Video-on-demand recommendations based on previously viewed television programs

A method, comprising:

• identifying a video-on-demand that has been purchased by a particular viewer;
• associating, by a headend, with the video-on-demand, a broadcast television program that has been watched by the particular viewer, the associating comprising:
• creating an association between a television program identifier that is associated with the broadcast television program and a VOD identifier that is associated with the video-on-demand;
• assigning a weight to the association, wherein the weight describes a strength of association between the television program identifier and the VOD identifier and the weight represents a conditional probability that a viewer will purchase the video-on-demand based on a factor that the viewer has already watched the particular broadcast television program and a probability that any viewer will purchase the particular video-on-demand;
• and
• recommending, from the headend to a client device, the video-on-demand to another viewer who has watched the broadcast television program.

A method, comprising:

• transmitting television viewing history data from a client device to a server system;
• transmitting a video-on-demand recommendation request from the client device to the server system;
• and
• receiving, at the client device, a listing of available videos-on-demand that are recommended based on the television viewing history data compared to television viewing history data associated with other viewers who have purchased the recommended videos-on-demand, the association being based at least in part on assigning a weight to the television viewing history of the other viewers that is associated with the recommended videos-on-demand,
• wherein the weight describes a strength of association between the television viewing history of the other viewers and the recommended videos-on-demand and represents a conditional probability that a viewer will purchase a particular video-on-demand provided that the viewer has already watched a particular broadcast television program and a probability that any viewer will purchase the particular video-on-demand.

A system, comprising:

• a network interface, at a headend, for receiving television data that identifies broadcast television programs that have been watched using one or more of a plurality of client devices;
• a network interface, at the headend, for receiving VOD data that identifies videos-on-demand that have been purchased through one or more of the plurality of client devices;
• a VOD recommendation engine, at the headend, configured to:
• associate a portion of the television data with a portion of the VOD data when the portion of the television data identifies a particular one of the broadcast television programs that was watched using a first client device and the portion of the VOD data identifies a particular one of the videos-on-demand that was purchased using the first client device, the associating including assigning a weight to the portion of the television data that is associated with the port of the VOD data, wherein the weight describes a strength of association between the portion of television data and the portion of VOD data and represents a conditional probability that a viewer will purchase the particular video-on-demand based on a factor that the viewer has already watched the particular broadcast television program and a probability that any viewer will purchase the particular video-on-demand;
• and
• generate a recommendation, to a second client device, that the particular video-on-demand be purchased based on received television data that indicates that the particular broadcast television program was watched using the second client device.

A system, comprising:

• means for maintaining television data, at a headend, that identifies broadcast television programs that are viewed using one or more of a plurality of client devices;
• means for maintaining video-on-demand data, at the headend, that identifies videos-on-demand that are purchased using one or more of the plurality of client devices;
• means for creating associations between broadcast television programs and available videos-on-demand, a particular one of the broadcast television programs being associated with a particular one of the videos-on-demand if the particular broadcast television program was watched and the particular video-on-demand was purchased using a particular one of the plurality of client devices, the means for creating associations including means for assigning a weight to the particular broadcast television program that is associated with the particular video-on-demand, wherein the weight describes a strength of association between the particular broadcast television program and the particular video-on-demand and represents a ratio that is defined as a conditional probability that a viewer will purchase the particular video-on-demand provided that the viewer has already watched the particular broadcast television program and a probability that any viewer will purchase the particular video-on-demand;
• and
• means for recommending the particular video-on-demand for purchase through a second one of the plurality of client devices based on a comparison of a portion of the television data that is associated with the second one of the plurality of client devices and the associations between broadcast television programs and available videos-on-demand.

A computer-readable storage device comprising computer-readable instructions that, when executed, cause a computer system to:

• gather television data that identifies individual client devices and broadcast television programs that have been watched using the individual client devices;
• gather VOD data that identifies individual client devices and videos-on-demand that have been purchased using the individual client devices;
• and
• associate portions of the television data with portions of the VOD data, the associating including assigning a weight to the portions of the television data that are associated with the portions of the VOD data, the weight representing a likelihood that a particular viewer will purchase a particular one of the videos-on-demand based on a factor that the particular viewer has already watched a particular one of the broadcast television programs and a probability that any viewer will purchase the particular video-on-demand.

A computer-readable storage device comprising computer-readable instructions that, when executed, cause a computer system to:

• transmit to a server, television data and video-on-demand data that identifies broadcast television programs that have been watched and videos-on-demand that have been purchased using a particular client device;
• transmit to the server, a request for a video-on-demand recommendation from a second client device, the server associating the television data with the video-on-demand data;
• and
• receive, at the second client device, a recommendation for a particular one of the videos-on-demand, the recommendation having been generated based, at least in part, on an association between the television data and the video-on-demand data, the association including assigning a weight to the television data that is associated with the video-on-demand data, wherein the weight describes a strength of association between the television data and the VOD data and represents a conditional probability that a viewer will purchase a particular video-on-demand provided that the viewer has already watched a particular broadcast television program and a probability that any viewer will purchase the particular video-on-demand.