APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR REGISTERING AND THE SUBSEQUENT SELECTION OF USER SELECTED ADVERTISEMENT DURING PLAYBACK

• US 20110219399A1
• Filed: 03/05/2010
• Published: 09/08/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/05/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Candelore, Brant L., Zustak, Frederick J.
• Application Number:
  US12/718,628
• Publication Number:
  US 20110219399A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/106 Receiver-side switching
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4325 by playing back content from the storage medium reproduction of recorded television signals H04N5/76; reproduction of recorded television signals H04N9/79
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4331 Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/458 Scheduling content for creating a personalised stream, e.g. by combining a locally stored advertisement with an incoming stream; Updating operations, e.g. for OS modules ; time-related management operations arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast or during the distribution H04H20/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/76 Television signal recording
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/783 Adaptations for reproducing at a rate different from the recording rate
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/10 Adaptations for transmission by electrical cable H04N7/12 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 by receiver means only

Abstract

According to one embodiment of the invention, a method of registering, and perhaps substituting broadcast television advertisements for lesser, time intensive advertisements is described. The method comprises (i) receiving digital content including segments of a audiovisual program separated by at least one broadcast advertisement; (ii) detecting an operation that alters playback of the broadcast advertisement; (iii) in response to detecting the alters playback, retrieving a stored advertisement from a local memory storage unit, the stored advertisement being associated with a genre of advertisements selected by a user; and (iv) outputting for display the stored advertisement in lieu of the broadcast advertisement, the stored advertisement having a playback time less than a prescribed amount of a normal playback time of the broadcast advertisement. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a data storage unit adapted to store a plurality of advertisements corresponding to one or more genre selected by a user during an initial registration process; and

a data processing unit coupled to the data storage unit, the data processing unit being adapted to retrieve at least one of the stored advertisements upon detecting a user-based operation that alters playback of an advertisement that is part of broadcast television signal and is determined that the user-based operation is permitted to alter the playback of the advertisement.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a display unit coupled to the data processing unit.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 being a portable cellular telephone with the data storage unit and the data processing unit encased within a casing and the display unit integrated as part of the casing.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 being a television including a detection unit to receive a command from a remote source and to output a signal associated with the command to the data processing unit located within a back cabinet of the television situated behind the display unit.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 being a set-top box that receives the broadcast television signal including an audiovisual program and a plurality of advertisements interspersed between segments of the audiovisual program and substitutes one of the plurality of advertisements with the at least one of the stored advertisements in response to the data processing unit detecting the user-based operation being conducted on the one of the plurality of advertisements.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein data processing unit is adapted to detect the user-based operation being a fast-forwarding operation and to output for display the at least one of the stored advertisements only when the fast-forwarding operation involves a playback speed that is at least eight times greater than normal playback speed during viewing.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the user-based operation includes a skip operation that skips ahead a predetermine amount of the advertisement.

8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein, prior to or upon detecting the fast-forwarding operation, the data processing unit analyzes control information within a packet partially forming the advertisement that is part of broadcast television signal to determine if the data processing unit is permitted to substitute the advertisement with the at least one of the stored advertisements.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the data processing unit accesses a portion of the control information to select the stored advertisement as a substitute for the one of the plurality of advertisements.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the data processing unit accesses the portion of the control information being information identifying a genre of the one of the plurality of advertisements and selecting the advertisement corresponding to the genre of the one of the plurality of advertisements.

11. An apparatus comprising:

a tuner/demodulation unit adapted to receive digital content;

a data storage unit adapted to store a plurality of advertisements corresponding to one or more genre selected by a user; and

a data processing unit coupled to the tuner/demodulation unit and the data storage unit, the data processing unit being adapted to detect an operation that accelerates playback of an advertisement being part of the digital content, determine that the operation is permitted to alter the playback of the advertisement, and in response to detecting the accelerated playback and determining that altering of the advertisement is permitted, to retrieve a stored advertisement from the data storage unit and to output for display the stored advertisement, the stored advertisement having a playback time less than a normal playback time of the advertisement.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein data processing unit to detect a fast-forwarding operation being the accelerated playback.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the data processing unit to detect the accelerated playback being a fast-forwarding operation that results in a playback time less than one-eighth of a normal playback time of the advertisement being part of the digital content.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the data processing unit to detect the accelerated playback being a skip operation.

15. A method comprising:

receiving digital content including segments of an audiovisual program separated by at least one broadcast advertisement;

detecting an operation that alters playback of the broadcast advertisement;

determining that the operation is permitted to alter the playback of the broadcast advertisement;

in response to detecting the operation that alters playback and determining that the operation is permitted to alter the playback, retrieving a stored advertisement from a local memory storage unit, the stored advertisement being associated with a genre of advertisements selected by a user during an initial registration process; and

outputting for display the stored advertisement in lieu of the broadcast advertisement, the stored advertisement having a playback time less than one-third of a normal playback time of the broadcast advertisement.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein determining that the operation is permitted to alter playback comprises detecting a fast-forwarding operation and to output for display the stored advertisement only when the fast-forwarding operation is at least eight times (8×

) playback speed.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein determining that the operation is permitted to alter playback comprises detecting an operation that accelerates playback including a fast-forwarding operation exceeding playback speed by a particular multiple that varies between advertisements.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein determining that the operation is permitted to alter playback comprises detecting a skip operation.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein determining that the operation is permitted to alter comprises detecting a mute or pause operation.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the outputting for display of the stored advertisement in lieu of the broadcast advertisement occurs for a time period greater than or equal to one-tenth of the normal playback time of the broadcast advertisement.