Systems and methods for enabling the improved delivery of live content items to a plurality of computing devices

1 . A method comprising:

sending, from a content delivery network and via a first transmission scheme, a live content item to a plurality of computing devices, wherein the first transmission scheme is an over-the-top transmission scheme to allow bidirectional communication between the content delivery network and the plurality of computing devices;

identifying, at the content delivery network, that a capacity threshold has been reached;

identifying, by analyzing a program guide, that the live content item is available via a second transmission scheme via a source that allows unidirectional communication from the content delivery network to a subset of the plurality of computing devices, wherein the unidirectional communication does not allow the subset of the plurality of computing devices to send messages to the content delivery network using a return channel;

sending, from the content delivery network and to the plurality of computing devices, an instruction to receive the live content item via the second transmission scheme, wherein the instruction instructs the subset of the plurality of computing devices to utilize the source identified based on analyzing the program guide, and wherein the instruction causes each of the subset of the plurality of computing devices to tune to the source that does not allow the subset of the plurality of computing devices to send messages to the content delivery network using the return channel; and

based at least in part on (a) the identifying that the capacity threshold has been reached, and (b) the identifying that the live content item is available via the second transmission scheme:

stopping the sending of the live content item to at least the subset of the plurality of computing devices.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first transmission scheme comprises internet, and the second transmission scheme comprises an over-the-air transmission, a cable transmission, a satellite transmission and/or an IPTV transmission.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the subset of the plurality of computing devices comprises a first subset of the plurality of computing devices;

the method further comprises receiving, from each of a second subset of the plurality of computing devices, an indicator that a computing device is configured to receive the live content item via the second transmission scheme; and

sending the instruction to receive the live content item via the second transmission scheme further comprises sending the instruction to each of the second subset of the plurality of computing devices from which the indicator was received.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the content delivery network further comprises a steering service; and

stopping the sending of the live content item further comprises utilizing the steering service to prioritize which computing devices from the plurality of computing devices to include in the subset.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the capacity threshold is based on a number of current sessions, a number of computing devices requesting the live content item and/or a bandwidth associated with delivering the live content item to the plurality of computing devices.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first transmission scheme comprises a wide area network and a plurality of local area networks and wherein:

the method further comprises identifying, for each local area network of a subset of the plurality of local area networks, that a threshold number of computing devices are associated with a local area network; and

stopping the sending of the live content comprises stopping the sending of the live content item to the subset of the plurality of local area networks.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the subset of the plurality of computing devices comprises a first subset of the plurality of computing devices and the method further comprises:

receiving, from each computing device of a second subset of the plurality of computing devices, an acknowledgement that the live content item is being received via the second transmission scheme; and

stopping the sending of the live content item comprises stopping the sending of the live content item to each computing device of the second subset of the plurality of computing devices from which the acknowledgement has been received.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein stopping the sending of the live content item further comprises enabling a response to trick mode requests, from the subset of the plurality of computing devices and via the first transmission scheme, for the live content item.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first instruction to receive the live content item via the second transmission scheme comprises an instruction to force a computing device to receive the live content item using the second transmission scheme.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the live content item available via the second transmission scheme is available from a first source other than the first transmission scheme, the subset of the plurality of computing devices comprises a first subset of the plurality of computing devices, and the instruction comprises a first instruction, the method further comprising:

receiving, from each of a second subset of the plurality of computing devices, a plurality of notifications that a computing device is unable to access the first source, other than a bidirectional network, from which the live content item is available;

identifying the live content item is available via the second transmission scheme from a second source other than the first transmission scheme and the first source; and

sending, from the content delivery network, a second instruction to receive the live content item from the second source.

11 . A system comprising:

input/output circuitry configured to:

send, from a content delivery network and via a first transmission scheme, a live content item to a plurality of computing devices, wherein the first transmission scheme is an over-the-top transmission scheme to allow bidirectional communication between the content delivery network and the plurality of computing devices; and

processing circuitry configured to:

identify, at the content delivery network, that a capacity threshold has been reached;

identify, by analyzing a program guide, that the live content item is available via a second transmission scheme via a source that allows unidirectional communication from the content delivery network to a subset of the plurality of computing devices, wherein the unidirectional communication does not allow the subset of the plurality of computing devices to send messages to the content delivery network using a return channel;

send, from the content delivery network and to the plurality of computing devices, an instruction to receive the live content item via the second transmission scheme, wherein the instruction instructs the subset of the plurality of computing devices to utilize the source identified based on analyzing the program guide, and wherein the instruction causes each of the subset of the plurality of computing devices to tune to the source that does not allow the subset of the plurality of computing devices to send messages to the content delivery network using the return channel; and

based at least in part on (a) the identifying that the capacity threshold has been reached, and (b) the identifying that the live content item is available via the second transmission scheme:

stop the sending of the live content item to at least a first the subset of the plurality of computing devices.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the first transmission scheme comprises internet, and the second transmission scheme comprises an over-the-air transmission, a cable transmission, a satellite transmission and/or an IPTV transmission.

13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein:

the subset of the plurality of computing devices comprises a first subset of the plurality of computing devices;

the system further comprises processing circuitry configured to receive, from each of a second subset of the plurality of computing devices, an indicator that a computing device is configured to receive the live content item via the second transmission scheme; and

the processing circuitry configured to send the first instruction to receive the live content item via the second transmission scheme is further configured to send the first instruction to each of the second subset of the plurality of computing devices from which the indicator was received.

14 . The system of claim 11 , wherein:

the content delivery network further comprises a steering service; and

the processing circuitry configured to stop the sending of the live content item is further configured to utilize the steering service to prioritize which computing devices from the plurality of computing devices to include in the first subset.

15 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the capacity threshold is based on a number of current sessions, a number of computing devices requesting the live content item and/or a bandwidth associated with delivering the live content item to the plurality of computing devices.

16 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the first transmission scheme comprises a wide area network and a plurality of local area networks and wherein:

the system further comprises processing circuitry configured to identify, for each local area network of a subset of the plurality of local area networks, that a threshold number of computing devices are associated with a local area network; and

the processing circuitry configured to stop the sending of the live content is further configured to stop the sending of the live content item to the subset of the plurality of local area networks.

17 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the subset of the plurality of computing devices comprises a first subset of the plurality of computing devices and wherein the system further comprises processing circuitry configured to:

receive, from each computing device of a second subset of the plurality of computing devices, an acknowledgement that the live content item is being received via the second transmission scheme; and

stop the sending of the live content item comprises stopping the sending of the live content item to each computing device of the second subset of the plurality of computing devices from which the acknowledgement has been received.

18 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the processing circuitry configured to stop the sending of the live content item is further configured to enable a response to trick mode requests, from the subset of the plurality of computing devices and via the first transmission scheme, for the live content item.

19 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the first instruction to receive the live content item via the second transmission scheme comprises an instruction to force a computing device to receive the live content item via the second transmission scheme.

20 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the live content item available via the second transmission scheme is available from a first source other than the first transmission scheme, the subset of the plurality of computing devices comprises a first subset of the plurality of computing devices, and the instruction comprises a first instruction, and the system further comprises processing circuitry configured to:

receive, from each of a second subset of the plurality of computing devices, a plurality of notifications that a computing device is unable to access the first source, other than a bidirectional network, from which the live content item is available;

identify the live content item is available via the second transmission scheme from a second source other than the first transmission scheme and the first source; and

send, from the content delivery network, a second instruction to receive the live content item from the second source.