Abstract: Various systems, devices and methods automatically identify advertisements or other portions of television or other media content prior to broadcast using automated content analysis. Information about identified content may be used for any number of different purposes, including advertisement identification; advertisement replacement; second screen browsing or augmentation of identified content; tracking of times or places that ads or other content are viewed; and many others.

Abstract: Example systems, devices, and methods can initiate playback of content on a client device. The client device determines an advertisement slot is identifiable in the content with a lead time greater than a lead threshold. A first advertisement can be prefetched in response to a playback time of the advertisement slot approaching in the content. The first advertisement is targeted based on the client device and the content. The client device plays the prefetched first advertisement during playback of the content. The prefetched first advertisement can be stored in response to the client device pausing playback before the advertisement slot, skipping the advertisement slot, or rewinding before the advertisement slot. The first advertisement can be prefetched from a demand-side platform for delivery to a user account associated with the client device.

Abstract: “Binge watching” of multiple episodes of a program is improved by the player device automatically skipping repeated portions of the program. Opening and closing credit scenes, for example, can be automatically skipped to thereby allow the viewer to progress through the entire season of programming at an even faster rate than was previously thought possible. Programming to be skipped may be identified by detecting audio or other digital fingerprints in the content itself, for example. Content to be skipped may be identified to the playback device according to anchor points or other references in the programming itself.

Abstract: Systems, devices, and automated processes are described to automatically replace digital advertisements, for example swapping wasted ad slots in a media program. Systems and automated processes may provide identifiers describing advertisements to a playback device, receive an identifier from the playback device indicating an encountered advertisement, determine saturation of the playback device based on the received identifier, replace the identified advertisement. Replacing the identified advertisement may include identifying an advertiser corresponding to the identified advertisement, identifying a different advertiser and a replacement advertisement corresponding to the different advertiser, and transmitting an identifier for the replacement advertisement to the playback device.

Abstract: Various arrangements for performing dynamic content insertion are presented. Content items that have been output for presentation may be tracked across multiple viewing sessions. One or more insertion rules may be evaluated that are mapped to a content item. An alternative piece of content may be selected based on an insertion rule. The alternative content item may replace another content item for presentation.

Abstract: The present invention recognizes media content using signatures generated by network devices with limited processing power. A signature comprises a first set of frequency-amplitude pairs associated with a first piece of content. The signature is compared with stored signatures corresponding to known content. Each of the stored signatures comprises a stored set of frequency-amplitude pairs. The first piece of content is identified as being or including known content in response to the first signature matching a stored signature.

Abstract: Systems, devices and methods are provided to automatically identify advertisements or other portions of a broadcast television stream before the stream is distributed via a cable, DBS, IPTV or other medium. The television broadcast is received at the data processing system, and audio content of the television broadcast is analyzed to generate an audio fingerprint of a portion of the audio content. The identified audio fingerprint are compared to audio fingerprints stored in a database to thereby identify the portion of the television broadcast based on the generated audio fingerprint. By identifying the contents of an actual broadcast prior to redistribution of the broadcast, additional actions may be taken that are unique to the identified content.

Abstract: Systems, devices, and automated processes allow automatic replacement of advertisements or other content in media programs. A content management system, another computer system, or the like operating on a digital network receives indicia from playback devices that have encountered identified advertisements in a media program. The encounters may be recorded in a database for subsequent analysis. If desired, for example if the identified advertisement become saturated for a viewer or particular playback device, the advertisements may be replaced with more relevant or engaging advertisements prior to playback of the advertisement to the viewer, thereby allowing a fresher, more relevant and more engaging experience for the viewer.

Abstract: The present invention recognizes media content using signatures generated by network devices with limited processing power. An audio signal is prepared for application of a discrete Fourier transform (DFT). Outputs from the DFT include real components and imaginary components that are used to calculate output magnitudes associated with frequency bins. The frequency-amplitude pairs include the output magnitudes and the associated frequency bins. A signature of the audio signal is generated by selecting a predetermined number of frequency-amplitude pairs having dominant output magnitudes. The network devices that generate the signatures may transmit the signatures to a server for analysis. The server may trigger actions in response to detecting known content based on the received signatures matching known signatures.

Abstract: Systems, devices, and automated processes optimize bandwidth utilization in wireless network systems such as satellite systems, 5G and other cellular networks, and wireless local area networks with multiple distribution nodes. Redundant unicasts of media streams are replaced by multicasts that can be transmitted by a subset of the available distribution nodes. This allows customer devices to receive redundant content over shared bandwidth that is available to the particular customer devices requiring access to the redundant content. Subsets of distribution nodes can be selected for transmitting multi-casts, thereby further reducing the amount of system bandwidth needed to provide high-quality media streams to multiple customer devices operating within the wireless network system.

