Viewer-authored content acquisition and management system for in-the-moment broadcast in conjunction with media programs

1. A method for providing viewer-derived content in conjunction with a live broadcast of a media program by a provider of the media program, the method comprising:

(a) receiving, from a viewer device, viewer registration information uniquely associated with a viewer;

(b) receiving, from the viewer device, viewer-authored content and content metadata associated with the viewer-authored content in a content management system;

(c) processing the viewer-authored content according to the content metadata to generate the viewer-derived content;

(d) searching the content metadata received from the viewer device to identify a priority of the viewer-authored content;

(e) queuing the viewer-derived content with other viewer-derived content generated from other viewer-authored content from other viewers, based on the priority of the viewer-authored content identified by the searching of the content metadata, for a broadcast presentation in conjunction with the live broadcast of the media program;

(f) determining whether the viewer-derived content complies with broadcast regulations or quality standards;

(g) selecting the viewer-derived content for the broadcast presentation in conjunction with the live broadcast of the media program when the viewer-derived content is determined to comply with the broadcast regulations or the quality standards; and

(h) providing the viewer-derived content for broadcast in conjunction with the live broadcast of the media program.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

providing an application for installation on the viewer device before performing (a)-(h), wherein the application is configured to generate the viewer-authored content according to the quality standards.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein:

the media program is one of a plurality of episodes of a show, the show being one of a plurality of shows provided by the media provider, the show having one or more associated editorial standards transmitted to the viewer device;

the content metadata comprises keywords describing attributes of the viewer-authored content; and

the method further comprises:

determining, in the viewer device, if the viewer-authored content complies with the one or more associated editorial standards by comparing the keywords with the editorial standards; and

performing steps (c)-(h) only if the viewer-authored content complies with the editorial standards.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the viewer-authored content comprises a plurality of independent media files, each media file comprising an intra-compressed image;

the step of processing the viewer-authored content according to the content metadata to generate the viewer-derived content comprises the steps of:

generating an animated image file from the plurality of independent media files; and

generating a compressed video file from the plurality of independent media files, the compressed video file mimicking and serving as a proxy for the animated image file.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein:

the viewer-authored content comprises a compressed archive file having the plurality of independent media files; and

the method further comprises decompressing the compressed archive file to recover the independent media files.

6. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

transmitting the compressed video file to the viewer device for presentation by the application executing on the viewer device.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein:

the content metadata includes a permission to broadcast the viewer-derived content associated with the viewer-authored content; and

the viewer-authored content is processed only when the content metadata includes the permission to broadcast the viewer-derived content.

8. The method of claim 4 , wherein:

the content metadata includes a permission to broadcast the viewer-derived content; and

the viewer-authored content is processed regardless of whether the content metadata includes the permission to broadcast the viewer-derived content associated with the viewer-derived content, but is not broadcast without the permission to broadcast the viewer-derived content.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the viewer registration information includes identification information uniquely identifying the viewer, the identification information comprising:

information sufficient to confirm viewer competency to enter an agreement for the broadcast presentation of the viewer-derived content;

viewer contact information; and

viewer geographical location.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

automatically verifying at least a portion of the viewer registration information associated with received viewer-authored content by comparing the at least the portion of the viewer registration information with verifying information of a source independent from the viewer registration information.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

transmitting the viewer-derived content to a social network;

wherein the step of selecting the viewer-derived content for the broadcast presentation is automatically based at least in part on assessment data from users of the social network regarding the viewer-authored content transmitted to the social network.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the content metadata comprises an indication to share the viewer-derived content associated with the viewer-authored content on a plurality of social networks;

the method further comprises:

hosting the viewer-derived content on a server accessible according to a uniform resource locator unique to the viewer-derived content; and

providing the uniform resource locator to each of the plurality of social networks.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the viewer registration information comprises viewer contact information, and method further comprises:

transmitting a message to the viewer device according to the viewer contact information to confirm viewer approval to broadcast the viewer-derived content associated with the viewer-authored content.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the content management system includes a database having a plurality of attributes relating to the viewer, and wherein one of the plurality of attributes is a viewer feature attribute indicating whether a post from the viewer is to be featured.

