Patent Publication Number: US-2011067044-A1

Title: Interactive platform for broadcast programs

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/242,104, entitled “Game Show and Interactive Platform for Television Broadcast”, filed Sep. 14, 2009, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     Embodiments of the invention relate generally to the field of interactive broadcast systems; and more particularly, to an interactive broadcast system with real-time statistical analysis of responses from users. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Interactive TV (ITV) refers to enhancing TV programs with interactive services for the end-user. These services include, for example, retrieving electronic information from, or sending electronic information to, specific Web sites via a dedicated set-top box (STB) within a context of the live-broadcast program. Examples of ITV are games for a TV audience, or interacting with an advertisement being broadcast. These systems allow advertisers and others to create interactive enhancements to traditional TV programs. Viewers can purchase products or order brochures with a click of their remote control communicating with a STB or TV set that has a client software built-in, during an enhanced program. Other programs provide software for STBs that enables digital interactive television for enhanced applications such as e-commerce. However, such conventional ITV programs in general lack real time statistical analysis on the user&#39;s responses and the responses from the users are not incorporated into the ongoing broadcast program instantly. 
     Interactive connection is one or one in real time. TV and radio broadcast may incorporate real time input from the home audience but it&#39;s always a single user who is lucky enough to get through and be selected. For example, a radio talk show or game contest takes input from a single user but never from a group of users because it&#39;s too difficult to synthesize and consolidate the inputs of the group in real time. 
     SUMMARY OF THE DESCRIPTION 
     A survey message is received at a server from a host of a broadcast station currently broadcasting a program over a broadcast network, which is one of a TV program and radio program, where the survey message is to survey an audience of the program concerning content of the program. The survey message is then transmitted to communication devices of a plurality of users who have registered with the server to participate in the program over a data network. Response messages are received from at least some of the registered users in response to the survey message, each response message including geographic information collected from the communication devices of the users. An analysis is performed on the response messages to generate a statistical result representing percentages of answers selected by the users in view of the geographic and/or demographic information of the users. The statistical result is then transmitted to the broadcast station to allow the host to instantly incorporate the statistical result into the broadcast program being broadcast in the broadcast network. 
     Other features of the present invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and from the detailed description which follows. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements. 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating a system an interactive broadcast program according to one embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a flow diagram illustrating a method for managing interactive broadcast programs according to one embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  is a flow diagram illustrating a method for registering users in interactive broadcast programs according to one embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  is a block diagram of a data processing system, which may be used with one embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Various embodiments and aspects of the inventions will be described with reference to details discussed below, and the accompanying drawings will illustrate the various embodiments. The following description and drawings are illustrative of the invention and are not to be construed as limiting the invention. Numerous specific details are described to provide a thorough understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. However, in certain instances, well-known or conventional details are not described in order to provide a concise discussion of embodiments of the present inventions. 
     Reference in the specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in conjunction with the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment. 
     According to some embodiments, an interactive platform for broadcast program, such as TV game shows or radio talk shows, allows all members of the audience (e.g., home audience) to participate in the broadcast program by watching and/or listening to the broadcast program, which may be broadcast over a broadcast network (e.g., traditional radio frequency or RF broadcast over air way, cable TV, or satellite TV/radio, etc.), and interacting in real time such as answering questions using a communication device such as a mobile phone or portable computer (e.g., via emails or social networking environments such as Facebook™ or Twitter™ over the Internet). This changes the role of a user from passive to an active participant. It can also leverage the group wisdom of the audience. 
     In one embodiment, participants may be able to win awards (e.g., cash, opportunity to be a future program show participant, etc.) This may work for new shows and reruns, as well as other events (e.g., sports events). This synchronization of interactive online with program broadcast can create a new genre of program shows. In addition, once the participant information is built into a customer relationship database, such information can be used to market virally to this group which represents an inexpensive and effective way to increase the audience size. 
