Providing related episode content

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12501112-B2
Application number	US-202318355169-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 19, 2023
Priority date	Dec 11, 2014
Publication date	Dec 16, 2025
Grant date	Dec 16, 2025

Abstract

Methods and systems are disclosed for tailoring related episode content within an episode, thereby improving a user's experience. In response to receiving a request for an episode, several factors may be considered when determining how much of the related episode content to provide. These factors may include information such as whether the user has already viewed a previous episode, the elapsed time since viewing the previous episode and a user preference. Related episode content may be modified to remove portions previously viewed by a user, depending on factors such as the elapsed time and a user preference.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1 . A method comprising:
receiving, by a computing device and from a user device associated with a user, a request for an episode of a series, wherein the episode is associated with a recap sequence comprising portions of a plurality of previous episodes of the series; causing output of an indication that the recap sequence is modified; and causing, after output of the indication, output of the modified recap sequence with the episode of the series, wherein the modified recap sequence:
comprises one or more portions of the recap sequence, wherein the one or more portions are selected based on determining, for each portion of the recap sequence, whether an episode associated with the portion satisfies a recency threshold.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the recency threshold is satisfied by an episode associated with the portion being output within a threshold amount of time prior to receiving the request for the episode.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the recency threshold is satisfied by an episode associated with the portion being output within a threshold quantity of episodes of the series prior to receiving the request for the episode.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the modified recap sequence excludes one or more portions of the recap sequence based on a determination that one or more episodes associated with the excluded one or more portions exceed the recency threshold.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the causing output of the modified recap sequence comprises causing, based on user preferences, one or more of:
output of an opening credits sequence, or output of a title sequence.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the causing output of the modified recap sequence comprises:
causing, before the output of the modified recap sequence and based on a determination that one or more second portions of the recap sequence exceed the recency threshold, the one or more second portions to be replaced with second content.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, from the user device, a second request for the recap sequence; and causing, based on receiving the second request, output of the recap sequence without modification.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein causing output of the modified recap sequence with the episode of the series comprises causing output of the modified recap sequence as a beginning of the episode of the series.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising modifying, based on the output of the modified recap sequence with the episode of the series, a user preference corresponding to recap sequences.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the causing output of the modified recap sequence is based on not receiving user input, after output of the indication, requesting the recap sequence without modification.

11 . An apparatus comprising:
one or more processors; and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, configure the apparatus to:
receive, from a user device associated with a user, a request for an episode of a series, wherein the episode is associated with a recap sequence comprising portions of a plurality of previous episodes of the series;
cause output of an indication that the recap sequence is modified; and
cause, after output of the indication, output of the modified recap sequence with the episode of the series, wherein the modified recap sequence:
comprises one or more portions of the recap sequence, wherein the one or more portions are selected based on determining, for each portion of the recap sequence, whether an episode associated with the portion satisfies a recency threshold.

12 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the recency threshold is satisfied by an episode associated with the portion being output within a threshold amount of time prior to receiving the request for the episode.

13 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the recency threshold is satisfied by an episode associated with the portion being output within a threshold quantity of episodes of the series prior to receiving the request for the episode.

14 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the modified recap sequence excludes one or more portions of the recap sequence based on a determination that one or more episodes associated with the excluded one or more portions exceed the recency threshold.

15 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further configure the apparatus to cause output of the modified recap sequence by causing, based on user preferences, one or more of:
output of an opening credits sequence, or output of a title sequence.

16 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, configure the apparatus to cause output of the modified recap sequence by:
causing, before the output of the modified recap sequence and based on a determination that one or more second portions of the recap sequence exceed the recency threshold, the one or more second portions to be replaced with second content.

17 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further configure the apparatus to:
receive, from the user device, a second request for the recap sequence; and cause, based on receiving the second request, output of the recap sequence without modification.

18 . A system comprising:
a first computing device; and a second computing device, wherein the second computing device is a user device associated with a user, wherein the first computing device is configured to:
receive, from the second computing device, a request for an episode of a series, wherein the episode is associated with a recap sequence comprising portions of a plurality of previous episodes of the series;
cause output of an indication that the recap sequence is modified; and
cause, after output of the indication, output of the modified recap sequence with the episode of the series, wherein the modified recap sequence:
comprises one or more portions of the recap sequence, wherein the one or more portions are selected based on determining, for each portion of the recap sequence, whether an episode associated with the portion satisfies a recency threshold, and

wherein the second computing device is configured to:
send the request for the episode of the series to the first computing device; and
output the modified recap sequence.

19 . The system of claim 18 , wherein the recency threshold is satisfied by an episode associated with the portion being output within a threshold amount of time prior to receiving the request for the episode.

20 . The system of claim 18 , wherein the recency threshold is satisfied by an episode associated with the portion being output within a threshold quantity of episodes of the series prior to receiving the request for the episode.

21 . The system of claim 18 , wherein the modified recap sequence excludes one or more portions of the recap sequence based on a determination that one or more episodes associated with the excluded one or more portions exceed the recency threshold.

22 . The system of claim 18 , wherein the first computing device is further configured to cause, based on user preferences, one or more of:
output of an opening credits sequence, or output of a title sequence.

23 . The system of claim 18 , wher

Assignees

• Comcast Cable Comm Llc

Inventors

• Gilson Ross
• Sallas Michael
• Bastian Chris
• Mitchell Slade
• Garg Amit
• Leddy John

Classifications

• H04N21/44226

  on social networks · CPC title

• H04N21/8549

  Creating video summaries, e.g. movie trailer {(retrieval in video databases by using presentations in form of a video summary G06F16/739)} · CPC title

• H04N21/812

  involving advertisement data (advertising per se G06Q30/02) · 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

• H04N21/44204

  Monitoring of content usage, e.g. the number of times a movie has been viewed, copied or the amount which has been watched (monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; protecting generic digital content where the protection is independent of the precise nature of the content G06F21/10; arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services in broadcast systems H04H60/31) · CPC title