first set of replacement frames, the first representation of the media item;

providing to the broadcast reception device a third representation of the media item for presentation;

receiving an indication of interest in the media item;

in response to the indication of interest, determining a media item indicator that identifies the media item;

based upon the first media item identification information, identifying in a temporary storage the first representation of the media item; and

offering the first representation of the media item.

266. The method of claim 265, wherein the third representation of the media item is based upon the second representation of the media item.

267. The method of claim 266, wherein providing to the broadcast reception device the third representation includes transmitting, the third representation to the broadcast reception device, and the third representation of the media item is based upon the second representation of the media item.

268. The method of claim 267, further comprising receiving from the broadcast media source a fourth representation of the media item, and wherein providing to the broadcast reception device the third representation includes transmitting, the third representation to the broadcast reception device, and the third representation of the media item is based upon the fourth representation of the media item.

269. The method of claim 267, wherein receiving the first set of replacement frames includes

receiving a fifth representation of the media item that includes a fifth representation set of media frames,

examining the fifth representation set of media frames for errors, and

based upon the error examination, in the fifth representation set of media frames, identifying a set of frames that are not to be subjected to replacement, wherein the set of frames that are not be subjected to replacement includes the first set of replacement frames.

270. The method of claim 269, wherein providing to the broadcast reception device the third representation includes transmitting the third representation to the broadcast reception device, and the third representation of the media item is based upon the fifth representation of the media item.

271. The method of claim 265, further comprising receiving a fourth representation of the media item.

272. The method of claim 271, wherein the fourth representation of the media item is received while the second representation is being received.

273. The method of claim 271, wherein providing to the broadcast reception device the third representation includes transmitting the third representation to the broadcast reception device, and the third representation of the media item is based upon the fourth representation of the media item.

274. A method of allowing a user to reply to audio, visual, or audio-visual announcements, the method comprising:

accepting at an input unit a sequence of activations made by the user, each of the activations is indicative of a reply to an associated announcement in a sequence of announcements, and each announcement has an associated source;

for each of the activations in the sequence, a control logic unit, coupled to the input unit, determining an associated reply identifier, the associated reply identifier is based upon an associated value derived from the associated activation, an associated indication of a geographic location, and an associated source indicator indicative of the associated source of the associated announcement; and

wherein each announcement in the sequence of announcements has an associated announcement-related information that includes information related to the associated announcement and is a basis for a response to the associated activation, and each of the reply identifiers is a basis for identifying the associated announcement-related information associated with the announcement with which the activation is associated.

275. The method of claim 274, wherein a broadcast reception unit presents the sequence of announcements and each announcement has an associated channel to which the broadcast reception unit is tuned when it is presenting the announcement.

276. The method of claim 275, wherein the control logic unit is adapted to be coupled to a channel detector that detects channel tuning of the broadcast reception unit when the broadcast reception unit is presenting the sequence of announcements and generates for each of the announcements an associated source indicator, the associated source indicator for each announcement is an indication of the associated channel, and determining includes the control logic unit receiving from the channel detector the associated source indicator for each announcement.

277. The method of claim 275, wherein the control logic unit is adapted to be coupled to the broadcast reception unit, the associated source indicator for each announcement is an indication of the associated channel, and determining includes the control logic unit receiving at least one source indicator from the broadcast reception unit.

278. The method of claim 277, wherein the control logic unit is adapted to be coupled to a communications device that is coupled to the broadcast reception unit, and the control logic unit receives the at least one source indicator from the broadcast reception unit by way of the communications device.

279. The method of claim 274, wherein the control logic unit is adapted to be coupled to a communications device that produces the indications of geographic locations, and determining includes the control logic unit receiving at least one indication of a geographic location from the communications device.

280. The method of claim 279, wherein the communications device is a cell phone.

281. The method of claim 279, wherein the communications device is a global positioning system (GPS) receiver.

282. The method of claim 274, wherein determining includes the input unit accepting at least one indication of a geographic location made by the user.

283. The method of claim 282, wherein the at least one indication of a geographic location includes a representation of a zip code.

284. The method of claim 274, wherein the input unit is adapted to be coupled to a communications device, and at least one of the activations is a signal received from the communications device.

285. The method of claim 284, wherein each signal includes an associated representation of time, and for each of the at least one activations, the valued derived from the activation is the associated representation of time.

286. The method of claim 274, wherein the control logic unit is adapted to be coupled to a communications device and determining includes, for a first activation in the sequence of activations, the control logic unit requesting and receiving a first reply identifier from the communications device.

287. The method of claim 274, wherein the control logic unit is adapted to be coupled to a communications device, further comprising:

the control logic unit receiving multiple reply identifiers from the communications device; and

wherein determining includes, in response to a first activation, the control logic unit selecting a first reply identifier from among the multiple reply identifiers.

288. The method of claim 274, further comprising the control logic unit generating, for each of the activations, an associated representation of the time the activation is accepted, wherein, for each of the reply identifiers, the associated value derived from the associated activation is the associated representation of the time the activation is accepted.

289. The method of claim 274, wherein at least one of the activations is entering an activation code at the input unit, and, for at least one of the reply identifiers, the associated value derived from the associated activation is an associated representation of the activation code entered at the input unit.

290. The method of claim 274, wherein each of the activations is clicking a button.

291. The method of claim 274, wherein at least one of the activations is clicking a button.

292. The method of claim 274, wherein at least one of the activations is speaking of a sound.

293. The method of claim 274, further comprising sending at least one of the reply identifiers to the server.

294. The method of claim 293, further comprising receiving at least one announcement-related information.

295. The method of claim 294, wherein the at least one announcement-related information is received in response to sending the at least one of the reply identifiers to the server.

296. The method of claim 274, further comprising providing at least one announcement-related information in a temporary storage coupled to the control logic unit.

297. The method of claim 274, further comprising receiving at least one announcement-related information for storage in a temporary storage coupled to the control logic unit.

298. The method of claim 274, further comprising, in response to each of at least one activation in the sequence, the control logic unit, based on the associated reply identifier for each of the at least one activation, identifying, from among at least one announcement-related information, the associated announcement-related information that is the basis for a response.

299. The method of claim 298, further comprising receiving the associated announcement-related information for each of the at least one activation.

300. The method of claim 298, further comprising providing in a temporary storage the associated announcement-related information for each of the at least one activation.

301. The method of claim 274, further comprising:

providing in a temporary storage a first announcement-related information that is associated with a first activation, the at least one activation includes the first activation and the first activation has an associated first reply identifier;

receiving for storing in the temporary storage an announcement schedule that includes time slots occupied by announcements in the sequence of announcements;

indexing into the announcement schedule based upon the first reply identifier to find in a first time slot a first announcement-related information identifier;

based upon the first announcement-related information identifier, identifying the first announcement-related information in the temporary storage as the basis for a response to the first activation.

302. The method of claim 274, further comprising:

receiving for storing in a temporary storage a first announcement-related information that is associated with a first activation, the at least one activation includes the first activation and the first activation has an associated first reply identifier;

receiving for storing an announcement schedule that includes time slots occupied by announcements in the sequence of announcements;

indexing into the announcement schedule based upon the first reply identifier to find in a first time slot a first announcement-related information identifier; and

based upon the first announcement-related information identifier, identifying the first announcement-related information in the temporary storage as the basis for a response to the first activation.

303. The method of claim 274, further comprising:

providing in a temporary storage a first announcement-related information that is associated with a first activation, the at least one activation includes the first activation and the first activation has an associated first reply identifier;

receiving for storing a second announcement-related information that is associated with a second activation, the at least one activation includes the second activation and the second activation has an associated second reply identifier;

receiving for storing an announcement schedule that includes time slots occupied by announcements in the sequence of announcements;

indexing into the announcement schedule based upon the first reply identifier to find in a first time slot a first announcement-related information identifier;

based upon the first announcement-related information identifier, identifying the first announcement-related information in the temporary storage as the basis for a response to the first activation;

wherein determining includes indexing into the announcement schedule based upon the second reply identifier to find in a second time slot a second announcement-related information identifier; and

based upon the second announcement-related information identifier, identifying the second announcement-related information in the temporary storage as the basis for a response to the second activation.

304. The method of claim 274, further comprising determining, for each of at least one activation, whether the associated announcement-related information exists in a temporary storage coupled to the control logic unit.

305. The method of claim 304, wherein the control logic unit is coupled to a data transceiver that is adapted to be coupled to a server, the method further comprising the data transceiver sending, to the server, the reply identifier associated with each of the least one activations for which the associated announcement-related information does not exist in the temporary storage.

306. The method of claim 304, further comprising, for each of the at least one activations for which the associated announcement-related information does exist in the temporary storage, the control logic unit assigning the associated announcement-related information as the basis for a response.

307. The method of claim 304, wherein determining, for each of the at least one activation, whether the associated announcement-related information exists in the temporary storage includes performing a search based upon the associated reply identifier of each of the at least one activation.

308. A method of allowing a user to reply to a sequence of announcements presented by a broadcast reception unit, each announcement has an associated channel to which the broadcast reception unit is tuned when it is presenting the announcement, the method comprising:

accepting at an input unit a sequence of single activations made by the user, each of the single activations is indicative of a reply to an associated announcement in a sequence of announcements and each announcement has an associated source;

for each of the single activations in the sequence, a control logic unit, coupled to the input unit, determining an associated reply identifier, the associated reply identifier is based upon an associated representation of the time the associated single activation was accepted, an associated indication of a geographic location, and an associated channel indication indicative of the associated channel on which the associated announcement is presented; and

wherein each of the single activations has an associated announcement, each associated announcement has an associated announcement-related information that includes information related to the associated announcement and is a basis for a response to the associated single activation, and each of the reply identifiers is a basis for identifying the associated announcement-related information associated with the announcement with which the single activation is associated.

309. The method of claim 308, wherein each of the announcements is transmitted by an associated transmission source which has an associated coverage area, the broadcast reception unit receives each announcement for presentation when the broadcast reception unit is within the associated coverage area of the associated transmission source, the control logic unit is adapted to be coupled to a communications device that produces indications of geographic locations of the broadcast reception unit, and determining includes the control logic unit receiving at least one indication of a geographic location from the communications device.

310. The method of claim 308, wherein each of the announcements is transmitted by an associated transmission source which has an associated coverage area, the broadcast reception unit receives each announcement for presentation when the broadcast reception unit is within the associated coverage area of the associated transmission source, and determining includes the input unit accepting at least one indication of a geographic location made by the user.

311. The method of claim 308, further comprising the control logic unit generating, for each of the single activations, the associated representation of the time the single activation is accepted.

312. The method of claim 308, wherein each of the single activations is clicking a button.

313. The method of claim 308, wherein at least one of the single activations is clicking a button.

314. The method of claim 308, wherein at least one of the single activations is speaking of a sound.

315. The method of claim 308, wherein each of the single activations is identical.

316. The method of claim 308, wherein a data transceiver is coupled to the control logic unit and that is adapted to be coupled to a server, further comprising, the data transceiver sending at least one of the reply identifiers to the server.

317. The method of claim 316, further comprising the data transceiver receiving at least one announcement-related information.

318. The method of claim 317, wherein the at least one announcement-related information is received in response to sending the at least one of the reply identifiers to the server.

319. The method of claim 318, wherein a temporary storage is coupled to the control logic unit, further comprising, the temporary storage providing at least one announcement-related information.

320. The method of claim 318, wherein a temporary storage is coupled to the control logic unit, further comprising the temporary storage receiving for storing at least one announcement-related information.

321. The method of claim 318, wherein, in response to each of at least one single activation in the sequence, the control logic unit, based on the associated reply identifier for each of the at least one single activation, identifying, from among at least one announcement-related information, the associated announcement-related information that is the basis for a response.

322. The method of claim 321, further comprising receiving the associated announcement-related information for each of the at least one single activation.

323. The method of claim 321, further comprising providing in a temporary storage the associated announcement-related information for each of the at least one single activation.

324. The method of claim 308, further comprising determining, for each of at least one single activation, whether the associated announcement-related information exists in a temporary storage coupled to the control logic unit.

