Systems and methods for acquiring, categorizing and delivering media in interactive media guidance applications

• US 8,832,742 B2
• Filed: 12/18/2006
• Issued: 09/09/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/06/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: UV Corporation (Adeia Inc.)
• Original Assignee: United Video Properties Incorporated (Adeia Inc.)
• Inventors: Rasanen, Kirsten, Bryant, Jay S.
• Primary Examiner(s): CORBO, NICHOLAS T
• Application Number:
  US11/641,987
• Publication Number:
  US 20080086456A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,822 Days
• Field of Search: 725 44- 45, 725 47- 48, 725/53
• US Class Current: 725/45
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23418 involving operations for analysing video streams, e.g. detecting features or characteristics television picture signal circuitry for scene change detection H04N5/147; filtering for image enhancement G06T5/00; methods or arrangements for recognising scenes G06V20/00; arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of video in broadcast systems H04H60/59
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4316 for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• 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 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47214 for content reservation or setting reminders; for requesting event notification, e.g. of sport results or stock market stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; notification of incoming messages in packet switching networks H04L51/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/478 Supplemental services, e.g. displaying phone caller identification, shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4782 Web browsing , e.g. WebTV
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4821 using a grid, e.g. sorted out by channel and broadcast time
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6175 involving transmission via Internet broadcast-related systems characterised by the transmission system being the Internet H04H60/82
• 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 21/8586 by using a URL processing chained hypermedia data for information retrieval G06F16/94; information retrieval from the Internet by using URLs G06F16/955; URL in broadcast information H04H20/93; Web-based protocols H04L67/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

Systems and methods are discussed for providing guidance for Internet-delivered media. In some embodiments, information on available media on the Internet is gathered. The information is associated with existing media guidance data. The associations enable a media guidance application to identify relevant online media and to display listings in a user-friendly way. A user interface for an online media guidance application is also provided. The user interface allows a user to narrow down the large amount of Internet-delivered media in a systematic way according to criteria that interests a user.

Claims

1. A method for providing guidance for videos on the Internet, comprising:

accessing a plurality of Internet sites to identify videos provided by the Internet sites;

storing a metadata entry for each of the identified videos in an Internet video database;

automatically comparing the metadata entries for each identified video stored in the Internet video database with metadata entries stored in a broadcast media guidance database to determine whether the metadata entries for each identified video stored in the Internet video database are relevant to the metadata entries stored in the broadcast media guidance database;

determining, based on the comparison, that a first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database is relevant to a first metadata entry stored in the broadcast media guidance database;

in response to determining that the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database is relevant to the first metadata entry stored in the broadcast media guidance database, linking the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database with the first metadata entry stored in the broadcast media guidance database by storing a tag in the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database that links the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database to guidance application data stored in the broadcast media guidance database that corresponds to the first metadata entry stored in the broadcast media guidance database, wherein the guidance application data is associated with a broadcast video;

and

generating a display indicating the broadcast video, wherein the display includes (1) the guidance application data associated with the broadcast video, and (2) an indication of the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database that is linked to the first metadata entry stored in the broadcast media guidance database.

2. The method defined in claim 1

wherein the Internet sites comprise web sites.

3. The method defined in claim 1 wherein accessing the plurality of Internet sites comprises crawling the Internet sites and scraping the metadata from the Internet sites.

4. The method defined in claim 1 wherein storing the metadata entry for each of the identified videos in the Internet video database comprises storing a URL to each of the identified videos.

5. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the display further comprises indications of other metadata entries that are linked to the first metadata entry stored in the broadcast media guidance database arranged in a video mosaic.

6. The method defined in claim 1 wherein:

the display indicates the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database using a frame from the Internet video corresponding to the first metadata entry stored the Internet video database; and

in response to a user selecting the frame, redirecting the user to the Internet site that provides the video of the selected frame.

7. The method defined in claim 5 wherein a subset of the indications of the other metadata entries is selected in accordance with user personalization data.

8. The method defined in claim 7 wherein the user personalization data is derived from express user preference designations.

9. The method defined in claim 7

wherein the user personalization data is derived from monitored user behavior.

