Method and system for providing media programming

1. A method of generating media programming for display on a client, comprising:

receiving by an aggregator data relating to a plurality of media streams;

accessing by the aggregator user information;

based on the user information and the data related to the plurality of media streams, determining by the aggregator a temporal sequence of media programming comprising the media streams;

accessing by the aggregator over a network the plurality of media streams; and

providing by the aggregator to the client media programming in the determined temporal sequence, the media programming comprising concatenated elements of the plurality of media streams.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the aggregator comprises a web server.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the aggregator comprises software stored in a client memory device and adapted to be executed on a client processor.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the aggregator comprises an electronic program guide.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user information comprises past usage information of the user.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the media programming comprises a video feed.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of providing the media programming comprises providing from a web server via a network to the client the media programming.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of providing the media programming comprises providing the media programming on a television channel.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the media programming is provided through at least one of an XML feed, an RSS feed, Atom feed, and a podcast.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing by the aggregator a presentation element for presenting data indicative of a plurality of media streams to the user, and, responsive to a user selection of one of the presented media streams, providing by the aggregator the selected media stream in the media programming.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising, in response to user highlighting of one of the displayed media streams, displaying by the aggregator the highlighted media stream on a user display together with a list of media streams.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the user information includes the identity of a media element playing on the displayed highlighted media stream prior to the receipt of the user selection.

13. The method of claim 10 , further comprising, in response to the received selection, providing predetermined media programming during a first time period, and providing media programming responsive to the user information in a second time period after the first time period.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data related to the plurality of media streams comprises categorizing data associated with media elements of the media streams indicative of subjectively determined character of the media elements.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the user information comprises viewing history, user preference data and search queries.

16. The method of claim 14 , further comprising deriving by the aggregator keywords from the media streams, deriving by the aggregator from the derived keywords further keywords from a map of synonyms, and employing the further derived keywords in determining the temporal sequence.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the media streams comprises media elements having labels indicative of payment due from an advertiser and payment due to a content provider.

18. The method of claim 1 , further comprising caching by the aggregator the media streams prior to providing the elements in the media programming, whereby switching between streams at optimal times is facilitated.

19. A system for providing media programming, comprising:

an aggregator having a memory and a processor, the processor adapted for presenting a plurality of media streams to a user, receiving a signal having data indicative of a selection of one of the media streams, and providing an output signal including data indicative of the selection and of user data; and

a publisher having a memory and a processor, the publisher processor adapted to receive the output signal from the aggregator, and, responsive to the data indicative of the selection and of user data, access from the memory at least one algorithm for selection and sequencing of media elements, select a temporal sequence of media programming comprising the selected media stream and other media elements based on an output of the algorithm using the selection and the user data, assemble the selected media stream and the other media elements in the temporal sequence, and provide media programming to the user including the assembled media stream and other media elements in the temporal sequence.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the aggregator comprises a web server, the aggregator processor being adapted to present a web page listing the media streams for display on a client device.

21. The system of claim 20 , wherein the publisher comprises a web server, and wherein the aggregator processor is adapted to redirect a client device to the publisher web server.

22. The system of claim 19 , wherein in response to the selection, the publisher provides a first media stream having content from concatenated elements of at least second and third media streams, and, in response to a further user selection, provides content preferentially from one of the second and third media streams.

23. A method for aggregating media programming, comprising:

presenting to a user a list of media streams;

receiving an input signal having data indicative of a selection of one of the media streams feeds from the list;

providing an output signal having data indicative of the selection;

receiving, responsive to the output signal, at least the selected media stream; and

responsive to the data indicative of the selection and user information, and using at least one algorithm for selection and sequencing of media elements, selecting a temporal sequence of media programming comprising the selected media stream and other media elements, and providing media programming to the user, the media programming comprising the other media elements selected and concatenated in accordance with the temporal sequence with the selected media stream.

24. The method of claim 23 , further comprising receiving a second media stream, and wherein the step of providing media programming comprises switching at least between the selected media stream and the second media stream in accordance with the temporal sequence.