KR20100111646A - Method and apparatus for providing broadcast contents list - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method and a device for providing a broadcast content list are provided to enable a broadcast service provider to create a new business model using a handset manipulation habit of a viewer and a looking direction. CONSTITUTION: A bid management unit(210) receives information for a bid application for some of display zones included in broadcast content from content provider systems. A content list providing unit(220) configures the broadcast content list according to information for the received bid application. A communication unit(230) transmits the broadcast content list to a viewer terminal device. At least some of the broadcast content list are arranged based on a bidding money order about each display zone configuring the broadcast content list.

Description

Method and apparatus for providing a list of broadcast content {METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING BROADCAST CONTENTS LIST}

The present invention relates to a method and system for providing a list of broadcast contents, and more particularly, a bid for a display zone of a program list or a list of advertisement contents by a person providing a broadcast program or advertisement content through an interactive TV receiver. And a method and system for providing a viewer with a list of contents configured accordingly.

Recently, due to the development of optical communication technology and high speed of user traffic, FTTC (Fiber To The Curb) or FTTH (Fiber To The Home), which are installed in the optical fiber, has been spreading, and interest in IPTV (Internet Protocol TeleVision) has increased. have. IPTV is a new media broadcasting system that allows viewers to receive various contents including TV programs and enjoy home shopping and online games through the high-speed internet network. Basically, such an IPTV broadcasting system receives a content signal from a broadcast content provider and transmits it to a set-top box of each TV receiver, and broadcasts content in response to a request generated by a viewer's handset (eg, a remote control) operation. It is a two-way broadcast system that can be determined adaptively.

In addition to IPTV broadcasting, examples of bidirectional broadcasting may further include bidirectional digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) broadcasting and Internet TV broadcasting.

1 is a diagram illustrating a list of conventional programs provided through IPTV.

As shown in FIG. 1, programs currently provided through IPTV are mainly listed in a grid and provided on a screen on a TV receiver, and a viewer can watch by selecting one of them. However, such a conventional program list providing method is somewhat inefficient in providing a program list to the viewer.

In detail, according to the conventional program list providing method, since the program list is provided in a uniform and fragmentary form, it is not often changed once the program list is fixed. In addition, when the viewer selects a program on the viewing screen, the viewer selects a program by moving from left to right or up and down using the arrow keys provided on the handset. However, the handset manipulation tendency of the viewer was not considered by the broadcaster. There was a side too.

In this regard, it can be referred to the results of the Poynter Institute's eye tracking research published in December 2003 on how the position of the content affects the user's attention. Poynter Laboratories conducted a study of 46 respondents using eye tracking devices to find out how much and where they look when a user browses a web page. According to the study, 68% of respondents paid attention to the content on the left side of the screen, 55% on the top of the screen, 34% on the right, and 14% on the bottom of the screen. Noticed. According to the results of this study, it can be seen that the placement of content can have a significant effect on attracting the user's attention to the content.

Therefore, there is a need to provide a method useful for the business of both the provider of the program or the advertising content and the broadcaster, while at the same time improving the disadvantages due to parts not considered as described above.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve all the above-mentioned problems.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to enable a broadcaster to create a new business model using a handset manipulation habit of the viewer or the direction of eye movement.

It is also an object of the present invention to broadly provide a provider of a program or advertisement content an opportunity to determine an exposure position in the list of the program or advertisement content through a bid for the display zone of the program list or the advertisement content list. .

