Apparatus and method for media on demand commentaries

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10708663-B2
Application number	US-201715408592-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 18, 2017
Priority date	Nov 13, 2009
Publication date	Jul 7, 2020
Grant date	Jul 7, 2020

Abstract

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a system having a controller to present an overlay to be combined with media content during presentation at each of a plurality of computing devices to illustrate a collection of user-generated comments temporally associated with portions of the media content, wherein the portions of the media content comprise portions of a media on demand presentation in an interactive television network, collect the user-generated comments from the plurality of computing devices, identify target portions of the media content that each satisfy a threshold number of comments and non-target portions of the media content that do not satisfy the threshold number of comments, generate comment groups of the user-generated comments, and provide the comment groups to the plurality of computing devices for presentation in the overlay.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
providing, by a processing system including a processor, an overlay to be combined with media content during presentation at a user device to illustrate a collection of user-generated comments temporally associated with portions of the media content, wherein the portions of the media content comprise portions of a media on demand presentation in an interactive television network;
selecting, by the processing system, a plurality of computing devices according to a geographic location of each of the plurality of computing devices, wherein each of the plurality of computing devices is associated with a respective user;
collecting, by the processing system, the user-generated comments from the plurality of computing devices that are selected;
identifying, by the processing system, target portions of the media content that each satisfy a threshold number of comments and non-target portions of the media content that do not satisfy the threshold number of comments, wherein the target portions are associated with corresponding target comments of the user-generated comments, and wherein the non-target portions are associated with corresponding non-target comments of the user-generated comments;
determining, by the processing system, target commentaries associated with the target portions of the media content, wherein the target commentaries are different from the user-generated comments, and wherein the target commentaries are provided by one or more parties associated with the media content, the one or more parties comprising a director of the media content, an actor of the media content, a member of a supporting staff associated with the media content, or a combination thereof;
combining, by the processing system, the target commentaries of the one or more parties associated with the media content with the target comments of the user-generated comments to form a combined commentary overlay for presentation in the overlay, the combined commentary overlay including distinguishable graphical user interfaces (GUIs) to distinguish the target commentaries of the one or more parties associated with the media content from the target comments of the user-generated comments; and
providing, by the processing system, the combined commentary overlay to the user device for presentation in the overlay.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user device is one of the plurality of computing devices that are selected.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the overlay is to be combined with the media content during presentation at each of the plurality of computing devices that are selected and wherein the method further comprises providing, by the processing system, the combined commentary overlay to each of the plurality of computing devices that are selected for presentation in the overlay.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing, by the processing system, first graphical indicators that distinguish between the target commentaries.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising providing, by the processing system, second graphical indicators that distinguish between the target commentaries and the user-generated comments.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating, by the processing system, a video on demand catalog that includes the user-generated comments.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating, by the processing system, a video on demand trailer that includes the user-generated comments.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the overlay comprises a time line.

9. A system comprising:
a processor; and
a memory storing executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, perform operations, the operations comprising:
providing an overlay to be combined with media content during presentation of the media content at a user device and to receive a collection of user-generated comments temporally associated with portions of the media content, wherein the portions of the media content comprise portions of a media on demand presentation in an interactive television network;
selecting a plurality of computing devices according to a geographic location of each of the plurality of computing devices, wherein each of the plurality of computing devices is associated with a respective user;
collecting, from the plurality of computing devices that are selected, the user-generated comments;
identifying target portions of the media content based on a number of comments corresponding to each of the target portions that satisfies a comment frequency threshold, wherein the target portions are associated with corresponding target comments of the user-generated comments;
determining target commentaries from the target portions of the media content, wherein the target commentaries are different from the user-generated comments, and wherein the target commentaries are provided by one or more parties associated with the media content, the one or more parties comprising a director of the media content, an actor of the media content, a member of a supporting staff associated with the media content, or a combination thereof;
aggregating the target commentaries of the one or more parties associated with the media content with the target comments of the user-generated comments to form an aggregated commentary overlay for presentation in the overlay, the aggregated commentary overlay including distinguishable graphical user interfaces (GUIs) to distinguish the target commentaries of the one or more parties associated with the media content from the target comments of the user-generated comments; and
transmitting to the user device the aggregated commentary overlay for presentation in the overlay.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the user device is one of the plurality of computing devices that are selected.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the overlay is to be combined with the media content during presentation at each of the plurality of computing devices that are selected and wherein the operations further comprise providing the aggregated commentary overlay to each of the plurality of computing devices that are selected for presentation in the overlay.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the operations further comprise providing first graphical indicators that distinguish between the target commentaries and the user-generated comments.

13. The system of claim 9 , wherein the overlay comprises a time line.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system including a processor, perform operations, the operations comprising:
providing an overlay to be combined with media content during presentation of the media content at a user device to illustrate a group of user-generated comments temporally associated with portions of the media content, wherein the portions of the media content comprise portions of a media on demand presentation in an interactive television network;
selecting a plurality of computing devices according to a geographic location of each of the plurality of computing devices, wherein each of the plurality of computing devices is associated with a respective user;
accumulating the user-generated comments from the plurality of computing devices that are selected;
identifying target portions of the media content that each satisfy a threshold number of comments and non-target portions of the media content that do not satisfy the threshold number of comments, wherein the target portions are associated with corresponding target comments of the user-generated comments, and wherein the non-t

Assignees

• At & T Ip I Lp

Inventors

• Roberts Linda
• Chang E-Lee
• Sung Ja-Young
• Schultz Natasha Barrett
• King Robert

Classifications

• G11B27/00

  Editing; Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Monitoring; Measuring tape travel · CPC title

• H04N21/8133

  specifically related to the content, e.g. biography of the actors in a movie, detailed information about an article seen in a video programme · CPC title

• H04N21/4312

  involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations · CPC title

• H04N21/2668

  Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles {(information retrieval from the Internet by querying with filtering and personalisation G06F16/9535; arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast H04H20/10; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/063)} · CPC title

• H04N21/23418

  involving operations for analysing video streams, e.g. detecting features or characteristics (television picture signal circuitry for scene change detection H04N5/147; filtering for image enhancement G06T5/00; methods or arrangements for recognising scenes G06V20/00; arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of video in broadcast systems H04H60/59) · CPC title