Method and system to influence a viewer to select a feed

A method and apparatus for influencing a viewer to select a second feed. A shared medium is loaded beyond a loading threshold. One or more high viewership feeds being provided over the shared medium are designated preferred feeds, and one or more user devices providing low viewership feeds to viewers are designated candidate user devices. The candidate user devices are instructed to influence their respective viewers to select one of the high viewership feeds. The candidate user devices select a second feed from one or more preferred feeds, and provide information pertaining to the second feed to the viewer.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to providing data over a shared medium, and in particular to conserving usage of the shared medium.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Service providers, such as a multiple system operator (MSO), typically provide broadcast television and video on demand services to a large number of subscribers over a shared medium, such as a hybrid fiber coaxial network. Such service providers are increasingly adding non-video services, such as telephone services, audio services, and high speed data access services, over the same shared medium. Because of the finite bandwidth of the shared medium and the large number of subscribers using the shared medium, during peak usage times the shared medium may become loaded to capacity, preventing the service provider from offering a requested service to one or more subscribers. The inability to provide a requested service over the shared medium inevitably leads to subscriber dissatisfaction, and may inhibit the service provider from generating additional revenue, such as when the requested service is a video on demand request from a subscriber.

Until relatively recently a service provider provided all broadcast television channels over the shared medium irrespective of whether each of the television channels had viewers. Consequently, valuable bandwidth of the shared medium might be consumed by one or more channels that have no viewers. With the advent of newer technologies, such as switched digital video, a service provider can now selectively provide channels over the shared medium depending on whether there are viewers of the respective channels. Channels that have no viewers will not be provided over the shared medium, and consequently will not consume bandwidth of the shared medium. This ability to selectively provide broadcast programming on an as-requested basis frees bandwidth of the shared medium for other services. Unfortunately however, a channel must be provided over the shared medium if only a single subscriber requests the channel. Thus, a number of very low viewership programs may utilize the same amount of bandwidth as a number of very high viewership programs. In such a situation, and especially at peak usage times of the shared medium, it is preferable for the service provider if viewers of low viewership programs can be influenced to select high viewership programs, freeing up bandwidth for additional services for other viewers, such as video on demand services.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention enables a service provider to influence a viewer of a low viewership channel, or feed, to switch to a high viewership feed, freeing up valuable bandwidth on a shared medium. A headend providing feeds over the shared medium determines that a loading threshold of the shared medium is exceeded. The headend determines preferred feeds from those feeds that are currently being provided over the shared medium. The headend also determines one or more candidate user devices currently providing a first feed to a viewer. The headend instructs the one or more candidate user devices to influence their respective viewer to select a preferred feed. The headend sends instructions to a candidate user device along with information regarding the preferred feeds. The candidate user device receives the instructions and the information regarding the preferred feeds. The candidate user device selects a second feed from the preferred feeds, and provides information pertaining to the second feed for display to the viewer. If the viewer requests the second feed, the candidate user device selects the second feed and the headend determines that the first feed is no longer being watched by the viewer. If the first feed has no other viewers, the headend can terminate providing the first feed over the shared medium, freeing up bandwidth for other services.

The loading threshold of the shared medium may comprise any criteria appropriate for a respective service provider and, according to one embodiment of the invention, the loading threshold of the shared medium may comprise one or more of a predetermined ratio of a percentage of bandwidth in-use to a total bandwidth available, a total number of viewers using the shared medium, a predetermined ratio of a number of revenue-generating feeds to a number of non-revenue generating feeds, a predetermined ratio of a number of multicast feeds to a number of unicast feeds, and the ratio of feeds to viewers.

The headend may determine preferred feeds by any suitable method, such as based on a number of viewers of a feed, a time period since the last segment of video associated with a feed began, how long the feed has been active, and current or historical viewership metrics associated with the feed. The headend may determine candidate user devices by any suitable method, including through the use of criteria such as whether the candidate user device is being providing a unicast feed or a multicast feed and, if a unicast feed, whether the unicast feed is a broadcast feed or a revenue producing video on demand feed, starting and ending times of the program currently being provided on the feed, and how long the viewer has been receiving the feed.

