Substituting streaming station for over-the-air broadcast
View Patent ↗A hybrid media device includes an over-the-air radio tuner, processing circuitry that includes an extraction module and an association module, and a network interface. the media device is tuned to an initial station, which provides providing a broadcast having embedded information. The embedded information is extracted, and used to identify a streaming media station corresponding to the broadcast station. The hybrid media device receives and stores the network address of the corresponding streaming media station, so the next time the device is instructed to tune to the initial broadcast station, the device instead connects to the streaming station at the stored address.
1. A hybrid automotive radio receiver comprising:
an over-the-air radio tuner configured to tune to an over-the-air radio broadcast on a particular frequency in response to a first tuning event, the over-the-air radio broadcast including embedded information at least partially identifying a radio station broadcasting on the particular frequency;
processing circuitry coupled to the over-the-air radio tuner and configured to determine, based on the embedded information, that the radio station broadcasting on the particular frequency is associated with a corresponding streaming radio station;
a network interface coupled to the processing circuitry and configured to communicate via a packet-switched wireless network, the network interface further configured to receive, via the packet-switched wireless network, a network address at which the corresponding streaming radio station can be accessed;
memory coupled to the processing circuitry configured to store the network address;
the processing circuitry further configured to:
use the network address to stream the corresponding streaming radio station instead of tuning to the over-the-air radio broadcast in response to a subsequent tuning event;
collect preference information associated with at least one user of the hybrid automotive radio receiver; and
deliver the preference information, via the network interface, to an advertisement customization service.
2. The hybrid automotive radio receiver of claim 1 , wherein targeted advertisements are inserted into the corresponding streaming radio station based, at least in part, on registration information associated with the hybrid automotive radio receiver.
3. The hybrid automotive radio receiver of claim 1 , wherein the network interface includes a personal-area network interface configured to communicate with a mobile device coupled to a mobile carrier network.
4. The hybrid automotive radio receiver of claim 1 , wherein the embedded information includes information received via at least one of a Radio Data System (RDS) protocol or an in-band on-channel (IBOC) radio protocol.
5. A method for use in a hybrid automotive radio receiver, the method comprising:
receiving first user input to the hybrid automotive radio receiver indicating a first tuning event;
in response to the first tuning event, tuning to an over-the-air radio broadcast on a particular frequency, the over-the-air radio broadcast including embedded information at least partially identifying a radio station broadcasting on the particular frequency;
determining, based at least in part on the embedded information, that the radio station broadcasting on the particular frequency is associated with a corresponding streaming radio station;
receiving, via a packet-switched network interface, a network address at which the corresponding streaming radio station can be accessed;
storing the network address in a memory accessible to the hybrid automotive radio receiver;
receiving second user input indicating a second tuning event, the second tuning event associated with the over-the-air radio broadcast; and
in response to the second tuning event, using the network address to stream the corresponding streaming radio station instead of tuning to the over-the-air radio broadcast;
collecting preference information associated with at least one user of the hybrid automotive radio receiver; and
delivering the preference information to an advertisement customization service.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the corresponding streaming radio station includes targeted advertisements inserted into the corresponding streaming radio station based, at least in part, on registration information associated with the hybrid automotive radio receiver.
7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the determining further comprises:
transmitting at least a portion of the embedded information, via the packet-switched network interface, to an external server for identification of the corresponding streaming radio station.
8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the determining further comprises:
using a database cache local to the hybrid automotive radio receiver to determine whether an affiliation of the radio station matches a target affiliation; and
in response to determining that the affiliation matches the target affiliation, transmitting an identity of the radio station to an external server.
9. A hybrid media device comprising:
an over-the-air radio tuner configured to tune to an over-the-air radio broadcast on a particular frequency in response to a first tuning event, the over-the-air radio broadcast including embedded information at least partially identifying a radio station broadcasting on the particular frequency;
processing circuitry coupled to the over-the-air radio tuner, the processing circuitry including:
an extraction module configured to extract the embedded information to generate extracted information;
an association module configured to determine, based on the extracted information, that the radio station broadcasting on the particular frequency is associated with a corresponding streaming media station;
a network interface coupled to the processing circuitry and configured to communicate via a packet-switched wireless network, the network interface further configured to receive, via the packet-switched wireless network, a network address at which the corresponding streaming media station can be accessed;
memory coupled to the processing circuitry configured to store the network address; and
the processing circuitry further configured to:
use the network address to present the corresponding streaming media station instead of tuning to the over-the-air radio broadcast in response to a subsequent tuning event;
collect preference information associated with at least one user of the hybrid media device; and
deliver the preference information, via the network interface, to a content customization service.
10. The hybrid media device of claim 9 , wherein the corresponding streaming media station includes content selected, at least in part, based on registration information associated with the hybrid media device.
11. The hybrid media device of claim 9 , wherein the network interface includes a personal-area network interface configured to communicate with an external mobile device coupled to a mobile carrier network.
12. The hybrid media device of claim 11 , wherein:
the corresponding streaming media station is streamed via the external mobile device coupled to the mobile carrier network.
13. The hybrid media device of claim 9 , the association module further configured to:
transmit over-air station identification information to a web service via the network interface; and
receive, from the web service, the network address at which the corresponding streaming media station can be accessed.
14. The hybrid media device of claim 9 , wherein the embedded information includes information received via at least one of a Radio Data System (RDS) protocol or an in-band on-channel (IBOC) radio protocol.