Method, apparatus, and computer program product for controlling content distribution
AssigneeGroupon, Inc.
InventorsChristopher Powers, Mike Aparicio
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The method, apparatus, and computer program product provided herein provide for distribution of customized content to displays in a network. A display may receive video content for display from a transceiver device. Channel configurations may be user-configured to include content from any number of sources. Channel content may be generated based on a channel configuration to incorporate identified content and the channel content may be provided to transceiver devices. Alert messages may be pushed to channels, and takeovers of transceiver devices to stream a particular channel may be performed.
Claims20
A computer-implemented method for remotely controlling content distribution to at least one transceiver device, the computer-implemented method comprising:
- receiving a channel configuration comprising at least one uniform resource locator (URL) provided via at least a user interface operative on a user device that is remote from the at least one transceiver device;
- storing the channel configuration in association with the channel identifier on a content distribution apparatus;
- receiving an indication of at least one transceiver device selected from a plurality of transceiver devices in a network, wherein the indication indicates the at least one transceiver device is to be associated with the channel identifier;
- associating the channel identifier with the at least one transceiver device, such that respective channel content generated via the at least one URL comprised by the channel configuration associated with the channel identifier is received by the at least one transceiver device via a network interface, wherein the respective channel content is transmitted by the at least one transceiver device for display;
- receiving an indication of an alert message, and a plurality of selected channel identifiers selected from a plurality of channel identifiers associated with respective channel configurations;
- and
- controlling communication with respective transceiver devices in a network by transmitting the alert message to the plurality of transceiver devices associated with the selected channel identifiers, such the transceiver devices associated with the selected channel identifiers display the alert message.
An apparatus for remotely controlling content distribution to at least one transceiver device, the apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to at least:
- receive a channel configuration, the channel configuration comprising at least one uniform resource locator (URL) provided via at least a user interface operative on a user device that is remote from the at least one transceiver device;
- store the channel configuration in association with the channel identifier on a content distribution apparatus;
- receive an indication of at least one transceiver device selected from a plurality of transceiver devices in a network, wherein the indication indicates the at least one transceiver device is to be associated with the channel identifier;
- associate the channel identifier with the at least one transceiver device, such that respective channel content generated via the at least one URL comprised by the channel configuration associated with the channel identifier is received by the at least one transceiver device via a network interface, wherein the respective channel content is transmitted by the at least one transceiver device for display;
- receive an indication of an alert message, and a plurality of selected channel identifiers selected from a plurality of channel identifiers associated with respective channel configurations;
- and
- control communication with respective transceiver devices in a network by transmitting the alert message to the plurality of transceiver devices associated with the selected channel identifiers, such the transceiver devices associated with the selected channel identifiers display the alert message.
A computer program product for remotely controlling content distribution to at least one transceiver device, the computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable program code instructions stored therein, the computer-executable program code instructions comprising program code instructions to:
- receive a channel configuration, the channel configuration comprising at least one uniform resource locator (URL) provided via at least a user interface operative on a user device that is remote from the at least one transceiver device;
- store the channel configuration in association with the channel identifier on a content distribution apparatus;
- receive an indication of at least one transceiver device selected from a plurality of transceiver devices in a network, wherein the indication indicates the at least one transceiver device is to be associated with the channel identifier;
- associate the channel identifier with the at least one transceiver device, such that respective channel content generated via the at least one URL comprised by the channel configuration associated with the channel identifier is received by the at least one transceiver device via a network interface, wherein the respective channel content is transmitted by the at least one transceiver device for display;
- receive an indication of an alert message, and a plurality of selected channel identifiers selected from a plurality of channel identifiers associated with respective channel configurations;
- and
- control communication with respective transceiver devices in a network by transmitting the alert message to the plurality of transceiver devices associated with the selected channel identifiers, such the transceiver devices associated with the selected channel identifiers display the alert message.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.