Media player with user-specified newscast capabilities

A system for playing newscasts on a media player comprising:

• a media player having operatively installed therein:
• a datastore local to said media player having a plurality of local media files retrievably stored therein;
• a transceiver functional to receive a newscast from a remote content server over a communications link;
• a selection process application programmed to automatically select a set of local media files from among said plurality of local media files for play within an interval;
• a media player application programmed to automatically play at least a portion of said selected set of local media files during said interval;
• complete said play of at least one of said selected set of local media files even after said newscast has been received during said interval;
• play said newscast within said interval;
• and, automatically resume play of at least a portion of said selected set of local media files after said newscast has completed play;
• and,
• an update service application coupled to said transceiver;
• said update service application being programmed to at least store said newscast in a temporary datastore;
• and, cause said media player application to play said newscast after said at least one of said selected set of local media files has completed play but within said interval.

A computer program product embodied in a tangible form including instructions executable by a processor associated with a media player to:

• play a predetermined set of local media files retrieved from a local datastore over an interval;
• receive a newscast from a remote content server over a communications link during said interval;
• store said newscast in a temporary datastore during at least a portion of said play of said predetermined set of local media files;
• automatically play said newscast only after at least one of said predetermined set of local media files has completed play but within said interval;
• and,
• automatically resume play of at least a portion of said predetermined set of local media files after said newscast has completed play but within said interval.