     Although there are many systems dealing with broadcast TV and interactive services, all of these systems utilize the interactive services as a distribution vehicle for the broadcast TV programs. Embodiments of the present invention are much different. An embodiment of the invention utilizes the program broadcast as the distribution vehicle but integrates the interactive services from the audience as an important part of the program. Throughout this application, a TV program is utilized as an example of broadcast program. However, it is not so limited; other broadcast programs such as radio broadcast programs can also be applied. 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating a system an interactive broadcast program according to one embodiment of the invention. Referring to  FIG. 1 , system  100  includes, but not limited to, client  101  communicative coupled to interactive server  102  and broadcast station  103  over networks  104  and  105 . Broadcast station  103  may be a radio station and/or a TV station. Radio broadcasting is an audio (sound) broadcasting service, broadcast through the air as radio waves (a form of electromagnetic radiation) from a transmitter to a receiving antenna. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast common programming, either in syndication or simulcast or both. Audio broadcasting also can be done via cable FM, local wire networks, satellite and the Internet. A television station is a type of broadcast station that broadcasts video and usually audio to television receivers in a particular area. 
     Network  104  may be a traditional broadcast network over the air, a cable network, a satellite network, or a combination thereof. Network  105  may be any kind of data or packetized networks such as local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), or a combination thereof, wired or wireless. For example network  105  may be part of the Internet. Alternatively, network  105  may be part of a cellular network. Networks  104 - 105  may be the same network (e.g., single or a combination of multiple networks) with different communications links or media. 
     Client  101  may represent any kind of users such as TV viewers or radio listeners in a variety of environments such as their own homes or other social event places (e.g., coffee shops). Client  101  includes broadcast receiver device  106  to receiver content or signals broadcast from broadcast station  103  over broadcast network  104  and a communication device  107  to communicate with interactive server  102  over data network  105 . Broadcast receiver device  106  may be any media (e.g., TV/radio) receiver device with a proper media output interface (e.g., display and/or speaker), which may include a signal converter (e.g., cable or set-top box, modem, or satellite receiver). Communication device  107  may be any kind of electronic or computing devices, such as portable or handheld computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), media players, gaming devices, mobile phones, desktops/workstations, or a combination thereof. Although a single client is shown, it will be appreciated that multiple clients will be implemented in system  100 . Also, it will be appreciated that no special equipment is required at the client since most people have access to a radio or television and a cell phone or computer connected to the internet. Also, no special training is required at the client to use the system (very intuitive). 
     Interactive server  102  may be implemented as a Web server and/or an application server. In one embodiment, server  102  includes, but not limited to, response analyzer  109 , user manager  110 , communications module  111 , and database  112 . User manager  110  is responsible for managing users that have registered with the system to participate in the interactive broadcast programs. In one embodiment, interactive server  102  provides a user interface such s Web interface to allow users such as client  101  to log in and register as a member of the system. During the registration (a one time event), a user may also specify the demographic or location information of the user and its preference of certain types of broadcast programs. Demographic information may include: name, address, age, sex, email address, cell phone number, political party and preferences. A list of broadcast programs may be presented to client  101  to select one or more of the programs for participation. In addition, a user may also specify certain preferences, such as preferred communications methods and/or devices for communications purposes. Such user information, program information, and selection of the programs may be stored in database  112 , which may be implemented as a single database or multiple databases and located locally or remotely. The database is effectively a customer relationship management system (CRM) since all user demographics and interactions are stored here. 
     According to one embodiment, when a broadcast program is broadcast from broadcast station  103  over broadcast network  104 , host  108  of the program may transmit a survey or question to interactive server  102 . For each of the users that have registered in participation of the program, communication module  111  is configured to forward with optional editing the survey message to the user over network  105 , in this example, client  101 . The survey message may be transmitted through a variety of communications mechanisms, such as emails, short message system (SMS) messages, social networks (e.g., Facebook™ or Twitter™), dependent upon the user&#39;s preference which may be specified in the corresponding user profile during the registration and stored in database  112 . 
     The survey message may be received by application  113  of client  101 , where application  113  may be downloaded and installed during the registration. Application  113  is specifically configured to handle the interactive broadcast program communications. For example, application  113  may provide a graphical user interface to a user of communication device  107  to allow the user to respond to the survey message. Application  113  may also control certain requirements or restrictions of the participation, for example, to prevent any cheating attempts. When a user responds, a response message is transmitted by application  113  to interactive server  102  and received by communication module  111 . 
     In response to the response message forwarded from communication module  111 , response analysis module  109  is configured to perform an analysis on the response message in view of other response messages received from other users to generate a statistical report. The statistical report may include information concerning how a particular user has been performing for a past predetermined period of time, which may also be stored in database  112 . The statistical report may include statistics concerning all of the users who have responded, such as, percentages among certain choices of responses. The statistical report may be categorized in terms of demographics of the users. It may also use text search of the user messages to gain insights into what people are saying or thinking. Alternatively, it may include current locations of the users which may be obtained by application  113  by invoking a global positioning system (GPS) unit of device  107 , etc. 