325. The method of claim 324, wherein the control logic unit is coupled to a data transceiver that is adapted to be coupled to a server, the method further comprising the data transceiver sending, to the server, the reply identifier associated with each of the least one single activations for which the associated announcement-related information does not exist in the temporary storage.

326. The method of claim 324, further comprising, for each of the at least one single activations for which the associated announcement-related information does exist in the temporary storage, the control logic unit assigning the associated announcement-related information as the basis for a response.

327. The method of claim 324, wherein determining, for each of the at least one single activation, whether the associated announcement-related information exists in the temporary storage includes performing a search based upon the associated reply identifier of each of the at least one single activation.

328. A device that allows a user to reply to audio, visual, or audio-visual announcements, the device comprising:

an input unit that is to accept a sequence of single activations made by the user, each of the single activations is indicative of a reply to an associated announcement in a sequence of announcements and each announcement has an associated source;

a control logic unit that is, for each of the single activations in the sequence, to determine an associated reply identifier, the associated reply identifier is based upon an associated value derived from the associated single activation, an associated indication of a geographic location, and an associated source indicator indicative of the associated source of the associated announcement; and

wherein each of the single activations has an associated announcement, each associated announcement has an associated announcement-related information that includes information related to the associated announcement and is a basis for a response to the associated single activation, and each of the reply identifiers is a basis for identifying the associated announcement-related information associated with the announcement with which the single activation is associated.

329. The device of claim 328, wherein the control logic unit is adapted to be coupled to a communications device from which the control logic unit is to receive at least one indication of a geographic location.

330. The device of claim 329, wherein the communications device is a cell phone.

331. The device of claim 329, wherein the communications device is a global positioning system receiver.

332. The device of claim 328, wherein the input unit is to accept at least one indication of a geographic location made by the user.

333. The device of claim 328, wherein the control logic unit is to generate, for each of the single activations, the associated representation of the time the single activation is accepted.

334. The device of claim 328, wherein each of the single activations is clicking a button.

335. The device of claim 328, wherein at least one of the single activations is clicking a button.

336. The device of claim 328, wherein at least one of the single activations is speaking of a sound.

337. The device of claim 328, wherein each of the single activations is identical.

338. The device of claim 328, further comprising a data transceiver and the data transceiver is adapted to be coupled to a server, wherein the data transceiver is to send at least one of the reply identifiers to the server.

339. The device of claim 338, wherein the data transceiver is to receive at least one announcement-related information.

340. The device of claim 339, wherein the at least one announcement-related information is received in response to sending the at least one of the reply identifiers to the server.

341. The device of claim 338, wherein the control logic unit is adapted to be coupled to a temporary storage in which at least one announcement-related information is to be provided.

342. The device of claim 338, wherein the control logic unit is adapted to a temporary storage that is to receive at least one announcement-related information.

343. The device of claim 338, wherein, in response to each of at least one single activation in the sequence, the control logic unit, based on the associated reply identifier for each of the at least one single activation, is to identify, from among at least one announcement-related information, the associated announcement-related information that is the basis for a response.

344. The device of claim 343, further comprising a data transceiver that is coupled to the control logic unit and that is to receive the associated announcement-related information for each of the at least one single activation.

345. The device of claim 343, wherein the control logic unit is adapted to be coupled to a temporary storage in which the associated announcement-related information for each of the at least one single activation is to be provided.

346. The device of claim 328, wherein the control logic unit is adapted to be coupled to a temporary storage and the control logic unit is to determine, for each of at least one single activation, whether the associated announcement-related information exists in the temporary storage.

347. The device of claim 346, wherein the control logic unit is adapted to be coupled to a data transceiver that to be coupled to a server, wherein the control logic unit is to send to the server, by way of the data transceiver, the reply identifier associated with each of the least one single activations for which the associated announcement-related information does not exist in the temporary storage.

348. The device of claim 346, wherein the control logic unit is to assign, for each of the at least one single activations for which the associated announcement-related information does exist in the temporary storage, the associated announcement-related information as the basis for a response.

349. The device of claim 346, wherein the control logic unit is to determine, for each of the at least one single activation, whether the associated announcement-related information exists in the temporary storage by performing a search based upon the associated reply identifier of each of the at least one single activation.

350. A device that allows a user to reply to a sequence of announcements presented by a broadcast reception unit, each announcement has an associated channel to which the broadcast reception unit is tuned when it is presenting the announcement, the device comprising:

an input unit that is to accept a sequence of single activations made by the user, each of the single activations is indicative of a reply to an associated announcement in a sequence of announcements and each announcement has an associated source;

a control logic unit that is, for each of the single activations in the sequence, to determine an associated reply identifier, the associated reply identifier is based upon an associated representation of the time the associated single activation was accepted, an associated indication of a geographic location, and an associated channel indication indicative of the associated channel on which the associated announcement is presented; and

wherein each of the single activations has an associated announcement, each associated announcement has an associated announcement-related information that includes information related to the associated announcement and is a basis for a response to the associated single activation, and each of the reply identifiers is a basis for identifying the associated announcement-related information associated with the announcement with which the single activation is associated.

351. The device of claim 350, further comprising a temporary storage coupled to the control logic unit and that is to store at least announcement-related information, the control logic unit is to determine for each of at least one single activation, whether the associated announcement-related information exists in the temporary storage.

352. The device of claim 350, further comprising a data transceiver that is coupled to the control logic unit and that is adapted to be coupled to a server, the data transceiver sending at least one associated reply identifier to the server.

353. The device of claim 350, wherein at least one of the reply identifiers is also based on one of a user identifier and user-specific information.

354. A server system that allows interaction with a sequence of announcements presented by a broadcast reception unit, each announcement has an associated channel to which the broadcast reception unit is tuned when it is presenting the announcement, the system comprising:

a storage medium that stores announcement-related informations, and optionally user-specific information for multiple users, each announcement in the sequence of announcements has an associated announcement-related information;

a user interface module that is to receive a sequence of reply identifiers and optionally a sequence of user identifiers, each user identifier is optionally associated with at least one reply identifier, the sequence of reply identifiers is received as a consequence of a sequence of single activations being performed, each reply identifier has its own associated single activation, each single activation is indicative of a reply to an associated announcement in the sequence of announcements, and each reply identifier is based upon an associated value derived from the associated single activation, an associated indication of a geographic location, and an associated channel indicator indicative of the associated channel of the associated announcement that is presented; and

for each reply identifier, a reply processing module is to identify and retrieve the associated announcement-related information and optionally retrieve user-specific information for the user identified by the user identifier associated with the reply identifier, and use the retrieved information to respond to the reply indicated by the associated single activation that was the cause of the reply identifier being received by the user interface module, and wherein the associated announcement-related information is to be identified in the storage medium based upon the reply identifier.

355. The system of claim 354, wherein the sequence of reply identifiers includes a first reply identifier associated with a first announcement in the sequence of announcements, the first reply identifier is received as a consequence of a first single activation, and the reply processing module, in response to receipt of the first reply identifier, is to retrieve a first announcement related information unit from the storage medium and, based on the first announcement related-information unit, place an order for a first announcement item described in the first announcement.

356. The system of claim 355, wherein the first announcement related-information unit includes a first announcement item identifier for the first announcement item.

357. The system of claim 356, wherein the first announcement item identifier is to be used to identify a digital file that is a basis for a response to the first single activation.

358. The system of claim 355, wherein the first reply identifier has an associated first user identifier, the first announcement item is a digital file and the reply processing module is to provide the digital file to the user identified by the first user identifier.

359. The system of claim 358, wherein the digital file is of a song.

360. The system of claim 358, wherein the reply processing module is to provide the digital file to the user by sending the digital file to an email account provided in the user-specific information for the user identified by the first user identifier.

361. The system of claim 355, wherein the reply processing module is to provide the digital file to the user by placing a first announcement item identifier in a user account identified in the user-specific information for the user identified by the first user identifier.

362. The system of claim 355, wherein the user account is stored in the storage medium and includes a shopping cart, and the first announcement item identifier is placed in the shopping cart.

363. The system of claim 354, wherein the sequence of reply identifiers includes a first reply identifier associated with a first announcement in the sequence of announcements, the first reply identifier is received as a consequence of a first single activation, and the reply processing module, in response to receipt of the first reply identifier, is to retrieve a first announcement related information unit from the storage medium and, based on the first announcement related-information unit, place an order for a first announcement service described in the first announcement.

364. The system of claim 354, wherein the sequence of reply identifiers and a second reply identifier associated with a first announcement and a second announcement, respectively, in the sequence of announcements, the first reply identifier and the reply identifier are received as a consequence of a first single activation and a second activation, respectively, and the reply processing module, in response to receipt of the first reply identifier and the second reply identifier, respectively, is to place an order for a first announcement item described in the first announcement and placing an order for a second announcement service described in the second announcement.

365. The system of claim 364, wherein the user interface module is to send at least one markup language document to a device from which the user interface module receives at least one of the reply identifiers in the sequence of announcement of identifiers.

366. The system of claim 365, wherein the at least one markup language document includes an indication of a geographic location, and the at least one reply identifier is received by the user interface module as a consequence of at least one single activation in the sequence of single activations.

367. A method of allowing a user to reply to audio, visual, or audio-visual announcements, the method comprising:

accepting at an input unit a sequence of single activations made by the user, each of the single activations is indicative of a reply to an associated announcement in a sequence of announcements and each announcement has an associated source;

for each of the single activations in the sequence, a control logic unit, coupled to the input unit, determining an associated reply identifier, the associated reply identifier is based upon an associated value derived from the associated single activation, and at least one of an associated indication of a geographic location, and an associated source indicator indicative of the associated source of the associated announcement; and

wherein each of the single activations has an associated announcement, each associated announcement has an associated announcement-related information that includes information related to the associated announcement and is a basis for a response to the associated single activation, and each of the reply identifiers is a basis for identifying the associated announcement-related information associated with the announcement with which the single activation is associated.

368. The method of claim 367, wherein a broadcast reception unit presents the sequence of announcements, each announcement has an associated channel to which the broadcast reception unit is tuned when it is presenting the announcement, and the associated source indicator is an indication of the associated channel.

369. The method of claim 367, wherein the associated reply identifier is never based upon the associated indication of a geographic location.

370. The method of claim 369, wherein the control logic unit is adapted to be coupled to a server from which it receives the associated source indicator.

371. The method of claim 370, wherein the associated source indicator is based upon a programming item identifier for an item of programming that includes the associated announcement.

372. A server system that allows interaction with a sequence of announcements presented by a broadcast reception unit, each announcement has an associated source indicator indicative of the associated source of the announcement presented by the broadcast reception unit, the system comprising:

a storage medium that stores announcement-related informations, and optionally user-specific information for multiple users, each announcement-related information has an associated announcement in the sequence of announcements and is identified by an associated announcement identifier;

a user interface module that is to receive a sequence of reply identifiers and optionally a sequence of user identifiers, each user identifier is optionally associated with at least one reply identifier, the sequence of reply identifiers is received as a consequence of a sequence of single activations being performed, each reply identifier has its own associated single activation, each single activation is indicative of a reply to an associated announcement in the sequence of announcements, and each reply identifier is based upon an associated value derived from the associated single activation, and at least one of an associated indication of a geographic location, and the associated source indicator indicative of the associated source of the associated announcement that is presented; and

for each reply identifier, a reply processing module is to identify and retrieve the associated announcement-related information and optionally retrieve user-specific information for the user identified by the user identifier associated with the reply identifier, and use the retrieved information to respond to the reply indicated by the associated single activation that was the cause of the reply identifier being received by the user interface module, and wherein the associated announcement-related information is to be identified in the storage medium based upon the reply identifier.

373. The system of claim 372, wherein the associated source indicator is an indication of a channel to which the broadcast reception unit is tuned.

374. The system of claim 372, wherein the associated source indicator is based upon a programming item identifier for an item of programming that includes the associated announcement.

