Bce Inc.

Other

Peter Werner Ratsch

Maarten Boudewijn Heilbron

Sean MacLean Murray

Shafiq Shiraz Manji

Ovidiu Octavian Popa

Shafiq Manji

Jeffrey Clarke

Wayne Snow

A method, system and apparatus for conveying personalized content to a viewer associated with a receiver are disclosed. In some embodiments, the method comprises generating control data indicative of a receiver-accessible source of personalized content for the viewer and inserting the control data into a plurality of control streams for transmission to the receiver, each of the control streams being accessible to the receiver when in a different respective operational state. The type of personalized content may include, but is not limited to, an instant message, an e-mail message, a file, a personalized report, a new television channel within a system for causing a channel change, a pay-per-view program, a video-on-demand program, a personalized message, etc.

Method, system and apparatus for conveying personalized content to a viewer

Method for retrieving online content in an interactive environment. The method is executable by a computing device. The method comprises obtaining a plurality of descriptive information elements; parsing at least some of the descriptive information elements into one or more subsets of information elements associated with respective information categories; retrieving online content for each of the one or more subsets of information elements; and causing the retrieved online content to be presented to a user.

Method and system for retrieving online content in an interactive television environment

A method, which comprises identifying a television program whose start time falls within a time window of acceptable viewability relative to a promotional time slot appearing within a first content stream, the television program being carried by a second content stream; causing conveyance during the promotional time slot of an advertisement for the television program; and causing an indication of the second content stream to be transmitted to customer equipment in the form of a marker sent with the first content stream. Also, a method, which comprises identifying a television program whose start time falls within a time window of acceptable viewability relative to a promotional time slot appearing within a first content stream, the television program being carried by a second content stream; causing conveyance during the promotional time slot of an advertisement for the television program; and being attentive to an indication that, during the promotional time slot, a selection has been made by customer equipment to view the second content stream.

Methods, apparatus and computer-readable media for conveying television program advertisements

According to embodiments of the present invention a method, system and apparatus for conveying personalized content to a viewer is provided. A method for conveying personalized content comprises obtaining an indication of viewer-selected content and receiving an indication of a viewing time by which a target receiver device is required to have received the viewer-selected content. The method further comprises determining a delivery window based on the viewing time and generating a delivery component including the viewer-selected content and an identifier associated with the target receiver device. The method further comprises causing the delivery component to be delivered to the target receiver device during the delivery window.

A method, which comprises: receiving from a provider of a first content stream an indication of a promotional time slot to be rendered available on the first content stream; accessing a program schedule indicative of television programs scheduled to begin airing on respective content streams at respective start times; consulting said schedule to identify at least one particular television program among those of said television programs scheduled to air on content streams provided by providers different from the provider of the first content stream and whose start times fall within a time window of acceptable viewability relative to the promotional time slot; and causing conveyance of an advertisement for the at least one particular television program during the promotional time slot.

Growing community of inventors

Toronto, Canada

Peter Werner Ratsch