     In one embodiment, the statistical report may be transmitted to broadcast station  103  to allow host  108  to instantly incorporate the report into the ongoing broadcast program, such that the audience can immediately know the same data over broadcast network  104 . This can be done through a data interface to the broadcaster whereby the data can be displayed in the program or streamed in a banner at the bottom of the screen (like stock quotes in a financial program). Alternatively, the summary data can be given to the broadcast host for him or her to broadcast the information. In addition, the statistical report may also be transmitted to the communication devices (e.g., device  107 ) of the registered users via network  105 . As a result, the audience of the program can see how other users&#39; response, even though some of the people in the audience may not participate in the interactive portion. Such statistics may also be stored in database  112  for future and other usages such as targeted advertisements, etc. 
     Further, database  112  may also capture shows watched, performance and awards won by the users. It could also be used to do online surveys or promotions for the program or advertisers (e.g. advertising effectives). Finally, it can be used to viral market to followers and track effectiveness. The platform application may integrate and process data from “online” and “on air”. Each platform application would be specific to each program. It may send messages to users (e.g. reminder of game show, individual questions, etc.), receive messages from the users (answers), process messages (who got answer right/wrong, did message arrive before game show host broadcast answer, etc) and send messages to program show or broadcaster host (average answer from audience, who got all answers right, etc.) Note that interactive server  102  and broadcast station  103  may be operated and/or owned by the same entity or different entities or organizations. 
       FIG. 2  is a flow diagram illustrating a method for managing interactive broadcast programs according to one embodiment. For example, method  200  may be performed by server  102  of  FIG. 1 . Referring to  FIG. 2 , at block  201 , a survey is received from a host of a broadcast station that is currently broadcasting a program (e.g., TV or radio show) over a broadcast network, which is being received at a broadcast receiver device (e.g., TV or radio receivers) of the users. At block  202 , for each of the users who have registered with the system to participate in an interactive portion of the program, the survey message is transmitted to a communication device of the user over a data network (e.g., Internet or cellular network). In response, response messages are received from the communication devices of at least some of the users over the data network, where each response message may include the current geographic information of the user (e.g., GPS information). At block  204 , an analysis is performed on the response messages of the users including taking into account of the geographic and/or demographic information. At block  205 , a result of the analysis is transmitted to the broadcast station to allow the host to instantly incorporate the result into the ongoing broadcast program. 
       FIG. 3  is a flow diagram illustrating a method for registering users in interactive broadcast programs according to one embodiment. Method  300  may be performed by interactive server  102  of  FIG. 1 . Referring to  FIG. 3 , at block  301 , a list of broadcast programs is presented to users for participation, including the schedules of the programs. In response to a registration from a user to participate a selected broadcast program, at block  302 , the user information is associated with the selected broadcast program and stored in a database, including a communication method to reach the user. Upon about starting the selected broadcast program, at block  303 , a reminder may be transmitted to each of the users who have registered via the preferred communication method of the user. At block  304 , messages (e.g., survey and/or responses) are exchanged with the users using their preferred communication methods during the broadcast program. 
     According to one embodiment, the above techniques can be applied to a variety of programs. For example, they can be applied to real-time TV game show. In this situation, home audience may register on the system described above. Home audience may get a reminder of game show start. Home audience may get a direct online message with the first question (SMS, Twitter, voice message, etc). All questions and answers are coordinated with broadcast. It is assumed that the program may be simultaneously broadcast across all time zones but if not, the system may coordinate based on location of participant (e.g. west coast plays 3 hours after east coast). Home audience may respond with answer (reply on SMS, Twitter, interactive voice response (IVR), etc.). Each home participant answer is scored or graded and the answer is sent. Everyone&#39;s performance is tracked, such as best performers, average answers etc. Game show may likely incorporate interactive real time responses into program. For example, the average audience answer is the answer to beat for game show participants. This process may be repeatedly performed for each question in a game show. A summary message may be provided to users with their performance, average audience performance and awards won. The summary data may also be provided to game show (highlight best performers, credit award to winners, etc.) It also allows advertiser or TV station to survey online viewers or get feedback from users. They can put in campaigns to promote game show program or advertiser over social media (viral marketing among show followers). They can also use online marketing in social media to promote the TV program and to register users. 