375. The system of claim 374, wherein the storage medium includes the item of programming, further comprising a server engine that is to send the item of programming and the programming item identifier to the broadcast reception unit.

376. The system of claim 375, wherein the broadcast reception unit is a computer coupled to the server system via a network.

377. The system of claim 376, wherein the network is the Internet.

378. The system of claim 372, wherein the associated reply identifier is never based upon the associated indication of a geographic location.

379. A method of allowing a user to reply to audio, visual, or audio-visual announcements, the method comprising:

an input unit accepting a sequence of single activations made by the user, each of the single activations is a reply to an associated announcement in a sequence of announcements, and the sequence of single activations includes at least two single activations indicative of at least two of the following four reply types;

b1) an acceptance of an offer for an item;

b2) an acceptance of an offer for a service;

b3) an acceptance of an offer for an alert message; and

b4) a reply to a query;

a control logic unit associating, with each of the single activations, an announcement identifier, the announcement identifier is a basis for identifying announcement-related information for the announcement to which the single activation is the reply, and the announcement-related information is a basis for responding to the single activation; and

for each of the single activations, the control logic unit providing the associated announcement identifier and optionally one of a user identifier and user-specific information as an indication of the reply to the associated announcement,

whereby the user interacts with the sequence of announcements without having to provide information related to the user at any of the times that a single activation is accepted and without having to provide information for identifying the announcements to which reply is made by making the sequence of single activations.

380. The method of claim 379, wherein each of the single activations is made without requiring the user to track on a display movement of a cursor and character entry.

381. The method of claim 379, wherein at least one of the single activations is clicking a button.

382. The method of claim 379, wherein at least one of the single activations is speaking of a sound.

383. The method of claim 379, wherein each of the single activations is identical.

384. The method of claim 379, further comprising:

a server accepting for storage the user-specific information;

the server associating the user identifier with the user-specific information; and

and the server providing the user identifier as a pointer to the user-specific information so that the user-specific information does not have to be repeatedly sent to the server.

385. The method of claim 384, wherein the user-specific information includes at least one of payment method information, user name, and address.

386. The method of claim 384, wherein the user identifier is based on a telephone number.

387. The method of claim 384, wherein the user identifier is based on an internet protocol address.

388. The method of claim 379, wherein a first single activation in the sequence of single activations is indicative of an acceptance of an offer for a first announcement item described in a first announcement that has an associated first announcement identifier, further comprising:

a server receiving the first announcement identifier and the user identifier;

in response to receiving the first announcement identifier and the user identifier, retrieving previously stored information for the user identified by the user identifier;

placing an order for the first announcement item for the user identified by the user identifier; and

completing purchase of the first announcement item in accordance with the order placed for the first item.

389. The method of claim 388, further comprising, based upon the first announcement identifier, identifying the information that is the basis for a response to the reply indicated by the first single activation, the information is an instruction to place the order for the first announcement item.

390. The method of claim 388, wherein a second single activation in the sequence of single activations is indicative of an acceptance of an offer for a second announcement service described in a second announcement that has an associated second announcement identifier, further comprising:

the server receiving the second announcement identifier and the user identifier;

in response to receiving the second announcement identifier and the user identifier, retrieving previously stored information for the user identified by the user identifier;

placing an order for the second announcement service for the user identified by the user identifier; and

completing purchase of the second announcement service in accordance with the order placed for the second announcement service.

391. The method of claim 390, wherein the second announcement service is the delivery of a movie by a movie rental service to an address specified in the previously stored information.

392. The method of claim 390, wherein a third single activation in the sequence of single activations is indicative of an acceptance of an offer for a third announcement alert message, the third announcement alert message is described in a third announcement that has an associated third announcement identifier, further comprising:

the server receiving the third announcement identifier and the user identifier;

in response to receiving the third announcement identifier and the user identifier, retrieving previously stored information for the user identified by the user identifier;

placing a request for the third announcement alert message for the user identified by the user identifier; and

sending the third announcement alert message in accordance with the request placed for the third announcement alert message.

393. The method of claim 392, wherein the third announcement alert message is an indication that a program is about to be broadcast.

394. The method of claim 392, wherein the third announcement alert message includes a command to a receiver to switch channels.

395. The method of claim 392, wherein the third announcement alert message is a reminder to vote.

396. The method of claim 392, wherein a fourth single activation in the sequence of single activations is indicative of a reply to a fourth announcement query, the fourth announcement query is described in a fourth announcement that has an associated fourth announcement identifier, further comprising:

the server receiving the fourth announcement identifier; and

performing an action in response to the reply.

397. The method of claim 396, wherein the first single activation, second single activation, third single activation, and fourth single activation are identical activations.

398. The method of claim 397, wherein the identical activations are clicks of a button.

399. The method of claim 396, wherein the fourth announcement query is a question on a social issue of concern to the public.

400. The method of claim 396, wherein the action is to increment a counter whose contents are to be represented by a value that is to be presented to a disc jockey.

401. The method of claim 396, further comprising:

the server receiving the user identifier;

retrieving previously stored information for the user identified by the user identifier; and

wherein the action is to place a request to have an advertiser contact the user in a manner based on the previously stored information.

402. The method of claim 396, further comprising:

the server receiving the user identifier;

retrieving previously stored information for the user identified by the user identifier; and

wherein the action is to provide a record command to a recording device in the user'"'"'s home whose location is identified in the previously stored information.

403. The method of claim 379, wherein the announcements in the sequence of announcements are received and presented by a broadcast reception unit.

404. The method of claim 403, wherein the broadcast reception unit is a frequency modulated (FM) receiver.

405. The method of claim 403, wherein the broadcast reception unit is a digital audio broadcast receiver

406. The method of claim 403, wherein the broadcast reception unit is a computer that is streaming the announcements that are received from a server via the Internet.

407. The method of claim 403, wherein the announcements are audio announcements.

408. The method of claim 403, wherein the announcements are video announcements.

409. The method of claim 379, wherein each of the single activations is limited to being indicative of one of a1) the acceptance of an offer for an item, and a2) the acceptance of an offer for a service.

410. The method of claim 379, wherein each of the single activations is limited to being indicative of one of a1) the acceptance of an offer for a service, a2) the acceptance of an offer for an alert message, and a3) the reply to a query.

411. The method of claim 379, further comprising sending the user-specific information to a server.

412. The method of claim 411, further comprising determining whether the user-specific information is complete.

413. The method of claim 412, further comprising delaying providing the associated announcement identifier until the user-specific information is complete.

414. The method of claim 413, further comprising the input unit accepting from the user user-related information needed to make the user-specific information complete.

415. The method of claim 413, further comprising receiving user-related information to make the user-specific information complete.

416. The method of claim 412, wherein the user-specific information is determined to be incomplete, further comprising:

presenting to the user a request to complete the user-specific information; and

the input unit accepting missing personal information that makes the user-specific information complete.

417. The method of claim 416, further comprising the control logic unit delaying providing the associated announcement identifier until the user-specific information is complete.

418. The method of claim 412, wherein the user-specific information is determined to be complete, further comprising receiving a first personal information related query, the first personal information query is associated with a first announcement identifier and a first announcement.

419. The method of claim 418, in response to a first single activation made in reply to the first announcement by the user, presenting to the user the first personal information related query.

420. The method of claim 419, further comprising:

accepting from the user a response to the first personal information related query that was presented to the user;

providing the response to the first personal information related query and the first announcement identifier as an indication of a reply to the first announcement.

423. The method of claim 419, wherein the first personal information related query is presented to the user after the user makes a single activation in reply to the first announcement.

424. The method of claim 418, wherein the personal information query is received by a broadcast reception unit.

425. The method of claim 418, wherein the personal information query is received by a data transceiver from a server via a wireless network.

426. The method of claim 379, wherein the sequence of announcements includes a first announcement with an associated first announcement identifier, and providing the associated identifier as an indication of the reply to the associated announcement includes providing the first announcement identifier as an indication of a reply to the first announcement, further comprising, in response to providing the first announcement identifier as the indication of a reply to the first announcement, a control logic unit identifying, in storage, a first announcement-related information unit, the first announcement-related information unit is the announcement-related information for the first announcement.

427. The method of claim 426, further comprising receiving the first announcement-related information unit for storing in the storage.

428. The method of claim 427, wherein the first announcement-related information unit is received by a data transceiver from a server.

429. The method of claim 427, wherein the first announcement-related information unit is received by a broadcast reception unit.

430. The method of claim 426, further comprising providing the first announcement-related information unit in the storage at the time of sale of the storage to the user.

431. The method of claim 426, wherein the first announcement-related information unit is a song in a digital format.

432. The method of claim 431, wherein the first announcement is the song.

433. The method of claim 379, wherein the sequence of announcements includes a first announcement with an associated first announcement identifier, and providing the associated identifier as an indication of the reply to the associated announcement includes providing the first announcement identifier as an indication of a reply to the first announcement, and providing the first announcement identifier includes sending the first announcement identifier to a server.

434. The method of claim 433, further comprising, in response to sending the first announcement identifier, receiving a first announcement-related information unit.

435. The method of claim 434, further comprising identifying the first announcement-related information unit in storage based upon the first announcement identifier.

436. The method of claim 433, further comprising sending at least a fraction of the first announcement-related information unit to a broadcast reception unit.

437. The method of claim 379, wherein the sequence of activations includes a first single activation made in reply to a first announcement in the sequence of announcements, the first announcement has an associated first announcement identifier, the method further comprising determining whether, in order for a response to be made for the first single activation, the first announcement identifier is to be provided to a server.

438. The method of claim 437, further comprising sending the first announcement identifier to the server, when it is determined that the announcement identifier is to be provided to the server in order for the response for the first single activation to be made.

439. The method of claim 438, further comprising receiving a first-announcement related information unit from the server, the first announcement related information unit is identified based upon the first announcement identifier and is a basis for a response to the first single activation.

440. The method of claim 438, further comprising:

identifying a first-announcement related information unit in storage based upon the first announcement identifier, when it is determined that the announcement identifier is not to be provided to the server in order for the response for the first single activation to be made; and

wherein the first announcement-related information unit is a basis for a response to the first single activation.

441. The method of claim 437, wherein the first announcement has an associated first announcement response responsibility indicator that indicates whether the first announcement identifier is to be provided to the server, further comprising:

associating the first announcement response responsibility indicator and the first announcement identifier with the first single activation, and

wherein determining includes examining the first announcement response responsibility indicator.

442. The method of claim 441, wherein the first announcement response responsibility indicator indicates that the first announcement identifier is to be provided to the server, further comprising sending the first announcement identifier to the server.

466. The device of claim 416, wherein the control logic unit is to delay providing the associated announcement identifier until the user-specific information is complete.

490. The device of claim 441, wherein the first announcement response responsibility indicator indicates that the first announcement identifier is to be provided to the server, and the control logic unit is to send the first announcement identifier to the server.

443. device assign ann indicator—

A device that allows a user to reply to audio, visual, or audio-visual announcements, the device comprising;

an input unit that is to accept a sequence of single activations made by the user, each of the single activations is a reply to an associated announcement in a sequence of announcements, and the sequence of single activations includes at least two single activations indicative of at least two of the following four reply types;

b1) an acceptance of an offer for an item;

b2) an acceptance of an offer for a service;

b3) an acceptance of an offer for an alert message; and

b4) a reply to a query;

a control logic unit coupled to the input unit and that is to associate, with each of the single activations, an announcement identifier, the announcement identifier is a basis for identifying announcement-related information for the announcement to which the single activation is the reply, and the announcement-related information is a basis for responding to the single activation; and

for each of the single activations, the control logic unit is to provide the associated announcement identifier and optionally one of a user identifier and user-specific information as an indication of the reply to the associated announcement,

whereby the user interacts with the sequence of announcements without having to provide information related to the user at any of the times that a single activation is accepted and without having to provide information for identifying the announcements to which reply is made by making the sequence of single activations.

444. The device of claim 443, wherein each of the single activations is made without requiring the user to track on a display movement of a cursor and character entry.

