System and method for monitoring and recovering the state of user participation in interactive broadcasts

An interactive enabling system for managing interactive program and commercial content, the system comprising:

• an interactive enabling device coupled for receiving a broadcast stream generated by a broadcast sponsor and for responding to interactive program and commercial pre-triggers inserted into the broadcast stream for retrieving the interactive program and commercial content in advance of when the content is needed;
• and
• at least one interactive content server coupled through a communication link for communicating with an interactive control application in the interactive enabling device;
• wherein the interactive enabling device executes the interactive control application to manage the retrieval of the interactive program and commercial content in response to the interactive program and commercial pre-triggers.

An interactive enabling system for managing a viewer's interactive viewing experience, the system comprising:

• one or more interactive enabling devices coupled for receiving a broadcast stream generated by a broadcast sponsor, the broadcast stream including time or event-based state-saving triggers for saving a state of the viewer's interactive viewing experience;
• and
• at least one interactive content server coupled through a communication link for receiving the viewer's interactive state from the interactive enabling device and storing the viewer's interactive state;
• wherein upon receipt of each state-saving trigger, the interactive enabling device being used by the viewer communicates the viewer's interactive state to the at least one interactive content server;
• and
• wherein upon receipt of a request from the interactive enabling device to restore the viewer's interactive state, the at least one interactive content server is programmed for communicating the viewer's interactive state back to the interactive enabling device.

An interactive enabling system for measuring a viewer's viewership and viewing patterns, the system comprising:

• an interactive enabling device coupled for receiving a broadcast stream generated by a broadcast sponsor, the broadcast stream including time or event-based viewership triggers for monitoring viewership patterns;
• and
• at least one interactive content server coupled through a communication link for receiving and storing a viewing indicator received from the interactive enabling device in response to the time or event-based viewership triggers, the viewing indicator providing an indication of whether the viewer is watching the broadcast stream interactively;
• wherein upon receipt of each viewership trigger, the interactive enabling device communicates the viewing indicator to the at least one interactive content server;
• and
• wherein the at least one interactive content server is programmed for evaluating viewership and viewing patterns and adjusting programming or advertisements based on the received viewership triggers.

A method for managing a viewer's interactive viewing experience, comprising:

• receiving a broadcast stream generated by a broadcast sponsor, the broadcast stream including time or event-based state-saving triggers for saving a state of the viewer's interactive viewing experience;
• storing the state of the viewer's interactive viewing experience in response to the time or event-based state-saving triggers;
• and
• restoring the state of the viewer's interactive viewing experience upon receipt of a request to restore the state of the viewer's interactive viewing experience.

A method for measuring a viewer's viewership and viewing patterns, comprising:

• receiving a broadcast stream generated by a broadcast sponsor, the broadcast stream including time or event-based viewership triggers for monitoring viewership patterns;
• storing a viewership indicator generated in response to the time or event-based viewership triggers, the viewership indicator providing an indication of whether the viewer is watching the broadcast stream interactively;
• and
• evaluating viewership and viewing patterns and adjusting programming or advertisements based on the received viewership indicators.