     According to another embodiment, the above techniques may also be applied to pre-recorded TV game shows. In this situation, home audience may register on the system. Home audience may get a reminder of game show start and the home audience may get a direct online message with the first question (SMS, Twitter, voice message, etc). The system may have all questions and answers and coordinate with broadcast. The system may assume that the program may be simultaneously broadcast across all time zones but if not, the system may coordinate based on location of participant (e.g. west coast plays 3 hours after east coast). Home audience may respond with answer (reply on SMS, Twitter, interactive voice response (IVR), etc.) The system may score each home participant answer and send answer which could include some trivia. The system may track everyone&#39;s performance, best performers, average answers etc. Although game show is pre-recorded, there may be a live host who could incorporate interactive real time responses into program. For example, GSN Live has a real time host and s/he could incorporate audience answers (e.g. Charlie in S.F. guessed the exact number of marbles). One point, some people in the audience may know the answer because they have already seen the show but that is fine since we really just want participation. Also, the host may be real time in just one time zone so this may be the only area where answers can be incorporated into the program. The system may repeat the process for each question in game show. The system may provide a summary message to users with their performance, average audience performance and awards won. The system may also provide summary data to live host (highlight best performers, credit award to winners, etc.) The system may allow advertiser or TV station to survey online viewers or get feedback from users. They may put in campaigns to promote game show program or advertiser over social media (viral marketing among show followers). They may also use online marketing in social media to promote the TV program and to register users. 
     According to a further embodiment, the techniques described above may also be applied to non-TV game shows such as social events. In this situation, home audience may register with the system for an event. Home audience may get a reminder of the event start. Home audience may get a direct online message with the first question such as what may be the next play in the Super Bowl game. Home audience may respond with answer (reply on SMS, Twitter, interactive voice response (IVR), etc.) The system may score each home participant answer and send the answer which could include some trivia. The system may track everyone&#39;s performance, best performers, average answers etc. The process could continue and an award could be given to the home audience participant who best forecasted the plays of the game. 
     Furthermore, the techniques described above may also be applied to a particular type of game shows such as “Wisdom of People Game Show.” Imagine a television game show where the home audience, using a mobile phone or computer and can compete real time against the game show participants. This would change the audience experience from passive to active participation and create a hybrid broadcast interactive format. This new paradigm would generate a lot of buzz and publicity which would drive large television audiences. The game show would involve 3 or 4 game show participants who are asked a series of questions which require a numeric answer. Each question would be worth an escalating amount of money or credits. Sample questions might include: 
     how many marbles are in a glass jar (everyone would see it) 
     what did this house in Wyoming recently sell (virtual tour) 
     what is the cost in dollars for this meal in a small village in India 
     After the game show host poses the question, the home audience would send its independent answers/guesses using a mobile phone (SMS) or computer to Twitter or another social media/communication platform. All of the home audience answers would be recorded and the median value would represent the home audience answer. The game show host would get each game show participant&#39;s written answer, announce the actual answer and then announce the home audience answer. The game show host would then identify which participants got the question right by getting closer to the actual answer than the audience group answer. The game show host might ask about their logic or approach and explain the logic of an expert. There could be bonus dollars or credits if the participant gets the exact answer. 
     The game show software application would track how well each home audience participant is doing. After each question, home participants could receive a text message giving the actual answer, getting some trivia about the question, etc. The home audience participant who performs the best during the show or who gets a tough question exactly right could win a prize such as an invitation to be a future game show participant or other incentives. Additionally, the game show host could make comments on how the home audience is doing or how the best home participants are doing. 
     The interactive platform is available today. The internet or the cellular network (SMS) or land line telephone (IVR) provide the game show audience interactive communication network; embodiments of the invention would provide the interactive concept, game show script, game show application and support. To play from home and potentially win prizes, each home audience participant may need to register and provide information such as demographics, address, email, etc. As such, the application may act as a CRM system which can be used in other ways such as online promotions or getting real-time feedback from consumers (surveys). It can also notify followers when the TV show is about to begin. It would be expected millions of people to register and this user database may be very valuable. 
