System and method for providing advertising content in media program content

• US 9,449,332 B2
• Filed: 04/02/2015
• Issued: 09/20/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Debois, Dean, Coppa, Frank, Huffman, James D.
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN BA, HOANG VU A
• Application Number:
  US14/677,171
• Publication Number:
  US 20150213493A1
• Time in Patent Office: 537 Days
• Field of Search: 725/42, 725/34, 725/36, 725/4, 725/61, 725/87, 705/14.53, 705/14.55, 705/14.58, 705/14.66, 705/14.67
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0257 User requested
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/375 Commercial
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23424 involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for inserting or substituting an advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23614 Multiplexing of additional data and video streams arrangements for simultaneous broadcast of plural pieces of information H04H20/28
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2365 Multiplexing of several video streams
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2543 Billing , e.g. for subscription services payment schemes, architectures or protocols G06Q20/00; e-commerce G06Q30/00; arrangements for billing for the use of broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/21
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2547 Third Party Billing, e.g. billing of advertiser
• 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 21/26225 involving billing parameters, e.g. priority for subscribers of premium services
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2665 Gathering content from different sources, e.g. Internet and satellite
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4312 involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44016 involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for substituting a video clip
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/441 Acquiring end-user identification , e.g. using personal code sent by the remote control or by inserting a card
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4722 for requesting additional data associated with the content
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6408 Unicasting
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/64322 IP
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6582 Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 : involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/06 : Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services

Abstract

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a server comprising a memory to store executable instructions and a controller coupled to the memory. The controller, responsive to executing the instructions, performs operations comprising presenting a graphical user interface enabling selectable advertisements or a selectable channel distribution service for delivery to a set top box, presenting filters for targeted delivery of advertisements to subscriber equipment based on information descriptive of the subscriber, selecting advertisements from an advertising server based on detected selections of advertisements or a detected channel distribution service preference, transmitting a globally unique identifier of the set top box to a billing server, initiating storage of the selectable advertisements at a remote advertisement delivery server, and presenting the selectable advertisements to the set top box. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A media processor comprising:

at least one memory that stores instructions; and

at least one controller coupled to the memory, wherein responsive to executing the instructions, the at least one controller performs operations comprising;

receiving selections comprising a first selection regarding program content and a second selection regarding advertising from user equipment, the selections being transmitted over a wireless communication network coupled to the media processor;

transmitting the selections to a billing server for storage at the billing server in accordance with a globally unique identifier of the media processor, wherein the billing server forwards the first selection to a content delivery server and the second selection to an advertising content server, wherein the content delivery server and the advertising content server are separate from each other;

receiving the program content from the content delivery server, responsive to the first selection being forwarded from the billing server, wherein the program content is presented at a presentation device coupled to the media processor, the program content including an indicator that advertising content is to be inserted into the program content; and

inserting an advertisement corresponding to the second selection into the program content at a location in the program content according to the indicator.

2. The media processor of claim 1, wherein the selections are stored respectively at the content delivery server and at the advertising content server using the globally unique identifier.

3. The media processor of claim 1, wherein the program content comprises a video stream.

4. The media processor of claim 1, wherein the program content is received from the content delivery server via the wireless communication network.

5. The media processor of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise inserting advertising content in accordance with a default advertising insertion policy.

6. The media processor of claim 1, wherein the first selection and the second selection respectively comprise a selection of a program content channel and a selection of the advertisement.

7. The media processor of claim 1, wherein the content delivery server and the advertising content server are both remote from the media processor.

8. The media processor of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise receiving the advertisement via a unicast transmission.

9. The media processor of claim 1, wherein the selections are received from the user equipment via a graphical user interface presented at the user equipment.

10. A server comprising:

a memory that stores executable instructions; and

a controller coupled to the memory, wherein responsive to executing the instructions, the controller performs operations comprising;

providing a portal for use by a user of a wireless communication network to access a media processor, wherein the media processor manages services delivered via the network, the services comprising insertion of advertising content into program content in accordance with selections transmitted to the media processor from equipment of the user, the selections comprising a first selection regarding program content and a second selection regarding advertising, wherein the selections are transmitted to a billing server for storage at the billing server using a globally unique identifier of the media processor;

storing the program content and the advertising content respectively at a content delivery server and an advertising content server using the globally unique identifier of the media processor, wherein the content delivery server and the advertising content server are separate from each other; and

providing the program content and the advertising content to the media processor for presentation at a presentation device coupled to the media processor, the program content including an indicator for insertion of the advertising content.

11. The server of claim 10, wherein the program content comprises a video stream.

12. The server of claim 10, wherein the program content is provided to the media processor via the wireless communication network.

13. The server of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise providing the advertising content via a unicast transmission.

14. The server of claim 10, wherein the selections are transmitted via a graphical user interface presented at the equipment of the user.

15. The server of claim 10, wherein the first selection comprises a program content channel.

16. A method comprising:

receiving, by a media processor coupled to a wireless communication network, selections comprising a first selection of a program content channel and a second selection of an advertisement from equipment of a user of the wireless communication network;

transmitting, by the media processor, the selections to a billing server for storage at the billing server in accordance with a globally unique identifier of the media processor, wherein the billing server forwards the first selection to a content delivery server and the second selection to an advertising content server, wherein the content delivery server and the advertising content server are separate from each other;

receiving, by the media processor, program content of the program content channel over the wireless communication network from the content delivery server for presentation at a presentation device coupled to the media processor, the program content including an indicator for insertion of advertising content into the program content; and

inserting, by the media processor, the advertisement into the program content in accordance with the indicator,

wherein the selections are received from the equipment of the user via a graphical user interface presented at the equipment of the user.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising inserting advertising content into the program content in accordance with a default advertising insertion policy when no selection is received from the equipment of the user.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising storing the selections respectively at the content delivery server and at the advertising content server using the globally unique identifier.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the user accesses the media processor using a portal provided by a management server communicating with the billing server.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the program content comprises a video stream.