Patent Publication Number: US-2021173551-A1

Title: Automated scheduling of media items into schedule based on whether position is a transition position

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present U.S. Utility Patent Application claims priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 120 as a continuation of U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 16/504,638, entitled “AUTOMATED SCHEDULING OF MULTIMEDIA CONTENT AVOIDING ADJACENCY CONFLICTS,” filed Jul. 8, 2019, which is a continuation of U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 14/837,976, entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING A SCHEDULING ORDER,” filed Aug. 27, 2015, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,372,309 on Aug. 6, 2019, which is a continuation of U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 13/940,877, entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING A SCHEDULING ORDER,” filed Jul. 12, 2013, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,152,296 on Oct. 6, 2015, which is a continuation of U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 12/914,000, entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING A SCHEDULING ORDER PER DAYPART CATEGORY IN A MUSIC SCHEDULING SYSTEM,” filed Oct. 28, 2010, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,490,099 on Jul. 16, 2013, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 12/856,952, entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING A SCHEDULING ORDER PER CATEGORY IN A MUSIC SCHEDULING SYSTEM,” filed Aug. 16, 2010, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,418,182 on Apr. 9, 2013, all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety and made part of the present U.S. Utility Patent Application for all purposes. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     Embodiments are generally related, generally, to the automated scheduling of delivery and airplay of multimedia content, and more particularly to automated scheduling of media items into positions based on whether the position being scheduled is a transition position. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Most radio stations employ a music director to select and schedule music and other multimedia programming for airplay. A typical music director is responsible for interacting with record company reps, auditioning new music, and making decisions (sometimes in conjunction with a program director) as to which songs get airplay, how much and when. At most radio stations today, the music director devises rotations for songs and programs the daily music through specialized music software made just for this purpose. 
     Music directors often have difficulty in evenly programming daily rotations to prevent repeat multimedia plays. If the music director fails to account for the content of programming in different day parts of a programming day, the listener could be exposed to repeated programming. Music directors often hand-place songs to try and prevent these clashes between day parts. It is difficult, however, for a music director to adjust program content in a way that will prevent programming clashes later in the day yet still maintain good rotation of the content within a day part. Only as the music director approaches the upcoming day parts would the director see the programming clashes. Having to re-program much of the day&#39;s content to correct the clashing rotations is inefficient. 
     Therefore, a need exists to provide a station&#39;s music director with an efficient system and method for scheduling a multimedia&#39;s programming day depending on song selection and good horizontal and vertical rotation during different dayparts. A dynamic music scheduling system can be provided for automatic adjustments in playlists or guidance for a station&#39;s music director for manual music placement. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY 
     The following summary is provided to facilitate an understanding of some of the innovative features unique to the disclosed embodiments and is not intended to be a full description. A full appreciation of the various aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein can be gained by taking the entire specification, claims, drawings, and abstract as a whole. 
     It is, therefore, one aspect of the disclosed embodiments to provide for an, improved scheduling method and/or apparatus for use in the context of radio stations and networks of radio stations. 
     It is another aspect of the disclosed embodiments to provide for a method and/or apparatus for controlling the scheduling of multimedia content such as audio and music for airplay per category. 
     It is yet another aspect of the disclosed embodiments to provide for a method and/or apparatus for dynamic multimedia scheduling to prevent repeated multimedia airplay in consecutive timeslots. 
     The aforementioned aspects and other objectives and advantages can now be achieved as described herein. An apparatus and method for a multimedia schedule for broadcast, which includes selecting the multimedia schedule for the broadcast via a user interface, and determining whether a slot from a plurality of slots of a daypart for a day is a transition period of the daypart. When the slot to be scheduled is the transition period of the daypart, horizontal and vertical adjacency requirements are addressed. 
     In an aspect of the embodiment, horizontal adjacency requirements are satisfied for the transition period by modifying the multimedia schedule with a multimedia content such that the multimedia content is not also scheduled in an adjacent slot of the day relative to the transition period of the daypart. 
     In another aspect of the embodiment, vertical adjacency requirements are satisfied for the transition period by modifying the multimedia schedule with the multimedia content such that the multimedia content is not also scheduled during a same daypart across an adjacent day that is relative to the day. 