445. The device of claim 443, wherein at least one of the single activations is clicking a button.

446. The device of claim 443, wherein at least one of the single activations is speaking of a sound.

447. The device of claim 443, wherein each of the single activations is identical.

448. The device of claim 443, wherein a first single activation in the sequence of single activations is indicative of an acceptance of an offer for a first announcement item described in a first announcement that has an associated first announcement identifier.

449. The device of claim 448, wherein a second single activation in the sequence of single activations is indicative of an acceptance of an offer for a second announcement service described in a second announcement that has an associated second announcement identifier.

450. The device of claim 449, wherein the second announcement service is the delivery of a movie by a movie rental service to an address specified in the previously stored information.

451. The device of claim 449, wherein a third single activation in the sequence of single activations is indicative of an acceptance of an offer for a third announcement alert message, the third announcement alert message is described in a third announcement that has an associated third announcement identifier.

452. The device of claim 451, wherein the third announcement alert message is an indication that a program is about to be broadcast.

453. The device of claim 451, wherein the third announcement alert message includes a command to a receiver to switch channels.

454. The device of claim 451, wherein the third announcement alert message is a reminder to vote.

455. The device of claim 451, wherein a fourth single activation in the sequence of single activations is indicative of a reply to a fourth announcement query, the fourth announcement query is described in a fourth announcement that has an associated fourth announcement identifier.

456. The device of claim 455, wherein the first single activation, second single activation, third single activation, and fourth single activation are identical activations.

457. The device of claim 456, wherein the input includes a button, and the identical activations are clicks of the button.

458. The device of claim 455, wherein the fourth announcement query is a question on a social issue of concern to the public.

459. The device of claim 443, wherein each of the single activations is limited to being indicative of one of a1) the acceptance of an offer for an item, and a2) the acceptance of an offer for a service.

460. The device of claim 443, wherein each of the single activations is limited to being indicative of one of a1) the acceptance of an offer for a service, a2) the acceptance of an offer for an alert message, and a3) the reply to a query.

461. The device of claim 443, further comprising a data transceiver that is coupled to the control logic unit and adapted to be coupled to a server, the data transceiver is to send the user-specific information to the server.

462. The device of claim 461, wherein the control logic unit is to determine whether the user-specific information is complete.

463. The device of claim 462, wherein the control logic unit is to delay providing the associated announcement identifier until the user-specific information is complete.

464. The device of claim 463, wherein the input unit accepts from the user user-related information needed to make the user-specific information complete.

465. The device of claim 462, wherein the user-specific information is determined to be incomplete, the control logic unit is to present to the user a request to complete the user-specific information, and the input unit is to accept the missing personal information that makes the user-specific information complete.

467. The device of claim 462, wherein the user-specific information is determined to be complete, the control logic unit is to receive a first personal information related query, and the first personal information query is associated with a first announcement identifier and a first announcement.

468. The device of claim 467, in response to a first single activation made in reply to the first announcement by the user, the control logic unit is to present to the user the first personal information related query.

469. The device of claim 468, wherein the input unit is to accepting from the user a response to the first personal information related query that was presented to the user, and the control logic unit is to provide the response to the first personal information related query and the first announcement identifier as an indication of a reply to the first announcement.

470. The device of claim 469, wherein the control logic unit is to provide the first announcement identifier only after the response to the first personal information related query is accepted from the user.

471. The device of claim 469, wherein the control logic unit is to provide the first announcement identifier before accepting from the user the response to the first personal information related query.

472. The device of claim 468, wherein the control logic unit presents the first personal information related query to the user after the user makes a single activation in reply to the first announcement.

473. The device of claim 467, wherein the control logic unit is adapted to be coupled to a broadcast reception unit, and personal information query is received by the broadcast reception unit.

474. The device of claim 467, wherein the control logic unit is adapted to be coupled to a data transceiver, and the personal information query is received by the data transceiver via a wireless network.

475. The device of claim 443, wherein the sequence of announcements includes a first announcement with an associated first announcement identifier, and providing the associated identifier as an indication of the reply to the associated announcement includes providing the first announcement identifier as an indication of a reply to the first announcement, the control logic unit is adapted to be coupled to storage, in response to providing the first announcement identifier as the indication of a reply to the first announcement, the control logic unit is to identify, in the storage, a first announcement-related information unit, the first announcement-related information unit is the announcement-related information for the first announcement.

476. The device of claim 475, wherein the control logic unit is to receive the first announcement-related information unit for storing in the storage.

477. The device of claim 476, wherein control logic unit is adapted to be coupled to a data transceiver, and the first announcement-related information unit is received by the data transceiver.

478. The device of claim 476, wherein control logic unit is adapted to be coupled to a broadcast reception unit, and the first announcement-related information unit is received by the broadcast reception unit.

479. The device of claim 475, further comprising the storage, and wherein the first announcement-related information unit is provided in the storage at the time of sale of the device to the user.

480. The device of claim 475, wherein the first announcement-related information unit is a song in a digital format.

481. The device of claim 443, wherein the sequence of announcements includes a first announcement with an associated first announcement identifier, and the control logic unit is to provide the first announcement identifier as an indication of a reply to the first announcement by sending the first announcement identifier to a server.

482. The device of claim 481, further comprising storage coupled to the control logic unit, in response to sending the first announcement identifier, the storage is to receive a first announcement-related information unit.

483. The device of claim 482, wherein the control logic unit is to identify the first announcement-related information unit in the storage based upon the first announcement identifier.

484. The device of claim 482, wherein the control logic unit is adapted to be coupled to a broadcast reception unit, and the control logic unit is to send at least a fraction of the first announcement-related information unit to the broadcast reception unit.

485. The device of claim 443, wherein the sequence of activations includes a first single activation made in reply to a first announcement in the sequence of announcements, the first announcement has an associated first announcement identifier, the control logic unit is adapted to be coupled to a server and is to determine whether, in order for a response to be made for the first single activation, the first announcement identifier is to be provided to the server.

486. The device of claim 485, wherein the control logic unit is to send the first announcement identifier to the server, when it is determined that the announcement identifier is to be provided to the server in order for the response for the first single activation to be made.

487. The device of claim 486, wherein the control logic unit is to receive a first-announcement related information unit from the server, the first announcement related information unit is identified based upon the first announcement identifier and is a basis for a response to the first single activation.

488. The device of claim 486, further comprising a storage coupled to the control logic unit, and wherein the control logic unit is to identify a first-announcement related information unit in the storage based upon the first announcement identifier, when it is determined that the announcement identifier is not to be provided to the server in order for the response for the first single activation to be made, and the first announcement-related information unit is a basis for a response to the first single activation.

489. The device of claim 485, wherein the first announcement has an associated first announcement response responsibility indicator that indicates whether the first announcement identifier is to be provided to the server, the control logic unit is to associate the first announcement response responsibility indicator and the first announcement identifier with the first single activation, and is to examine the first announcement response responsibility indicator.

491. The device of claim 443, wherein the control logic unit is adapted to be coupled to a server, and the control logic unit is to receive a markup language document from the server.

492. The device of claim 491, wherein the markup language document includes a first announcement identifier that is associated with a first announcement, and the control logic unit is to send the first announcement identifier to the server in response to a first single activation that is indicative of a reply to the first announcement.

493. A device that allows a user to reply to audio, visual, or audio-visual announcements, the device comprising:

an input unit that is to accept a sequence of single activations made by the user, each of the single activations is a reply to an associated announcement in a sequence of announcements, and the sequence of single activations includes at least three single activations indicative of three of the following four reply types;

b1) an acceptance of an offer for an item;

b2) an acceptance of an offer for a service;

b3) an acceptance of an offer for an alert message; and

b4) a reply to a query;

a control logic unit coupled to the input unit and that is to associate, with each of the single activations, an announcement identifier, the announcement identifier is a basis for identifying announcement-related information for the announcement to which the single activation is the reply, and the announcement-related information is a basis for responding to the single activation; and

for each of the single activations, the control logic unit is to provide the associated announcement identifier and optionally one of a user identifier and user-specific information as an indication of the reply to the associated announcement,

whereby the user interacts with the sequence of announcements without having to provide information related to the user at any of the times that a single activation is accepted and without having to provide information for identifying the announcements to which reply is made by making the sequence of single activations.

494. The device of claim 493, wherein the at least three single activations are identical.

495. A method of allowing a user to reply to audio, visual, or audio-visual announcements, the method comprising:

an input unit accepting a sequence of single activations made by the user, each of the single activations is a reply to an associated announcement in a sequence of announcements, and the sequence of single activations includes at least three single activations indicative of three of the following four reply types;

b1) an acceptance of an offer for an item;

b2) an acceptance of an offer for a service;

b3) an acceptance of an offer for an alert message; and

b4) a reply to a query;

a control logic unit associating, with each of the single activations, an announcement identifier, the announcement identifier is a basis for identifying announcement-related information for the announcement to which the single activation is the reply, and the announcement-related information is a basis for responding to the single activation; and

for each of the single activations, the control logic unit providing the associated announcement identifier and optionally one of a user identifier and user-specific information as an indication of the reply to the associated announcement,

whereby the user interacts with the sequence of announcements without having to provide information related to the user at any of the times that a single activation is accepted and without having to provide information for identifying the announcements to which reply is made by making the sequence of single activations.

496. The method of claim 495, wherein the at least three single activations are identical.

497. A method of allowing a user to reply to audio, visual, or audio-visual announcements, the method comprising:

an input unit accepting a sequence of single activations made by the user, each of the single activations is a reply to an associated announcement in a sequence of announcements, and the sequence of single activations includes at least four single activations indicative of the following four reply types;

b1) an acceptance of an offer for an item;

b2) an acceptance of an offer for a service;

b3) an acceptance of an offer for an alert message; and

b4) a reply to a query;

a control logic unit associating, with each of the single activations, an announcement identifier, the announcement identifier is a basis for identifying announcement-related information for the announcement to which the single activation is the reply, and the announcement-related information is a basis for responding to the single activation; and

for each of the single activations, the control logic unit providing the associated announcement identifier and optionally one of a user identifier and user-specific information as an indication of the reply to the associated announcement,

whereby the user interacts with the sequence of announcements without having to provide information related to the user at any of the times that a single activation is accepted and without having to provide information for identifying the announcements to which reply is made by making the sequence of single activations.

498. The method of claim 497, wherein the at least four activations are identical.

499. A server system for interacting with audio, video, and audio-visual announcements, the system comprising:

a storage medium that stores announcement-related information units and optionally user-specific information for multiple users, each announcement-related information unit has an associated announcement in a sequence of announcements, each announcement has an associated announcement identifier that is a basis for identifying the announcement-related information unit associated with the announcement;

a user interface module that is to receive a sequence of announcement identifiers and optionally a sequence of user identifiers, each announcement identifier optionally has an associated user identifier, the sequence of announcement identifiers is received as a consequence of a sequence of single activations being performed, each announcement identifier has its own associated single activation, each single activation is indicative of a reply to an associated announcement in the sequence of announcements, and the sequence of single activations includes at least two activations indicative of at least two of the following four reply types;

b1) an acceptance of an offer for an item;

b2) an acceptance of an offer for a service;

b3) an acceptance of an offer for an alert message; and

b4) a reply to a query; and

for each announcement identifier, a reply processing module is to retrieve the associated announcement-related information unit and optionally user-specific information for the user identified by the user identifier associated with the announcement identifier, and use the retrieved information to respond to the reply indicated by the associated single activation that was the cause of the announcement identifier being received by the user interface module.

500. The system of claim 499, wherein the sequence of announcement identifiers includes a first announcement identifier and a second announcement identifier associated with a first announcement and a second announcement, respectively, in the sequence of announcements, the first announcement identifier and the second identifier are received as a consequence of a first single activation and a second activation, respectively, and the reply processing module, in response to receipt of the first announcement identifier and the second announcement identifier, respectively, is to place an order for a first announcement item described in the first announcement and placing an order for a second announcement service described in the second announcement.

501. The system of claim 499, wherein the first announcement identifier has an associated first user identifier, the first announcement item is a song in digital format and the reply processing module is to send the song to a communications device of the user identified by the first user identifier.

