Abstract:
A method of scheduling digital content presentations in a theatre by providing content items in a theatre server. A plurality of scheduling records are stored at the theatre server, where each scheduling record identifies at least one content item. The scheduling records include scheduling data associated with that particular content item, wherein the scheduling data includes at least one item of information that correlates to a particular presentation criterion that must be satisfied when the content item is presented. Optionally, theatre schedule information indicates particular events, other than the digital content presentation, that will be presented in particular auditoriums and includes the scheduling information including at least one attribute of the feature presentation. A play list is built for a particular auditorium by selecting scheduling records that will have their presentation criteria satisfied by the at least one attribute specified in the theatre schedule information arranging content items associated with each of the selected scheduling records to form the digital content show play list.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    The present invention is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/386,366 entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SCHEDULING IN-THEATRE ADVERTISING which was filed on Mar. 11, 2003, which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0003]    The present invention relates, in general, to systems and methods for displaying digitally delivered content such as movies, advertising, live events, news, conferences, and the like, and, more particularly, to software, systems and methods for scheduling presentation of digital content.  
           [0004]    2. Relevant Background  
           [0005]    Digital cinema is a term that refers generally to systems and methods for distributing and presenting motion picture “films” electronically to theatres. While movie distribution has been a focus of digital cinema, the techniques and systems involved in presenting digitally formatted content extend beyond motion pictures.  
           [0006]    Almost every type of event, including live, delayed, and recorded events, can be distributed and presented using digital cinema techniques.  
           [0007]    Movie theatres continue to be a popular venue for presenting various forms of entertaining, educational, and business-related multimedia content. One of the biggest advantages of the theatre environment is a unique setting where patrons are predisposed to attentively receive multimedia presentations. Unlike television, billboards and newspapers, a movie theatre is an environment where the audience intends to listen, watch, and be receptive to what is presented. Each theatre holds a relatively small audience, but this offers opportunities to more specifically target the presented content to the needs of that audience. While movies appeal to a variety of demographics, the theatre audience at any particular showing has certain inherent characteristics in common. These common characteristics are what brought the people together in the theatre such as interest in a particular movie, genre, or rating. Also, the audience at any given showing have some geographic similarity, and often similar work and free time schedules.  
           [0008]    Because of the ease and efficiency with which digital content can be created, stored, distributed and presented, digital cinema systems offer an opportunity to use the established network of theatres for a variety of other types of presentations. Moreover, digital cinema offers the opportunity to mix content in unique ways that were not possible with conventional moving pictures. For example, digital cinema techniques can mix live content from multiple locations and/or mix live content with recorded content to create uniquely effective presentations for a variety of purposes.  
           [0009]    Conventional theatres, however, have limited resources for scheduling and presenting content items from various sources. Because conventional theatre operations are designed to present a single film, sometimes in conjunction with digital content show advertising, they have not had a need for more sophisticated scheduling techniques. Examples of in-theatre presentations include a pre-feature slide show that displays a repeating loop of advertising slides, often interspersed with entertainment slides. The loop is started at some arbitrary time between shows and repeats until the upcoming feature begins. The loop repeats while the audience is seated such that an ad may appear several times before the feature presentation begins. Optionally, the feature presentation is preceded by trailers advertising other films, where the trailers are physically spliced to the feature film.  
           [0010]    More recently, “rolling stock” advertisements have become available in which a short animated feature, film, or other moving-picture feature is presented. Usually, the rolling stock is physically spliced to the beginning of a 35 mm feature film. As a result, there is no flexibility to alter when the rolling stock appears relative to the film, the rolling stock advertisement cannot be repeated during the digital content show as can slides, and the rolling stock will only appear immediately before the feature presentation. Moreover, rolling stock is not well suited to present the wide variety of alternative content that is available. A need exists for systems and methods that enable digital content presentation that has an impact comparable to rolling stock with the flexibility of slide programs, while offering a level of control and scheduling that is not currently available.  