The headend may provide instructions and information regarding the preferred feeds directly to the candidate user devices, or via a common metadata multicast feed that is continually monitored by all user devices. The information regarding the preferred feeds can include: a) an activation loading threshold, wherein if the activation loading threshold is exceeded by the current load of the shared medium, a need exists to influence viewers to select a second feed; b) the current load of the shared medium; c) a deactivation loading threshold indicating the need to influence viewers to select a second feed no longer exists; d) specific user device addresses or identifiers identifying candidate user devices; and e) information identifying preferred feeds and metadata associated with the preferred feeds.

The candidate user device may select the second feed randomly from the preferred feeds based on information relating to the viewer, or based on a profile associated with a subscriber. Information pertaining to the second feed provided for display to the viewer may include an overlay that describes the second feed and encourages the viewer to select the second feed, or may provide second content from the second feed to the viewer. The information pertaining to the second feed may be provided in place of first content that was to be provided to the viewer, such as an advertisement, for example. In such case, the candidate user device may identify to the headend the advertisement that was not provided to the viewer so the respective advertiser may be credited, if appropriate. If the information pertaining to the second feed is second content from the second feed, the candidate user device may buffer the second content at the beginning of a video segment of the second feed prior to providing the second content for display to the viewer. The information pertaining to the second feed may include a viewer-selectable feature that enables the viewer to easily select the second feed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention enables service providers to recover shared medium bandwidth that was utilized to provide a low viewership feed so the bandwidth can be used for a service that the service provider deems preferable.FIG. 1is a diagram of a cable infrastructure suitable for implementing aspects of the present invention in the context of a service provider, such as a multiple system operator (MSO), providing broadcast and video on demand services to a plurality of residences. A headend10provides programming services over a shared medium12to a plurality of residences14. User devices16A,16B,16C, and16D are also coupled to the shared medium12via local links18A,18B,18C, and18D, respectively. For purposes of illustration and clarity, the user devices16A,16B,16C, and16D may be referred to singularly as the user device16or collectively as the user devices16when the discussion relates to user devices16generally rather than a specific user device16A,16B,16C, or16D. Likewise, the local links18A,18B,18C, and18D may be referred to singularly as the local link18or collectively as the local links18when the discussion relates to local links18generally rather than a specific local link18A,18B,18C, and18D.

The headend10can comprise any suitable equipment capable of providing one or more feeds to the user devices16for programming. A feed may comprise any type of data, such as a broadcast channel or a video on demand program. The feed can be a unicast feed received by a particular user device16, or a multicast feed received by more than one user device16. The cable infrastructure of a particular cable service provider typically includes a number of headends, and each headend provides feeds to a relatively large number of subscribers. While for purposes of illustration the shared medium12is shown as having a relatively simple configuration with connections to a number of residences14, it is common for the shared medium12to comprise a relatively complex tree and branch hierarchy with multiple splitters and amplifiers to ensure sufficient signal strength to each residence, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

The user devices16can comprise any suitable equipment capable of interacting over a respective local link18and the shared medium12with the headend10. The local links18can comprise any suitable wired or wireless technology capable of coupling the shared medium12with the respective user device16. For example, the user device16A may comprise a set top box, and the local link18A may comprise a coaxial cable. The user device16B may comprise a personal computer, and the local link18B may comprise an Ethernet cable coupled to a cable modem that is in turn coupled to the shared medium12. The user device16C may comprise a wireless handheld device, and the local link18C may comprise a wireless technology, such as 802.11 or Bluetooth, that is coupled to the cable modem. The user device16D may comprise a cellular telephone and the local link18D may comprise a cellular connection with a cell tower (not shown) that is coupled to the shared medium12. Each of the user devices16typically has an associated display device (not shown). For example, the user device16A may have a television monitor, the user device16B may have a liquid crystal display (LCD) computer monitor, and the user devices16C and16D have may integrated LCD screens. While for purposes of illustration each residence14is shown as having a single user device16, in practice a residence14can have many user devices16.

