Patent ID: 8775501

Claim:
A data processing system for enabling nodes of a client-server network to interact with broadcast program content, the system comprising: a server computer coupled to the network and configured to detect the presence on the network of one or more client nodes; a trigger extractor configured to extract program-synchronous triggers from within the content of a broadcast program; and an application manager that is configured, in response to extraction of a program-synchronous trigger from a broadcast program, to facilitate interactive communication, relating to the broadcast program content, between the server node and one or more of the client nodes whose presence on the network has been detected; wherein the application manager is configured to facilitate the interactive communication by sending, from the server node to the one or more client nodes that have been detected, data packets in Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) and comprising trigger information based on the program-synchronous triggers and by receiving, from the one or more client nodes, other XMPP data packets comprising presence information relating to the one or more client nodes; wherein the application manager is configured to communicate between the server computer and one or more of the client nodes, using XMPP, one or more gameplay messages of timed trigger events and event data relating to game play synchronized with the program content, and one or more event responses.