The characteristic structure of this invention for achieving the objective of this invention as mentioned above, and realizing the unique effect of this invention mentioned later is as follows.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a method for providing a broadcast content list to a viewer terminal device on a network including a plurality of viewer terminal devices, a content list providing system, and a plurality of content provider systems, the plurality of content providers Receiving information regarding a bid application for at least some of the plurality of display zones included in the broadcast content list from the system, constructing the broadcast content list according to the received bid application information, and the broadcast And transmitting a content list to the viewer terminal device, wherein at least a part of the broadcast content list is arranged in the order of bid amounts for each display zone constituting the content list.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a system for providing a broadcast content list to a viewer terminal device connected to a network including a plurality of viewer terminal devices and a plurality of content provider systems, the broadcast from the plurality of content provider systems. A bid management unit that receives information on a bid application for at least a portion of a plurality of display zones included in a content list, a content list provider constituting the broadcast content list according to the received bid information, and the broadcast There is provided a system including a communication unit for transmitting a content list to the viewer terminal device, wherein at least a part of the broadcast content list is arranged in the order of the bid amount for each display zone constituting the content list.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for providing a broadcast content list to a viewer terminal device on a network including a plurality of viewer terminal devices, a content list providing system, and a plurality of content provider systems, the plurality of contents Receiving information regarding bid amounts for at least some of the plurality of display zones included in the broadcast content list from a provider system, at least some of the plurality of display zones being pre-rated; And constructing the broadcast content list according to the present invention, and transmitting the broadcast content list to the viewer terminal device.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a system for providing a broadcast content list to a viewer terminal device connected to a network including a plurality of viewer terminal devices and a plurality of content provider systems, wherein A bid management unit that receives information on a bid amount for at least a portion of the plurality of display zones included in the broadcast content list, wherein at least some of the plurality of display zones are graded in advance; Provided is a system including a content list providing unit constituting a broadcast content list, and a communication unit for transmitting the broadcast content list to the viewer terminal device.

In addition to this, other methods and systems for implementing the present invention are further provided.

The effects of the present invention achieved due to the characteristic configuration of the present invention are as follows.

According to the present invention, the broadcaster can differentiate the display zone of the program list or the advertisement content list in consideration of the viewer's handset manipulation habit or the direction of eye movement, and receive a bid from the provider of the program or the advertisement content. From the standpoint, a new revenue model can be created.

According to the present invention, the provider of the program or the advertisement content can determine a wide range of content exposure position in the program list or the advertisement content list.

On the other hand, the effects of the present invention is not limited to those mentioned above, other effects that are not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art in view of the above configuration of the present invention and the following embodiments.

1 is a diagram illustrating a list of conventional programs provided through IPTV.
2 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of an entire system for providing a ranked list of program or advertisement contents according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a view showing a schematic configuration of a content list providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a list of programs or advertisement contents ranked according to a bid result according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a diagram illustrating a field configuration of a bid information database according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a list of programs or advertisement contents in which display zones are graded according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The following detailed description of the invention refers to the accompanying drawings that show, by way of illustration, specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. It should be understood that the various embodiments of the present invention are different but need not be mutually exclusive. For example, certain features, structures, and characteristics described herein may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention in connection with an embodiment. It is also to be understood that the position or arrangement of the individual components within each disclosed embodiment may be varied without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The following detailed description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention, if properly described, is defined only by the appended claims, along with the full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. Like reference numerals in the drawings refer to the same or similar functions throughout the several aspects.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily implement the present invention.

[Preferred Embodiments of the Invention]

In the present specification, a broadcast program or a program is a generic term for a message transmitted through a radio signal after being encoded as a message of a broadcast communication. In addition, one independent item or a series of independent items for broadcasting may be collectively referred to as a broadcast program.

In addition, in this specification, the term referred to as advertising content should be understood as encompassing all content that is made up of at least one of text, image, and sound, and which is modulated and demodulated by a predetermined propagation signal and provided to the viewer visually or auditoryly. In particular, it should be understood that all contents containing any object for notifying a predetermined product or service to others belong to the advertisement contents according to the present invention.