The headend10preferably implements a technology such as switched digital video, or the like, that enables the headend10to provide television programming feeds over the shared medium12on an as-requested basis. Thus, even though the service provider may offer a viewer access to 150 channels of television, only those channels that have been requested by a user device16are being provided over the shared medium12. The ability to selectively provide a broadcast feed over the shared medium12reduces bandwidth utilization of the shared medium12and, at peak usage times, enables the service provider to provide more services than would otherwise be available if all broadcast channels were always provided over the shared medium12irrespective of whether each channel was actually begin viewed by at least one viewer. Unfortunately, for channels of a particular resolution, such as standard definition or high definition, each feed requires generally the same bandwidth regardless of whether the feed has one viewer or 500 viewers. Thus, at peak usage times, the service provider may be unable to fulfill a relatively high profit video on demand request by a subscriber because of one or more viewers of low viewership feeds using bandwidth of the shared medium12. From the service provider's perspective, in such a situation it would be preferable if the viewers of low viewership feeds could be influenced to switch from the low viewership feed to a high viewership feed, so the bandwidth associated with the low viewership feed could be used for a more profitable service.

FIG. 2is a flow chart illustrating a process according to one embodiment of the invention for instructing a user device16to influence viewers to select a second feed. For purposes of illustration the flow chart will be described from the perspective of the headend10shown inFIG. 1. The headend10preferably continuously monitors the current load of the shared medium12(step100). The current load can be quantified by the service provider in any suitable manner. For example, the current load can be quantified in terms of a ratio of a percentage of bandwidth of the shared medium12currently used to a total available bandwidth of the shared medium12, a total number of viewers using the shared medium12, a ratio of a number of revenue-generating feeds being provided over the shared medium12to a number of non-revenue generating feeds being provided over the shared medium12, a ratio of a number of multicast feeds being provided over the shared medium12to a number of unicast feeds being provided over the shared medium12, or per feed bandwidths.

The headend10also preferably continuously compares the current load to a loading threshold (step102). The loading threshold will typically be a predetermined quantity defined in the same terms as the criteria used to determine the current load. For example, if the current load is determined as a function of a ratio of bandwidth of the shared medium12currently used to a total available bandwidth of the shared medium12, a suitable threshold may be 75%, indicating that when the ratio of bandwidth of the shared medium12currently being used exceeds 75% of the total bandwidth available of the shared medium12, the current load exceeds the loading threshold. If the current load does not exceed the loading threshold, the process returns to step100. If the current load exceeds the loading threshold, the headend10determines preferred feeds from the plurality of feeds being provided over the shared medium12(step104). Preferred feeds can be selected by any suitable criteria including the number of viewers of a feed, a time period since the last segment of video associated with a feed began, and current or historical viewership metrics associated with the feed. The number of preferred feeds selected may be a predetermined number, such as the three feeds with the highest viewership, or may depend on the criteria used to determine a preferred feed, for example, each feed having more than 300 viewers may be deemed a preferred feed.

