Method for enhancing digital video recorder television advertising viewership
View Patent ↗A method for enhancing digital video recorder television advertising viewership provides a method wherein the first or last number of seconds of a commercial break are carefully authored to provide a “teaser” to entice the viewer to watch multiple commercials during the commercial break instead of skipping the commercial break using the fast forward or jump functions of the DVR. A bookending function displays an advertisement before and/or after a program that has been recorded on the DVR's storage device is played to the viewer. The viewer selects a recorded program from the DVR's storage device to playback. Before the program is played back, an advertisement is retrieved from the storage device and is displayed before the program is run. Another advertisement is retrieved and then played after the program is over.
1. A method for enhancing viewership of television, comprising:
receiving, by a digital video recorder (DVR), a program segment containing a beginning portion of a commercial at a beginning of a commercial break;
during playback of the program segment;
identifying an in-band tag in the program segment, the in-band tag including information that identifies commercials in the commercial break, and
displaying the beginning portion of the commercial contained in the program segment;
based, at least in part, on information from the in-band tag in the program segment, automatically pausing playing of the program segment, by the DVR, after displaying the beginning portion of the commercial; and
in response to a command from a viewer, performing, at the DVR, at least one of:
playing the remainder of the commercial; and
skipping the remainder of the commercial.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
in response to a command from the viewer to skip the remainder of the commercial, displaying a beginning portion of a second commercial contained in the program segment;
pausing playing of the program segment after displaying the beginning portion of the second commercial.
3. The method of claim 2 further comprising:
in response to a second command from the viewer, performing, at the DVR, at least one of:
playing the remainder of the second commercial; and
skipping the remainder of the second commercial.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein a beginning portion of a commercial introduces the commercial.
5. An apparatus, comprising:
one or more processors;
a receiving subsystem in a digital video recorder (DVR) that receives a program segment containing a beginning portion of a commercial at a beginning of a commercial break;
the one or more processors identify, during playback of the program segment, an in-band tag in the program segment, the in-band tag including information that identifies commercials in the commercial break;
a displaying subsystem that displays, during playback of the program segment, the beginning portion of the commercial contained in the program segment;
the one or more processors automatically pause, based, at least in part, on information from the in-band tag in the program segment, playing of the program segment after displaying the beginning portion of the commercial; and
the one or more processors, responsive to a command from a viewer, perform at least one of:
playing the remainder of the commercial; and
skipping the remainder of the commercial.
6. The apparatus of claim 5 further comprising:
the displaying subsystem displays, responsive to a command from the viewer to skip the remainder of the commercial, a beginning portion of a second commercial contained in the program segment;
the one or more processors pause playing of the program segment after displaying the beginning portion of the second commercial.
7. The apparatus of claim 6 further comprising:
the one or more processors perform, responsive to a second command from the viewer, at least one of:
playing the remainder of the second commercial; and
skipping the remainder of the second commercial.
8. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein a beginning portion of a commercial introduces the commercial.
9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors perform the steps of:
receiving, by a digital video recorder (DVR), a program segment containing a beginning portion of a commercial at a beginning of a commercial break;
during playback of the program segment:
identifying an in-band tag in the program segment, the in-band tag including information that identifies commercials in the commercial break, and
displaying the beginning portion of the commercial contained in the program segment;
based, at least in part, on information from the in-band tag in the program segment, automatically pausing playing of the program segment, by the DVR, after displaying the beginning portion of the commercial; and
in response to a command from a viewer, performing, at the DVR, at least one of:
playing the remainder of the commercial; and
skipping the remainder of the commercial.
10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 further comprising:
in response to a command from the viewer to skip the remainder of the commercial, displaying a beginning portion of a second commercial contained in the program segment;
pausing playing of the program segment after displaying the beginning portion of the second commercial.
11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 further comprising:
in response to a second command from the viewer, performing, at the DVR, at least one of:
playing the remainder of the second commercial; and
skipping the remainder of the second commercial.
12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein a beginning portion of a commercial introduces the commercial.
13. A method for enhancing viewership of television advertisements, comprising:
receiving, by a digital video recorder (DVR), a program segment containing a commercial break that includes a plurality of commercials, at least one commercial of the plurality of commercials having a corresponding introductory portion that immediately precedes, in the program segment, the at least one commercial;
the content of an introductory portion relating to the content of a corresponding commercial;
the introductory portion comprising a multi-frame video that introduces the corresponding commercial;
identifying the plurality of commercials from information included in an in-band tag in the program segment;
during playback of the program segment, displaying a first introductory portion associated with a first commercial of the plurality of commercials identified from information included in the in-band tag;
pausing playing of the program segment after displaying the first introductory portion;
subsequent to pausing playing the program segment, displaying a second introductory portion associated with a second commercial of the plurality of commercials identified from information included in the in-band tag; and
pausing playing of the program segment after displaying the second introductory portion.
14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising performing, at the DVR in response to a command from a viewer, at least one of:
playing the second commercial associated with the second introductory portion; and
skipping the second commercial associated with the second introductory portion.
15. An apparatus, comprising:
one or more processors;
a receiving subsystem in a digital video recorder (DVR) that receives a program segment containing a commercial break that includes a plurality of commercials, at least one commercial of the plurality of commercials having a corresponding introductory portion that immediately precedes, in the program segment, the at least one commercial;
the content of an introductory portion relating to the content of a corresponding commercial;
the introductory portion comprising a multi-frame video that introduces the corresponding commercial;
the one or more processors identify the plurality of commercials from information included in an in-band tag in the program segment;
a displaying subsystem that displays, during playback of the program segment, a first introductory portion associated with a first commercial of the plurality of commercials identified from information included in the in-band tag;
the one or more processors pause playing of the program segment after displaying the first introductory portion;
the displaying subsystem displays, subsequent to pausing playing the program segment, a second introductory portion associated with a second commercial of the plurality of commercials identified from information included in the in-band tag; and
the one or more processors pause playing of the program segment after displaying the second introductory portion.
16. The apparatus of claim 15 , further comprising the one or more processors perform, in response to a command from a viewer, at least one of:
playing the second commercial associated with the second introductory portion; and
skipping the second commercial associated with the second introductory portion.
17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors perform the steps of:
receiving, by a digital video recorder (DVR), a program segment containing a commercial break that includes a plurality of commercials, at least one commercial of the plurality of commercials having a corresponding introductory portion that immediately precedes, in the program segment, the at least one commercial;
the content of an introductory portion relating to the content of a corresponding commercial;
the introductory portion comprising a multi-frame video that introduces the corresponding commercial;
identifying the plurality of commercials from information included in an in-band tag in the program segment;
during playback of the program segment, displaying a first introductory portion associated with a first commercial of the plurality of commercials identified from information included in the in-band tag;
pausing playing of the program segment after displaying the first introductory portion;
subsequent to pausing playing the program segment, displaying a second introductory portion associated with a second commercial of the plurality of commercials identified from information included in the in-band tag; and
pausing playing of the program segment after displaying the second introductory portion.
18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , further comprising performing, at the DVR in response to a command from a viewer, at least one of:
playing the second commercial associated with the second introductory portion; and
skipping the second commercial associated with the second introductory portion.