Complete system

2 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of an entire system for providing a ranked list of program or advertisement contents according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the entire system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a content list for providing the viewer terminal device 100, the ranked list of programs or advertisement content to the viewer terminal device 100. Provision system 200, and content provider system 300 for providing program or advertisement content, and a network for interconnecting them.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the network may be a communication network required for communication within the entire system required for the implementation of the invention. For example, if the entire system is an IPTV broadcasting system, the network according to an embodiment of the present invention does not select a communication mode such as wired or wireless, and may include a local area network (LAN) and a metropolitan area network (MAN). It may be configured with various communication networks such as Metropolitan Area Network (WAN), Wide Area Network (WAN). Preferably, the network may be a known World Wide Web (WWW). In another example, when the entire system is a bidirectional digital broadcasting system, the network according to an embodiment of the present invention may be a broadband integrated network for digital broadcasting.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the viewer terminal device 100 may cover all terminal devices used for receiving a TV program on the viewer side. For example, terminal devices such as IPTV receivers, digital TV receivers, personal computers capable of receiving Internet TV, and mobile devices capable of transmitting and receiving two-way TV signals (eg, DMB phones, PMP phones, etc.) are all viewer terminal devices. It may be employed as 100.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the content list providing system 200 is a program service company that transmits a program according to a handset operation signal from the viewer terminal device 100 or on a channel set by the viewer terminal device 100 ( For example, it may be a server of a cable broadcaster, a satellite broadcaster, an IPTV broadcaster, or the like.

The content list providing system 200 may configure a plurality of programs or advertisement contents received from the content provider system 300 in the form of a list and provide the same to the viewer. Such a content list may preferably be configured in a grid form (ie, as shown in FIG. 1), in a circular form, in a spherical telephone dial form, or in a horizontal or vertical direction including the display zone. Of course, the content list according to the present invention can be implemented in any number of forms other than the one illustrated above. For example, two or more different uneven sized display zones may be included in one content list.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the content list providing system 200 receives bid application information (eg, content provider identification information, type of program / advertisement content) from the content provider system 300 for the display zone of the content list. Receiving the playing time of the program / ad content, the recent viewership of the program or the average viewership for a predetermined period, the bidding period, the bid amount, etc.) and displaying the content list in the order of the bid amount included in the bid application information. The order of the program or advertisement content to be displayed in the zone may be determined. Preferably, the provider of the program or advertising content that has offered the highest bid amount may occupy a location on the content list where the content may be most easily exposed to the viewer (eg, the top-left position of the content list). (In the content list according to the present invention, it may be considered that the display zone on the left side is more advantageous than the display zone on the right side than the display zone on the right side, depending on the propensity of the viewer. A more detailed configuration of the content list providing system 200 will be described later.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the content provider providing the program or the advertisement content is displayed in the display zone of the content list provided by the content list providing system 200 to expose the program or the advertisement content to a more advantageous position on the content list. Participate in bidding for In this case, preferably, the content provider who presented the highest bid amount can provide the program or the advertisement content to the viewer through the most advantageous display zone on the content list.

Meanwhile, the content provider system 300 may provide a program or advertisement content to the content list providing system 200, and the content list providing system 200 according to a bidding interface provided by the content list providing system 200. It may be a broadcast server that can provide information about the bid application. However, the content provider system 300 referred to herein does not necessarily need to be a broadcasting server for transmitting a program or advertisement content, and a personal computer (eg, as long as it can provide information regarding such a bid application). For example, as long as a digital device having a memory means, such as a desktop computer, a laptop computer, etc.), a workstation, a PDA, a web pad, and the like with a microprocessor, can be used as the content provider system 300 according to the present invention. Can be adopted.

contents  List delivery system

3 is a view showing a schematic configuration of a content list providing system 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the content list providing system 200 includes a bid management unit 210, a content list providing unit 220, a communication unit 230, a control unit 240, a bid information database 250, and a content list database ( 260, and a program or advertisement content database 270. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the bid management unit 210, the content list providing unit 220, the communication unit 230, the control unit 240, the bid information database 250, the content list database 260, and the program or The advertising content database 270 may be program modules, at least some of which communicate with the content provider system 300. Such program modules may be included in the content list providing system 200 as an operating system, an application module, and other program modules, and may be physically stored on various known storage devices. In addition, these program modules may be stored in a remote storage device that can communicate with the content list providing system 200. On the other hand, such program modules include, but are not limited to, routines, subroutines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or execute particular abstract data types, described below, in accordance with the present invention.

First, the bid management unit 210 according to an embodiment of the present invention provides a well-known bidding interface to the content provider system 300, and receives a bid request for the display zone of the content list from the content provider system 300 In this case, the bidding result is provided.

