Method and system for selecting media content for broadcast based on viewer preference indications
First Claim
1. A method for enabling viewer participation in mobile TV broadcast programming, comprising:
- broadcasting a voting overlay content in an overhead portion of broadcast transmissions, wherein the broadcast transmissions include at least one video channel, and the voting overlay content includes a list of candidate programs;
receiving viewer input regarding the candidate programs via a unicast network, wherein the received viewer input comprises votes cast for particular candidate programs among the candidate programs;
selecting a program from the candidate programs based upon a number of votes from the received viewer input indicating the program is a most popular program among all of the candidate programs; and
broadcasting the selected program.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and systems enable mobile TV providers to select programs for broadcast based on viewer preference indications or votes. Information regarding candidate programs or content may be broadcast and displayed on mobile devices. A voting user interface may receive viewer preferences or votes and transmit vote information to the mobile TV broadcast network using a unicast network. Received voting information may be tallied to select a program or content for broadcast. Interim vote tallies may be broadcast to mobile devices until a voting session is terminated. Results of the voting session may be broadcasted followed by broadcast of the selected program.
46 Citations
33 Claims
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1. A method for enabling viewer participation in mobile TV broadcast programming, comprising:
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broadcasting a voting overlay content in an overhead portion of broadcast transmissions, wherein the broadcast transmissions include at least one video channel, and the voting overlay content includes a list of candidate programs; receiving viewer input regarding the candidate programs via a unicast network, wherein the received viewer input comprises votes cast for particular candidate programs among the candidate programs; selecting a program from the candidate programs based upon a number of votes from the received viewer input indicating the program is a most popular program among all of the candidate programs; and broadcasting the selected program. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A server, comprising:
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a server processor; and a network interface coupled to the server processor and configured to connect the server processor to a network, wherein the server processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations comprising; generating a voting overlay content including a list of candidate programs; providing the voting overlay content to a mobile TV broadcaster for broadcast in an overhead portion of broadcast transmissions, wherein the broadcast transmissions include at least one video channel; receiving viewer input regarding the candidate programs via a unicast network, wherein the received viewer input comprises votes cast for particular candidate programs among the candidate programs; selecting a program from the candidate programs based upon a number of votes from the received viewer input indicating the program is a most popular program among all of the candidate programs; and causing the mobile TV broadcaster to broadcast the selected program. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10)
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11. A mobile TV broadcast system, comprising:
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a broadcaster configured to receive programs from a source of programs and configure the received programs for broadcast in mobile TV broadcast transmissions; a routing server coupled to an external network and configured to receive messages from a unicast network; and a voting server coupled to the broadcaster and to the routing server via a system network, the voting server comprising; a processor; and a network interface coupled to the processor and configured to connect the processor to the system network, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations comprising; generating a voting overlay content including a list of candidate programs; providing the voting overlay content to the broadcaster for broadcast in an overhead portion of the mobile TV broadcast transmissions, wherein the mobile TV broadcast transmissions include at least one video channel; receiving viewer input regarding the candidate programs from the routing server, wherein the received viewer input comprises votes cast for particular candidate programs among the candidate programs; selecting a program from the candidate programs based upon a number of votes from the received viewer input indicating the program is a most popular program among all of the candidate programs; and informing the broadcaster of the selected program for broadcast. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. A mobile device, comprising:
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a processor; a mobile TV broadcast receiver coupled to the processor; a unicast wireless network transceiver coupled to the processor; a display coupled to the processor; a user input element coupled to the processor; and a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations comprising; receiving voting overlay content from an overhead portion of mobile TV broadcast transmissions, wherein the mobile TV broadcast transmissions include at least one video channel and the voting overlay content includes a list of candidate broadcast programs; generating an image on the display of candidate broadcast programs based on the list of candidate broadcast programs obtained from the voting overlay content; receiving a user input from a user input element related to the image of the candidate broadcast programs, wherein the user input comprises a vote cast for a particular candidate broadcast program among the list of candidate broadcast programs; generating a voting data message based upon the received user input; and transmitting the voting data message for selecting a most popular candidate broadcast program among the list of candidate broadcast programs based on a number of votes to a mobile TV broadcast network via the unicast wireless network transceiver. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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19. A mobile TV broadcast system, comprising:
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means for generating a voting overlay content including a list of candidate programs for broadcast; means for broadcasting the voting overlay content in an overhead portion of mobile TV broadcast transmissions, wherein the mobile TV broadcast transmissions include at least one video channel; means for receiving viewer input regarding the candidate programs from a unicast network, wherein the viewer input comprises a vote cast for a particular candidate program among the list of candidate programs; means for selecting a program from the candidate programs based upon a number of votes from the received viewer input indicating the program is a most popular program among all of the candidate programs; and means for broadcasting the selected program in mobile TV broadcast transmissions. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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23. A mobile device, comprising:
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means for receiving voting overlay content from an overhead portion of mobile TV broadcast transmissions, wherein the mobile TV broadcast transmissions include at least one video channel and the voting overlay content includes a list of candidate broadcast programs; means for generating a display of candidate broadcast programs based on the list of candidate broadcast programs obtained from the voting overlay content; means for receiving a user input from a user input element related to the display of the candidate broadcast programs wherein the user input comprises a vote cast for a particular candidate broadcast program among the list of candidate broadcast programs; means for generating a voting data message based upon the received user input; and means for transmitting the voting data message for selecting a most popular candidate broadcast program among the list of candidate broadcast programs based on a number of votes to a mobile TV broadcast network via a unicast wireless network. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26)
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27. A non-transitory server-readable storage medium having stored thereon processor-executable instructions configured to cause a server processor to perform operations comprising:
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generating a voting overlay content including a list of candidate programs; providing the voting overlay content to a mobile TV broadcaster for broadcast in an overhead portion of broadcast transmissions, wherein the broadcast transmissions include at least one video channel; receiving viewer input regarding the candidate programs via a unicast network, wherein the received viewer input comprises votes cast for particular candidate programs among the candidate programs; selecting a program from the candidate programs based upon a number of votes from the received viewer input indicating the program is a most popular program among all of the candidate programs; and causing a mobile TV broadcaster to broadcast the selected program. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29)
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30. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon processor-executable instructions configured to cause a mobile device processor to perform operations comprising:
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receiving voting overlay content from an overhead portion of mobile TV broadcast transmissions, wherein the voting overlay content includes a list of candidate broadcast programs and the mobile TV broadcast transmissions include at least one video channel; generating a display of candidate broadcast programs based on the list of candidate broadcast programs obtained from the voting overlay content; receiving a user input from a user input element related to the display of the candidate broadcast programs, wherein the user input comprises a vote cast for a particular candidate broadcast program among the list of candidate broadcast programs; generating a voting data message based upon the received user input; and transmitting the voting data message for selecting a most popular candidate broadcast program among the list of candidate broadcast programs based on a number of votes to a mobile TV broadcast network via a unicast wireless network. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33)
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Specification