System and method for providing default selections among aggregated universal program information

A network device, comprising:

• a commutation interface to communicate with a user device;
• a memory for storing instructions;
• and
• a processor configured to execute the instructions to:
• receive aggregated universal program information for a video asset selected via the user device, wherein the aggregated universal program information includes two or more asset variants;
• identify, from the aggregated universal program information and based on a user profile, that more than one of the asset variants are available to the subscriber;
• when more than one asset variant is available to the subscriber, determine, from the user profile, whether one of the asset variants includes a resume check point, and assign the asset variant that includes the resume checkpoint as a default selection when it is determined that the one of the asset variants includes a resume check point;
• when none of the asset variants available to the subscriber includes the resume checkpoint, determine, from content metadata for the asset variants, whether one of the asset variants includes an advertisement-free format, and assign the advertisement-free asset variant as the default selection when it is determined that there is an advertisement-free asset variant;
• when none of the asset variants available to the subscriber includes the advertisement-free asset variant, determine, from content metadata for the asset variants or a user profile, whether one of the asset variants includes a digital video recorder (DVR) recording, and assign the DVR recording as the default selection when it is determined that the one of the asset variants includes a DVR recording;
• when none of the asset variants available to the subscriber includes the DVR recording, determine, from content metadata for the asset variants, whether one of the asset variants is provided via a premium channel, and assign the asset variant on the premium channel as the default selection when it is determined that the one of the asset variants is provided via the premium channel;
• when none of the asset variants available to the subscriber is provided via a premium channel, determine, from content metadata for the asset variants, whether one of the asset variants is provided via another on-demand format, and assign the asset variant in the other on-demand format as the default selection when it is determined that the one of the asset variants is provided via the other on-demand format;
• when none of the asset variants available to the subscriber is provided via the other on-demand format, determine, from content metadata for the asset variants, whether one of the asset variants is provided via another linear format, and assign the asset variant on the other linear format as the default selection when it is determined that the one of the asset variants is provided via the other linear format;
• and
• instruct a user device to present, on the program information screen for the selected asset, an access button for viewing the default selection and a corresponding metadata narrative that indicates a source for the default selection, when one of the asset variants is assigned as the default selection.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium, storing instructions executable by one or more processors, the non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising one or more instructions to:

• receive aggregated universal program information for a video asset selected via a user device, wherein the aggregated universal program information includes two or more asset variants;
• identify, from the aggregated universal program information and based on a user profile, that more than one of the asset variants are available to the subscriber;
• when more than one asset variant is available to the subscriber, determine, from the user profile, whether one of the asset variants includes a resume check point, and assign the asset variant that includes the resume checkpoint as a default selection when it is determined that the one of the asset variants includes a resume check point;
• when none of the asset variants available to the subscriber includes the resume checkpoint, determine, from content metadata for the asset variants, whether one of the asset variants includes an advertisement-free format, and assign the advertisement-free asset variant as the default selection when it is determined that there is an advertisement-free asset variant;
• when none of the asset variants available to the subscriber includes the advertisement-free asset variant, determine, from content metadata for the asset variants or a user profile, whether one of the asset variants includes a digital video recorder (DVR) recording, and assign the DVR recording as the default selection when it is determined that the one of the asset variants includes a DVR recording;
• when none of the asset variants available to the subscriber includes the DVR recording, determine, from content metadata for the asset variants, whether one of the asset variants is provided via a premium channel, and assign the asset variant on the premium channel as the default selection when it is determined that the one of the asset variants is provided via the premium channel;
• when none of the asset variants available to the subscriber is provided via a premium channel, determine, from content metadata for the asset variants, whether one of the asset variants is provided via another on-demand format, and assign the asset variant in the other on-demand format as the default selection when it is determined that the one of the asset variants is provided via the other on-demand format;
• when none of the asset variants available to the subscriber is provided via the other on-demand format, determine, from content metadata for the asset variants, whether one of the asset variants is provided via another linear format, and assign the asset variant on the other linear format as the default selection when it is determined that the one of the asset variants is provided via the other linear format;
• and
• instruct a user device to present, on the program information screen for the selected asset, an access button for viewing the default selection and a corresponding metadata narrative that indicates a source for the default selection, when one of the asset variants is assigned as the default selection.