SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES FOR DELIVERING DIGITAL VIDEO CONTENT BASED UPON EXCITEMENT DATA

• US 20180014072A1
• Filed: 09/25/2017
• Published: 01/11/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2014
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: STATS LLC (Stats Holdings LLC)
• Original Assignee: Sling Media Incorporated (Echostar Corporation)
• Inventors: Dimov, Dmitry, Shah, Yash Suresh, Abramov, Andrey L., Asnis, Ilya, Girlando, Davide
• Application Number:
  US15/714,955
• Publication Number:
  US 20180014072A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2668 Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles information retrieval from the Internet by querying with filtering and personalisation G06F16/9535; arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast H04H20/10; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/063
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4147 PVR [Personal Video Recorder] H04N5/76 takes precedence ; arrangements for broadcast with accumulation-type receivers H04H20/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4334 Recording operations recording of a television signal H04N5/76; arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4335 Housekeeping operations, e.g. prioritizing content for deletion because of storage space restrictions storage management, e.g. defragmentation G06F3/0604; unloading stored programs G06F9/445; storage management in file systems G06F16/10; buffering arrangements in a network node or in an end terminal in packet networks H04L49/90
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44008 involving operations for analysing video streams, e.g. detecting features or characteristics in the video stream arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of video in broadcast systems H04H60/59
• 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 21/458 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 21/4661 Deriving a combined profile for a plurality of end-users of the same client, e.g. for family members within a home user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4667 Processing of monitored end-user data, e.g. trend analysis based on the log file of viewer selections
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4668 for recommending content, e.g. movies
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4826 using recommendation lists, e.g. of programs or channels sorted out according to their score
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8133 specifically related to the content, e.g. biography of the actors in a movie, detailed information about an article seen in a video program
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8456 by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments

Abstract

Processes, systems and devices are described to enhance the television or other media viewing experience based upon excitement data that is associated with the program. Excitement data can be used to identify the most exciting portions of media programs, therefore allowing for improved identification of programs or portions of programs for viewing, streaming, recording or other purposes.

Claims

1. A process executable by a consumer media device, the process comprising:

receiving a media program comprising video content at the consumer media device;

receiving excitement data at the consumer media device, the excitement data indicating a then-current level of excitement of the video content;

determining whether the video content is of interest to a viewer based upon the excitement data; and

if the video content is of interest to the viewer, selecting the video content for presentation to the viewer by the consumer media device, and otherwise not selecting the video content for presentation to the viewer.

2. The process of claim 1, further comprising receiving a selection from the viewer to provide the entire media program or to provide only a portion of the media program, wherein the selected portion of the media program comprises only those portions of the media program during which the then-current excitement data is greater than a threshold value.

3. The process of claim 2, further comprising deleting the complete program in response to the viewer not selecting the option to view the complete exciting portion of the program.

4. The process of claim 3 in which the selecting comprises assembling a highlight reel that comprises only those portions of the media program during which the then-current excitement data is greater than a threshold value.

5. The process of claim 4 further comprising storing the highlight reel in a digital video recorder for subsequent viewing by the viewer.

6. The process of claim 4 further comprising providing a media stream of the highlight reel to a media player for viewing of the highlight reel on the media player by the viewer.

7. The process of claim 1 wherein the selecting further considers user preference data in determining whether the media program is of interest to the viewer.

8. The process of claim 1 wherein the selecting comprises comparing the then-current excitement data for a plurality of programs to thereby identify the most exciting one of the plurality of programs at a particular point in time.

9. The process of claim 1 wherein the selecting comprises determining if the media program has continued past a predicted timeslot based upon the excitement data.

10. The process of claim 9 wherein the selecting further comprises determining if the excitement data remains above a predetermined threshold after the predicted timeslot has ended.

11. The process of claim 1 further comprising generating an electronic program guide image by the consumer media device, the electronic program guide image having a plurality of cells each associated with one of a plurality of media programs, wherein at least some of the cells are presented in a manner that indicates the then-current excitement data for the media programs that are associated with the cells.

12. The process of claim ii further comprising updating the electronic program guide image in real time as the excitement data changes for one or more of the plurality of media programs.

13. The process of claim ii further comprising generating, by the consumer media device, a timeline that represents the excitement data of the media program throughout the duration of the media program, wherein the timeline is displayed in a manner such that viewer is able to identify portions of the media program on the timeline that are more exciting than other portions of the media program.

14. A consumer media device for processing digital video content, the device comprising:

a digital video recorder;

an interface to receive media programs; and

a processor configured to direct the interface to;

receive a media program comprising video content at the consumer media device;

receive excitement data at the consumer media device, the excitement data indicating a then-current level of excitement of the video content;

determine whether the video content is of interest to a viewer based upon the excitement data; and

if the video content is of interest to the viewer, select the video content for presentation to the viewer by the consumer media device, and otherwise not selecting the video content for presentation to the viewer.

15. The device of claim 14 wherein the processor is further configured to assemble a highlight reel of received programs that comprises only those portions of the received media programs during which the then-current excitement data is greater than a threshold value.

16. The device of claim 15 wherein the processor is further configured to store the highlight reel in a digital video recorder for subsequent viewing by the viewer.

17. The device of claim 15 wherein the processor is further configured to provide a media stream of the highlight reel to a remotely-located media player for viewing of the highlight reel on the media player by the viewer.

18. The device of claim 15 wherein the processor is further configured to create the highlight real by analyzing the excitement data for a plurality of programs to thereby identify the most exciting parts of each the plurality of programs and combining the most exciting parts of each of the plurality of programs into a common highlight reel.

19. The device of claim 14 wherein the processor is further configured to compare the then-current excitement data for a plurality of programs to thereby identify the most exciting one of the plurality of programs at a particular point in time.