     The apparatus and method are operable to produce a modified multimedia schedule for the broadcast, and display the modified multimedia schedule for the broadcast. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying figures, in which like reference numerals refer to identical or functionally-similar elements throughout the separate views and which are incorporated in and form a part of the specification, further illustrate the present embodiments, and, together with the detailed description, serve to explain the principles herein. 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a schematic view of a data-processing system in which the disclosed embodiments may be implemented; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a schematic view of a software system including an operating system, application software, and a user interface for carrying out the disclosed embodiments; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a flow chart of operations depicting logical operational steps of a method for defining the slotted-by-daypart categories in a slotted-by-daypart multimedia schedule, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments; 
         FIG. 4 a    illustrates an example of a graphically displayed table for a slotted-by-daypart scheduling technique, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments; 
         FIG. 4 b    illustrates an example of a graphically displayed table for a slotted-by-daypart scheduling technique, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments; 
         FIG. 4 c    illustrates an example of a graphically displayed table for a slotted-by-daypart scheduling technique, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments; 
         FIG. 4 d    illustrates an example of a graphically displayed table for a slotted-by-daypart scheduling technique, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments; and 
         FIG. 5  illustrates a flow chart of operations depicting logical operational steps of a method for defining categories and plotting a slotted-by-daypart multimedia schedule, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The particular values and configurations discussed in these non-limiting examples can be varied and are cited merely to illustrate at least one embodiment and are not intended to limit the scope thereof. 
     The following discussion is intended to provide a brief, general description of suitable computing environments in which the system and method may be implemented. Although not required, the disclosed embodiments are generally described in the general context of computer-executable instructions such as, for example, one or more program modules, which can be executed by a processor, computer, or a group of interconnected computers. 
     Also, dayparts of a multimedia schedule may be scheduled in chronological order within a broadcast day. When scheduling dayparts in a forward chronological order, dayparts occurring earlier in said broadcast day are scheduled first, followed by scheduling consecutively later dayparts. Conversely, when scheduling dayparts in a reverse chronological order, dayparts occurring later in said broadcast day are scheduled first, followed by scheduling consecutively earlier dayparts. 
     As noted above, the embodiments provided herein can be understood, in a general sense, to schedule multimedia content such that multimedia content is not scheduled adjacent to itself in a broadcast day and multimedia content is not scheduled in the same daypart time slot in adjacent broadcast days. 
       FIGS. 1 and 2  are provided as exemplary diagrams of a data processing environment in which embodiments may be implemented. It should be appreciated that  FIGS. 1-2  are only exemplary and are not intended to assert or imply any limitation with regard to the environments in which aspects or embodiments may be implemented. Many modifications to the depicted environments may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the disclosed embodiments may be implemented in the context of a data-processing system  100 , which can be configured to include, for example, a central processor  101 , a main memory  102 , an input/output controller  103 , a keyboard  104 , a pointing device  105  (e.g., mouse, track ball, pen device, or the like), a display device  106 , and a mass storage  107  (e.g., hard disk). Additional input/output components, such as a hardware interface  108 , for example, may be electronically connected to the data-processing system  100  as desired. Note that such hardware interface  108  may constitute, for example, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) that allows other devices such as printers, fax machines, scanners, copiers, and so on, to communicate with the data-processing system  100 . 
     Note that, as illustrated, the various components of the data-processing system  100  communicate through a system bus  110  or similar architecture. It can be appreciated that the data-processing system  100  may, in some embodiments, be implemented as a mobile computing device such as a Smartphone, laptop computer, Apple® iPhone®, etc. In other embodiments, the data-processing system  100  may function as a desktop computer, server, and the like, depending upon design considerations. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a computer software system  200  for directing the operation of the data-processing system  100  depicted in  FIG. 1 . Software application  152 , stored in main memory  102  and on mass storage  107 , includes a kernel or operating system  151  and a shell or interface  153 . One or more application programs, such as software application  152 , may be “loaded” (i.e., transferred from mass storage  107  into the main memory  102 ) for execution by the data-processing system  100 . The data-processing system  100  receives user commands and data through user interface  153 ; these inputs may then be acted upon by the data-processing system  100  in accordance with instructions from operating system  151  and/or application  152 . 
