Apparatus and method for transmitting media content

• US 9,031,379 B2
• Filed: 11/10/2009
• Issued: 05/12/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/10/2009
• 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: Roberts, Linda, Chang, E-Lee, Sung, Ja-Young, Schultz, Natasha Barrett, King, Robert Arthur
• Primary Examiner(s): DANG, HUNG Q
• Application Number:
  US12/615,870
• Publication Number:
  US 20110113440A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,009 Days
• Field of Search: 386239-248
• US Class Current: 386/239
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/33 Arrangements for monitoring the users' behaviour or opinions
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/80 characterised by transmission among terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43074 of additional data with content streams on the same device, e.g. of EPG data or interactive icon with a TV program
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4756 for rating content, e.g. scoring a recommended movie
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/80 Transformation of the television signal for recording, e.g. modulation, frequency changing; Inverse transformation for playback

Abstract

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a computing device operative in an interactive television (iTV) network, including a controller to: receive a signal from a first communication device to start a first media evaluation session of media content and associate a first user-generated comment with the media content; receive, at a different time, a signal from at least a second communication device to start a second media evaluation session of the media content and associate a second user-generated comment with the media content; synchronize the first user-generated comment and the second user-generated comment into a single commentary timeline; and insert the synchronized user-generated comments in a temporal vicinity of the media content as an overlay for playback by a media device. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A device, comprising:

a memory that stores instructions; and

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

receiving, at a first time, a first signal from a first communication device to start a first media evaluation session of media content, wherein the first time is during a theatrical release of the media content;

receiving, in a first message, first comments from the first communication device during the first evaluation session;

receiving, at a second time, a second signal from a second communication device to start a second media evaluation session of the media content, wherein the second time occurs after the theatrical release of the media content;

receiving, in a second message, second comments from the second communication device during the second media evaluation session, wherein the first media evaluation session and the second media evaluation session are asynchronous with each other;

synchronizing the first comments and the second comments into a single commentary timeline to substantially reduce asynchronicity between the first media evaluation session and the second media evaluation session;

inserting the synchronized first and second comments in an overlay for playback with the media content by a media device, wherein the overlay comprises the single commentary timeline in which the first comments and the second comments are presented on the commentary timeline and temporally associated with the media content; and

identifying a cluster of frequent comments, as an identified cluster, comprising one of the first comments, the second comments, or any combination thereof.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the synchronizing comprises synchronizing the first comment and the second comment based on start times of the first and second media evaluation sessions.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise identifying a start time and a stop time of the first media evaluation session and the second media evaluation session.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving additional comments from additional communication devices, wherein the additional comments are received from either one of the first time or the second time;

synchronizing the additional comments to generate synchronized additional comments; and

inserting the synchronized additional comments in the single commentary timeline.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the device operates in an interactive television network comprising one of internet protocol television, interactive cable television, interactive satellite television, or combinations thereof, and

wherein the cluster is displayed on the single commentary timeline.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein the media content comprises one of video content, audio-only content, or video with no audio content.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the device comprises one of a mobile device, a computer, a set-top-box, a telephone, a personal digital assistant, a server, a computing tablet, or combinations thereof.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the second time occurs when the media content is released on one of a digital video disk, a digital download, a Blu-ray disk, or any combination thereof.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein the single commentary timeline reflects an entire duration of the media content playing at the media device.

10. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a server, from each of a plurality of communication devices a commentary generated from asynchronous evaluations of media content, the plurality of communication devices including a first communication device and a second communication device, wherein the commentary comprises a first commentary from a theatrical release of the media content, and wherein the commentary further comprises additional commentaries from a second time period after the theatrical release of the media content;

associating, by the server, the media content with each commentary received from the plurality of communication devices;

synchronizing, by the server, each commentary to form synchronized comments grouped into a commentary timeline that substantially reduces asynchronicity between the evaluations of the media content;

superimposing, by the server, the synchronized comments with the media content as an overlay for playback by a media device, wherein the overlay comprises the commentary timeline in which the comments are presented on the commentary timeline and temporally associated with the media content; and

identifying, by the server, a cluster of frequent comments comprising one of first comments, second comments, or any combination thereof, wherein the first comments are generated via the first communication device, and wherein the second comments are generated via the second communication device.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the commentary is captured by each of the plurality of communication devices, and wherein the method further comprises:

receiving the additional commentaries from additional communication devices;

synchronizing the additional commentaries as synchronized additional comments; and

inserting the synchronized additional comments into the commentary timeline for display with the media content.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the media content comprises one of video content, audio-only content, or video with no audio content.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the plurality of communication devices comprise one of a mobile device, a cellular phone, a wireless device, a laptop, or a television remote control.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the additional commentaries are collected from a post theatrical release distribution of the media content.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving at a third time additional comments from additional communication devices, wherein the additional comments are based on the media content being played back at a time after the media content has been released as a first run movie and wherein the media content is released on one of a digital video disk, a digital download, a Blu-ray disk, or any combination thereof; and

synchronizing the additional comments with the synchronized comments to generate new synchronized comments and inserting the new synchronized comments in the commentary timeline.

16. The method of claim 10, further comprising identifying a start time and a stop time of each commentary that evaluates the media content using a corresponding one of the communication devices.

17. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, comprising instructions, wherein responsive to executing the instructions, a processor performs operations comprising:

receiving a plurality of comments that evaluate a particular media content, wherein the plurality of comments are based on an asynchronous evaluation of the particular media content, wherein the plurality of comments comprise a first group of comments received during a theatrical presentation of the particular media content and a second group of comments received after the theatrical presentation of the particular media content;

synchronizing the comments to generate synchronized comments to substantially reduce asynchronicity between the evaluations;

overlaying into a single commentary timeline the synchronized comments, wherein the overlay comprises the single commentary timeline in which the plurality of comments are presented on the timeline and temporally associated with the media content; and

identifying a cluster of frequent comments comprising a cluster of comments of the plurality of comments.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise exporting the cluster of frequent comments, wherein the exporting includes providing a portion of the particular media content associated with the cluster of comments.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise identifying a start time and a stop time of each of the asynchronous evaluations.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the synchronizing comprises synchronizing the comments according to the start time and the stop time of each of the asynchronous evaluations,

wherein the second group of comments are received while the particular media content is being viewed on one of a digital video disk, a digital download, a Blu-ray disk, or any combination thereof.