The headend10also determines candidate user devices16currently providing a first feed for display to a viewer that should be instructed to influence the viewer to select a second feed (step106). The headend10may determine candidate user devices16by any method that the respective service provider deems appropriate, including, for example, through the use of criteria such as whether the user device16is providing a unicast feed or a multicast feed and, if a unicast feed, whether the unicast feed is a broadcast feed or a revenue producing video on demand feed, how long the viewer has been receiving the feed, starting and ending times of the program currently being provided on the feed, or the number of viewers of the feed. The headend10instructs the candidate user devices16to influence the respective viewer to select a second feed selected from the preferred feeds (step108), and provides information regarding the preferred feeds to the candidate user devices16(step110). The headend10may provide the instruction and information regarding the preferred feeds directly to the candidate user devices16, or via a common metadata multicast feed that is continually monitored by all user devices16. The information regarding the preferred feeds can include: a) an activation loading threshold, wherein if the activation loading threshold is exceeded by the current load of the shared medium, a need exists to influence viewers to select a second feed; b) the current load of the shared medium; c) a deactivation loading threshold indicating the need to influence viewers to select a second feed no longer exists; d) specific user device addresses or identifiers identifying candidate user devices; and e) information identifying preferred feeds and metadata associated with the preferred feeds. The metadata may include any relevant information about the programming on that respective preferred feed, such as a channel number, a name of the program, a description of the program, actors in the program, and the like.

FIG. 3is a block diagram of a user device16illustrated inFIG. 1according to one embodiment of the invention. The user device16includes a network interface30for communicating with the shared medium12either directly or via another communications link, such as the local link18. A display interface32interfaces with a display device suitable for the respective user device16. A storage34can be used to buffer second content from a second feed prior to providing the second content for display to the viewer. The storage34can comprise any suitable electronic storage such as a hard disk drive or random access memory. The storage34may be integral with the user device16, or may be independent of the user device16but coupled to the user device16over a relatively high speed communications channel, such as an Ethernet cable or a Universal Serial Bus (USB) cable. A control system36contains a memory, software, and circuitry (not shown) configured to implement the functionality described herein. The control system36can include a general purpose processor that executes one or more programs developed in a conventional or proprietary programming language, and can comprise specialized circuitry adapted to provide all or a portion of the functionality described herein. As discussed previously, the user device16can be implemented in any suitable equipment capable of providing programming to a viewer, such as a set top box, a computer, a cell phone, and the like.

FIG. 4is a block diagram illustrating first and second feeds provided over a shared medium12according to one embodiment of the invention, andFIG. 5is a flowchart illustrating a process for influencing a viewer to select a second feed according to one embodiment of the invention. For purposes of illustrationFIGS. 4 and 5will be discussed together. Referring first toFIG. 4, a first feed40comprises a plurality of content segments42A,42B, and42C and a plurality of advertisements44A,44B, and44C that is being provided to a user device16. A time bar46indicates the passage of time. As such, the leftmost portion of the first feed40, in this example the advertisement44A, is presented by the user device16for display to the viewer prior to a portion of the first feed40that is present to the right of the advertisement segment44A, in this example the content segment42A. A second feed48also has a plurality of content segments50A,50B, and50C and a plurality of advertisements52A,52B, and52C and is being provided to another user device16. For purposes of illustration, it will be assumed that the first feed40is a low viewership feed and the second feed48is a high viewership feed. A determination of what constitutes a low viewership feed and a high viewership feed may be made by a respective service provider. According to one embodiment of the invention, a service provider may define a low viewership feed as a feed being viewed by a number of viewers less than a first predetermined number of viewers, and a high viewership feed as a feed being viewed by a number of viewers greater than a second predetermined number of viewers. According to another embodiment, a low viewership feed is a first feed having a lower number of viewers than a second feed that has a higher number of viewers.

It should be understood that the first feed40and the second feed48are typically provided in a stream of data over the shared medium12at a preferred bit rate over the course of time, so that not all of the first feed40or the second feed48are present on the shared medium12at the same time. For example, while the advertisement44A is being received by the user device16, the content segment42A is likely stored on the headend10. A time marker54represents a point in time when the headend10has determined that a loading threshold of the shared medium12has been exceeded and has determined that the user device16receiving the first feed40is a candidate user device16. The user device16receives instructions from the headend10to influence the viewer to select a second feed (step200,FIG. 5). The user device16also obtains information regarding one or more preferred feeds (step202,FIG. 5). The user device16selects the second feed48from the preferred feeds (step204,FIG. 5). If there is more than one preferred feed, the user device16may select the second feed48randomly from the plurality of preferred feeds, or based on information relating to the viewer, based on information maintained in a profile of the subscriber associated with the user device16. The profile may include channel preferences or personal information about the subscriber that might be useful in selecting the second feed48.