15. An apparatus for providing viewer-authored content in conjunction with a broadcast of a media program by a provider of the media program, the apparatus comprising:

a processor;

a memory, coupled to the processor, the memory storing a plurality of instructions comprising instructions for:

(a) receiving, from a viewer device, viewer registration information uniquely associated with a viewer;

(b) receiving, from the viewer device, viewer-authored content and content metadata associated with the viewer-authored content in a content management system;

(c) processing the viewer-authored content according to the content metadata to generate the viewer-derived content;

(d) searching the content metadata received from the viewer device to identify a priority of the viewer-authored content;

(e) queuing the viewer-derived content with other viewer-derived content generated from other viewer-authored content from other viewers, based on the priority of the viewer-authored content identified by the searching of the content metadata, for a broadcast presentation in conjunction with the live broadcast of the media program;

(f) determining whether the viewer-derived content complies with broadcast regulations or quality standards;

(g) selecting the viewer-derived content for the broadcast presentation in conjunction with the live broadcast of the media program when the viewer-derived content is determined to comply with the broadcast regulations or the quality standards; and

(h) providing the viewer-derived content for broadcast in conjunction with the live broadcast of the media program.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions for:

providing an application for installation on the viewer device before performing (a)-(h), wherein the application is configured to generate the viewer-authored content according to the quality standards.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein:

the media program is one of a plurality of episodes of a show, the show being one of a plurality of shows provided by the media provider, the show having one or more associated editorial standards transmitted to the viewer device;

the content metadata comprises keywords describing attributes of the viewer-authored content; and

the instructions further comprise instructions for:

determining, in the viewer device, if the viewer-authored content complies with the one or more associated editorial standards by comparing the keywords with the editorial standards; and

performing steps (c)-(h) only if the viewer-authored content complies with the editorial standards.

18. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein:

the viewer-authored content comprises a plurality of independent media files, each media file comprising an intra-compressed image;

the instructions for processing the viewer-authored content according to the content metadata to generate the viewer-derived content comprises instructions for:

generating an animated image file from the plurality of independent media files; and

generating a compressed video file from the plurality of independent media files, the compressed video file mimicking the animated image file.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein:

the viewer-authored content comprises a compressed archive file having the plurality of independent media files; and

the instructions further comprise instructions for decompressing the compressed archive file to recover the independent media files.

20. A system for providing viewer-authored content in conjunction with a broadcast of a media program by a provider of the media program, the system comprising:

a viewer device, comprising:

a viewer device processor;

a viewer device memory, communicatively coupled to the processor;

a viewer-authored content acquisition and management system (VACAMS) comprising:

a VACAMS processor;

a VACAMS memory, coupled to the VACAMS processor, the memory storing a plurality of instructions comprising instructions for:

(a) receiving, from a viewer device, viewer registration information uniquely associated with a viewer;

(b) receiving, from the viewer device, viewer-authored content and content metadata associated with the viewer-authored content in a content management system;

(c) processing the viewer-authored content according to the content metadata to generate the viewer-derived content;

(d) searching the content metadata received from the viewer device to identify a priority of the viewer-authored content;

(e) queuing the viewer-derived content with other viewer-derived content generated from other viewer-authored content from other viewers, based on the priority of the viewer-authored content identified by the searching of the content metadata, for a broadcast presentation in conjunction with the live broadcast of the media program;

(f) determining whether the viewer-derived content complies with broadcast regulations or quality standards;

(g) selecting the viewer-derived content for the broadcast presentation in conjunction with the live broadcast of the media program when the viewer-derived content is determined to comply with the broadcast regulations or the quality standards; and

(h) providing the viewer-derived content for broadcast in conjunction with the live broadcast of the media program.