Apparatus and method for registering and the subsequent selection of user selected advertisement during playback

An apparatus comprising:

• a tuner/demodulation unit adapted to receive digital content;
• a data storage unit adapted to store a plurality of advertisements corresponding to one or more genre selected by a user;
• and
• a data processing unit coupled to the tuner/demodulation unit and the data storage unit, the data processing unit being adapted to detect an operation that accelerates playback of an advertisement being part of the digital content, determine that the operation is permitted to alter the playback of the advertisement, and in response to detecting the accelerated playback and determining that altering of the advertisement is permitted, to retrieve a stored advertisement from the data storage unit and to output for display the stored advertisement, the stored advertisement having a playback time less than a normal playback time of the advertisement.

A method comprising:

• receiving digital content including segments of an audiovisual program separated by at least one broadcast advertisement;
• detecting an operation that alters playback of the broadcast advertisement;
• determining that the operation is permitted to alter the playback of the broadcast advertisement;
• in response to detecting the operation that alters playback and determining that the operation is permitted to alter the playback, retrieving a stored advertisement from a local memory storage unit, the stored advertisement being associated with a genre of advertisements selected by a user during an initial registration process;
• and
• outputting for display the stored advertisement in lieu of the broadcast advertisement, the stored advertisement having a playback time less than one-third of a normal playback time of the broadcast advertisement.