Apparatus and method for replacing a broadcasted advertisement in response to an attempt by the viewer to skip or fast-forward through the advertisement

An apparatus comprising:

• a tuner/demodulation unit adapted to receive digital content;
• a data storage unit;
• 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, and in response to detecting the accelerated playback, to retrieve a secondary advertisement from the data storage unit, to output an image for display that indicates an amount of time remaining in a display of at least the secondary advertisement, and to display the secondary advertisement, the secondary advertisement having a playback time less than a normal playback time of the advertisement.

A method comprising:

• receiving digital content including segments of a audiovisual program separated by at least one advertisement;
• detect an operation that accelerates playback of the at least one advertisement;
• and
• in response to detecting the accelerated playback, retrieving a secondary advertisement from a local memory storage unit;
• outputting the secondary advertisement for display, the secondary advertisement having a playback time less than a normal playback time of the at least one advertisement;
• and
• outputting an image for display that indicates a remaining duration for display of the secondary advertisement.