           [0011]    Hence, conventional theatre facilities and management systems have little ability to precisely determine, in advance, when particular content items will be presented. As a result, many of the advantages possible with digital cinema cannot be achieved without significant improvements in the way in which theatres schedule content for display. For example, even though digital cinema techniques allow a presentation to be compiled from multiple sources very quickly, existing theatre operations cannot direct how the multiple sources are to be combined. As a result, existing efforts towards digital cinema follow a model of conventional film-based presentations by compiling a presentation well in advance.  
           [0012]    It would also be desirable if digital cinema could be scheduled to more specifically target various audience characteristics. For example, it would be desirable to geographically tailor a nationwide business presentation or sales presentation to more specifically address each audience&#39;s needs. Conventional in-theatre systems fail to capture the value of being able to target the audience. Accordingly, it would be desirable to schedule digital cinema features in a way that targeted specific audience characteristics.  
           [0013]    The ambiance of a theatre is what continues to draw audiences even though many other venues for watching movies exist. The ambience created by lighting, sound, seating, picture quality, and other factors contribute to a unique entertainment environment. The audience itself plays an important role in the ambience as the individuals who attend a given presentation affect each other. The controlled theatre environment is designed to put the audience in a receptive frame of mind and keep them in that frame of mind. However, current theatre systems fail to take full advantage of this environment because of the inability to schedule, coordinate and present digital content items. In essence, although the theatre environment is designed to present a carefully controlled production, current practices make little use of this capability with respect to digital cinema.  
           [0014]    In view of the above, there is an acute need for a new digital cinema scheduling and distribution system that will overcome the above shortcomings of current in-theatre content scheduling practices.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0015]    Briefly stated, the present invention involves a method of scheduling presentations in a theatre by providing content items in a theatre server. A plurality of scheduling records are stored at the theatre server, where each scheduling record identifies at least one digital content item. The scheduling records include scheduling data associated with that particular digital content item, wherein the scheduling data includes at least one item of information that correlates to a particular presentation criteria that must be satisfied when the content is presented. Theatre schedule information indicates particular feature presentations that will be presented in particular auditoriums and includes the scheduling information including at least one attribute of the feature presentation. A play list is built for a particular auditorium by selecting scheduling records that will have their presentation criteria satisfied by the at least one attribute specified in the theatre schedule information arranging content items associated with each of the selected scheduling records to form the digital content show play list.  
           [0016]    In another respect, the present invention involves a movie theatre having a plurality of auditoriums and presentation mechanisms within each auditorium operable to present visual and/or audio features to an audience. This embodiment of the invention includes a system for presenting a plurality of “digital content shows” alone or in conjunction with feature presentations, where each digital content show is specified for a particular auditorium and each digital content show comprises a sequence of digital content items (e.g., media files). In a specific instance, the system for presenting includes a play list data structure for each digital content show, the play list data structure defining the sequence of media files that make up the digital content show, media player components coupled to the presentation mechanisms and operable to play the sequence of media files defined by the play list, update services executing in the system for presenting and operable to detect changes that impact any one of the play lists, and a play list generator operable to create a replacement play list data structure in response to identifying a play list that is impacted by a change. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING  
       [0017]    [0017]FIG. 1 shows a networked theatre environment in which the present invention is implemented;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 2 shows an exemplary theatre implemented in accordance with the present invention in functional block-diagram form;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 3 illustrates in functional block-diagram form auditorium components of a theatre system in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 4 shows an exemplary theatre server components in accordance with the present invention in functional block-diagram form;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 5 shows data center components in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary scheduling architecture in accordance with a particular implementation of the present invention;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 7 shows an exemplary scheduling record in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary theatre schedule database in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 9 shows an exemplary scheduling grid data structure used in a particular embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 10 shows an exemplary “queue table” data structure used in a particular embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0027]    The present invention is illustrated and described in terms of a distributed theatre environment such as might be implemented by a national chain of theatres or an organization of cooperating independent theatre owners. However, the present invention is readily scaled to provide both international and local services, and may be implemented in a single venue. It should be understood that while the exemplary implementations involve presentation of digital content shows in conjunction with a main feature, the present invention is broadly applicable to scheduling digital content shows at any time before, during, and after a main feature or live event as well as scheduling digital content shows that will be presented alone (i.e., not in conjunction with a main feature or live event). Moreover, while the examples primarily involve theatre environments, it is contemplated that other entertainment venues and types may benefit from the present invention.  