502. The system of claim 499, wherein the user interface module is to send at least one markup language document to a device from which the user interface module receives at least one of the announcement identifiers in the sequence of announcement of identifiers.

503. The system of claim 502, wherein the at least one markup language document includes the at least one announcement identifier, and the at least one announcement identifier is received by the user interface module as a consequence of at least one single activation in the sequence of single activations.

504. A server system for interacting with audio, video, and audio-visual announcements, the system comprising:

a storage medium that stores announcement-related information units and optionally user-specific information for multiple users, each announcement-related information unit has an associated announcement in a sequence of announcements, each announcement has an associated announcement identifier that is a basis for identifying the announcement-related information unit associated with the announcement;

a user interface module that is to receive a sequence of announcement identifiers and optionally a sequence of user identifiers, each announcement identifier optionally has an associated user identifier, the sequence of announcement identifiers is received as a consequence of a sequence of single activations being performed, each announcement identifier has its own associated single activation, each single activation is indicative of a reply to an associated announcement in the sequence of announcements, and the sequence of single activations includes at least three activations indicative of at least three of the following four reply types;

b1) an acceptance of an offer for an item;

b2) an acceptance of an offer for a service;

b3) an acceptance of an offer for an alert message; and

b4) a reply to a query; and

for each announcement identifier, a reply processing module is to retrieve the associated announcement-related information unit and optionally user-specific information for the user identified by the user identifier associated with the announcement identifier, and use the retrieved information to respond to the reply indicated by the associated single activation that was the cause of the announcement identifier being received by the user interface module.

505. The system of claim 504, wherein the at least three activations are identical.

506. A server system for interacting with audio, video, and audio-visual announcements, the system comprising:

a storage medium that stores announcement-related information units and optionally user-specific information for multiple users, each announcement-related information unit has an associated announcement in a sequence of announcements, each announcement has an associated announcement identifier that is a basis for identifying the announcement-related information unit associated with the announcement;

a user interface module that is to receive a sequence of announcement identifiers and optionally a sequence of user identifiers, each announcement identifier optionally has an associated user identifier, the sequence of announcement identifiers is received as a consequence of a sequence of single activations being performed, each announcement identifier has its own associated single activation, each single activation is indicative of a reply to an associated announcement in the sequence of announcements, and the sequence of single activations includes at least four activations indicative of the following four reply types;

b1) an acceptance of an offer for an item;

b2) an acceptance of an offer for a service;

b3) an acceptance of an offer for an alert message; and

b4) a reply to a query; and

for each announcement identifier, a reply processing module is to retrieve the associated announcement-related information unit and optionally user-specific information for the user identified by the user identifier associated with the announcement identifier, and use the retrieved information to respond to the reply indicated by the associated single activation that was the cause of the announcement identifier being received by the user interface module.

507. The system of claim 506, wherein the at least four activations are identical.

508. A method of providing interactivity audio, video, and audio-visual announcements using a server system, the method comprising:

a user interface module that is to receive a sequence of announcement identifiers and optionally a sequence of user identifiers, each announcement identifier optionally has an associated user identifier, the sequence of announcement identifiers is received as a consequence of a sequence of single activations being performed, each announcement identifier has its own associated single activation, each single activation is indicative of a reply to an associated announcement in a sequence of announcements, and the sequence of single activations includes at least two activations indicative of at least two of the following four reply types;

b1) an acceptance of an offer for an item;

b2) an acceptance of an offer for a service;

b3) an acceptance of an offer for an alert message; and

b4) a reply to a query; and

for each announcement identifier, a reply processing module is to retrieve from storage an announcement-related information unit identified by the announcement identifier and optionally user-specific information for the user identified by the user identifier associated with the announcement identifier, and use the retrieved information to respond to the reply indicated by the associated single activation that was the cause of the announcement identifier being received by the user interface module.

509. The method of claim 508, wherein the sequence of announcement identifiers includes a first announcement identifier and a second announcement identifier associated with a first announcement and a second announcement, respectively, in the sequence of announcements, the first announcement identifier and the second identifier are received as a consequence of a first single activation and a second single activation, respectively, further comprising the reply processing module, in response to receipt of the first announcement identifier and the second announcement identifier, respectively, placing an order for a first announcement item described in the first announcement and placing an order for a second announcement service described in the second announcement.

510. The system of claim 509, wherein the first announcement identifier has an associated first user identifier, and the first announcement item is a song in digital format, further comprising the reply processing module sending the song to a communications device of the user identified by the first user identifier.

511. The system of claim 508, further comprising the user interface module sending at least one markup language document to a device from which the user interface module receives at least one of the announcement identifiers in the sequence of announcement of identifiers.

512. The method of claim 511, wherein the at least one markup language document includes the at least one announcement identifier, and the at least one announcement identifier received by the user interface module as a consequence of at least one single activation in the sequence of single activations.

513. A method of providing interactivity audio, video, and audio-visual announcements using a server system, the method comprising:

a user interface module that is to receive a sequence of announcement identifiers and optionally a sequence of user identifiers, each announcement identifier optionally has an associated user identifier, the sequence of announcement identifiers is received as a consequence of a sequence of single activations being performed, each announcement identifier has its own associated single activation, each single activation is indicative of a reply to an associated announcement in a sequence of announcements, and the sequence of single activations includes at least three activations indicative of three of the following four reply types;

b1) an acceptance of an offer for an item;

b2) an acceptance of an offer for a service;

b3) an acceptance of an offer for an alert message; and

b4) a reply to a query; and

for each announcement identifier, a reply processing module is to retrieve from storage an announcement-related information unit identified by the announcement identifier and optionally user-specific information for the user identified by the user identifier associated with the announcement identifier, and use the retrieved information to respond to the reply indicated by the associated single activation that was the cause of the announcement identifier being received by the user interface module.

514. The method of claim 513, wherein the at least three activations are identical.

515. A method of providing interactivity audio, video, and audio-visual announcements using a server system, the method comprising:

a user interface module that is to receive a sequence of announcement identifiers and optionally a sequence of user identifiers, each announcement identifier optionally has an associated user identifier, the sequence of announcement identifiers is received as a consequence of a sequence of single activations being performed, each announcement identifier has its own associated single activation, each single activation is indicative of a reply to an associated announcement in a sequence of announcements, and the sequence of single activations includes at least four activations indicative of the following four reply types;

b1) an acceptance of an offer for an item;

b2) an acceptance of an offer for a service;

b3) an acceptance of an offer for an alert message; and

b4) a reply to a query; and

for each announcement identifier, a reply processing module is to retrieve from storage an announcement-related information unit identified by the announcement identifier and optionally user-specific information for the user identified by the user identifier associated with the announcement identifier, and use the retrieved information to respond to the reply indicated by the associated single activation that was the cause of the announcement identifier being received by the user interface module.

516. The method of claim 515, wherein the at least four activations are identical.

517. A method of producing multiple virtual programming channels from a programming delivery channel, the method comprising:

defining a set of programming items that are to be broadcast on the multiple virtual programming channels, wherein each programming item has an associated broadcast item identifier;

transmitting each of the programming items and its associated broadcast item identifier on the programming delivery channel;

transmitting, on the programming delivery channel, for each of the multiple virtual programming channels, an associated schedule, the associated schedule including a sequence of broadcast item identifiers, the sequence defines the order in which programming items from the set of programming items is to be presented.

518. The method of claim 517, further comprising transmitting on the programming delivery channel a voice track for at least one of the multiple virtual programming channels.

519. The method of claim 517, wherein the set of programming items includes advertisements.

520. The method of claim 517, wherein each of at least two of the programming items in the set of programming items have an associated type identifier, further comprising:

transmitting, on the programming delivery channel, the associated type identifier for each of the at least two of the programming items, the associated type identifier is a basis for determining whether to replace a programming item in a schedule with a programming item with a type identifier that is permitted by a user preference profile.

521. A method of producing multiple personalized virtual programming channels from a programming delivery channel, the method comprising:

defining a set of programming items that are to be broadcast on the multiple personalized virtual programming channels, wherein each programming item has an associated type identifier, the associated type identifier is to be a basis for determining whether to select the associated programming item for presentation to a user;

transmitting each of the programming items and its associated type identifier on the programming delivery channel;

transmitting, on the programming delivery channel, for each of the multiple virtual programming channels, an associated schedule, the associated schedule including a sequence of broadcast item identifiers, the sequence defines the order in which programming items from the set of programming items is to be presented.

522. The method of claim 521, further comprising transmitting on the programming delivery channel a voice track for at least one of the multiple personalized virtual programming channels.

523. The method of claim 521 wherein the set of programming items includes advertisements.

524. A method of allowing a user to interact with a sequence of items of broadcast programming, the method comprising:

defining a set of programming items that are broadcast on multiple channels, wherein each programming item has an associated item identifier;

providing a set of copies of the programming items in a temporary storage that is adapted to be coupled to a device that is to select one of the copies of the programming items in response to a user activation made during presentation of one of the programming items, the activation indicative of a request for the one of the programming items.

525. A method of allowing a user to interact with a sequence of items of broadcast programming, being presented by a broadcast reception unit, by making a sequence of activations, wherein each of the items of broadcast programming has at least one associated item identifier that is a basis for identifying an associated copy of the item of broadcast programming, the copy of the item of broadcast programming is a basis for a response to the associated single activation that is indicative of a request by the user to obtain the associated item of broadcast programming, the method comprising:

defining a set of programming items that are broadcast on multiple channels, wherein each programming item is broadcast along with an associated broadcast item identifier;

transmitting on a first channel a set of copies of the programming items;

transmitting along with each copy of a programming item an associated item identifier, wherein the associated item identifier for each copy of a programming item matches the associated broadcast item identifier for each programming item.

526. A method of allowing a user to interact with a sequence of items of programming, being presented by a communications device, by making a sequence of activations, wherein each item of programming in the sequence of items has an associated copy of the item of programming, the associated copy of the item of broadcast programming is a basis for a response to an associated activation that is indicative of a request, by the user, to obtain the associated item of programming, the method comprising:

storing in a storage medium copies of items of programming, the copies of items of programming include a copy of a first item of programming that is associated with a first item of programming;

accepting a first activation indicative of a request for the first item of programming that is being presented;

associating with the first activation a first activation identifier;

identifying, based upon the first activation identifier, in the storage medium, the copy of the first item of programming; and

providing access to the copy of a first item of programming.

527. The method of claim 526, further comprising generating a representation of the time at which the first activation is accepted.

528. The method of claim 527, further comprising determining an indication of a channel to which the broadcast reception unit is tuned when the first item of programming is being presented, wherein the first activation identifier is based upon the representation of the time and the indication of a channel.

529. The method of claim 528, further comprising sending the first activation identifier to a server.

530. The method of claim 527, further comprising:

receiving a programming schedule that includes programming identifiers including a first item identifier;

indexing, based upon the first activation identifier, into the programming schedule to identify the first item identifier; and

wherein identifying the copy of the first item includes using the first item identifier to find the copy of the first item.

531. The method of claim 530, further comprising sending one of the first item identifier and the first activation identifier to a server.

532. The method of claim 526, further comprising:

receiving a first item identifier that is associated with the first item and that matches a stored first item identifier that is stored along with the copy of the first item; and

wherein associating with the first activation includes basing the first activation identifier on the first item identifier.

533. The method of claim 532, further comprising sending the first item identifier to a server.

534. The method of claim 526, wherein providing access includes assigning digital rights management attributes to the copy of the first item.

535. The method of claim 526, further comprising providing access includes transferring the copy of the first item to a second communications device.

536. The method of claim 526, further comprising waiting to receive the copy of the first item of programming when the copy of the first item of programming is not in the storage medium.

537. The method of claim 536, further comprising receiving, for storage in the storage medium, the copy of the first item of programming.

538. The method of claim 536, further comprising sending to a server a request for the copy of the first item.

539. The method of claim 526, further comprising sending to a server the first activation identifier.

540. The method of claim 526, wherein providing access includes assigning a first set of digital rights management attributes to the copy of the first item, further comprising transferring to a second communications device a second copy of the first item, the second copy of the first item has a second set of digital rights management attributes.

