System and method for delivering rerun video programming on non-HDTV digital side channels
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A system of providing rerun programming to consumers comprising:
- means for providing a plurality of consumers with a list of live television programs which are available to said plurality of consumers;
means for monitoring which programs in said list of live television programs are being watched by said plurality of consumers, said means for monitoring further for generating a ranking of programs on said list of live television programs based upon a popularity characteristic of said programs on said list;
means for recording at least a portion of said programs on said list of live television programs;
means for electronic delivery of rerun programs to said plurality of consumers in a manner of program delivery which is other than real time delivery of programming which is capable of being viewed by a television set in real time; and
,wherein at least one of said means for recording and said means for electronic delivery is operationally responsive to said ranking of programs.
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Abstract
A system for delivering rerun digital programming via digital side channels and the Internet to consumers, which system includes a video recorder which provides the rerun programming in other than real time.
87 Citations
35 Claims
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1. A system of providing rerun programming to consumers comprising:
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means for providing a plurality of consumers with a list of live television programs which are available to said plurality of consumers; means for monitoring which programs in said list of live television programs are being watched by said plurality of consumers, said means for monitoring further for generating a ranking of programs on said list of live television programs based upon a popularity characteristic of said programs on said list; means for recording at least a portion of said programs on said list of live television programs; means for electronic delivery of rerun programs to said plurality of consumers in a manner of program delivery which is other than real time delivery of programming which is capable of being viewed by a television set in real time; and
,wherein at least one of said means for recording and said means for electronic delivery is operationally responsive to said ranking of programs. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A system for providing rerun programming to consumers comprising:
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a source of digital television programming signals; said source of digital television programming signals simultaneously transmitting a plurality of distinct signals for different television programs, including a first signal which is a real time digital video signal and a second signal which is an other than real time digital video signal; a personal computer (PC), being configured to tune digital television programming signals; said PC being configured to record digital television programs as digital data files; said PC further being configured to capture said digital television programming signals, at a transmission rate which is at a transmission rate other than a transmission rate for real time viewing of television programming; said transmission rate is at a higher than real time rate when said source of digital television programming is broadcasting other programming in a non-high definition television format and said transmission rate is lower than real time when said source of digital television programming is broadcasting other programming in a high definition television format; said PC further being configured to record said digital television programming signals which have been captured at rates other than a rate for real time viewing of television programming; and
,said PC further being configured to visually present to a viewer for viewing at a real time viewing rate, recorded digital programs which have been previously received by said PC as digital television programming signals at transmission rates other than a transmission rate for real time viewing of television programming. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A method of transmitting rerun digital television programming comprising the steps of:
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providing a live digital television signal, in a frequency spectrum range allocated to a station by a governmental agency, which regulates television broadcasting; storing programming content broadcast by said live digital television signal; re-transmitting said programming content, on an unused segment of said frequency spectrum, which is not used by a live digital television signal simultaneously broadcast from said wherein step of re-transmitting is a non-real time rate transmission rate and is responsive to a viewer ratings characteristic associated with said programming content;
wherein storing programming content includes a step of determining whether to retain particular older stored programming content based at least in part upon viewer rating characteristics of newer stored programming content; and
wherein step of re-transmitting is done at a rate less than a real time transmission rate during times when said station is broadcasting a live digital video signal in high definition television format. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35)
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Specification