     Note that the term module as utilized herein may refer to a collection of routines and data structures that perform a particular task or implement a particular abstract data type. Modules may be composed of two parts: an interface, which lists the constants, data types, variable, and routines that can be accessed by other modules or routines, and an implementation, which is typically private (accessible only to that module) and includes a source code that actually implements the routines in the module. The term module may also simply refer to an application such as a computer program design to assist in the performance of a specific task such as word processing, accounting, inventory management, music program scheduling, etc. 
     Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the disclosed method and system may be practiced with other computer system configurations such as, for example, hand-held devices, multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, networked PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. 
     The interface  153 , which is preferably a graphical user interface (GUI), also serves to display results, whereupon the user may supply additional inputs or terminate the session. In an embodiment, operating system  151  and interface  153  can be implemented in the context of a “Windows” system. It can be appreciated, of course, that other types of systems are possible. For example, rather than a traditional “Windows” system, other operation systems such as, for example, Linux may also be employed with respect to operating system  151  and interface  153 . The software application  152  can include a scheduling module  155  that can be adapted to control scheduling with respect to the delivery and airplay of multimedia content, as described in greater detail herein. The software application  152  can also be configured to communicate with the interface  153  and various components and other modules and features as described herein. The module  155 , in particular, can implement instructions for carrying out, for example, the method  300  depicted in  FIG. 3  and/or additional operations as described herein. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates a flow chart of operations depicting logical operational steps of a method  300  for defining the slotted-by-daypart categories when controlling a scheduling order per daypart category, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. The method  300  offers the ability to dynamically schedule multimedia for a programming day and set such a scheduling order as a slotted-by-daypart category. The dynamic music scheduling method can provide for automatic adjustments in playlists or guidance for a station&#39;s music director for manual music placement. 
     As illustrated at block  301 , the process for controlling a scheduling order per daypart category can be initiated. Next, as illustrated at block  302 , an operation can be processed to select multimedia for broadcast. Thereafter, category membership for multimedia in dayparts is assigned, as illustrated at block  303 . As illustrated in block  304 , categories to be scheduled using the disclosed slotted-by-daypart scheduling technique are specified. Thereafter, as illustrated in block  305 , the multimedia order for slotted-by-daypart categories is specified. Next, the simulated plot of multimedia in categories for specific dayparts is reviewed, as illustrated in block  306 . The selected and plotted multimedia is then broadcasted accordingly throughout the programming day, as depicted in block  307 . The process then terminates, as illustrated in block  308 . 
     As indicated above, the method  300  for controlling a scheduling order per daypart category can be implemented in the context of a module or group of modules. Such modules include computer implementable instructions for performing instructions including the individual operational steps indicated in the various blocks depicted in  FIG. 3 . Note that various software applications and implementations may be configured to provide one or more of the instructions illustrated in  FIG. 3 . One possibility involves configuring a database and associated modules to designate such scheduling control. 
     Other potential design aspects include modifying the daypart order by exposing the “Slotted-by-daypart” property in a scheduling order dialog. Note that as utilized herein the term “dialog” refers to a “dialog box,” which is a special feature or window utilized in the context of a GUI (Graphical User Interface) such as, for example, the interface  153  of  FIG. 2 , to display information to a user, or to obtain a response, if required. A “dialog” refers to a dialog between a data-processing system such as that described herein with respect to  FIGS. 1-2  and the user. The data-processing system informs the user of something, requests input from the user, or both. Such a dialog or dialog box provides controls that allow a user to specify how to carry out a particular action. 
       FIG. 4 a    illustrates an example of a graphically displayed table for a slotted-by-daypart scheduling technique  400 , in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. A. broadcast day consists of twenty-four contiguous hours, normally beginning at midnight, but can conceivably begin at any arbitrary hour of the day. The broadcast day can be logically divided into segments, known as dayparts. A daypart is a block of consecutive hours, ranging in length from one hour up to twenty-four hours. For example, dayparts are typically four or five hours long  401 . The broadcast day will consist of approximately, for example, five different dayparts, but any number and combination of daypart sizes are allowed  401 ,  402 , as long as the broadcast day is filled with scheduled multimedia. It is understood that any number of dayparts with varying length can be assigned throughout a programming day. 
