Patent ID: 8402495

Claim:
A method of controlling sequence of content included in a channel, the method comprising: identifying a channel subscribed to by a user of a content delivery network; determining a genre of the identified channel; selecting, from among multiple, different play sequence policies, a play sequence policy for the identified channel based on the determined genre of the identified channel, the play sequence policy defining one or more rules used in determining an order to play content files on the identified channel; and controlling display of the identified channel based on the selected play sequence policy, wherein determining the genre of the identified channel comprises determining a genre from among a news genre, a television show genre, and a movies genre, and wherein selecting, from among multiple, different play sequence policies, the play sequence policy for the identified channel based on the determined genre of the identified channel comprises at least one of: selecting a latest content policy when the determined genre is the news genre, the latest content policy defining a rule that news programs that have been available for a relatively short period of time are played prior to news programs that have been available for a relatively long period of time; selecting an oldest content policy when the determined genre is the television show genre, the oldest content policy defining a rule that television shows that have been available for a relatively long period of time are played prior to television shows that have been available for a relatively short period of time; and selecting an oldest download policy when the determined genre is the movies genre, the oldest download policy defining a rule that movies that have been downloaded to a downloader device for a relatively long period of time are played prior to movies that have been downloaded to the downloader device for a relatively short period of time.