Method and apparatus for collecting and providing viewer feedback to a broadcast
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- presenting a broadcast to a viewer;
receiving viewer feedback to the broadcast including providing a questionnaire in response to a request from a viewer to provide feedback;
generating a rating of the broadcast based at least in part on the received viewer feedback to the broadcast, the rating indicating a likelihood of interest in the first broadcast for potential subsequent viewers; and
providing the rating of the broadcast to potential subsequent viewers.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides an improved method and apparatus to collect and provide viewer feedback to broadcasts. According to one aspect of the present invention, a rating is generated for a broadcast by a server system. The rating is based at least in part on viewer feedback to the broadcast, and the rating indicates a likelihood of interest in the broadcast for potential subsequent viewers. Access to the rating is then provided so that predications can be made as to whether or not the broadcast will be of interest to potential subsequent viewers. According to another aspect of the present invention, the rating is provided from the server system to an entertainment system, and the broadcast can be selected for viewing at an entertainment system based on the rating generated by the server system. In one embodiment, the viewer feedback is received at the entertainment system in response to a feedback questionnaire.
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Citations
43 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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presenting a broadcast to a viewer;
receiving viewer feedback to the broadcast including providing a questionnaire in response to a request from a viewer to provide feedback;
generating a rating of the broadcast based at least in part on the received viewer feedback to the broadcast, the rating indicating a likelihood of interest in the first broadcast for potential subsequent viewers; and
providing the rating of the broadcast to potential subsequent viewers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
assembling a list of available broadcasts using viewer characteristic information for a selected viewer;
ranking the available broadcasts in the list based on the rating for each respective broadcast; and
presenting a programming guide showing the ranked list to the selected viewer.
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17. The method of claim 7 further comprising presenting a programming guide of available broadcasts to a viewer wherein the available broadcasts are ranked based on the rating and on the viewer characteristic information.
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18. The method of claim 7 further comprising presenting a programming guide of available broadcasts to a viewer wherein the available broadcasts are ranked based on viewer characteristic information.
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19. A method comprising:
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receiving viewer feedback to a broadcast from a plurality of different viewers of the broadcast including providing a questionnaire in response to a request from a viewer to provide feedback;
generating a rating of the broadcast based at least in part on the received viewer feedback to the broadcast, the rating indicating a likelihood of interest in the first broadcast for potential subsequent viewers; and
providing the rating of the broadcast through an electronic communications device for display to potential subsequent viewers of the broadcast. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
assembling a list of available broadcasts using viewer characteristic information for a selected viewer;
ranking the available broadcasts in the list based on the rating for each respective broadcast; and
presenting a programming guide showing the ranked list to the selected viewer.
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29. The method of claim 22 further comprising presenting a programming guide of available broadcasts to a viewer wherein the available broadcasts are ranked based on viewer characteristic information.
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30. A machine-readable medium having stored thereon data representing sequences of instructions which, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:
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presenting a broadcast to a viewer;
receiving viewer feedback to the broadcast including providing a questionnaire in response to a request from a viewer to provide feedback;
generating a rating of the broadcast based at least in part on the received viewer feedback to the broadcast, the rating indicating a likelihood of interest in the first broadcast for potential subsequent viewers; and
providing the rating of the broadcast to potential subsequent viewers. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32)
assembling a list of available broadcasts using viewer characteristic information for a selected viewer;
ranking the available broadcasts in the list based on the rating for each respective broadcast; and
presenting a programming guide showing the ranked list to the selected viewer.
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33. A machine-readable medium having stored thereon data representing sequences of instructions which, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:
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receiving viewer feedback to a broadcast from a plurality of different viewers of the broadcast;
generating a rating of the broadcast based at least in part on the received viewer feedback to the broadcast, the rating indicating a likelihood of interest in the first broadcast for potential subsequent viewers and the rating using viewer characteristic information to generate separate ratings for different categories of viewers; and
providing the rating of the broadcast through an electronic communications device for display to potential subsequent viewers of the broadcast. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35)
assembling a list of available broadcasts using viewer characteristic information for a selected viewer;
ranking the available broadcasts in the list based on the rating for each respective broadcast; and
presenting a programming guide showing the ranked list to the selected viewer.
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36. An entertainment system controller comprising:
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a storage medium to store a questionnaire regarding a broadcast that is presented to a viewer on a display device;
control circuitry to provide a feedback questionnaire to a viewer of the broadcast, the control circuitry retrieving the questionnaire from the storage medium in response to a request from the viewer;
a viewer interface to receive viewer feedback to the broadcast based on the feedback questionnaire; and
a communications interface to provide the viewer feedback to the broadcast to a server system and to receive ratings from the server system regarding other available broadcasts based on viewer feedback from other viewers, the ratings indicating a likelihood of interest in the available broadcasts for the viewer, wherein the control circuitry further provides the ratings regarding other available broadcasts to the viewer. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40)
assembles a list of available broadcasts using viewer characteristic information for a selected viewer; ranks the available broadcasts in the list based on the rating for each respective broadcast; and
presents a programming guide showing the ranked list to the selected viewer.
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41. An entertainment server system comprising:
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a communications interface to receive viewer feedback to a broadcast from a plurality of different viewers of the broadcast, the communications interface receiving viewer characteristic information along with the viewer feedback; and
a processor to generate a rating of the broadcast based at least in part on the received viewer feedback to the broadcast, the rating indicating a likelihood of interest in the first broadcast for potential subsequent viewers, the rating being generated using the viewer characteristic information to generate separate ratings for different categories of viewers, wherein the communications interface provides the rating of the broadcast to viewer entertainment systems for display to potential subsequent viewers of the broadcast. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43)
assembles a list of available broadcasts using viewer characteristic information for a selected viewer; ranks the available broadcasts in the list based on the rating for each respective broadcast; and
wherein the communications interface provides a programming guide showing the ranked list to an entertainment system of the selected viewer.
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Specification