Management of television advertising

• US 7,334,251 B2
• Filed: 02/11/2002
• Issued: 02/19/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/11/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Tech 5 SAS
• Original Assignee: Scientific-Atlanta Incorporated (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Rodriguez, Arturo A., West, John Eric
• Primary Examiner(s): BUI, KIEU OANH T
• Application Number:
  US10/073,842
• Publication Number:
  US 20030154475A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,199 Days
• Field of Search: 725 32- 36, 725/42, 725/46, 725/44, 725/52, 725/100, 725/131, 725/139, 725/151, 715/720, 705/14, 705/26
• US Class Current: 725/42
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0242 Determining effectiveness of advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0257 User requested
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/433 Content storage operation, e.g. storage operation in response to a pause request, caching operations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4331 Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• 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 21/443 OS processes, e.g. booting an STB, implementing a Java virtual machine in an STB or power management in an STB
• 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 21/4667 Processing of monitored end-user data, e.g. trend analysis based on the log file of viewer selections
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4755 for defining user preferences, e.g. favourite actors or genre retrieval personalisation and generation of user profiles for the retrieval of video data G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/478 Supplemental services, e.g. displaying phone caller identification, shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02

Abstract

A method for providing television advertising includes receiving user input for selecting an advertising parameter and providing a user with an advertisement corresponding to the advertising parameter.

Claims

1. A method implemented by a television set-top terminal (STT) configured to provide television programs and a viewer'"'"'s preference for advertisement categories, the method comprising:

outputting to a television by the STT a graphical user interface (GUI) that comprises a menu having a plurality of viewer selectable advertisement categories, said plurality of viewer selectable advertisement categories including a first advertisement category and a second advertisement category that is different from the first advertisement category;

receiving by the STT a first viewer input corresponding to the first advertisement category and a second viewer input corresponding to the second advertisement category;

responsive to receiving the first and second viewer inputs, storing the first and second advertisement categories in the memory of the STT configured to store the viewer'"'"'s preference for advertisement categories;

receiving a first advertisement and a second advertisement by the STT from a remote server after the STT receives the first and second viewer inputs;

storing the first and second advertisements in the STT;

receiving at a future time, a television program by a tuner in the STT;

outputting the television program to the television by the STT; and

outputting the stored first and second advertisements to the television by the STT during an interruption in the presentation of the television program being output by the STT.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

outputting the first and second advertisements to a television only during time periods that were defined prior to receiving the first and second viewer inputs.

3. The method claim 1, further comprising:

receiving by the STT a third viewer input responsive to a request by the STT for the third viewer input during the presentation of at least a portion of at least one of the first and second advertisements.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the second advertisement is output to the television during interruptions of the presentation of a television programs having predetermined program categories.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second advertising categories are subcategories that correspond to respective broader categories.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

deleting at least one of the first and second advertisements from the STT after a corresponding predetermined expiration time.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

deleting at least one of the first and second advertisements from the STT responsive to determining that said at least one of the first and second advertisements has been viewed at least a predetermined number of times.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining by the STT a number of times that at least one of the first and second advertisements has been viewed responsive to receiving viewer inputs while the STT is outputting said at least one of the first and second advertisements.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the advertisement comprises a commercial.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the menu further comprises selectable advertisements.

11. A television set-top terminal (STT) system, comprising:

STT logic configured to output to a television a graphical user interface (GUI) that comprises a menu having a plurality of selectable advertisement categories, receive a plurality of viewer inputs respectively corresponding to selections made from the menu having the plurality of selectable advertisement categories, responsive to receiving the plurality of viewer inputs, store in a memory of the STT the viewer-selected advertisement categories, after receiving the plurality of viewer inputs, receive advertisement data components corresponding exclusively to respective advertisements corresponding to the viewer selected advertisement categories, store the advertisement data components in the memory of the STT, and output the respective advertisements to the television during intermittent future interruptions of the presentation of television programs not yet received at the STT output to the television at a future time.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the STT logic is further configured to output to the television advertisements only during interruptions of television programs having predetermined program categories.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the STT logic is further configured to delete the advertisement data components from the STT after a predetermined expiration time.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the STT logic is further configured to delete each of the advertisement data components from the STT responsive to determining that the respective corresponding advertisements has been viewed at least a predetermined number of times.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the advertisements comprise commercials.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the menu further comprises selectable advertisements.

17. A method implemented by a television set-top terminal (STT), comprising:

outputting to a television by the STT a graphical user interface (GUI) that comprises a menu having a plurality of viewer-selectable advertisement categories;

receiving by the STT a plurality of viewer inputs respectively corresponding to viewer-selected advertisement categories from the plurality of selectable advertisement categories, wherein the viewer inputs are provided by a viewer of the television; and

responsive to receiving the plurality of viewer inputs, outputting to the television by the STT a plurality of commercials respectively corresponding to at least one of the viewer-selected advertisement categories;

receiving a first advertisement and a second advertisement by the STT from a remote server after the STT receives the first and second viewer inputs;

storing the first and second advertisements in the STT;

receiving at a future time, a television program by a tuner in the STT;

outputting the television program to the television by the STT; and

outputting the stored first and second advertisement to the television by the STT during an interruption in the presentation of the television program being output by the STT.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the plurality of commercials are received by the STT from a remote server after receiving the plurality of viewer inputs.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the plurality of commercials are output to the television at intermittent future times.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the plurality of commercials are output by the STT to the television during respective interruptions in television programs being output by the STT.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the plurality of commercials are output by the STT to the television only during interruptions of television programs having predetermined respective types.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein the plurality of commercials output by the STT correspond exclusively to commercials respectively corresponding to at least one of the viewer-selected advertisement categories.

23. The method of claim 17, further comprising outputting to the television by the STT a plurality of advertisements.

24. The method of claim 17, wherein the menu further comprises selectable commercials, selectable advertisements, or a combination of selectable commercials and selectable advertisements.