         [0028]    It is contemplated that the present invention will find applicability in many events that consist of or comprise the presentation of digital media or multimedia content. An “event” is construed broadly to mean live performances, live broadcasts or transmissions, as well as performances and transmissions of pre-recorded events. An event may take a single moment in time, or span a period of time. An event may itself comprise a continuous or discontinuous sequence of events. For example, live, broadcast, and multicast events such as concerts, sporting events, plays, speeches and the like may beneficially employ features of the present invention. Further, the present invention may be used to include pre-recorded features before, during, or after a primary feature presentation.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 1 shows an exemplary theatre environment  100  in which the present invention may be implemented. Environment  100  includes a plurality of theatre facilities  200 , described in reference to FIG. 2, that are coupled to a data communication network such as wide area network (WAN)  101 . Theatre facilities  200  may be distributed over any geographic area including regionally, nationally, or world-wide. A significant advantage of the present invention is that it enables coordinated distribution of digital content items to geographically and demographically diverse audiences. Because features of the present invention enable targeting to be improved over this diverse group of theatres  200 , the market for digital cinema services and facilities is larger than with conventional regional-based in-theatre advertising systems. Also, because digital cinema services may provide a wide variety of content sources, including live segments, pre-recorded segments, audience targeted segments, and the like, the digital cinema system in accordance with the present invention can support a much broader range of applications that just movies and advertising now presented using film-based technologies. Moreover, because digital content items and digital content shows will reach a larger audience, content producers can justify greater expense to produce digital content items, making the entire experience more enjoyable.  
         [0030]    Environment  100  also includes one or more shared resources such as data server  500 , described in greater detail in reference to FIG. 5. Data server  500  implements services to distribute content items  107 , such as advertisements, training material, live entertainment, recorded entertainment, seminar presentation, and the like, to appropriate theatres  200 . Data server  500  also implements services to distribute scheduling information  109  that can be used by theatres  200  to create and present appropriate presentations such as digital content shows. In a particular example, data server  500  maintains a “schedule grid”  900  that contains inventory information on a per-auditorium basis where the inventory information is the collection of presentation slots of various characteristics that can be or have been sold.  
         [0031]    WAN  101  may be implemented by any available networking technology and protocols including private networks and public networks such as the Internet, although in either case appropriate security and authentication protocols may be desirable to prevent unauthorized system access. WAN  101  is primarily configured to support symmetrical or asymmetrical full duplex communication between theatres  200  and data server  500  to exchange scheduling information  109  used to schedule presentation of content items, and to report back on the status of scheduled content items to verify their presentation. However, WAN  101  may also be used to distribute the content items  107  themselves in some circumstances.  
         [0032]    Because content items  107  tend to be larger multimedia files, in the particular implementation of FIG. 1 environment  100  includes a high bandwidth broadcast/multicast communication link implemented, for example, by a digital broadcast satellite (DBS)  103  through satellite uplink  105 . Satellite  103  may be a private system, or may be provided by a contact satellite operator such as Hughes Network Systems of Germantown Maryland. In the particular example, content items  107  comprise media files that, when played, range in length from a few seconds up to several hours of material. The present invention is essentially transparent to the choice of encoding and compression mechanisms in that it is readily adaptable to any available encoding format and compression technique including proprietary mechanisms and industry standard formats such as MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and other MPEG standards that are available, “avi” files (audio video interleaved), “wav”(windows audio video), Windows Media audio and video files (identified by various file extensions such as .asf, .asx, wax, .wm, .wma, .wmd, .wmp, .wmv, .wmx, .wpl, and .wvx), Macromedia flash (identified by “.swf” extensions), for example. Various file types, including raw data file types, may be used so long as appropriate encoding and decoding mechanisms are available to the system.  