     Multimedia entities such as songs, for example, are assigned to categories to enable the songs to be scheduled. Within any broadcast day, songs will be scheduled according to pre-determined category positions during the broadcast day. At any position in the schedule designated for a specific category, only songs assigned to that particular category can be scheduled. Multiple categories may be scheduled in any daypart. 
     The relationship between categories and dayparts is a virtual one derived from the hour of the day associated with schedule positions for a particular category and the time period that a daypart occupies. Multiple categories can be scheduled in each hour, enabling virtual relationships to be established between a daypart and each of those categories. Dayparts are scheduled in chronological order. Schedule positions within each daypart are scheduled according to the Reverse Scheduling rules established for each category/daypart pairing. For example, in any category, dayparts in which the category is scheduled in a forward manner will be scheduled first in an earliest to latest position order. Dayparts in which the category is reverse scheduled will be scheduled last in a latest to earliest position order. 
     Categories are also scheduled according to pass order, wherein the lowest pass order is considered first, and each category is assigned a pass order. Songs may be re-assigned to alternate categories in any daypart. Consequently, when scheduling positions for dayparts in which songs have been assigned to alternate categories, the scheduler can have an alternate set of songs from which to select. In any daypart, the set of available songs may be larger or smaller than the original category assignment when additional songs are assigned to the original category. Conversely, the additional songs that would normally be in this category could be assigned to an alternate category in this daypart. In any daypart, a particular song may only be assigned to a single daypart. In practice, this process can be described with the following example. 
       FIG. 4 b    further illustrates an example of a graphically displayed table for a slotted-by-daypart scheduling technique  400 , in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. Category A  405  has five songs assigned in the daypart  10 A- 2 P  403  which occupies the 10 am thru 2 pm hours, and daypart  3 P- 5 P  404  which occupies the 3 pm thru 5 pm hours. The schedule requires that a single Category A  405  song be scheduled in each of the hours between 10 am and 2 pm, inclusively. During the  3 P- 5 P daypart  404 , there are no alternate categories assigned, thus allowing all of the 5 songs in Category A  405  to be considered. During the  10 A- 2 P daypart  403 , however, 3 of the 5 songs normally assigned to Category A  405  have been re-assigned to a different category, resulting in only 2 songs remaining in Category A  405  during the  10 A- 2 P daypart  403 . This smaller set of songs assigned to Category A  405  in the  10 A- 2 P daypart  403  will have a higher rotation than the larger set of songs assigned to Category A  405  in the  3 P- 5 P daypart  404 . Songs are represented as 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, hence song  1  plays in every alternate hour of the  10 A- 2 P daypart  403  and also in every 5th hour of the  3 P- 5 P daypart  404 . 
     To provide a way to allow songs to be scheduled evenly, categories may also be designated as ‘slotted-by-daypart.’ This indicates that the scheduling algorithm will employ a method whereby available songs will be selected in strict rotation. Once the rotation is established, it will remain the same until altered by the user, thus forcing an even, predictable distribution of the available songs during any given daypart. This scheduling algorithm is typically employed to schedule high turnover songs (i.e., categories containing few songs) where a fixed rotation is desirable. 
     The horizontal rotation of songs assigned to Category A  405  in any given daypart must also be protected against a play of the same song in the same hour in the previous day&#39;s daypart. A play of a song in the same hour of adjacent days is deemed vertical rotation. Hence, an even vertical rotation of songs is also desirable. The strict rotation of Category A  405  songs in any given daypart ensures both a horizontal (i.e., within daypart) and vertical (i.e., across days) rotation, whereby no song plays adjacent to itself within a day or in the same hour in adjacent days. Good horizontal and vertical rotation can be achieved by seeding the first Category A  405  position in any daypart, known as the transition period, with a song, which satisfies both horizontal and vertical adjacency requirements. 
