Systems and methods for delivering media assets over hybrid delivery paths

A computing device comprising:

• a processor;
• a memory;
• a communication interface;
• and
• a system bus for interconnecting the processor, the memory and communication interface, wherein
• the communication interface is configured to:
• receive media assets from a central content controller (CCC) concurrently over an over the air (OTA) interface and a network connection;
• and
• communicate data to the CCC, and
• the processor is configured to:
• synchronize a primary media asset received via a first path over the OTA interface with a corresponding secondary media asset received via a second path over the network connection;
• and
• present, concurrently, the synchronized primary media asset and secondary media asset, wherein when a component of the primary media asset received via the first path over the OTA interface or a component of the secondary media asset received via the second path over the network connection is unavailable, a corresponding received component is buffered until receipt of the unavailable component, the buffering being based on a time difference between receipt of the primary media asset and receipt of the secondary media asset.

A non-transitory computer readable medium containing program instructions for communicating a media asset, wherein execution of the program instructions by one or more processors of one or more computer systems causes the one or more processors to carry out the steps of:

• transmit, by a central content controller (CCC), a primary media asset to a regional controller (RC) associated with a respective market area (MA) for broadcasting over the air (OTA) to a plurality of viewers located within the MA, wherein the primary media asset includes at least one of an audio component, a video component and a text component;
• transmit, by the CCC, a secondary media asset corresponding to the primary media asset to a content delivery network (CDN) for access by a viewer device corresponding to at least one of the viewers within the MA, wherein the secondary media asset includes at least one of an audio component, a video component and a text component;
• receive, by a viewer device, the primary media asset via an OTA path and the secondary media asset via a CDN path;
• synchronize, by the viewer device, the primary media asset received via the OTA path and the secondary media asset received via the CDN path;
• and
• present, concurrently, at least one component of the primary media asset and at least one component of the secondary media asset in addition to the at least one component of the primary media asset to a viewer associated with the viewer device, wherein the transmission of the primary media asset via the OTA path is concurrent with the transmission of the secondary media asset via the CDN path, wherein when a component of the primary media asset received via the OTA path or a component of the secondary media asset received via the CDN path is unavailable, a corresponding received component is buffered until receipt of the unavailable component, the buffering being based on a time difference between receipt of the primary media asset via the OTA path and receipt of the secondary media asset via the CDN path.