541. The method of claim 540, wherein the first set of digital rights management attributes permits unlimited playback and the second set of digital rights management attributes permits limited playback.

542. The method of claim 541, obtaining a license for the second copy of the first item provided to the second device, wherein the second set of digital rights management attributes is upgraded to unlimited playback when the license is obtained.

543. The method of claim 540, further comprising granting a credit to the first device for providing to the second device the copy of the first item.

544. The method of claim 543, further comprising redeeming the credit to offset a cost of a purchase.

545. The method of claim 544, wherein the purchase is a copy of a second item of programming.

546. The method of claim 540, further comprising granting a credit to the second device for obtaining from the first device the copy of the first item.

547. The method of claim 540, wherein the second set of digital rights management attributes are complete rights when one of an account on the first communications device and an account on the second communications device can be debited by a price associated with the copy of the first item.

548. The method of claim 540, wherein the second set of digital rights management attributes are incomplete rights when one of an account on the first communications device and an account on the second communications device cannot be debited by a price associated with the copy of the first item.

549. The method of claim 526, wherein storing includes providing a copy of at least one item of programming so that the copy of the at least one item of programming is available in event of the at least one item of programming, being presented by the broadcast reception unit, is requested.

550. The method of claim 549, wherein providing a copy of at least one item of programming includes pre-storing the copy of at least one item of programming so that it is available at a time of sale for the device.

551. The method of claim 526, wherein storing includes receiving for storage a copy of at least one item of programming.

552. A method of allowing a user using a communications device to interact with a sequence of items of broadcast programming, being presented by a broadcast reception unit, by making a sequence of activations, wherein each of the items of broadcast programming has at least one associated item identifier that is a basis for identifying an associated copy of the item of broadcast programming, the associated copy of the item of broadcast programming is a basis for a response to the associated activation that is indicative of a request by the user to obtain the associated item of broadcast programming, the method comprising:

providing in a storage medium copies of items of programming in anticipation of the items of programming being presented by the broadcast reception unit, the copies of items of programming include a copy of a first item of programming that corresponds to a first item of programming;

accepting a first activation indicative of a request for the first item of programming that is being presented;

associating with the first activation a first activation identifier;

identifying, based upon the first activation identifier, in the storage medium, the copy of a first item of programming; and

providing access to the copy of a first item of programming.

553. A method of allowing a user to interact with a sequence of items of programming, being presented by an audio, visual, or audio-visual device, by making a sequence of activations, wherein each of the items of programming has an associated item identifier that is a basis for identifying the associated item of programming in a temporary storage, the associated item of programming is a basis for a response to the associated activation that is indicative of a request by the user to obtain the associated item of programming, the method comprising:

providing in a storage medium the items of programming in anticipation of the items of programming being presented by the device, the items of programming include a first item of programming;

presenting the sequence of items of programming;

accepting a first activation indicative of a request for the first item of programming that is being presented;

associating with the first activation a first item identifier;

identifying, based upon the first item identifier, in the storage medium, the first item of programming; and

providing access to the first item of programming.

554. A method of inviting an audience member experiencing broadcast programming to request subject matter described in an announcement to be broadcast even when the audience member is in an environment in which it would be difficult to interact with a communications device used to request the subject matter, the method comprising:

describing in the announcement to be broadcast a first subject matter regarding which a request can be made, wherein the first subject matter is one of the following three different types a) provision of a service b) provision of material c) provision of an alert message;

including in the announcement an invitation to the audience member to request the first subject matter by performing at a communications device an action, when the first subject matter is of a second type in the three different types, the first subject matter is requested by performing the same action at the communications device even though the second type is different from the first type; and

wherein the action is a complete request for the first subject matter and does not include entering personal information which includes at least one of a personal identifier, address, and method of payment.

555. The method of claim 554, wherein the movement is tracked visually and is due to one of a computer mouse cursor, trackball, a keyboard key, and a light pen.

556. The method of claim 554, wherein the provision of an alert message includes sending the audience member an alert regarding future programming.

557. The method of claim 556, wherein the alert indicates the starting time of the future programming.

558. The method of claim 556, wherein the alert includes an instruction to a broadcast reception device to switch channels, when necessary, to a channel providing the future programming.

559. The method of claim 554, further comprising describing in the invitation the action as one of activating a single button, entering a code, and issuing a voice command.

560. The method of claim 554, further comprising specifying a code to be entered at the communications device and wherein the invitation includes entering the code in its description of the action.

561. The method of claim 554, wherein the communications device is a broadcast reception device.

562. The method of claim 561, wherein the broadcast reception device is a radio.

563. The method of claim 554, wherein the communications device is a broadcast reception device and the at least two different types of announcements includes a material provision announcement inviting the audience member to request material which is broadcast to the communications device.

564. The method of claim 563, wherein the material is at least one of text, audio, images, video, executable code, and data.

565. The method of claim 564, wherein the material is an electronic newspaper.

566. The method of claim 564, wherein the material is a weather map.

567. The method of claim 564, wherein the material is traffic information.

568. The method of claim 563, wherein the material is broadcast irrespective of the audience member'"'"'s request.

569. The method of claim 563, wherein the request causes the broadcast reception device to store the material in temporary storage.

570. The method of claim 569, wherein the request also causes the BRD to retrieve the material from a broadcast signal.

571. The method of claim 569, wherein the request causes the broadcast reception device to highlight the material requested relative to other material stored in temporary storage.

572. The method of claim 571, wherein highlighting includes associating with the material an indication that the audience member had expressed an interest in the material.

573. The method of claim 554, wherein the at least two different types of announcements includes a material provision announcement inviting the audience member to request material to be sent to a communications device.

574. The method of claim 573, wherein the material is sent to the communications device via a broadcast reception device.

575. The method of claim 574, wherein the broadcast reception device is a radio.

576. The method of claim 573, wherein the material is sent from a server to the communications via a wireless network.

577. The method of claim 573, wherein the communications device is a one of a cell phone and a wireless PDA.

578. The method of claim 554, wherein the wherein the least two types of announcements include a service announcement inviting the audience member to request to have the communications device programmed.

579. The method of claim 578, wherein programming the communications device includes programming the communications device to record an item of programming.

580. The method of claim 578, wherein programming the communications devices includes setting the communications device to tune to at least one channel during at least one period of the day.

581. The method of claim 578, wherein programming the communications device includes sending information from the communications device to a server.

582. The method of claim 578, wherein programming the communications device includes executing code received from a second server in response to the request to have the communications device programmed.

583. The method of claim 578, wherein programming the communications device includes sending from the communications device to a second server at least one of listening habit information and audience member personal information.

584. The method of claim 554, wherein the least two types of announcements include a service announcement inviting the audience member to request to have an action performed.

585. The method of claim 584, wherein the action performed is being called by a person to discuss information based on the subject matter of the announcement.

586. The method of claim 554, wherein the action acts as a complete reply that does not require the audience member to provide information to a user interface for the communications device each time the action is performed.

587. The method of claim 586, wherein even when the audience member switches from the channel on which the announcement was received to another channel immediately after performing the action the communications device consistently and properly processes the action to satisfy the audience member'"'"'s reply.

588. The method of claim 554, wherein the even when the audience member switches from the channel on which the announcement was received to another channel immediately after performing the action the communications device consistently and properly processes the action to satisfy the audience member'"'"'s reply.

589. The method of claim 554, wherein performing the action is activating at least one button, entering a code, or issuing a voice command.

590. The method of claim 554, wherein in response to the action, the communications device performs at least one of the following steps:

(a) sends a first indication of the action to a server; and

(b) retrieves the subject matter from a broadcast signal based on a second indication of the action.

591. The method of claim 590, wherein the first indication is the same as the second indication.

592. The method of claim 591, wherein the first indication is at least one of a) a time stamp of the time at which the action was performed, b) an indication of a channel to which a broadcast reception device is tuned when the announcement is received, c) substantially an indication of the geographic location of a broadcaster broadcasting the announcement, and d) an announcement identifier.

593. The method of claim 592, wherein substantially the indication of the geographic location of the broadcaster is the audience member'"'"'s geographic location.

594. The method of claim 592, wherein in response to the action the communications device determines substantially the indication of the geographic location of the broadcaster.

595. The method of claim 590, wherein the communications device includes a broadcast reception device which receives an announcement identifier in a second broadcast signal, the second indication of the action is the announcement identifier, and in response to the action the broadcast reception device retrieves the subject matter.

596. The method of claim 590, wherein the communications device retrieves the subject matter by instructing a separate broadcast reception device to capture the subject matter from the broadcast signal.

597. The method of claim 554, wherein the subject matter is an alert message.

598. The method of claim 597, wherein the alert message is a reminder to the audience member to perform an act.

599. The method of claim 598, wherein the act is one of the act of voting and sending a birthday card.

600. The method of claim 554, wherein the description of the subject matter is an integral part of the announcement.

601. The method of claim 554, wherein the description of the subject matter is an overlay to the announcement.

602. The method of claim 554, wherein the announcement is partly verbal.

603. The method of claim 554, wherein the announcement is partly visual.

604. The method of claim 554, further comprising indicating in the announcement that the subject matter is delivered to a postal address.

605. The method of claim 554, further comprising indicating in the announcement that the subject matter is delivered to an email address.

606. The method of claim 554, further comprising indicating in the announcement that the subject matter is delivered to the communications device.

607. The method of claim 554, wherein in response to the action the communications device determines an indication to the action.

608. The method of claim 607, wherein determining an indication to the action includes determining an indication of the channel to which a broadcast reception device is tuned when receiving the announcement.

609. The method of claim 608, wherein the communications device and the broadcast reception device are an integrated device.

610. The method of claim 608, wherein determining the indication of the channel includes detecting a frequency of an oscillator in the broadcast reception device.

611. The method of claim 608, wherein determining the indication of the channel includes a) transmitting on multiple frequencies a channel identification signal that is received, demodulated and presented by the broadcast reception device via speakers and b) detecting a reflected signal presented via the speakers.

612. The method of claim 608, wherein in response to the action the communications device sends the indication of the channel to a server.

613. The method of claim 608, wherein in response to the action the communications device sends an indication of the time at which the action was performed to a server.

614. The method of claim 554, wherein the announcement includes streaming audio that is transmitted from servers over a network.

615. The method of claim 614, wherein the streaming audio is transmitted in non-synchronized streams to two or more audience members.

616. The method of claim 614, wherein the announcement includes streaming video.

617. The method of claim 614, wherein the network is the Internet.

618. A method of inviting an audience member experiencing broadcast programming to reply to subject matter described in an announcement that is broadcast even when the audience member is in an environment in which it would be difficult to interact with a communications device used to reply to the subject matter, the method comprising:

describing in an announcement to be broadcast a subject matter regarding which a reply can be sent;

including in the announcement an invitation to perform at a communications device an action which acts as a reply to the subject matter of the announcement and causes the communications device to perform at least two of the following steps;

a) determine an indication of the time at which the action was performed;

b) determine an indication of a channel to which a first broadcast reception device is tuned when receiving the announcement;

c) determine substantially a geographic location which allows the transmission source of the announcement to be determined; and

d) retrieve from storage an announcement identifier identifying the announcement and received in a first broadcast signal before the action was performed;

e) send the announcement identifier to a server;

f) instruct a second broadcast reception device to retrieve, based on the announcement identifier, from a second broadcast signal the subject matter of the announcement;

g) send the indication of the time to a server; and

h) send the indication of a channel to the server.

619. The method of claim 618, wherein the action is used to reply to the subject matter for at least two different types of announcements which include at least two of a service announcement, material provision announcement, and alert message announcement.

620. The method of claim 618, wherein the first broadcast reception device and the second broadcast reception device are the same.

621. The method of claim 618, wherein the communications device and the first broadcast reception device are one integrated device.

622. The method of claim 618, wherein the first broadcast signal and the second broadcast signal are not separate signals.