         [0033]    Hence, content files  107  may vary in size from a few thousand bytes to hundreds of gigabytes or more when encoded using industry standard formats. Content files  107  may also comprise still images and/or audio files that are considerably smaller. Accordingly, the high bandwidth broadcast/multicast solution shown in FIG. 1 may be modified as needed, or eliminated in some cases, to meet the needs of distribution content items  107  used in a particular application. Suitable alternatives include terrestrial cable and microwave transmission and other data communication technologies. Other alternatives include physical disk based transport techniques such as digital video disk (DVD), high definition DVD (HD-DVD), various compact disk formats, portable drives, and the like.  
         [0034]    In operation, content scheduling information  109  is distributed to specific theatres  200  that will use that scheduling information. For example, if a content item  107  is to be used only in theatres in New York City, scheduling information  109  associated with that content item  107  will be communicated only to theatres  200  that are in New York City. Scheduling information may be selectively communicated based on a variety of factors including geography, theatre size, number of auditoriums in the theatre  200 , audience demographics, attendance rates, theatre sales volume, and the like as determined by the content provider&#39;s desires.  
         [0035]    In a particular implementation, content items  107  are distributed using a full multicast to all theatres  200  irrespective of whether each theatre  200  will have use for the particular content item  107 . Full multicast is efficient in implementations in which digital broadcast satellite is used because a single transmission reaches all theatres  200  at the same time. By transferring all content items  107  to all theatres  200  the need for re-transmission of any content item  107  is reduced or eliminated. Full multicast is particularly convenient in that content items  107  can be transferred in advance of scheduling information, enabling the scheduling system to remain completely flexible up until nearly the instant that a particular content item  107  is presented. Theatres  200  can then implement processes to selectively remove content items  200  that are not needed. Alternatively, content items  107  may be distributed by unicast and/or targeted multicast only to theatres  200  that will have use for the particular item. This selective distribution may conserve storage and processing resources at each of theatres  200  and therefore have advantages in some applications.  
         [0036]    An important feature of the preferred implementations involves the separation of activities involved in managing content items  107  and activities involved in managing and communicating scheduling information  109 . Prior systems of scheduling content display often resemble television broadcast systems in that they organize and arrange content at a central system and stream that content out to distributed presentation systems. In such systems, digital content could be cached or stored at various locations to simplify distribution, but the order and arrangement of the content items within a stream were fixed before the presentation. In many cases, the content would not be downloaded until after the schedule for that content&#39;s presentation was fixed.  
         [0037]    In contrast, the present invention contemplates a system that distributes content items  107  asynchronously to the presentation system (e.g., a theatre or auditorium within a theatre). In many cases, the schedule information  109  is supplied to the presentation system after the content items  107  referred to by the schedule information  109  have been delivered. This enables the present invention to determine order and arrangement of content items  107  entirely independently of content distribution. In this manner, the presentation order and arrangement can be defined dynamically in the minutes or moments preceding the presentation of the content items. Because schedule information  109  will typically be much smaller than content items  107 , the schedule information  109  can be communicated to the distributed presentation systems just in time for a presentation thereby ensuring the most current content items  107  and schedule information  109  are used.  