     This game show has a number of unique features. First and foremost, it applies the real time a real time interactive platform to broadcast television. This would generate a lot of buzz in the entertainment and technology sector and drive a larger viewing audience. Second, the show takes advantage of the phenomenon that a group of independent people may normally reach a more accurate group answer than any one individual, even an expert. People may love seeing this in action. Third, the show may put the home audience in many foreign situations such as guessing the price of a wonderful meal in a developing country or the number of trout in a pond or the price of an apartment in a developed country. Fourth, everyone gets to play and has a chance to win. It&#39;s not limited to the few who are lucky enough to be selected. 
     In another embodiment, a politician could have a weekly talk show. The politician could test messages and then get aggregated input from the listening audience. This would allow the politician to know what&#39;s important to voters based on demographic information (e.g. undecided, 18-25 year old female). 
       FIG. 4  is a block diagram of a data processing system, which may be used with one embodiment of the invention. For example, the system  400  shown in  FIG. 4  may be used as device  107 , server  102 , or broadcast station  103  of  FIG. 1 . Note that while  FIG. 4  illustrates various components of a computer system, it is not intended to represent any particular architecture or manner of interconnecting the components; as such details are not germane to the present invention. It may also be appreciated that network computers, handheld computers, cell phones and other data processing systems which have fewer components or perhaps more components may also be used with the present invention. The computer system of  FIG. 4  may, for example, be an Apple Macintosh computer or MacBook, or an IBM compatible PC. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , the computer system  400 , which is a form of a data processing system, includes a bus or interconnect  402  which is coupled to one or more microprocessors  403  and a ROM  407 , a volatile RAM  405 , and a non-volatile memory  406 . The microprocessor  403  is coupled to cache memory  404 . System performance will be an important factor because many messages will be received and sent in a short window of time. Cache memory is used to provide this high performance. The bus  402  interconnects these various components together and also interconnects these components  403 ,  407 ,  405 , and  406  to a display controller and display device  408 , as well as to input/output (I/O) devices  410 , which may be mice, keyboards, modems, network interfaces, printers, and other devices which are well-known in the art. 
     Typically, the input/output devices  410  are coupled to the system through input/output controllers  409 . The output could be an interface to the television broadcast which would allow streaming of consolidated data on a banner of the bottom of the television screen (similar to stock quotes streaming at bottom of a financial broadcast. Alternatively, the output could be a summary of user input (e.g. average answer) or projections based on data &amp; user demographics (25 year old women care about equal rights) which is displayed on a screen for the host of the broadcast. The volatile RAM  405  is typically implemented as dynamic RAM (DRAM) which requires power continuously in order to refresh or maintain the data in the memory. The non-volatile memory  406  is typically a magnetic hard drive, a magnetic optical drive, an optical drive, or a DVD RAM or other type of memory system which maintains data even after power is removed from the system. Typically, the non-volatile memory may also be a random access memory, although this is not required. 
     While  FIG. 4  shows that the non-volatile memory is a local device coupled directly to the rest of the components in the data processing system, the present invention may utilize a non-volatile memory which is remote from the system; such as, a network storage device which is coupled to the data processing system through a network interface such as a modem or Ethernet interface. The bus  402  may include one or more buses connected to each other through various bridges, controllers, and/or adapters, as is well-known in the art. In one embodiment, the I/O controller  409  includes a USB (Universal Serial Bus) adapter for controlling USB peripherals. Alternatively, I/O controller  409  may include an IEEE-1394 adapter, also known as FireWire adapter, for controlling FireWire devices. 
     Some portions of the preceding detailed descriptions have been presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the ways used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of operations leading to a desired result. The operations are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. 
     It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the above discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as those set forth in the claims below, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system&#39;s registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices. 
     Embodiments of the invention also relate to an apparatus for performing the operations herein. Such a computer program is stored in a non-transitory computer readable medium. A machine-readable medium includes any mechanism for storing information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, a machine-readable (e.g., computer-readable) medium includes a machine (e.g., a computer) readable storage medium (e.g., read only memory (“ROM”), random access memory (“RAM”), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory devices). 
     The processes or methods depicted in the preceding figures may be performed by processing logic that comprises hardware (e.g. circuitry, dedicated logic, etc.), software (e.g., embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium), or a combination of both. Although the processes or methods are described above in terms of some sequential operations, it should be appreciated that some of the operations described may be performed in a different order. Moreover, some operations may be performed in parallel rather than sequentially. Embodiments of the present invention are not described with reference to any particular programming language. It will be appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of embodiments of the invention as described herein. 
     In the foregoing specification, embodiments of the invention have been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will be evident that various modifications may be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense.