Live television show utilizing real-time input from a viewing audience
First Claim
1. A system for interactively participating in a television program, comprising:
- a. a computer system;
b. a cellular phone for coupling with the computer system to receive questions from and send responses to the computer system; and
c. a computing device coupled to the computer system for sending the questions to the computer system and receiving results from the computer system.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A live television show utilizing real-time input from a viewing audience is described herein. Specifically, the viewing audience is at home or at least not in the studio, and they use their cellular phones to input responses or make selections. The audience input is transmitted in real-time so that the producers of the television show are able to incorporate the results of the responses into the show. To permit an audience of millions to participate in real-time, a large random sample is utilized to provide real-time feedback. For example, the audience is able to determine the winner of a talent contest, which door is opened by a contestant, the results of a poll and affect the future direction of the telecast.
196 Citations
63 Claims
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1. A system for interactively participating in a television program, comprising:
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a. a computer system;
b. a cellular phone for coupling with the computer system to receive questions from and send responses to the computer system; and
c. a computing device coupled to the computer system for sending the questions to the computer system and receiving results from the computer system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A system for interactively participating in a live television program, comprising:
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a. a computer system containing a database for storing questions and results of responses, wherein the computer system is for determining participants, sending the questions, gathering responses and determining the results from the responses;
b. one or more randomly selected cellular phones for coupling with the computer system through a cellular network to receive the questions from and send the responses to the computer system, wherein the cellular phone contains an application associated with the live television program; and
c. a computing device coupled to the computer system for sending the questions to and receiving the results from the computer system. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method of interactively participating in a television program, comprising:
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a. sending one or more questions to a cellular phone from a computer system;
b. receiving responses to the one or more questions at the computer system;
c. generating results based on the responses; and
d. incorporating the results within the television program. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A method of interactively participating in a live television program, comprising:
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a. randomly selecting a segment of registered users to respond to one or more questions, wherein each user in the segment of registered users has a cellular phone;
b. sending the one or more questions to each of the cellular phones from a computer system;
c. receiving responses to the one or more questions at the computer system;
d. generating results based on the responses to the one or more questions at the computer system;
e. receiving the results at a computing device for displaying the results; and
f. incorporating the results within the live television program. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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49. A network of devices for allowing users to interactively participate in a television program, comprising:
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a. a computer system containing a database for storing questions and results of responses;
b. a plurality of cellular phones for coupling with the computer system through a cellular network to receive the questions from and send the responses to the computer system, wherein the plurality of cellular phones each contain an application associated with the television program; and
c. a computing device coupled to the computer system for sending the questions to and receiving the results from the computer system. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59)
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60. A producer tool for producing an interactive television program comprising:
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a. an input device for receiving one or more questions from a producer;
b. a network interface configured to couple to a computer system, wherein one or more questions are sent to the computer system to then be sent to viewers through cellular phones and results are received from the viewers through the computer system; and
c. a display device for displaying the results received from the computer system at the producer tool. - View Dependent Claims (61, 62, 63)
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Specification