         [0038]    The present invention contemplates both a push system in which content items  107  are pushed to particular theatres  200  or groups of theatres  200  that will use the content items, or by a pull a system in which theatres  200  request content items  107  that they will need. With respect to content items  107 , delivery is primarily a push system so that content items  107  are distributed in advance of schedule information  109 . In an exemplary push system, data server  500  initiates transfers of content items  107  to all or targeted auditorium clients  205  (shown in FIG. 2) within theatres  200 . In an exemplary pull system, data server  500  generates but sends content items  107  to the appropriate theatre  200  in response to a specific request from an auditorium client  205 . It is further contemplated that hybrid push-pull systems will be useful in many instances. For example, in a push system, theatre servers  203  and/or auditorium clients  205  may initiate a content pull if they discover that scheduled content items  109  have not yet been delivered by the push mechanisms.  
         [0039]    Similarly, the present invention contemplates that scheduling information  109  (and commands related to scheduling) can be distributed by push or pull methods to theatres  200 . In an exemplary push system, data server  500  initiates transfers of scheduling information  109  to appropriate auditorium clients  205  (shown in FIG. 2) within theatres  200 . hn an exemplary pull system, data server  500  generates scheduling information  109 , but sends it to the appropriate theatre  200  in response to a specific request from an auditorium client  205 .  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 2, FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 together illustrate various data processing and storage components implemented in theatre facilities  200  in a specific implementation. The push and pull systems introduced above are implemented in particular examples with substantially similar data structures, although the precise implementation of data structures may be varied significantly from the specific examples given herein. As shown in FIG. 2, most theatres  200  comprise a theatre server  203  and a plurality of auditorium clients  205  coupled together by a theatre network  201 . Theatre network  201  may comprise, for example, an available local area network (LAN) such as Ethernet, fibre channel, IP networks and the like having data transfer rates suitable to meet the needs of a particular application. Theatre server  203  implements communication interfaces with satellite  103  and WAN  101  shown in FIG. 1.  
         [0041]    Theatre server  203  implements processes and data structures that are used to schedule and coordinate presentation of sequences of content items  107  in the form of, for example, digital content show presentations. Theatre server  203  receives scheduling information  109 , requests and receives content items  107  and implements caches for temporary local storage of content items  107  and scheduling information  109 .  
         [0042]    A theatre  200  comprises one or more auditoriums. An auditorium is the room in which a film or feature is presented, and many theatres have one to perhaps twenty or thirty auditoriums. Each auditorium client  205  corresponds to a set of software processes that coordinate the presentation of content items  107  in a particular auditorium. Each auditorium will include projection equipment and audio equipment suitable for presenting a feature presentation (e.g., a film) and for presenting the content items  107  (e.g., in the form of a digital content show presentation). The projection and audio equipment may be the same for both types of presentations, although in current implementations the feature presentation equipment comprises conventional 35 mm projection equipment while the digital content show presentation equipment comprises digital projectors and digital audio equipment. Auditorium clients  205  may include interfaces for automating the projection/audio equipment, or the projection/audio equipment may rely on human operators.  
         [0043]    [0043]FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of an auditorium client  205  in greater detail. Auditorium client  205  implements a connection to theatre LAN  201  and implements a data services instance  301  and one or more media player components  303 . Data services component  301 , an instance of which also appears in theatre server  203 , comprises processes that handle communication with theatre server  203  through theatre LAN  201  and implement the communication protocols and resource allocation needed to support this communication. In a particular example, these communications use a proprietary protocol, although industry standard protocols and hybrid protocols may be appropriate in particular implementations. On the auditorium client  205 , data services component  301  operates to access theatre scheduling database  401 , shown in FIG. 4 and look up feature presentation times from a movie schedule record. Using this information, data services component  301  knows when to initiate a digital content show. For example, by determining that a movie is scheduled to start at 7:00 PM, data service component will initiate a playback of a sequence of content items  107  at a specified time such as 6:40 PM so that the sequence of content items  107  is presented as desired.  
