Bandwidth sharing

A method for bandwidth sharing between first and second satellite television networks in a satellite television system, the method being carried out at a first satellite television network receiver and comprising:

• receiving a shared video data stream shared between the first and second satellite television networks;
• receiving advertisement metadata forming a part of the shared video data stream, the advertisement meta-data containing identifying information that identifies the advertisement as being associated with one of the first and second satellite television networks;
• determining which of the first and second satellite television networks the advertisement is associated with by reading the identifying information;
• if the first satellite television network is identified as associated with the advertisement, then outputting the advertisement as a video signal;
• if the second satellite television network is identified as associated with the advertisement, then identifying an advertisement that is possibly stored in an advertisement cache, retrieving the advertisement from the advertisement cache and outputting the stored advertisement as a video signal;
• wherein identifying an advertisement that is possibly stored in the advertisement cache comprises determining an advertisement identifier from the advertisement meta-data to identify the stored advertisement, and, wherein in the event the advertisement identified by the meta-data is not stored in the advertisement cache, the identifying further comprises identifying at least one of a default advertisement and an advertisement specified by a rule.

A receiver apparatus for bandwidth sharing between first and second satellite television networks in a satellite television system, the receiver apparatus being used for receiving subscription services from a first satellite television network, the receiver apparatus comprising:

• a digital satellite receiver that receives a shared video data stream, the shared video data stream being shared between the first and second satellite television networks;
• the shared video data stream containing advertisement metadata, the advertisement meta-data containing identifying information that identifies the advertisement as being associated with one of the first and second satellite television networks;
• an advertisement cache that stores advertisements;
• an advertisement processor that determines which of the first and second satellite television networks the advertisement is associated with by reading the identifying information in the meta-data, and wherein the advertisement processor operates to:
• output the advertisement as a video signal if the first satellite television network is identified as associated with the advertisement;
• and
• identify an advertisement that is possibly stored in the advertisement cache, retrieve the advertisement from the advertisement cache and output the stored advertisement as a video signal, if the second satellite television network is identified as associated with the advertisement.