System and method for digital program insertion in cable systems
AssigneeFreeWheel Media, Inc.
InventorGerrit Niemeijer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Alternative approaches to the insertion of local commercials and messages into networks feeds are provided. Embodiments include digital commercial insertion for cable operators and others that not only offer more flexibility and features, but may also be significantly cheaper to implement. The actual “insert” of the local commercial or message into the digital program is performed by a standard set top box, with several methods of providing the local commercial to the set top box at the proper insertion time. Another embodiment allows a cable operator to significantly save on equipment in the form of splicers and ad inserters, by allowing easy and dynamic mapping of local commercials to insertion zones.
Claims20
A method comprising:
- receiving information indicating one or more insertion points in a first media stream for insertion of one or more advertisements associated with a plurality of insertion zones;
- determining, based on bandwidth available for delivering content to the plurality of insertion zones, a portion of the one or more advertisements that can be served;
- and
- allocating said portion of the one or more advertisements to one or more insertion zones of the plurality of insertion zones, wherein said allocating is based at least on the received information and the determined portion.
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause:
- receiving information indicating one or more insertion points in a first media stream for insertion of one or more advertisements associated with a plurality of insertion zones;
- determining, based on bandwidth available for delivering content to the plurality of insertion zones, a portion of the one or more advertisements that can be served;
- and
- allocating said portion of the one or more advertisements to one or more insertion zones of the plurality of insertion zones, wherein said allocating is based at least on the received information and the determined portion.
A system comprising:
- a first computing device configured to:
- receive information indicating one or more insertion points in a first media stream for insertion of one or more advertisements associated with a plurality of insertion zones,
- determine, based on bandwidth available for delivering content to the plurality of insertion zones, a portion of the one or more advertisements that can be served, and
- allocate said portion of the one or more advertisements to one or more insertion zones of the plurality of insertion zones, wherein said allocating is based at least on the received information and the determined portion;
- and
- a second computing device configured to:
- send, to the one or more insertion zones, a second media stream that is associated with the one or more insertion zones, and
- cause display of, at least one advertisement, of the one or more advertisements, at a time indicated by the received information.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.