The user device16begins to monitor the second feed48and at the next content segment of the second feed48, which in this example is the content segment50A, begins to buffer the content segment50A to a buffer56maintained in a memory of the user device16, or in the storage34(step206,FIG. 5). The buffered content segment from the second feed48is shown inFIG. 4as a buffered content segment58A. In an alternate embodiment, preferred feeds may be continually identified on the metadata multicast channel, even prior to the loading threshold being exceeded, and the user device16may continuously buffer content from the second feed48to the buffer56. In such an embodiment, the user device16may be able to provide the information relating to the second feed48for display to the viewer sooner than the user device16would be able to otherwise. Also in such an embodiment, the buffer56can be continually overwritten with the next content segment of the second feed48. In yet another embodiment, the user device16can select multiple second feeds48from the plurality of preferred feeds, and begin buffering content segments of each of the plurality of second feeds48into one or more buffers56. In this embodiment, the user device16can provide information relating to multiple second feeds48for display to the viewer, potentially increasing a likelihood the viewer will select one of the second feeds48, freeing up bandwidth consumed by the first feed40.

The user device16monitors the first feed40for the next advertisement break (step208,FIG. 5). A time marker60represents the point in time of the next advertisement break in the first feed40. The user device16provides information pertaining to the second feed48for display to the viewer (step210,FIG. 5). The information can comprise an overlay describing the programming on the second feed48, and can include a selectable feature that enables the viewer to easily select the second feed48. Alternately, the information may be the buffered content segment58A from the second feed48alone, or in combination with such an overlay. The information may be provided in place of the advertisement44B, or may be provided in a picture-in-picture display, enabling the viewer to view both the advertisement44B and the information pertaining to the second feed48. The overlay may include text encouraging the viewer to select the second feed48. If the user device16provides the information pertaining to the second feed48in place of the advertisement44B, or the viewer otherwise selects the second feed48and the advertisement44B is not provided for display to the viewer in part, or in its entirety, the user device16can notify the headend10that the advertisement44B was not provided for display to the viewer. The user device16can generate a unique key that identifies the user device16, the advertisement44B and the first feed40. According to one embodiment of the invention, the headend10may track the number of viewers of each feed being provided over the shared medium12for purposes of charging an advertiser. The key can be communicated over the shared medium12to the headend10so that the advertiser can be credited since the advertisement44B was not provided for display to the viewer.

If the viewer selects the second feed48(step212,FIG. 5), the user device16indicates to the headend10that the second feed48has been selected and continues to provide the second content from the second feed48from the buffer56(step214,FIG. 5). The user device16can continue to buffer the second feed48, such as buffered advertisement62and buffered content segment58B, to the buffer56and provide the second content from the buffer56, or can use a conventional algorithm that intelligently speeds up video in a manner that is not noticeable to the viewer. In this way, the second content being provided from the buffer56will ultimately be in time synchronization with the second content being provided over the shared medium12, and at that point the user device16can provide the second content directly from the second feed48and stop buffering the second content in the buffer56. Upon selection of the second feed48, the user device16can also generate a second unique key that informs the headend10that the viewer was successfully influenced to select the second feed48, and identify the second feed48.

If at the end of the time allocated for the advertisement44B the viewer does not select the second feed48, the user device16can provide the first feed40beginning with the next content segment42B for display to the viewer (step216,FIG. 5). At the time of the next advertisement44C, the process can start over with another second feed from the plurality of preferred feeds (step204,FIG. 5).