Methods and apparatus for creating, combining, distributing and reproducing program content for groups of participating users
First Claim
1. A system for delivering program content to and for concurrently enabling communication between a plurality of participating users comprising, in combination:
- a first communications pathway for simultaneously sending said program content to a plurality of different program receivers each of which is operated by one of said participating users,a second bidirectional communications pathway coupling the members of a group of said participating users during or immediately after the transmission of said program content for establishing a spoken conversation between said members of said group of participating users, anda supervisory controller operable by a managing user for selecting and transmitting said program content to said participating users and for granting access to the use of said bidirectional communications pathway by said members of said group of participating users.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A communications system for simulcasting audio or audiovisual program content to a plurality of participating system users via a communication network. Each user operates an access device that reproduces the received program content for the user and also accepts spoken comments from the user concurrently with or immediately following the reproduction of the program content. The spoken comments are transmitted to at least selected ones of the other users so that the selected users can engage in a conversation about the program content as it is simulcast.
-
Citations
26 Claims
-
1. A system for delivering program content to and for concurrently enabling communication between a plurality of participating users comprising, in combination:
-
a first communications pathway for simultaneously sending said program content to a plurality of different program receivers each of which is operated by one of said participating users, a second bidirectional communications pathway coupling the members of a group of said participating users during or immediately after the transmission of said program content for establishing a spoken conversation between said members of said group of participating users, and a supervisory controller operable by a managing user for selecting and transmitting said program content to said participating users and for granting access to the use of said bidirectional communications pathway by said members of said group of participating users. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A communications system for distributing audio recordings among a plurality of system subscriber stations located remotely from one another, said system comprising:
-
a communications network interconnecting said system subscribers, and a subscriber access device connected to said network at each of said subscriber stations, said access device comprising; playback means for reproducing a selected audio recording received from a transmission station via said network for a listener, input means for accepting a subscriber generated message from said listener concurrently with the reproduction of said selected audio recording, an outbound communications port for transmitting said subscriber generated message from said access device over said network to at least selected ones of said subscriber stations, and a control interface for transmitting requests to said transmitting station to receive said selected audio recording and to receive subscriber generated messages in real time from at least selected ones of said subscriber stations. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
-
21. A system for distributing and reproducing program content to a plurality of participants comprising, in combination:
-
a transmission station including a program transmitter for simulcasting a sequence of program segments to said plurality of participants via one or more communications networks, a plurality of receiving stations each operated by one of said participants at a location remote from said transmission station, each given one of said receiving stations being accessible to and operated by a given one of said participants and comprising, in combination; a program player for receiving said sequence of program segments from said transmission station via one of said communications networks and for reproducing said program segments in an audible form perceptible to said given one of said participants, a microphone for accepting spoken comments from said given one of said participants during or after each of said program segments, and a comment transmitter for transmitting said spoken comments to said transmission station via one of said communications networks, and said transmission station further including, in combination; a comment receiver for receiving comments transmitted from said receiving stations, and a program content controller for transmitting one or more of the comments received from individual ones of said receiving stations to all of stations either simultaneously with the simulcasting of one or more of said segments or during intervals between separate program segments in said sequence of program segments. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
-
Specification