10. The method defined in claim 5 wherein a subset of the indications of the other metadata entries is selected in accordance with an editor'"'"'s preference designations.

11. The method defined in claim 10 further comprising receiving the editor'"'"'s preference designations.

12. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the guidance application data of the display comprises program descriptions, editorial comments, media content related to the Internet video corresponding to the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database, or links to Internet sites providing media content related to the Internet video corresponding to the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database.

13. The method defined in claim 1 further comprising storing the identified Internet video corresponding to the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database.

14. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the display is provided by an interactive program guide.

15. A system for providing guidance for videos on the Internet, comprising:

communication circuitry;

storage; and

processing circuitry configured to;

access a plurality of Internet sites using the communication circuitry to identify videos provided by the Internet sites;

store a metadata entry in the storage for each of the identified videos in an Internet video database;

automatically compare the metadata entries for each identified video stored in the Internet video database with metadata stored in a broadcast media guidance database to determine whether the metadata entries for each identified video stored in the Internet video database are relevant to the metadata entries stored in the broadcast media guidance database;

determine, based on the comparison, that a first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database is relevant to a first metadata entry stored in the broadcast media guidance database;

in response to determining that the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database is relevant to the first metadata entry stored in the broadcast media guidance database, link the first metadata entry stored Internet video database with the first metadata entry stored in the broadcast media guidance database by storing a tag in the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database that links the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database to guidance application data stored in the broadcast media guidance database that corresponds to the first metadata entry stored in the broadcast media guidance database, wherein the guidance application data is associated with a broadcast video;

generate a display indicating the broadcast video, wherein the display includes (1) the guidance application data associated with the broadcast video, and (2) the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database that is linked to the first metadata entry stored in the broadcast media guidance database.

16. The system defined in claim 15 wherein the Internet sites comprise web sites.

17. The system defined in claim 15 wherein the processing circuitry is configured to crawl the Internet sites and scrape the metadata from the Internet sites.

18. The system defined in claim 15 wherein the stored metadata entry for each of the identified videos in the Internet video database comprises a URL to each corresponding video.

19. The system defined in claim 15 wherein the display further comprises indications of other metadata entries that are linked to the first metadata entry stored in the broadcast media guidance database arranged in a video mosaic.

20. The system defined in claim 15 wherein:

the display indicates the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database using a frame from the Internet video corresponding to the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database; and

the processing circuitry is further configured to redirect a user to an Internet site that provides the Internet video of the frame in response to the user selecting the frame.

21. The system defined in claim 19 wherein a subset of indications of the other metadata entries is selected in accordance with user personalization data.

22. The system defined in claim 21 wherein the user personalization data is derived from express user preference designations.

23. The system defined in claim 21 wherein the user personalization data is derived from monitored user behavior.

24. The system defined in claim 19 wherein a subset of the indications of the other metadata entries is selected in accordance with an editor'"'"'s preference designations.

25. The system defined in claim 24 wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to receive an editor'"'"'s preference designations.

26. The system defined in claim 15 wherein the guidance application data of the display comprises program descriptions, editorial comments, media content related to the Internet video corresponding to the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database, or links to Internet sites providing media content related to the Internet video corresponding to the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database.

27. The system defined in claim 15 wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to store the identified Internet video corresponding to the first metadata entry stored in the Internet video database in the storage.

28. The system defined in claim 15 wherein the processing circuitry is configured by instructions of an interactive program guide.

29. A method for providing guidance for Internet videos comprising:

automatically comparing a metadata entry corresponding to a broadcast media asset with a metadata entry corresponding to an Internet video to determine whether the Internet video is relevant to the broadcast media asset;

determining, based on the comparison, that the metadata entry corresponding to the Internet video is relevant to the metadata entry corresponding to the broadcast media asset;

in response to determining that the metadata entry corresponding to the Internet video is relevant to the metadata entry corresponding to the broadcast media asset, linking the metadata entry corresponding to the Internet video with the metadata entry corresponding to the broadcast media asset by storing a tag in the metadata entry corresponding to the broadcast media asset that links the metadata entry corresponding to the broadcast media asset to the metadata entry corresponding to the Internet video; and

generating a display that includes an asset identifier for the broadcast media asset, wherein the asset identifier includes (1) guidance data associated with the broadcast media asset, and (2) an indication of the Internet video.