         [0044]    By way of a specific example, a “show” comprises a number of content items  107  that are presented in a particular order to create a show. In many cases, a show may include some content items  107  that are scheduled to be presented at a particular time, such as a feature presentation in a movie, a particular live or broadcast event, or the like. Other content items may have flexible start times that may be set just before presentation. The scheduling functions of the present invention operate to seamlessly coordinate and synchronize the presentation of the content items with flexible schedules along with one or more content items  107  that have specified schedules. Each client  205  receives a “boxtime file” that lists the show start time for content items  107  that have a specified start time that are scheduled at that auditorium for that day. Data services component  301  looks at the play list data structure and calculates the length of that play list (e.g., the amount of time required to present all content items  107  on the play list). Data services component  301  then uses this time and starts the player application in direct relation to the listed show start time. So if the calculated play list is 20 minutes long, and the next show time is at 8:00 pm, data services component  301  will start presenting the digital content show defined by the play list at 7:40 pm. It does this for every show time listed. In this manner, it can be ensured that the flexible-schedule content items  107  will be presented and that their presentation will end in synchronization with the start of the presentation of a fixed-schedule content item  107 .  
         [0045]    Optionally, processes are included, for example in data service component  301 , to generate one or more notifications to a projectionist or to an automated projection system regarding the start time of a feature presentation. Currently, a feature presentation is provided on film and the film projector needs to be started in synchronization with the end of a digital content show. A human projectionist may be alerted by particular tones, blinking lights, a countdown timer, email notification and/or pager notifications. In a particular example a first notification is provided at 3 minutes before the feature presentation and a second notification is generated when the feature presentation is scheduled to start. This ensures the projectionist will be prepared after the break between shows. When automated projection equipment is involved, the notification can be made to the automated system to warm up the projector, start the projector or perform other theatre operations such as adjusting lighting, sound, curtains, screen level, and the like.  
         [0046]    Player component  303  operates on the data items to drive the projection and audio equipment in a substantially conventional manner. Optionally, data services component  301  may be outfitted with processes to automatically control the projection and audio equipment. To implement a schedule-pull system, data services component  301  will include processes for polling theatre server  203  and/or data server  500  as needed to determine if there is any new scheduling information  109  that should replace the currently active scheduling information  109 . Upon determination that new scheduling information  109  exists, a transfer of that new scheduling information is initiated. A particular client  205  may hold multiple play lists  600 , but only one play list  600  is active at any given time. In a schedule push implementation, scheduling information is pushed to client  205  such that polling processes are not required.  
         [0047]    The sequence of content items  107  that is to be played by any particular auditorium client  205  is defined by a play list represented by a play list data structure  600  described in reference to FIG. 6. A play list  600  is generated by theatre server  203  and/or data server  500  from the inventory information contained in schedule grid  900  (shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 9). A play list  600  is specific to a particular auditorium client  205 , although it is contemplated that two or more auditorium clients  205  may have similar play list  600 . Play list  600  is communicated to data services component  301  in addition to the information about movie start time. In a particular example, data services component  301  implements a cache structure (not shown) for holding a copy of the content items  107  that will be included in a particular sequence being presented. Alternatively, data services component  301  may be used to pull cached content items  107  from storage within theatre server  203 .  
         [0048]    In a particular example, outbox  305  is used to store messages indicating summary information about the status of the presentation of data items  107 . As a data item is played, a message (e.g., an XML document) is created to indicate information such as the time at which the data item  107  played, the auditorium in which it played, and the like. It is contemplated that any level of detail about the playback may be maintained in this manner. The playback message may contain information about the audience size, audience demographic information, or information indicating the feature presentation that is scheduled to be presented in conjunction with the data item  107 . This record is transmitted through data services  301  to theatre server  203  and can be used to provide an auditable record of content item presentations. Some prior audit systems create a record each time a content item is decrypted for licensing purposes, but such records do not actually confirm that a particular content item has been presented. In contrast, the present invention allows a positive confirmation that a content item was actually presented.  