       FIG. 4 b    further illustrates both the horizontal and vertical rotations, with two songs available in the  10 A- 2 P daypart  403  and five songs available in the  3 P- 5 P daypart  404 . The transition period of the  3 P- 5 P daypart falls in the  3 P hour  407 . Because the Slotted-by-Daypart scheduling technique works by selecting songs via a simple rotation, whereby filling a schedule position for a particular category is achieved by selecting the next available song assigned to that category in a given daypart, it is possible to create undesirable conditions. For example, when a song is scheduled in one particular daypart, it may be scheduled adjacent to the same song in an adjacent daypart, as shown in the  2 P/ 3 P  406 ,  407  transition on Monday  408  and Tuesday  409  in  FIG. 4   b.    
     To prevent this adjacency conflict  410 , the song selected to fill the transition period for a given category in any daypart is achieved using a different scheduling algorithm to fill the other Category A  405  positions in any given daypart. In this transition period, the songs are ordered in a “next due in hour” manner. Songs which have never played during this transition period in previous days, or played furthest in the past during this hour in previous days, will be considered first for scheduling. To avoid any song adjacency conflicts with previously scheduled dayparts in which the song may have been previously scheduled, it is possible to reject the intended song in favor of the next available in the order. The ordered songs will be considered in turn until a song without adjacency conflicts is found. On subsequent days, the list will be re-ordered in a next due fashion again to ensure songs receive their share of plays in a “particular vertical rotation”. 
     The adjacency conflict of songs  1  and  2  on Monday  408  and Tuesday  409  is resolved  415  by selecting the next due song in  3 P  407  that has no adjacency conflict. As illustrated in  FIG. 4 c   , resolving  415  this conflict creates another adjacency conflict  411  of songs  1  and  2  in the  2 P/ 3 P transition on Saturday  412  and Sunday  413 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 4 d   , the adjacency conflict on Saturday  412  and Sunday  413  is resolved  414  by selecting the next due song in  3 P which has no adjacency conflict. The net result of the protection given to the transition period in  3 P is that the vertical scheduling order will not always be the same as the horizontal scheduling order. Horizontal rotations are always optimal in a single broadcast day, as well as over multiple days, because of the disclosed embodiment&#39;s continued attempts to schedule the next due song in the transition hour. Therefore, the overall rotations of songs in this hour will even out. Multiple categories can also be scheduled in this manner. Each category will have its own transition period in the  3 P hour, at which vertical and horizontal rotations are protected against adjacent song plays. 
       FIG. 5  illustrates a flow chart of operations depicting logical operational steps of a method  500  for defining categories and plotting a slotted-by-daypart multimedia schedule, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. As illustrated at block  501 , the process for scheduling multimedia using a slotted-by-daypart scheduling technique can be initiated. Next, as illustrated at block  502 , an operation can be processed to determine if there is a pass order remaining to be scheduled. If no pass order remains, then the operation ends as illustrated at block  512 . Otherwise, the categories designated for the pass order are selected, as illustrated at block  503 . Next, as illustrated at block  504 , an operation can be processed to determine if all categories on the pass order have been scheduled. If another category remains, then an operation can be processed to select dayparts in forward and reverse order for the schedule range, as illustrated at block  505 . If no other categories remain for the pass, then the scheduling operation skips to block  506 , where an operation can be processed to determine if another daypart still needs to be scheduled. 
     If another day part needs to be scheduled, then an operation can be processed to select the next unscheduled position in the daypart for the category, as illustrated at block  507 . If there are no dayparts remaining to be scheduled, then the scheduling operation skips to block  508 , where an operation can be processed to determine the next unscheduled position in the daypart. It is then determined whether -the next unscheduled position is a transition position that affects the rotation, as illustrated at block  509 . If it is a transition position, then an operation can be processed to select the next due song with proper vertical and horizontal protection, as illustrated at block  511 . If the transition position does not affect the rotation, then an operation can be processed to select the next due song in a user-specified order, as illustrated at block  510 . The process then terminates as illustrated at block  512 . 
     It will be appreciated that variations of the above-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, can be desirably combined into many other different systems or applications. Furthermore, various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims.