Patent ID: 9258589
Filing Date: 2016-02-09
CPC Classification: H04N

Claim Text:
1. A computer-implemented method of synchronizing content with a program guide, the method comprising: identifying, by a first system comprising computer hardware configured with specific executable instructions and a network interface configured to communicate with user terminals and content hosting systems, a first program, listed in an electronic program guide provided to user terminals as being scheduled to be shown to users at a first time period, wherein the first program comprises at least a first video having a time length, the first video hosted on a third party system that provides streaming video content, the third party system under separate control from the first system; prior to the first time period, determining whether a content availability check is to be performed; at least partly in response to determining that a content availability check is to be performed, transmitting, prior to the first time period, a query over the network to the third party system via an application programming interface (API), and determining by the first system whether the first video is still accessible from the third party system, based at least in part on a result of the query; at least partly in response to determining that the first video no longer accessible from the third party system: at least partly in response to determining that the first video is still accessible from the third party system, causing, at least in part, the first video to be streamed from the third party system to user terminals over a data network within the first time period as part of the first program listed in the electronic program guide.