Methods, systems and storage medium for providing content notification based on user communities

A system for notifying a consumer of available content in a content distribution system, the system comprising:

• a database identifying consumers and their respective community memberships;
• a community portal for consumers, the community portal allowing consumers to search communities, join communities and end membership in communities;
• a network element providing first content;
• the network element determining the existence of a content event related to second content;
• a consumer network in communication with the network element, the consumer network including a display device for displaying content and a controller in communication with the content distribution system, the consumer network being associated with a community in response to input from the consumer through the community portal requesting that the consumer be identified as a member of the community;
• the network element accessing the database and associating the content event and the second content with the community;
• the network element sending notification of the content event to the consumer network, the notification presented to the display device as a window presented overlaying first content being viewed by the consumer;
• the network element receiving an input from the consumer requesting the second content associated with the content event;
• and
• the network element retrieving the second content for presentation to the consumer upon request from the consumer;
• wherein the content event is submitted to the network element by an other consumer;
• wherein the network element associates the second content with the community by associating a community designated by the other consumer with the second content.

A computer program product tangibly embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium, for notifying consumers of available content in a content distribution system, the computer program product including instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform operations comprising:

• providing a community portal for consumers, the community portal allowing consumers to search communities, join communities and end membership in communities;
• associating a consumer with a community in response to input from the consumer through the community portal requesting that the consumer be identified as a member of the community;
• presenting first content to the consumer for viewing;
• determining existence of a content event related to second content;
• associating the content event and the second content with the community;
• notifying the consumer who is the member of the community of the content event by sending a notification to the consumer, the notification presented to the consumer as a window presented overlaying the first content being viewed by the consumer;
• and
• receiving an input from the consumer requesting the second content associated with the content event;
• and
• retrieving the second content for presentation to the consumer upon request from the consumer
• wherein the content event is submitted by an other consumer;
• wherein associating the second content with the community includes associating a community designated by the other consumer with the second content.