Method and system for on-demand delivery of personalized internet-based content to television viewers

A method of delivering personalized content to customers of a subscription television service for display on their televisions, the method comprising:

• obtaining Internet-based content from an Internet-based storage system, the content being associated with a messaging address of a customer and having an Internet-based format, wherein the messaging address comprises an email address for the customer,
• associating the obtained content with an identifier for a set top box of a customer based on a pre-existing association between the customer's messaging address and the customer's set top box identifier,
• converting the obtained Internet-based content from the Internet based format to a format suitable for display on a television through a set top box,
• after the conversion, delivering the converted content to the set top box associated with the customer for display on the customer's television, and
• linking the customer's email address with the customer's set top box identifier in response to input received through an administrative interface to thereby create the pre-existing association.

A method of delivering personalized content to customers of a subscription television service for display on their televisions, the method comprising:

• obtaining Internet-based content from an Internet-based storage system, the content being associated with a messaging address of a customer and having an Internet-based format, wherein the messaging address comprises an email address for the customer,
• associating the obtained content with an identifier for a set top box of a customer based on a pre-existing association between the customer's messaging address and the customer's set top box identifier,
• converting the obtained Internet-based content from the Internet based format to a format suitable for display on a television through a set top box,
• after the conversion, delivering the converted content to the set top box associated with the customer for display on the customer's television, and
• creating the pre-existing association in response to electronic input received from the customer.

A method of making personalized content available for viewing by customers of a subscription television service on their televisions, the method comprising:

• associating a customer messaging address for a storage system that is configured to store Internet-based content for the customer with an identifier for a set top box subscribed to by that customer, wherein the messaging address comprises an email address for the customer, and wherein the content comprises video mail that has been sent to the customer's email address,
• obtaining from the storage system the content stored at the customer's messaging address;
• converting the obtained content from an Internet-based format to a format suitable for playback on the customer's television through the set top box, wherein the converting step is not performed by the set top box;
• and
• storing the converted content such that it is accessible to the customer via a request input from the customer to the set top box.

A method of delivering personalized content to customers of a television service for display on their televisions, the method comprising:

• obtaining Internet-based content from a plurality of Internet-based storage systems, the content being associated with a messaging address of a customer and having an Internet-based format, wherein the messaging address comprises an email address for the customer, and wherein the content comprises video mail that has been sent to the customer's email address;
• associating the obtained content with an identifier for a set top box of a customer based on a pre-existing association between the customer's messaging address and the customer's set top box identifier;
• converting the obtained Internet-based content from the Internet based format to a format suitable for display on a television through a set top box, and
• after the converting, delivering the converted content to the set top box associated with the customer for display on the customer's television,
• wherein the plurality of Internet-based storage systems comprises an email server.

A method of delivering personalized content to customers of a display device service for display on their display devices, the method comprising:

• obtaining Internet-based content from an Internet-based storage system, the content being associated with a messaging address of a customer and having an Internet-based format, wherein the messaging address comprises an email address for the customer, and wherein the content comprises video mail that has been sent to the customer's email address;
• associating the obtained content with an identifier for a display device of a customer based on a pre-existing association between the customer's messaging address and the customer's display device identifier;
• converting the obtained Internet-based content from the Internet based format to a format suitable for display on a television, and
• after the converting, delivering the converted content to the display device associated with the customer for display on the customer's television.

A method of delivering personalized content to customers of a television service for display on their televisions, the method comprising:

• obtaining Internet-based content from an Internet-based storage system, the content being associated with a messaging address of a customer and having an Internet-based format, wherein the messaging address comprises an email address for the customer, and wherein the content comprises content that has been sent to the customer's email address;
• associating the obtained content with an identifier for a set top box of a customer based on a pre-existing association between the customer's messaging address and the customer's set top box identifier;
• converting the obtained Internet-based content from the Internet based format to a format suitable for display on a television through a set top box, and
• after the converting, delivering the converted content to the set top box associated with the customer for display on the customer's television.

A method of delivering personalized content to customers of a television service for display on their televisions, the method comprising:

• obtaining Internet-based content from an Internet-based storage system, the content being associated with a messaging address of a customer and having an Internet-based format;
• associating the obtained content with an identifier for a set top box of a customer based on a pre-existing association between the customer's messaging address and the customer's set top box identifier;
• converting the obtained Internet-based content from the Internet based format to a format suitable for display on a television through a set top box, and
• after the converting, delivering the converted content to the set top box associated with the customer for display on the customer's television,
• wherein the messaging address of the customer is distinct from an address of the set top box.

A method of delivering personalized content to customers of a display device service for display on their display devices, the method comprising:

• obtaining Internet-based content from an Internet-based storage system, the content being associated with a messaging address of a customer and having an Internet-based format, wherein the content comprises content that has been sent to the customer's messaging address;
• associating the obtained content with an identifier for a display device of a customer based on a pre-existing association between the customer's messaging address and the customer's display device identifier;
• converting the obtained Internet-based content from the Internet based format to a format suitable for display on a television, and
• after the converting, delivering the converted content to the display device associated with the customer for display on the customer's television,
• wherein the messaging address of the customer is distinct from an address of the display device.

A method of receiving personalized content from a content providing service for display, the method comprising:

• receiving, by a display device associated with a user, a list of Internet-based content from the content providing service, based on an association between an Internet-based messaging address for the user and an identifier of the display device;
• displaying the received list;
• receiving, from the user, a selection of a desired content from the list;
• transmitting, to the content providing service, a request for the desired content according to the received selection;
• and
• receiving, from the content providing service, and displaying the desired content,
• wherein the messaging address for the user is distinct from an address of the display device.

A method of receiving personalized content from a content providing service for display, the method comprising:

• receiving, by a display device associated with a user, a notification that Internet-based content is available from the content providing service, based on an association between an Internet-based messaging address for the user and an identifier of the display device;
• receiving, from the user, a request for the Internet-based content;
• transmitting, to the content providing service, a request for the Internet-based content according to the received request;
• and
• receiving, from the content providing service, and displaying the Internet-based content,
• wherein the messaging address for the user is distinct from an address of the display device.