30. The method defined in claim 29 further comprising:

accessing a plurality of Internet sites to identify videos provided by the Internet sites; and

storing a metadata entry for each of the identified videos in an Internet video database.

31. The method defined in claim 29 wherein the metadata entry corresponding to the Internet video comprises a URL to the Internet video.

32. The method defined in claim 29 wherein the display further comprises indications of other metadata entries corresponding to other Internet videos that are linked to the metadata entry corresponding to the broadcast media asset.

33. The method defined in claim 32 wherein the indications are arranged in a video mosaic.

34. The method defined in claim 32 wherein a subset of the indications of the other metadata entries is selected in accordance with an editor'"'"'s preference designations.

35. The method defined in claim 34 further comprising receiving the editor'"'"'s preference designations.

36. The method defined in claim 32 wherein a subset of the indications of the other metadata entries is selected in accordance with user personalization data.

37. The method defined in claim 36 wherein the user personalization data is derived from express user preference designations.

38. The method defined in claim 36 wherein the user personalization data is derived from monitored user behavior.

39. The method defined in claim 29 wherein:

the indication of the Internet video is a frame from the Internet video, and

in response to a user selecting the frame, the user is redirected to an Internet site that provides the Internet video.

40. The method defined in claim 29 wherein the display further comprises program descriptions, editorial comments, media content related to the Internet video, or links to Internet sites providing media content related to the Internet video.

41. The method defined in claim 29 wherein the display is provided by an interactive program guide.

42. A system for providing guidance for Internet videos comprising circuitry configured to:

automatically compare a metadata entry corresponding to a broadcast media asset with a metadata entry corresponding to an Internet video to determine whether the Internet video is relevant to the broadcast media asset;

determine, based on the comparison, that the metadata entry corresponding to the Internet video is relevant to the metadata entry corresponding to the broadcast media asset;

in response to determining that the metadata entry corresponding to the Internet video is relevant to the metadata entry corresponding to the broadcast media asset, link the metadata entry corresponding to the Internet video with the metadata entry corresponding to the broadcast asset by storing a tag in the metadata entry corresponding to the broadcast media asset that links the metadata entry corresponding to the broadcast media asset to the metadata entry corresponding to the Internet video; and

generate a display that includes an asset identifier for the broadcast media asset, wherein the asset identifier includes (1) guidance data associated with the broadcast media asset, and (2) an indication of the Internet video.

43. The system defined in claim 42 further comprising circuitry configured to:

access a plurality of Internet sites to identify videos provided by the Internet sites; and

store a metadata entry for each of the identified videos in an Internet video database.

44. The system defined in claim 42 wherein the metadata entry corresponding to the Internet video comprises a URL to the Internet video.

45. The system defined in claim 42 wherein the display further comprises indications of other metadata entries corresponding to other Internet videos that are linked to the metadata entry corresponding to the broadcast media asset.

46. The system defined in claim 45 wherein the indications are arranged in a video mosaic.

47. The system defined in claim 45 wherein a subset of the indications of the other metadata entries is selected in accordance with an editor'"'"'s preference designations.

48. The system defined in claim 47 further comprising input circuitry configured to receive the editor'"'"'s preference designations.

49. The system defined in claim 45 wherein a subset of the indications of the other metadata entries is selected in accordance with user personalization data.

50. The system defined in claim 49 wherein the user personalization data is derived from express user preference designations.

51. The system defined in claim 49 wherein the user personalization data is derived from monitored user behavior.

52. The system defined in claim 42 wherein:

The indication of the Internet video is a frame from the Internet video, and

in response to a user selecting the frame, the user is redirected to an Internet site that provides the Internet video.

53. The system defined in claim 42 wherein the display further comprises program descriptions, editorial comments, media content related to the Internet video, or links to Internet sites providing media content related to the Internet video.

54. The system defined in claim 42 wherein the display is provided by an interactive program guide.