Systems and methods of processing closed captioning for video on demand content

1. A method comprising:

receiving first closed captioning data at a computing device, wherein the first closed captioning data is associated with a video on demand asset and wherein the first closed captioning data is represented in a first format;

loading a first ingester that is compatible with the first format to convert the first closed captioning data from the first format to a platform-independent format;

loading a first converter that is compatible with a second format to convert the first closed captioning data from the platform-independent format to the second format;

transmitting the first closed captioning data in the second format to a destination device;

during transmission of the first closed captioning data in the second format to the destination device, receiving input from the destination device;

in response to the input, receiving second closed captioning data associated with the video on demand asset, wherein the second closed captioning data is represented in a third format;

loading a second ingester that is compatible with the third format to convert the second closed captioning data from the third format to the platform-independent format;

converting, by the first converter, the second closed captioning data from the platform-independent format to the second format; and

transmitting the second closed captioning data in the second format to the destination device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the closed captioning data in the first format is received embedded in an input stream that includes at least a portion of the video on demand asset.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first closed captioning data in the first format is received in one or more closed captioning data files.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first closed captioning data in the second format is embedded in an output stream that includes at least a portion of the video on demand asset, transmitted in one or more closed captioning data files, or a combination thereof.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein for a particular segment of timed text, the platform-independent format includes a start time of the particular segment, an end time of the particular segment, a language identifier associated with the particular segment, layout information associated with the particular segment, font information associated with the particular segment, and style information associated with the particular segment.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising retrieving the first closed captioning data in the first format from one or more data storage devices during a single video on demand streaming session.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving the first closed captioning data in the first format from an external source during a single video on demand streaming session.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first format comprises an embedded format that includes:

action message format (AMF) on TextData,

consumer electronics association (CEA)-608,

CEA-708,

motion pictures expert group (MPEG)-4 part 17,

3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) timed text,

digital video broadcasting (DVB) subtitling,

sistema brasileiro de televisao digital (SBTVD),

digital terrestrial multimedia broadcast (DTMB), or

world system teletext (WST).

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first format comprises a file format that includes:

scenarist closed captioning (SCC),

timed text markup language (TTML),

distributed format exchange profile (DFXP),

society of motion picture and television engineers (SMPTE) timed text (SMPTE-TT),

web video text tracks (WebVTT),

SubRip (SRT),

synchronized accessible media interchange (SAMI),

European broadcasting union (EBU)-STL, or

EBU timed text (EBU-TT).

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting the second closed captioning data in the second format from a media server to the destination device, wherein the media server supports transmission of closed captioning data in accordance with:

hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) live streaming (HLS),

HTTP dynamic streaming (HDS),

smooth streaming, and

motion picture experts group (MPEG) dynamic adaptive streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH).

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving second input from a second destination device, the second input indicating a fourth format;

in response to the second input, loading a second converter that is compatible with the fourth format to convert the first closed captioning data from the platform-independent format to the fourth format;

converting, by the second converter, the first closed captioning data from the platform-independent format to the fourth format; and

transmitting the first closed captioning data in the fourth format to the second destination device.

12. An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving first closed captioning data, wherein the first closed captioning data is associated with a video on demand asset and wherein the first closed captioning data is represented in a first format;

loading a first ingester that is compatible with the first format to convert the first closed captioning data from the first format to a platform-independent format;

loading a first converter that is compatible with a second format to convert the first closed captioning data from the platform-independent format to the second format;

transmitting the first closed captioning data in the second format to a destination device;

during transmission of the first closed captioning data in the second format to the destination device, receiving input from the destination device;

in response to the input, receiving second closed captioning data associated with the video on demand asset, wherein the second closed captioning data is represented in a third format;

loading a second ingester that is compatible with the third format to convert the second closed captioning data from the third format to the platform-independent format;

converting, by the first converter, the second closed captioning data from the platform-independent format to the second format; and

transmitting the second closed captioning data in the second format to the destination device.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the destination device comprises a smartphone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a set-top box, a television, a portable media player, a game console, or any combination thereof.

14. The apparatus of claim 12 , further comprising:

one or more storage devices to store video on demand assets, closed captioning data, or any combination thereof;

a plurality of ingesters executable by the processor, wherein the plurality of ingesters includes the first ingester and the second ingester, and wherein the plurality of ingesters further includes at least one ingester that is configured to process closed captioning data stored in one or more files, at least one ingester that is configured to extract closed captioning data from a video stream, or any combination thereof; and

a plurality of converters executable by the processor, wherein the plurality of converters includes the first converter.

15. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the first converter is further executable by the processor to add a first font characteristic to a first portion of the first closed captioning data and to add a second font characteristic that is different from the first font characteristic to a second portion of the first closed captioning data.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the first font characteristic comprises a first font color and the second font characteristic comprises a second font color that is different from the first font color.

17. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein:

the first closed captioning data in the first format includes first data and second data, wherein the second data comprises pass-through data;

the first ingester is executable by the processor to generate the first closed captioning data in the platform-independent format by converting the first data from the first format to the platform-independent format and refraining from modifying the second data;

the first converter is executable by the processor to generate the first closed captioning data in the second format by converting the first data from the platform-independent format to the second format and refraining from modifying the second data; and

transmitting the first closed captioning data in the second format to the destination device comprises transmitting the first data in the second format to the destination device and transmitting the unmodified second data to the destination device.

18. A computer-readable storage device comprising instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform operations comprising:

receiving first closed captioning data at a computing device, wherein the first closed captioning data is associated with a video on demand asset and wherein the first closed captioning data is represented in a first format;

loading a first ingester that is compatible with the first format to convert the first closed captioning data from the first format to a platform-independent format;

loading a first converter that is compatible with a second format to convert the first closed captioning data from the platform-independent format to the second format;

transmitting the first closed captioning data in the second format to a destination device;

during transmission of the first closed captioning data in the second format to the destination device, receiving input from the destination device;

in response to the input, receiving second closed captioning data associated with the video on demand asset, wherein the second closed captioning data is represented in a third format;

loading a second ingester that is compatible with the third format to convert the second closed captioning data from the third format to the platform-independent format;

converting, by the first converter, the second closed captioning data from the platform-independent format to the second format; and

transmitting the second closed captioning data in the second format to the destination device.

19. The computer-readable storage device of claim 18 , wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a request for the first closed captioning data in a first language;

identifying a source of the requested first closed captioning data based on the first language; and

switching the first closed captioning data from the first language to a second language without interrupting communication of a stream of the video on demand asset to the destination device.

20. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein converting the first closed captioning data to the platform independent format comprises generating one or more segments of timed text, each of the one or more segments including font information, font size information, and layout information.