Patent ID: 8291446
Filing Date: 2012-10-16
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
1. A method of distributing a plurality of requested programs for playback by a particular consumer device via a high-bandwidth connection, the method comprising the steps of: receiving a plurality of votes for each of the plurality of requested programs via a communications channel other than the high-bandwidth connection prior to broadcast of the requested programs; selecting only a subset of the plurality of requested programs for broadcast, wherein the selecting is based upon a number of votes received for each of the plurality of programs prior to the broadcast of the requested programs; allocating a portion of the high-bandwidth connection to broadcast the subset of the plurality of requested programs over the high bandwidth connection in a downloadable format that can be downloaded and stored at the consumer device; and responsive to receiving the vote for one of the requested programs in the broadcast subset, transmitting an instruction to the particular consumer device via the high-bandwidth connection that allows the particular consumer device access to the requested program after the program is downloaded to the particular consumer device separately from the instruction via the allocated portion of the high-bandwidth connection.