MEDIA CONTENT DELIVERY

• US 20130125153A1
• Filed: 11/14/2011
• Published: 05/16/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TiVo Corporation (Adeia Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Comcast Cable Communications LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Inventors: Hilson, Scott, Hoppes, Lisa
• Granted Patent: US 8,973,066 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/5
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/00 Arrangements for broadcast applications with a direct linking to broadcast information or broadcast space-time; Broadcast-related systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2353 specifically adapted to content descriptors, e.g. coding, compressing or processing of metadata
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2393 involving handling client requests scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests H04L67/60
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2396 characterized by admission policies admission control, resource allocation in open networks H04L12/5692; arrangements for network security using user profiles for access control H04L63/102; access security in wireless networks H04W12/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/251 Learning process for intelligent management, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies details of learning user preferences for the retrieval of video data in a video database G06F16/739; computer systems using learning methods G06N3/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25435 involving characteristics of content or additional data, e.g. video resolution or the amount of advertising
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26225 involving billing parameters, e.g. priority for subscribers of premium services
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26266 for determining content or additional data repetition rate, e.g. of a file in a DVB carousel according to its importance arrangements for broadcast or for distribution of identical information repeatedly in broadcast distribution systems H04H20/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47208 for requesting near-video-on-demand content
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6332 directed to client
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6581 Reference data, e.g. a movie identifier for ordering a movie or a product identifier in a home 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

Abstract

A server can receive information identifying media content to be offered to users at a discount or at a particular time of release. The offer can also include information identifying a minimum number of acceptances by users needed for the offer to be valid. During a predetermined period, if the number of acceptances has reached or exceeded the minimum number needed, the server may transmit a media stream containing the media content to the users. Furthermore, the offer may include multiple tiers of discounts and/or times of release.

Claims

1. A content delivery method, comprising:

receiving, by a server, information identifying an item of media content;

receiving information identifying a time of release for the item of media content and a corresponding minimum number of acceptances required for the time of release to be valid;

prior to the time of release, receiving acceptance messages from a plurality of users, the acceptance messages indicating that corresponding users desire access to the item of media content at the time of release for the item of media content; and

in response to determining that a number of the acceptance messages has met or exceeded the minimum number of acceptances required, making available for transmission one or more media streams containing the item of media content to the corresponding users.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the item of media content is a theatrical release of a movie, and the one or more media streams are one or more video on demand sessions carrying the movie.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more video on demand sessions are made available for transmission prior to the theatrical release date of the movie.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more video on demand sessions is a multicast video session, and is made available for transmission within a week prior to the theatrical release date.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving information identifying a group pricing discount for the item of media content, wherein the information identifying a group pricing discount identifies a plurality of group discount tiers, each tier including a different minimum number of acceptances and corresponding discount.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising grouping, in response to a first user'"'"'s request, a subset of the acceptances into a media content temporary viewing group for the first user, the temporary viewing group including a plurality of other users who are associated with the first user via a social networking service.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein making available for transmission the item of media content includes making available for transmission a multicast transmission to members of the temporary viewing group, and wherein playback navigation controls by one member of the group are shared with viewing devices of other members of the group during the multicast transmission.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising making available for retransmission the item of media content to one or more of the users after making available for transmission, and limiting users to a time window for retransmissions.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising determining a number of times a first user has accessed the item of media content during the time window, and in response to the first user accessing the item of media content more than a first predetermined minimum retransmission amount during the time window, transmitting an offer message to the first user for purchasing a copy of the item of media content.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the information identifying the time of release includes information identifying multiple times of release, each time of release corresponding to a different minimum number of acceptances.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to receiving acceptance messages, the method further comprises:

determining that one or more preferences for one of the plurality of users matches the item of media content; and

transmitting to the plurality of users an offer message for the time of release.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the one or more preferences comprises at least one of a genre preselected by the user, a genre of an item of media content previously purchased or viewed by the user, and one or more preferences derived from a social media account associated with the user.

13. A method, comprising:

transmitting to a plurality of users a message containing an offer for a video item;

storing a criterion value identifying a minimum number of accepting users for the video item; and

if a number of accepting users exceeds the minimum, initiating a video on demand session to accepting users, the session relating to the offered video item.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the offered video item is a theatrical release movie, and initiating the video on demand session further comprises initiating transmission of the theatrical release movie on the theatrical release movie'"'"'s release date.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the storing comprises storing a plurality of distinct times of release and minimum number of accepting users needed for the corresponding time of release to be valid.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein a first time of release corresponds to a first minimum number of accepting users, and a second time of release earlier than the first time of release corresponds to a second minimum number of accepting users greater than the first minimum number of accepting users.

17. One or more non-transitory computer readable media storing instructions that, when executed, cause a processor to:

receive information identifying an item of media content;

receive information identifying a time of release for the item of media content and a corresponding minimum number of acceptances required for the time of release to be valid;

prior to the time of release, receive acceptance messages from a plurality of users, the acceptance messages indicating that corresponding users desire access to the item of media content at the time of release for the item of media content; and

in response to determining that a number of the acceptance messages has met or exceeded the minimum number of acceptances required, make available for transmission one or more media streams containing the item of media content to the corresponding users.

18. The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 17 further storing instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:

receive information identifying a group pricing discount for the item of media content, wherein the information identifying a group pricing discount identifies a plurality of group discount tiers, each tier including a different minimum number of acceptances and corresponding discount.

19. The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 17, wherein the information identifying the time of release includes information identifying multiple times of release, each time of release corresponding to a different minimum number of acceptances.

20. The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 19, further storing instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:

identify, in a single acceptance message, a plurality of responses corresponding to the multiple times of release.