Patent ID: 11902604
Assignee: SLING TV L.L.C.
Field: Audio-visual technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 13:
14. An automated process performed by a remote storage digital video recorder (RSDVR) system comprising a non-transitory data storage, a processor and an interface to a network, the automated process comprising:
determining a number of copies of a media program to be recorded for later viewing by a plurality of viewers having access to the RSDVR system, wherein the number of copies is based upon a number of recording timers set for the media program by the plurality of viewers;
storing the number of copies of the media program in a pooled arrangement by the RSDVR system, wherein individual copies of the media program are not assigned to a specific viewer at the time of storage;
transcoding at least some of the copies of the media program into multiple adaptive streams each encoded at different quality levels;
after the number of copies are stored, responding to requests from the plurality of viewers, wherein the requests indicate a desire to obtain access to a copy of the media program stored by the RSDVR system;
responding to each of the requests by performing, by the RSDVR system, a late assignment in which one of the copies in the pooled arrangement is assigned to the viewer making the request to thereby provide the viewer with access to the assigned copy of the media program; and
subsequently deleting at least some of the previously-recorded copies of the media program that are not yet assigned to any of the plurality of viewers, wherein the deleting comprises deleting some, but not all, of the adaptive streams of the copy of the media program.