Patent ID: 8024765

Claim:
A method for communicating media program broadcast information, the method comprising: receiving a content-augmented signal at a conventional broadcast receiver, the content augmented broadcast signal having a program content and a program cookie relating to the program content; demodulating the content-augmented broadcast signal; rendering the program content; recovering the program cookie from the demodulated content-augmented broadcast signal at substantially the same time the program content is rendered; determining whether the program cookie comprises information relating to a current media program a user is currently watching or listening to, or to an advertisement of a future media program; sending the program cookie to an electronic device; and when the program cookie is determined to comprise information relating to the current media program: processing the program cookie to extract the information relating to the current media program; sending the extracted information relating to the current media program and a time at which the program cookie is received by the electronic device to an Instant Messenger server on the Internet; and updating a database of the Instant Messenger server with the information relating to the current media program a user is watching or listening to, such that when a user of the electronic device is displayed in a user list of an Instant Messenger program of another user, the information relating to the current media program the user is currently watching or listening to is also displayed on the user list of the Instant Messenger of the other user.