         [0049]    [0049]FIG. 4 illustrates functional components of an exemplary theatre server  203  in greater detail. Theatre server  203  services all auditorium clients  205  in a given theatre facility  200 . Content items  107  are received through satellite receiver interface  405  and stored locally in cache data store  403 . A comsvr component  407  implements processes to support both push and pull functionality for accessing content items and populating cache  403  with content items  107 . In the case of a content push system it is possible that many content items  107  will be delivered that have little or no use in a particular theatre server  203 . Theatre server  203  implements processes, for example within comsvr component  407 , that manage cache data store  403  using an appropriate algorithm such as least recently used (LRU), time in cache, first in first out, or the like.  
         [0050]    In a particular implementation, comsvr component  407  checks for updated schedule information  109  that is ready to be sent to theatre server  203 . This update service is used in two primary logical locations: at the data center  500  to push out updated schedule information  109 , and in theatre server  301  to push updated content items  107  and play-lists  600  to the auditorium clients  205 .  
         [0051]    Theatre schedule database  401  is implemented, for example, by an MSDE (Microsoft data engine) database available from Microsoft Corporation. However, any available database engine may be used such as mySQL database server from mySQL AB, Oracle database produces from Oracle Corporation and the like. As shown in detail in FIG. 8, theatre schedule database  401  stores the local theatre  200  schedule information  109  as well as information regarding movie attributes and show times. Theatre schedule database  401  serves as a collection point for content item playback transaction data received through inbox  409  and XML transfer component  411 . That is, theatre schedule database  401  stores the XML records that hold information about which ads played in which auditoriums and when. The playback information is communicated through theatre database packager  413  and outbox  415  to data center  500  on a regular basis. Theatre database packager  413  operates to reformat and/or aggregate playback records to simplify communication and handling, if desired.  
         [0052]    Data services component  301 , which is substantially similar to that described in reference to FIG. 3, is used on theatre server  203  to handle the delivery of updated schedule data. Data services component  301  is adapted to connect to local theatre schedule database  401  and update it accordingly. Alternatively, this function may be handled by the Play List Prep service  417  (labeled “Ad Prep” in FIG. 4). Play List Prep service  417  comprises a set of processes that manage the play-list generation within the theatre facility  200  it is serving. Play List Prep service  417  reads a schedule grid  900  (shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 9) to obtain inventory information for each auditorium client  205  in that theatre  200  and uses this information to determine what the play list  600  for each auditorium client  205  should look like and when it should be delivered.  
         [0053]    Play List Prep service  417  then creates a “queue table”  1001  (shown in FIG. 10) which is essentially a command queue representing various scheduling information and other commands to be implemented in a particular client  205 . Queue table  1001  includes a plurality of entries where each entry corresponds to a particular command to be implemented. Each entry identifies the auditorium client  205  and a network address of that auditorium client  205  (e.g., an IP address, MAC address, uniform resource locator or the like). Each entry includes some command/scheduling information such as a pointer to a content item  107 , a play list  600  or pointer to a play list  600 , or an op-code for a particular operation such as to activate a particular play list  600  or reboot the client  205 .  
         [0054]    In operation, entries in Q-table  1001  are distributed to the specified client  205  and executed by that client  205 . Play List Prep service  417  creates the play list and queues up necessary content items  107  just before the play list  600  is supposed to start. This just-in-time system ensures that the latest scheduling information  109  is being used. For example, if a content provider has modified the content item(s)  107  that are intended to be presented, Play List Prep service  417  will note the change and ensure that the auditorium client  205  uses the updated content item  107  rather than stale content that might have been previously transferred. Further, the last minute generation of a play list  600  will contain a correct play list  600  even when last minute auditorium changes occur.  
         [0055]    [0055]FIG. 5 illustrates functional components and processes implemented by data center  500  in a particular embodiment. A scheduling user interface  501  is configured to accommodate data display and entry for creating scheduling information  109 . The scheduling information  109 , includes an “presentation contract record”  701  that is shown in greater detail in FIG. 7. A site selection interface  503  is configured to accommodate data display and entry for allowing the specification of presentation requirements, presentation preferences, geographic preferences, or any other criteria recognized by the particular implementation. Scheduling records  701  are scheduled by placing them into inventory represented in scheduling grid  901 . It is also contemplated that data center  500  may maintain a table that specifies contracts are considered ‘default’ contracts”. Default content items may identify entertainment items, general interest announcements, non-revenue content items that present information on how to purchase advertising space, general interest messages, instructional messages, safety messages, and the like. Default content items may be added to a play list  600  when there is unused inventory for a particular day at a particular client  205 .  
         [0056]    [0056]FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary data structure for a play list  600 . The present invention contemplates shows that comprise only digital content items  107 , as well as shows that comprise a mix of digital content items  107  and other content such as a live presentation or film-based content. In the former case, the play list  600  may define the entire show. In the later case, play list  600  may define the digital content portions of a show. A play list  600  can be broken down into a number of different segments  601 . Each segment  601  can be specified to be a different length and/or contain a different number of slots  611 . In a particular implementation, each slot  611  represents 15 second time window and may point to at most a single content item  107 . Within each segment  601  content items  107  can be weighted by specifications from the schedule record such that the content items  107  will tend to be placed in slots towards the beginning or end of a segment  601  depending on the desired result. For example an content provider may decide they want content items  107  to be in the third segment  601  of the play list  600 , but they want to be the last content item played within that segment  601 . When the show comprises non-digital content, play list  600  is followed by, for example a rolling stock presentation  603  and a feature presentation  605 . Optionally, where theatre automation components are used, the play list  600  may specify the state of other controllable features of the theatre environment such as lighting levels, volume levels and the like.  
         [0057]    [0057]FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary content item schedule record that contains scheduling information  109  related to a particular content item  107 . This information includes, for example, presentation requirements designated by the content provider such as a requirement that the associated data item be presented with a particular movie rating. This information also includes presentation preference information such in which segment of play list  600  the data item should appear and whether there is a preferred slot within the segment. Information about the duration of the data item which may be measured in terms of a number of slots consumed, is also included.  
         [0058]    The processes involved in the present invention include sales and marketing processes enabled by the present invention. For example, when sales personnel meet with an customer who desires to present digital content at a theatre, the sales personnel determine requirements and preferences with respect to particular content item the content provider may specify geographic requirements, presentation requirements, or the like as described above. The sales personnel create a “customer proposal” using the processes referred to herein as a “Proposal Machine”. The proposal indicates, for example, the number of theatres  200  selected, pricing information, the length of the proposed engagement and the segment of the play list  600  they would like the digital content to appear in.  
         [0059]    Once the client agrees to the proposal, the proposal is converted into a presentation contract  701 . A scheduler then schedules the presentation contract into a schedule grid  901 , following the proposal details of length of contract, sites selected, rate(s), position(s) in play list, as well as movie rating. Once scheduled, a play list  600  is generated and entries in Q-table  1001  are generated. Clients  205  then follow the directions from the Q-table  1001  to cause presentation of content items  107  according to the scheduled contracts.  
         [0060]    The present invention allow presentation contracts to be written without “total” knowledge of the future. For example, it is possible to estimate the number of screens available for a particular content item requirement using average percentages of movies that are classified with each movie rating. From this estimate “virtual auditoriums” can be used as “place holders” for digital content shows with particular requirements or characteristics. The system can then schedule media buys (e.g., presentation contracts) to the place holder auditoriums, thereby selling this “virtual inventory” before it actually comes into existence, and tracking that inventory through the term of the contract. As specific films are scheduled in specific auditoriums, real inventory becomes available and the contracts can be reassigned to an appropriate auditorium. The system of the present invention is desirably able to reconcile this virtual inventory against the actual inventory that is created at show time.  
         [0061]    Although the invention has been described and illustrated with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of example, and that numerous changes in the combination and arrangement of parts can be resorted to by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as hereinafter claimed.