Patent ID: 8806549

Claim:
A method for receiving a program by a user location that is sent from a content distributor, the method comprising: receiving the program at the user location as a first linearly scheduled near video on demand (NVOD) program, which is multicasted and can be viewed on a first channel; processing a first portion of the program at the user location, wherein the first portion is at least one eighth of the program and the first portion includes a beginning of the program; storing the first portion of the program at the user location; detecting a user request for the program after storage of the first portion; receiving one or more second portions of the program in response to the detecting the user request, wherein the one or more second portions is received on one or more other channels, each different from the first channel, and the one or more second portions extending from an end of the first portion to an end of the program; and storing the one or more second portions of the program at the user location subsequent to detecting the user request, wherein: the first portion of the program is part of a linearly scheduled NVOD schedule on a plurality of channels, the plurality of channels including the first channel and the one or more other channels, and each of the one or more second portions is received as a singlecast media, further wherein the singlecast media is a digital channel transmitted exclusively to the user location.