623. The method of claim 618, wherein the announcement identifier is a time period.

624. The method of claim 618, wherein the announcement includes streaming audio that is transmitted from servers over a network.

625. The method of claim 624, wherein the streaming audio is transmitted in non-synchronized streams to two or more audience members.

626. The method of claim 618, wherein the announcement includes streaming video.

627. The method of claim 618, wherein the network is the Internet.

628. A method of inviting an audience member experiencing broadcast programming to reply to subject matter described in an announcement that is broadcast even when the audience member is in an environment in which it would be difficult to interact with a communications device used to reply to the subject matter, the method comprising:

describing in an announcement to be broadcast a subject matter regarding which a reply can be sent;

including in the announcement an invitation to perform at a communications device an action which acts as a reply to the subject matter of the announcement and causes the communications device to perform at least two of the following steps;

a) determine an indication of the time at which the action was performed;

b) determine an indication of a channel to which a first broadcast reception device is tuned when receiving the announcement;

c) determine substantially the geographic location of the transmission source of the announcement; and

d) retrieve from storage an announcement identifier identifying the announcement and received in a first broadcast signal before the action was performed;

e) send the announcement identifier to a server;

f) instruct a second broadcast reception device to retrieve, based on the announcement identifier, from a second broadcast signal the subject matter of the announcement;

g) send the indication of the time to a server; and

h) send the indication of a channel to the server; and

wherein the action is used to reply to the subject matter for at least two different types of announcements which include at least two of a service announcement, material provision announcement, and alert message announcement.

629. A method of inviting an audience member experiencing broadcast programming to reply to subject matter described in an announcement that is broadcast even when the audience member is in an environment in which it would be difficult to interact with a communications device used to reply to the subject matter, the method comprising:

describing in an announcement to be broadcast a subject matter regarding which a reply can be sent;

including in the announcement an invitation to perform at a communications device an action which is used to reply to the subject matter for at least two different types of announcements which include at least two of a service announcement, material provision announcement, and alert message announcement; and

wherein the reply is faithfully executed without the audience member having to provide personal information each time the action is performed.

631. A method of disseminating an announcement facilitating interactivity with broadcast programming, wherein the announcement invites an audience member experiencing broadcast programming to reply to subject matter described in the announcement even when the audience member is in an environment in which it would be difficult to interact with a communications device used to reply to the subject matter, the method comprising:

receiving at a transmission system an announcement to be broadcast that describes a subject matter regarding which a reply can be sent, the announcement including an invitation to perform at a communications device an action which is used to reply to the subject matter for at least two different types of announcements which include at least two of a service announcement, material provision announcement, and alert message announcement; and

transmitting the announcement to at least one audience member.

632. The method of claim 631, wherein the announcement includes streaming audio that is transmitted from servers over a network.

633. The method of claim 632, wherein the streaming audio is transmitted in non-synchronized streams to two or more audience members.

634. The method of claim 631, wherein the announcement includes streaming video.

635. A method of satisfying a request for a subject matter described in a broadcast announcement in an environment in which it would be difficult to interact with a communications device used to request the subject matter, the method comprising:

providing to a server, subject matter information that is used to satisfy a request for a first subject matter, wherein the first subject matter information includes one of;

a. subject matter related material for delivery to an audience member;

b. an alert message for delivery to an audience member;

c. an indicator of a service to perform; and

wherein when the first subject matter is of a first type that is one of the following three different subject matter types, a) provision of a service, b) provision of material, c) and provision of an alert message, the first subject matter is to be requested by performing an action at a communications device;

when the first subject matter is of a second type in the three different types, the first subject matter is to be requested by performing the same action at the communications device, the second type is different from the first type, and the action is a complete request for the first subject matter and does not include entering personal information that includes at least one of a personal identifier, address, and method of payment; and

defining a delivery condition for the first subject matter, so that when the delivery condition is satisfied the requests are fulfilled.

636. The method of claim 635, wherein the subject matter information allows the action to be performed by the audience member without having to track on a display movement and character entry by the audience member.

637. The method of claim 635, wherein the action is to be performed by the audience member without having to track on a display movement and character entry by the audience member.

638. The method of claim 637, wherein the movement is tracked visually and is due to one of a computer mouse cursor, trackball, a keyboard key, and a light pen

639. The method of claim 635, wherein providing the subject matter information includes providing a time period in which the request for the first subject matter is to be made in order for the request to be satisfied, in response to the action the communications device is to produce a device action indicator which includes a time stamp that is substantially the time that the action was performed, and, when the time stamp is between the time period, the action and the action device indicator are considered to be a request for the first the first subject matter.

640. The method of claim 635, further comprising assigning an announcement identifier to the first subject matter.

642. The method of claim 635, wherein the broadcast announcement is a radio announcement.

643. The method of claim 635, wherein irrespective of which of the three different types the first subject matter is, the first subject matter is requested by performing the same action at the communications device.

644. The method of claim 635, wherein providing the subject matter information includes providing at least one of the subject matter related material and a location of the subject matter related material.

645. The method of claim 644, wherein the subject matter related material is instructions for providing at least one of a service, tangible material, and material in electronic form.

646. The method of claim 644, wherein the location is a physical address.

647. The method of claim 644, wherein the location is an address associated with a mass storage device.

648. The method of claim 644, wherein the location is an indicator of a service which is to be performed to satisfy the request.

649. The method of claim 644, wherein the subject matter related material is an electronic file.

650. The method of claim 649, wherein the electronic file is at least one of still images, text, audio, video, code, and data.

651. The method of claim 644, wherein the subject matter related material is an alert message.

652. The method of claim 651, wherein the alert message includes an alert text

653. The method of claim 651, wherein the delivery condition is an alert condition for the alert message, the alert message is presented when the alert condition is satisfied.

654. The method of claim 653, wherein the alert message is presented one of visually, aurally, and audiovisually.

655. The method of claim 651, wherein the alert message includes an instruction to a broadcast reception device.

656. The method of claim 655, wherein the instruction to the broadcast reception device is an instruction to change channels.

657. The method of claim 655, wherein the instruction to the broadcast reception device is to record an item of programming.

658. The method of claim 644, wherein the subject matter related material is a tangible item.

659. The method of claim 635, wherein providing the subject matter information includes providing payment conditions including price.

660. The method of claim 635, wherein providing includes specifying a service provider to which information based on the requests from audience members is to be forwarded.

661. The method of claim 670, wherein the service provider provides the requested service which is the subject matter of the announcement.

662. The method of claim 661, wherein specifying the service provider includes defining an electronic address to which the information is to be forwarded.

663. The method of claim 644, wherein providing the subject matter related material includes uploading to the server an electronic file.

664. The method of claim 644, wherein providing the subject matter related material includes providing one of optical and magnetic storage including the subject matter related material for uploading to the server.

665. The method of claim 644, wherein providing the subject matter related material includes entering at a terminal coupled to the server subject matter related material.

666. The method of claim 635, wherein the delivery condition is satisfied when a command is issued indicating that the requests are to be fulfilled.

667. The method of claim 666, further comprising issuing the command.

668. The method of claim 635, wherein the delivery condition is satisfied when a predetermined time arrives.

669. The method of claim 635, wherein defining the delivery condition includes indicating whether the communications device is to determine whether the delivery condition is satisfied.

670. The method of claim 635, wherein defining the delivery condition includes indicating whether the server is to determine whether the delivery condition is satisfied.

671. The method of claim 635, wherein defining a delivery condition includes specifying immediate delivery.

672. The method of claim 635, wherein immediate delivery is specified by not specifying any conditions.

673. A method of satisfying a request for subject matter described in a broadcast announcement, the method comprising:

defining for a server a delivery condition for material related to the subject matter of the broadcast announcement so that when the delivery condition is satisfied the request is fulfilled, wherein the request is invited in the broadcast announcement and the request is to be made by performing at a first communications device an action that results in one of a device action indicator and an announcement identifier becoming available at the first communications device; and

wherein the server is to perform one of the following steps;

a) sending to the first communications device the material related to the subject matter when the device action indicator is received from the first communications device;

b) sending the material to the first communications device at which the request was made even when the server does not receive a device action indicator from the first communications device;

c) sending the announcement identifier which identifies the announcement to the first communications device, and when information based on the announcement identifier is received from the first communications device, sending the material related to the subject matter to the first communications device;

d) sending the material to the first communications device at which the request was made even when the server does not receive the announcement identifier from the first communications device; and

defining for the server whether the server or a second communications device determines satisfaction of the delivery condition.

674. The method of claim 673, wherein, when the second communications device is defined as determining satisfaction of the delivery condition, the server is to send the delivery condition to the second communications device.

675. The method of claim 674, wherein the first communications device is a broadcast reception device that is to receive the condition and the material related to the subject matter from the server.

676. The method of claim 675, wherein the broadcast reception device is also the second communications device, and the request is fulfilled when the broadcast reception device both a) determines that the delivery condition is satisfied and b) performs a broadcast reception device-based action.

677. The method of claim 676, wherein the broadcast reception device based-action is based upon the material related to the subject matter.

678. The method of claim 676, wherein the broadcast reception device is to receive the material and the condition without sending one of the announcement identifier and the device action indicator to the server.

679. The method of claim 674, wherein the second communications device is a two-way data communications device and the first communications device is a broadcast reception device, the broadcast reception device is to provide the material related to the subject matter and the condition to the data communications device, and the request is fulfilled when the data communications device both a) determines that the delivery condition is satisfied and b) performs an action based upon the material related to the subject matter.

680. The method of claim 679, wherein the data communications device is a cell phone.

681. The method of claim 679, wherein the broadcast reception device is to receive the material and the condition without sending one of the announcement identifier and the device action indicator to the server.

682. The method of claim 674, wherein the first communications device is a two-way data communications device that a) is to receive the announcement identifier from a broadcast reception device, b) is to send one of the announcement identifier and the device action indicator to the server, and c) in response to sending one of the announcement identifier and the device action indicator to the server, is to receive the material and the condition from the server.

683. The method of claim 682, wherein the broadcast reception device is the second communications device, the broadcast reception device is to receive the material and the condition from the server, and the request is fulfilled when the data communications device both a) determines that the condition is satisfied and b) performs a communications device-based action.

684. The method of claim 682, wherein the two-way data communications device is also the second communications device, and the request is fulfilled when the data communications device both a) determines that the condition is satisfied and b) performs a communications device-based action.

685. The method of claim 684, wherein the device-based action is presenting information based on the material.

686. The method of claim 684, wherein the device-based action is executing code included in the material.

687. The method of claim 684, wherein the device-based action is to provide information based on the material to an application on the data communications device.

688. The method of claim 673, wherein when the server is to determine satisfaction of the delivery condition the server is to send the material related to the subject matter to the first communications device as a consequence of determining that the delivery condition is satisfied.

689. The method of claim 688, wherein the request is fulfilled when the server sends the material related to the subject matter to the first communications device.

690. The method of claim 688, wherein the first communications device is a broadcast reception device.

691. The method of claim 690, wherein the broadcast reception device receives the material without sending one of the announcement identifier and the device action indication to the server.

692. The method of claim 690, wherein the broadcast reception device is to send one of the announcement identifier and the device action indication to a two-way data communications device which is to send one of the announcement identifier and the device action indication to the server, and the data communications device is to receive from the server the material.

693. The method of claim 688, wherein the first communications device is a two-way data communications device

694. The method of claim 693, wherein the data communications device is a cell phone.

695. The method of claim 693, wherein the data communications device communicates with the server by way of a wireless network device.

696. The method of claim 695, wherein the wireless network device is a cell phone.

697. The method of claim 693, wherein the data communications device receives the announcement identifier from a broadcast reception device and sends the announcement identifier to the server in order to receive the material.

698. The method of claim 693, wherein the data communications device a) generates the device action indicator by requesting an indication of a channel to which a broadcast reception device is tuned when it is receiving the announcement, and b) sends the device action indicator to the server in order to receive the material.

699. The method of claim 693, wherein the data communications device is to provide the material to a broadcast reception device.