Although the fields are different, in connection with receiving an advertiser's bid for a given ad location, US Patent Publication No. US 2007/0271133 A1 filed by Lawrence Thomas McKenney and published November 22, 2007 (published above) DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A detailed description of the invention described in the publication may be referred to the technology disclosed in), which in its entirety should be considered to be incorporated by reference.

The invention disclosed in the above publication relates to a system for providing an internet advertisement at a fixed price for a predetermined period requested from an advertiser, and more specifically, each advertiser is advertised through an electronic interface provided on the Internet. If the period and the bid amount is entered for the advertisement position that you want to display, it relates to a system for displaying the advertisement in the form of a list according to the bidding result. According to this invention, preferably, advertisements are arranged and displayed in the order of the bid amount.

The content list providing unit 220 according to an embodiment of the present invention may configure a program list or an advertisement content list according to a bid result received from the bid managing unit 210. Preferably, the content list providing unit 220 may construct a content list in a manner in which the bid amount is large from left to right, top to bottom, or a combination thereof. That is, the program or advertisement content of the content provider that has provided the highest bid amount may be placed in the top left display zone of the content list, and other program or advertisement contents may be displayed or not displayed in the content list according to the bid amount. The position of the display zone can be determined. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 4, a list of programs or advertisement contents ranked according to the bidding result may be provided to the viewer in the form of a ticker.

If necessary, utilization of the display zone of the content list may be mixed. For example, as a result of a bid, only a limited number of programs or advertisement contents corresponding to a higher bid amount are displayed in the left and upper display zones on the content list, while the remaining display zones do not comply with the bid. However, it is also possible to display the advertisement content randomly or in the order of the viewer ratings.

The communication unit 230 according to an embodiment of the present invention performs a function of allowing the content list providing system 200 according to the present invention to communicate with the viewer terminal device 100, the content provider system 300, and the like through a network. do.

The control unit 240 according to an embodiment of the present invention, the bid management unit 210, the content list providing unit 220, the communication unit 230, the control unit 240, the bid information database 250, the content list database 260 And control the flow of data between the program or the advertisement content database 270.

The bid information database 250 according to an embodiment of the present invention may store various information related to a bid application.

5 is a diagram illustrating a field configuration of the bid information database 250 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The bid information database 250 may include a start time field, a duration field, a program (or advertisement content) field, a rank field, a program item ID field, a bid field, and a time stamp field. First, a start time field may store a time point that a program (or advertisement content) provider wants to start displaying in a display zone of a content list. The duration field may store a value indicating a period (eg, one week) for displaying a program (or advertisement content) in a display zone of a content list. The program (or advertisement content) field may store information about a specific program (eg, an image of a title screen of the program) that the content provider wants to publish in the display zone of the content list. The ranking field may store a display rank in a content list assigned according to a bidding result of the content provider. The program item ID field may include a serial number assigned by the content list providing system 200 or a code that may be used to refer to the content list item (eg, a hash code (ID) for identifying an object when the program is executed. Unique ID)] may be stored. The bid amount may be stored in the bid field, and the time point at which the bid is made may be stored in the time stamp field. The time point at which a bid stored in the timestamp field is made may be used to resolve the contention if two or more content providers compete at the highest bid amount. In this case, the successful bidder may be a content provider who bids the highest bid amount first.

Content list database 260 according to an embodiment of the present invention stores a variety of information about the program list or advertising content list in order to provide the viewer terminal device 100 with a list of contents generated by ranking according to the bidding result. . For example, when a content list is to be provided to the viewer terminal device 100, the content list database 260 may store the content list suitable for the corresponding viewing time in advance and provide the content list to the viewer terminal device 100. have.

The program or advertisement content database 270 according to an embodiment of the present invention may provide a program or advertisement content in the content list to the viewer terminal device 100 according to the viewer's selection after the content list is provided to the viewer. It can store multiple program or advertisement content that is cached or streamed.

On the other hand, in the present invention, a database is a concept that includes not only a negotiated database but also a database of a broad meaning including data recording based on a computer file system, and the like. It should be understood that if it can be extracted it can be included in the database described in the present invention.

