System and method for providing program recommendations through multimedia searching based on established viewer preferences

• US 9,232,273 B2
• Filed: 03/04/2014
• Issued: 01/05/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Begeja, Lee, Blewett, Charles Douglas, Gibbon, David Crawford, Liu, Zhu, Renger, Bernard S., Rosen, Kenneth H., Shahraray, Behzad
• Primary Examiner(s): TRAN, THAI Q
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hunter, Mishawn
• Application Number:
  US14/196,767
• Publication Number:
  US 20140196068A1
• Time in Patent Office: 672 Days
• Field of Search: 386/248, 386/262, 386/291, 386/295, 725/46, 725/39, 725/44
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/105 of operating discs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/11 by using information not detectable on the record carrier
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/28 by using information signals recorded by the same method as the main recording G11B27/22 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/251 Learning process for intelligent management, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies details of learning user preferences for the retrieval of video data in a video database G06F16/739; computer systems using learning methods G06N3/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; 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 21/4147 PVR [Personal Video Recorder] H04N5/76 takes precedence ; arrangements for broadcast with accumulation-type receivers H04H20/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44222 Analytics of user selections, e.g. selection of programs or purchase activity monitoring of user selections in data processing systems G06F11/34; arrangements for monitoring the user's behaviour or opinions in broadcast systems H04H60/33
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4524 involving the geographical location of the client retrieval from the Internet by querying based on geographical locations G06F16/9537; systems specially adapted for using geographical information in broadcast systems H04H60/70; protocols in which the network application is adapted for the location of the user terminal in communication control or processing H04L67/52; services making use of the location of users or terminals in wireless networks H04W4/02; locating users or terminals in wireless networks H04W64/00
• 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 21/4668 for recommending content, e.g. movies

Abstract

A system and method is disclosed for processing viewer profiles and program metadata from a number of sources to provide viewing suggestions and recommendations to one or more viewers.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

accessing a profile associated with a video recording device associated with a viewer;

deriving metadata from multimedia associated with a plurality of programs, the multimedia comprising a preview for one of the plurality of programs;

selecting the one of the plurality of programs based on the metadata and the profile to generate a program recommendation; and

transmitting the program recommendation to the video recording device associated with the viewer,

wherein the profile associated with the video recording device is based on reviewing previously scheduled program recordings and user specified keywords, the profile generated using a weighting algorithm that places more weight on a history of previously scheduled program recordings than the user specified keywords and phrases.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the multimedia associated with the plurality of programs further comprises a trailer for the one of the plurality of programs.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the profile is a group profile based on a plurality of viewer user profiles, each of the plurality of viewer user profiles associated with a related video recording device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the deriving metadata associated with a plurality of programs occurs in real-time.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the deriving metadata from multimedia associated with a plurality of programs comprises deriving metadata contemporaneously with a broadcasting of a particular program in a first geographic area and the transmitting the program recommendation is to a video recording device located in a second geographic area prior to a broadcasting of the particular program in the second geographic area.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the deriving metadata from multimedia associated with a plurality of programs is based on analysis of video and audio content of the multimedia, the analysis comprising speech recognition, text analysis, and scene analysis.

7. An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

a memory to store computer program instructions, the computer program instructions when executed on the processor cause the processor to perform operations comprising;

accessing a profile associated with a video recording device associated with a viewer;

deriving metadata from multimedia associated with a plurality of programs, the multimedia comprising a preview for one of the plurality of programs;

selecting the one of the plurality of programs based on the metadata and the profile to generate a program recommendation; and

transmitting the program recommendation to the video recording device associated with the viewer,

wherein the profile associated with the video recording device is based on reviewing previously scheduled program recordings and user specified keywords, the profile generated using a weighting algorithm that places more weight on a history of previously scheduled program recordings than the user specified keywords and phrases.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the multimedia associated with the plurality of programs further comprises a trailer for the one of the plurality of programs.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the profile is a group profile based on a plurality of viewer user profiles, each of the plurality of viewer user profiles associated with a related video recording device.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the deriving metadata associated with a plurality of programs occurs in real-time.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the deriving metadata from multimedia associated with a plurality of programs comprises deriving metadata contemporaneously with a broadcasting of a particular program in a first geographic area and the transmitting the program recommendation is to a video recording device located in a second geographic area prior to a broadcasting of the particular program in the second geographic area.

12. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the deriving metadata from multimedia associated with a plurality of programs is based on analysis of video and audio content of the multimedia, the analysis comprising speech recognition, text analysis, and scene analysis.

13. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer program instructions, which, when executed on a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

accessing a profile associated with a video recording device associated with a viewer;

deriving metadata from multimedia associated with a plurality of programs, the multimedia comprising a preview for one of the plurality of programs;

selecting the one of the plurality of programs based on the metadata and the profile to generate a program recommendation; and

transmitting the program recommendation to the video recording device associated with the viewer,

wherein the profile associated with the video recording device is based on reviewing previously scheduled program recordings and user specified keywords, the profile generated using a weighting algorithm that places more weight on a history of previously scheduled program recordings than the user specified keywords and phrases.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the multimedia associated with the plurality of programs further comprises a trailer for the one of the plurality of programs.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the profile is a group profile based on a plurality of viewer user profiles, each of the plurality of viewer user profiles associated with a related video recording device.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the deriving metadata associated with a plurality of programs occurs in real-time.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the deriving metadata from multimedia associated with a plurality of programs comprises deriving metadata contemporaneously with a broadcasting of a particular program in a first geographic area and the transmitting the program recommendation is to a video recording device located in a second geographic area prior to a broadcasting of the particular program in the second geographic area.