RE-TRANSMISSION OF TELEVISION CHANNELS OVER NETWORK
A method and system for re-transmitting television signals or other signals over a network. The re-transmission optionally being selected on dynamic basis according to demand for particular signals, wherein the re-transmitted signal may be changed as the demand for particular signals change. The signal demand may be determined from votes or other measures of subscriber inputs/desires.
1 . A method of distributing television channels over a local area network (LAN), the method comprising:
tabulating votes casts in support of distributing particular television channels included within a full compliment of television channels; and
distributing a subset of the full compliment of television channels over the LAN based on highest vote count.
2 . The method of claim 1 further comprising changing at least one of the distributed channels to correspond with another more popular channel determined after re-tabulating votes cast at a subsequent period of time.
3 . The method of claim 1 further comprising providing a voting forum to facilitate casting votes for particular television channels.
4 . The method of claim 3 further comprising limiting access to the voting forum to a number of voters previously associated with the LAN and authorized to view the television channels distributed over the LAN.
5 . The method of claim 1 further comprising transmitting the full compliment of television channels from the television service provider to a television server associated with the LAN, the television server configured to select the most popular television channels from the full compliment of television channels for distribution over the LAN.
6 . The method of claim 5 further comprising transmitting the full compliment of televisions channels to the television server in an analog format, the television server converting the most popular television channels to a digital format for distribution over the LAN.
7 . The method of claim 5 further comprising the television server automatically selecting the most popular television channels based on information received through the voting forum.
8 . The method of claim 1 further comprising setting the maximum number of channels to be distributed based on available LAN bandwidth.
9 . The method of claim 8 further comprising increasing or decreasing the maximum number of channels distributed over the LAN based on changes in bandwidth availability.
10 . A method of re-transmitting television channels over a local area network (LAN) having insufficient bandwidth to carry a full compliment of television channels available from a television service provider, the method comprising:
determining available LAN bandwidth;
determining a maximum number of televisions channels for distribution over the LAN based on the available LAN bandwidth; and
distributing a subset of the full compliment of television channels deemed to be the most popular over the LAN.
11 . The method of claim 10 further comprising continuously determining the most popular channels as a function of votes cast in support of particular channels.
12 . The method of claim 11 further comprising changing at least one of the distributed channels to correspond with another more popular channel determined from votes cast at a subsequent period of time.
13 . The method of claim 10 further comprising providing a voting forum to facilitating casting votes for particular television channels.
14 . The method of claim 13 further comprising configuring the voting forum to facilitate voting for channels on a periodic basis and determining the most popular channels at an interval corresponding with the periodic basis.
15 . The method of claim 13 further comprising configuring the voting forum to facilitate automatically voting for channels on a repeating basis.
16 . The method of claim 13 further comprising configuring the voting forum to provide a program description for use in describing programs showing on each channel for a particular time of day.
17 . A television server configured for re-transmitting television channels received from a television service provider over a local area network (LAN), the server configured for:
determining a maximum number of television channels supportable by the LAN, the maximum number of television channels being less than a full compliment of television channels available from the television service provider; and
re-transmitting the maximum number of television channels deemed to be the most popular over the LAN.
18 . The server of claim 17 further configured for hosting a voting forum through which votes are received for use in determining the most popular television channels.
19 . The server of claim 17 further configured for re-transmitting the television channels in IP multicast streams.
20 . The server of claim 17 further configured for changing at least one of the re-transmitted channels to correspond with another more popular channel determined from votes cast at a subsequent period of time.