Although the database 250 to 270 is illustrated as being included in the content list providing system 200 in FIG. 3, the database 250 to 270 provides the content list according to the needs of those skilled in the art for implementing the present invention. It may be configured separately from the system 200.

Process of the Invention

The processing process for providing a content list according to an embodiment of the present invention is as follows:

First, the bid management unit 210 of the content list providing system 200 provides the content provider system 300 with a bidding interface for making a bid application for the display zone of the content list. In response to the bid request, the bid application information is received from the content provider system 300 to the bid management unit 210 through the communication unit 230 of the content list providing system 200. The content list providing unit 220 of the content list providing system 200 constructs a ranked content list by referring to the bidding result. The content list configured as described above is provided to the viewer terminal device 100 through the network.

Variation of the Invention Example

The content list providing system 200 according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the content list providing system 200 may provide a content list in which each display zone is initially ranked. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a list of programs or advertisement contents in which display zones are graded according to an embodiment of the present invention.

According to the illustrated embodiment, the content list providing system 200 assigns the highest rating to display zone 1 of the (A) and (B) lists composed of 3 X 3 display zones, and two display zones. The third highest grade is assigned to the third highest grade. According to the present embodiment, among the content providers participating in the bid for the content list including the display zone to which the rating is assigned, one display zone is assigned to the content provider who has presented the highest bid amount, and the second highest bid amount. 2 display zones may be allocated to the content provider who presents the content provider, and 3 display zones may be allocated to the content provider who presents the next highest bid amount.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, as the display zone in which the handset pointer is positioned by default when the content list is provided to the viewer among the display zones of the content list has the highest rating, and the distance therefrom or As many direction key manipulations are required for movement therefrom, the grade of the corresponding display zone may be gradually lowered. For example, in the case of the list of FIG. 6A, since the handset pointer is located at the center of the content list, each display zone may be ranked according to the distance therefrom (1 <2 <3). In the case of (B) list of 6, since the handset pointer is located at the top left of the content list, the number of direction key operations therefrom (1 <2 <3) or the number of types of direction keys required (when the number of direction key operations are the same) (3 It can be seen that each display zone can be rated according to < 4).

According to the present embodiment, the display zones which are reasonably rated in advance may be sequentially assigned according to the excessive amount of bids presented by the content provider.

Embodiments according to the present invention described above may be implemented in the form of program instructions that may be executed by various computer components, and may be recorded in a computer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, etc. alone or in combination. Program instructions recorded on the computer-readable recording medium may be those specially designed and configured for the present invention, or may be known and available to those skilled in the computer software arts. Examples of computer-readable recording media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks and magnetic tape, optical recording media such as CD-ROMs, DVDs, and magneto-optical media such as floptical disks. media), and hardware devices specifically configured to store and execute program instructions, such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. Examples of program instructions include not only machine code generated by a compiler, but also high-level language code that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like. The hardware device may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the process according to the invention, and vice versa.

Although the present invention has been described by specific embodiments such as specific components and the like, but the embodiments and the drawings are provided to assist in a more general understanding of the present invention, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For those skilled in the art, various modifications and variations can be made from these descriptions.

Therefore, the spirit of the present invention should not be construed as being limited to the above-described embodiments, and all of the equivalents or equivalents of the claims, as well as the following claims, I will say.

100: viewer terminal device
200: content list providing system
210: bid management unit
220: content list providing unit
230: communication unit
240: control unit
250: bid information database
260: content list database
270 program or advertising content database
300: content provider system

Claims (1)

A method for providing a broadcast content list to a viewer terminal device on a network including a plurality of viewer terminal devices, a content list providing system, and a plurality of content provider systems, the method comprising:
Receiving information regarding a bid application for at least a portion of a plurality of display zones included in the broadcast content list from the plurality of content provider systems;
Constructing the broadcast content list according to the received bid information; and
Transmitting the broadcast content list to the viewer terminal device;
Including,
At least a portion of the broadcast content list is arranged in order of the bid amount for each display zone constituting the broadcast content list.

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