System and method for streaming media

A method for streaming media to a viewer for a request for media comprising:

• receiving the request, at a management system, and building a reservation comprising a reservation identification, a routing processor identification, and a presentation identification identifying a presentation, the presentation comprising at least one media identification and at least one network distribution rule, the at least one network distribution rule to manage one or more system resources;
• reserving a resource to stream media for the reservation at the management system;
• transmitting the reservation from the management system to the viewer and transmitting reservation data to a routing processor, the reservation data comprising a valid reservation identification;
• receiving the reservation data at the routing processor;
• receiving the presentation identification and the reservation identification from the viewer at a routing processor identification for the routing processor;
• selecting a media switch at the routing processor based on the at least one network distribution rule for the presentation identified by the presentation identification;
• determining at the routing processor, if the media switch is configured to stream the media for the presentation, and, if so configured, transmitting the reservation data to the media switch and transmitting a media switch address to the viewer;
• receiving the reservation identification and the presentation identification from the viewer at the media switch address;
• and
• validating the reservation identification at the media switch using the valid reservation identification and if validated, streaming to the viewer at least some media for the presentation identified by the presentation identification.

A method for streaming media for a viewer comprising:

• processing a request for media at a management system and building in response thereto a reservation comprising a reservation identification and a presentation identification, the presentation identification identifying a presentation comprising at least one network distribution rule and a media play list comprising a plurality of media names;
• reserving a resource to stream media for the reservation at the management system;
• transmitting the presentation and reservation data comprising a valid reservation identification from the management system to a routing processor and transmitting the reservation formatted for reception by the viewer;
• selecting a media switch at the routing processor based on the at least one network distribution rule, the at least one network distribution rule comprising at least one member of a group comprising a capacity rule, a load rule, a bandwidth rule, a resource rule, and a session rule;
• determining, at the routing processor, if the media switch is configured to stream the media identified by the media play list;
• transmitting the reservation data from the routing processor to the media switch if the media switch is configured, at least initially, to stream the media for the media play list;
• validating the reservation identification with the reservation data at the media switch;
• and
• for each media name on the media play list, streaming at least partially the media identified by the media name if the reservation identification is valid.