Abstract: Various arrangements for performing dynamic content insertion are presented. Content items that have been output for presentation may be tracked across multiple viewing sessions. One or more insertion rules may be evaluated that are mapped to a content item. The content item may be determined to have met an output rate threshold. An alternative piece of content may be selected for insertion based on the content item having met the output threshold rate. A streaming content viewer device may be triggered to substitute the alternative content item to replace the content item.

Abstract: A remote storage digital video recorder (RSDVR) retains multiple copies of media programs so long as the copies are expected to be useful to at least one user. Rather than assigning copies to specific users at the time the program is recorded, copies can be assigned as the users request access to the particular media programs. Copies of unassigned programs can be deleted according to a schedule to reduce disk storage and processing demands on the system. A pool of program copies that are not initially assigned to particular users can be maintained until the user makes a specific request to view the program. This “late assignment” of program copies can substantially reduce the amount of data stored by the RSDVR system without substantially impacting the viewer experience.

Abstract: The present invention recognizes media content using signatures generated by network devices with limited processing power. A signature comprises a first set of frequency-amplitude pairs associated with a first piece of content. The signature is compared with stored signatures corresponding to known content. Each of the stored signatures comprises a stored set of frequency-amplitude pairs. The first piece of content is identified as being or including known content in response to the first signature matching a stored signature.

Abstract: The present invention recognizes media content using signatures generated by network devices with limited processing power. An audio signal is prepared for application of a discrete Fourier transform (DFT). Outputs from the DFT include real components and imaginary components that are used to calculate output magnitudes associated with frequency bins. The frequency-amplitude pairs include the output magnitudes and the associated frequency bins. A signature of the audio signal is generated by selecting a predetermined number of frequency-amplitude pairs having dominant output magnitudes. The network devices that generate the signatures may transmit the signatures to a server for analysis. The server may trigger actions in response to detecting known content based on the received signatures matching known signatures.

Abstract: An apparatus for multi-bit rate content streaming includes a receiving module configured to capture media content, a streamlet module configured to segment the media content and generate a plurality of streamlets, and an encoding module configured to generate a set of streamlets. The system includes the apparatus, wherein the set of streamlets comprises a plurality of streamlets having identical time indices and durations, and each streamlet of the set of streamlets having a unique bit rate, and wherein the encoding module comprises a master module configured to assign an encoding job to one of a plurality of host computing modules in response to an encoding job completion bid. A method includes receiving media content, segmenting the media content and generating a plurality of streamlets, and generating a set of streamlets.

Abstract: Viewing of advertisements in broadcast television programming is electronically monitored using network communications to determine viewership of programming that is promoted in the ads. This correlation is enabled through a distributed information system that permits digital identification of ads in programming, as well as distributed tracking of ad and program viewership. Through automated gathering of viewership information and distributed data processing, advertising effectiveness can be very accurately tracked.

Abstract: Advertisements in broadcast television programming are digitally replaced with different ads prior to viewing. Replacement can occur in time and/or place shifted content, and can be used to promote a particular advertisement that the viewer has not yet seen, thereby improving the reach of the ad without oversaturation. Data reporting by the playback devices is collected in a database of viewed ads. The information in the database can be used to refresh previously-viewed ads, to increase saturation of particular ads, to replace previously-broadcast but no longer relevant ads, or for other purposes as desired.

Abstract: Systems, devices and processes are provided to facilitate video streaming. The various embodiments facilitate the detection of program promotions in a video stream, where program promotions include commercial content that advertises future programs. In general, the embodiments facilitate the detection of program promotions in a video stream through the use of automated process monitors the video stream and determines that a content block is a program promotion when that content block meets a defined set of criteria. This set of criteria can include criteria such as time adjacency, timespan, audio, video and textual factors, and when the content was previously first detected. In such embodiments the ability to detect program promotions using the set of criteria facilitates the replacement of these program promotions with other, potentially more valuable, content.

Abstract: Content is received from a content origin and includes a first I frame occurring in the content at an actual start time of an ad segment. The content includes an ad marker comprising an indicated start time of an available segment, and the actual start time is within a predetermined period of the indicated start time. The ad marker is updated to set the indicated start time equal to the actual start time. The predetermined period may be within 0.5 seconds of the indicated start time. A second I frame may be detected in the content, and a signature may be generated for content at the time of the first I frame. The first I frame corresponds to the actual start time in response to the first I frame occurring before the second I frame and in response to the signature matching a signature of a known ad.

Abstract: Systems, devices and automated process allow automatic replacement of advertisements or other content in previously-broadcast television programs. A content management system or the like operating on a digital network receives indicia from playback devices that have encountered identified advertisements that are stored in digital video recorders or that are otherwise contained within previously-broadcast television programs. The encounters are recorded in a database for subsequent analysis. If desired, the previously-broadcast advertisements may be replaced with more relevant or engaging advertisements prior to playback to the viewer, thereby allowing a fresher, more relevant and more engaging experience for the viewer.