700. The method of claim 699, wherein the data communications device is to provide an instruction to the broadcast reception device to change channels.

701. The method of claim 699, wherein the material includes an instruction to the broadcast reception device to change channels.

702. The method of claim 699, further comprising issuing a command to present the material before the delivery condition is satisfied.

703. The method of claim 702, wherein issuing the command is to cause the server to send the material to the first communications device, and the request is fulfilled upon sending the material.

704. The method of claim 702, wherein issuing the command is to cause the server to send the command to the second communications device.

705. The method of claim 704, wherein the second communications device is also the first communications device which is a broadcast reception device.

706. The method of claim 704, wherein the second communications device is also the first communications device which is a two-way data communications device.

707. The method of claim 706, wherein the two-way data communications device receives an announcement identifier from a broadcast reception device

708. The method of claim 704, wherein the second communications device is a two-way data communications device, the first communications device is a broadcast reception device that sends the command and the material to the data communications device.

709. The method of claim 673, wherein the delivery condition is a command condition which is satisfied when a command is issued indicating that the request is to be fulfilled.

710. The method of claim 673, wherein the delivery condition is a time condition which is satisfied- by the arrival of a predetermined time.

711. The method of claim 710, further comprising assigning, at a certain time, to the time condition a time which is within 2 minutes of the certain time.

712. The method of claim 710, further comprising assigning, at a certain time, to the time condition a time which is within 2 hours of the certain time.

713. The method of claim 673, further comprising defining a second delivery condition.

714. The method of claim 713, further comprising issuing a command to satisfy the second delivery condition before the first delivery condition is satisfied

715. The method of claim 713, wherein the second delivery condition is satisfied by issuance of a command.

716. The method of claim 713, wherein the second delivery condition is never satisfied.

717. A method of satisfying a request made regarding subject matter described in a broadcast announcement which is a part of broadcast programming, the method comprising:

providing to a server, a first broadcast announcement'"'"'s subject matter information that is used to satisfy a request for a first subject matter, wherein the first broadcast announcement'"'"'s subject matter information includes one of;

a. subject matter related material for delivery to an audience member;

b. an alert message for delivery to an audience member;

c. an indicator of a service to perform; and

wherein when the first subject matter is of a first type selected from the following three different subject matter types, a) provision of a service, b) provision of material, c) and provision of an alert message, the first subject matter is requested by performing an action at a communications device,

when the first subject matter is of a second type selected from the three different types the first subject matter is requested by performing the same action at the communications device, the second type is different from the first type, and the action is a complete request for the first subject matter and does not include entering personal information that includes at least one of a personal identifier, address, and method of payment; and

when the subject matter information includes at least one of the subject matter related material and the alert message, selecting at least one method of delivery from among the following methods;

wireless network delivery and one or more of the following,

     1) a broadcast signal,

     2) email,

     3) postal system,

     4) online webpage,

     5) online account, and

     6) telephone call.

when the subject matter information includes the indicator of a service to perform, selecting an action to perform when the service cannot be satisfied.

718. The method of claim 717, wherein the action to perform when the service cannot be satisfied is automatically set by the server as a consequence of specifying the indicator of a service to perform.

719. A method of satisfying a request for a first subject matter described in a broadcast announcement, the method comprising:

providing to the server a valid action indicator that is associated with the first subject matter, wherein when the first subject matter is of a first type which is one of the following three different subject matter types, a) provision of a service, b) provision of material, c) and provision of an alert message, the first subject matter is requested by performing an action at the communications device to produce a device action indicator,

when the first subject matter is of a second type in the three different types, the first subject matter is to be requested by performing the same action at the communications device, and the second type is different from the first type, and the action is a complete request for the first subject matter and does not include entering personal information that includes at least one of a personal identifier, address, and method of payment; and

an audience member'"'"'s request for the first subject matter is satisfied when the device action indicator and the valid action indicator have at least one of the following characteristics, each of which is indicative of the device action indicator being a request for the first subject matter of the announcement with which the valid action indicator is associated;

a. the device action indicator includes a certain time within a time range defined by the valid action indicator, the certain time is substantially the time at which the action was performed at the communications device, both the device action indicator and the valid action indicator include a channel indicator which is indicative of a channel to which a first broadcast reception device is tuned when receiving the announcement,

b. the device action indicator and the valid action indicator both include a code and a channel indicator, wherein the code is entered by the audience member at the communications device and the channel indicator is indicative of a channel to which a second broadcast reception is tuned when receiving the announcement,

c. the device action indicator and the valid action indicator both include an announcement identifier which identifies the subject matter which the audience member is requesting, the announcement identifier arrives at the communications device from the server; and

providing for the server an indication that the server is to perform at least one of the following steps;

a1) provide the valid action indicator for transmission over a broadcast signal to the communications device;

b1) accept from the communications device the device action indicator, wherein the device action indicator is based upon the valid action indicator received via the server;

c1) accept from the communications device the device action indicator, wherein the communications device does not generate the device action indicator based upon information included in the valid action indicator.

720. A method of providing identification information that is to be used to identify information related to an item of broadcast programming presented by a broadcast receiver, the broadcast receiver tuned to receive a broadcast signal with a certain carrier frequency associated with a broadcast channel, the broadcast receiver radiating a local tuning signal at a certain tuning signal frequency that permits the carrier frequency to be determined, comprising:

receiving the radiated local tuning signal;

determining, based upon the received local tuning signal, a representation of the tuning signal frequency;

providing, based upon the tuning signal frequency, an information identifier that is a basis for identifying the information related to the item of broadcast programming without demodulating the broadcast signal to retrieve the information.

721. The method of claim 720, wherein the local tuning signal is one of multiple signals in a frequency band that includes the tuning signal frequency and determining a representation of the tuning signal frequency includes measuring for each of the multiple signals an associated signal strength.

722. The method of claim 721, wherein the local tuning signal has an associated signal strength greater than that of any one of the multiple signals and determining a representation of the tuning signal frequency includes identifying where in the frequency band the local tuning signal exhibits its associated signal strength that is greater than that of any one of the multiple signals.

723. The method of claim 720, wherein the local tuning signal is one of multiple signals in a frequency band that includes the tuning signal frequency and determining the tuning signal frequency includes analyzing a representation of a power spectrum associated with the frequency band to identify the local tuning signal from among the multiple signals.

724. The method of claim 720, wherein determining the tuning signal frequency includes applying the local tuning signal to a frequency counter to produce the representation of the tuning signal frequency, and the information identifier is based upon the representation of the tuning signal frequency.

725. The method of claim 720, wherein determining the tuning signal frequency includes,

generating a frequency dependent signal indicative of the tuning signal frequency, and

mapping the frequency dependent signal to a representation of the tuning signal frequency.

726. The method of claim 720, further comprising:

receiving a request signal; and

wherein the tuning signal frequency is determined in response to receipt of the request signal.

727. The method of claim 720, further comprising:

receiving a request signal; and

wherein the information identifier is provided in response to receipt of the request signal.

728. The method of claim 720, further comprising generating a representation of time that is to be used to identify the information related to the item of broadcast programming.

729. The method of claim 720, further comprising receiving a time representation that is to be used to identify the information related to the item of broadcast programming.

730. The method of claim 720, further comprising determining a geographic location indication that is to be used to identify the information related to the item of broadcast programming.

731. The method of claim 720, further comprising receiving a geographic location indication that is to be used to identify the information related to the item of broadcast programming.

732. A method of providing a identification information that is to be used to identify information related to an item of broadcast programming presented by a broadcast receiver, the broadcast receiver tuned to receive a broadcast signal with a certain carrier frequency associated with a broadcast channel, the broadcast receiver radiating a local tuning signal at a certain tuning signal frequency that permits the carrier frequency to be determined, comprising:

receiving at an antenna the radiated local tuning signal;

accepting a request signal;

generating a representation of time in response to accepting the request signal;

determining, based upon the received local tuning signal, a representation of the tuning signal frequency;

providing, based upon the representation of time and the representation of the tuning signal frequency, an information identifier, wherein the information identifier is a basis for identifying the information related to the item of broadcast programming.

733. A device that provides identification information that is to be used to identify information related to an item of broadcast programming presented by a broadcast receiver, the broadcast receiver tuned to receive a broadcast signal with a certain carrier frequency associated with a broadcast channel, the broadcast receiver radiating a local tuning signal at a certain tuning signal frequency that permits the carrier frequency to be determined, the device comprising:

an antenna that is to receive the radiated local tuning signal;

a receiver coupled to the antenna and that is to produce, based on the local tuning signal, a representation of the local tuning signal, wherein the representation of the tuning signal is a basis for determining the tuning signal frequency; and

a control logic unit coupled to the receiver and that is to determine a representation of the tuning signal frequency and provide, based upon the representation of the tuning signal frequency, an information identifier that is a basis for identifying the information related to the item of broadcast programming without demodulating the broadcast signal to retrieve the information.

734. The device of claim 733, wherein the local tuning signal is one of multiple signals in a frequency band that includes the tuning signal frequency and the receiver measures for each of the multiple signals an associated signal strength.

735. The device of claim 734, wherein the control logic unit is to receive a representation of geographic location that is to be used to identify the information related to the item of broadcast programming.

736. The device of claim 734, wherein the control logic unit is to receive a request signal and provide the channel indicator in response to receiving the request signal.

737. The device of claim 734, wherein the control logic unit is to receive a request signal and determine the tuning signal frequency in response to receiving the request signal.

738. The device of claim 733, wherein the local tuning signal has an associated signal strength greater than that of any one of the multiple signals and the control logic unit is to determine the tuning signal frequency by identifying where in the frequency band the local tuning signal exhibits its associated signal strength that is greater than that of any one of the multiple signals.

739. The device of claim 733, wherein the local tuning signal is one of multiple signals in a frequency band that includes the tuning signal frequency, the control logic unit includes a computing unit that generates a representation of a power spectrum associated with the frequency band, and the control logic unit is to analyze the representation of the power spectrum to identify the local tuning signal from among the multiple signals.

740. The device of claim 733, wherein the receiver includes a frequency counter that is to produce the representation of the tuning signal frequency, and the information identifier is based upon the representation of the tuning signal frequency.

741. The device of claim 733, wherein the receiver generates a frequency dependent signal indicative of the tuning signal frequency, and the control logic unit maps the frequency dependent signal to a representation of the tuning signal frequency.

742. The device of claim 733, wherein the control logic unit is to provide a representation of time that is to be used to identify the information related to the item of broadcast programming.

743. The device of claim 733, wherein the control logic unit is to receive a representation of time that is to be used to identify the information related to the item of broadcast programming.

744. The device of claim 733, further comprising a location determination unit that is coupled to the control logic unit and that is to generate a representation of geographic location that is to be used to identify the information related to the item of broadcast programming.

745. A device that provides identification information that is to be used to identify information related to an item of broadcast programming presented by a broadcast receiver, the broadcast receiver tuned to receive a broadcast signal with a certain carrier frequency associated with a broadcast channel, the broadcast receiver radiating a local tuning signal at a certain tuning signal frequency that permits the carrier frequency to be determined, the device comprising:

electromagnetic coupling means that is to receive the radiated local tuning signal;

receiving means coupled to the electromagnetic coupling means and that is to produce, based on the local tuning signal, a representation of the local tuning signal, wherein the representation of the tuning signal is a basis for determining the tuning signal frequency; and

control means coupled to the receiving means, the control means is to determine a representation of the tuning signal frequency and provide, based upon a representation of time and the representation of the tuning signal frequency, an information identifier, the information identifier is a basis for identifying the information related to the item of broadcast programming without demodulating the broadcast signal to retrieve the information.

746. A method of providing identification information that is to be used to identify information related to an item of broadcast programming, comprising:

receiving, at a first carrier frequency, a radio frequency (RF) signal;

demodulating the RF signal;

transmitting at a second carrier frequency the demodulated RF signal;

identifying the first carrier frequency of the retransmitted demodulated signal;

providing, based upon the first carrier frequency, an information identifier that is a basis for identifying the information related to the item of broadcast programming.