Patent ID: 8423407

Claim:
A method of scheduling, comprising: (a) providing an ordered list of advertising spots (“spots”) to be scheduled wherein each spot has an associated scheduling factor; (b) selecting a first one of said spots; (c) providing plural commercial break locations (“breaks”) for one or more networks; (d) determining a first cost for each of said breaks as a function of a predetermined algorithm by a microprocessor based system wherein said algorithm determines said first cost as a function of a predetermined fixed parameter, and wherein said fixed parameter is user defined; and (e) assigning said first spot to one of said breaks (“first break”) which has a lowest first cost (f) selecting a second one of said spots; (g) determining a second cost for each unassigned break as a function of said first cost and as a function of a predetermined relative parameter; and (h) assigning said second spot to one of said unassigned breaks (“second break”) which has a lowest second cost.