Method and apparatus for broadcasting information over a network

Abstract

An apparatus and method provides for the scheduling and broadcast of commercials and other information during transmission of multimedia information over a data network. Demographic information is gathered with regards to potential viewers of the broadcast. Through use of this demographic information, during designated commercial breaks during broadcasts of the audio or video information, advertising information can be broadcast to individuals based on the demographic information. The system includes a number of databases which correlate the broadcast schedule with the available commercials for transmission over the data network.

1 . A method of broadcasting multimedia information over a data network comprising; 
 detecting at least one system user connected to receive a the multimedia information;    employing identification information associated with the at least one system user to retrieve demographic information for the at least one system user;    broadcasting the multimedia information over the data network to the at least one system user;    detecting a commercial break during broadcasting of the multimedia information;    based on the demographic information retrieved for the at least one system user, identifying an appropriate commercial; and    transmitting the appropriate commercial to the at least one system user during the commercial break.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of during the commercial break, simultaneously broadcasting at least two different commercials to at least two of the at least one system users.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the multimedia information comprises at least one of: a multimedia file stored in memory and a live program received from a remote source.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of monitoring the at least one system user receiving a particular one of the broadcast multimedia presentation and creating a listing of demographic information.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  wherein the step of detecting a commercial break is performed for ad hoc commercial breaks.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  further comprises the step of identifying one or more appropriate commercials based on the time available during an identified commercial break.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the step of identifying an appropriate commercial comprises of analyzing a plurality of items in the demographic information.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the demographic information includes at least one of: age, sex, and geographic location of the at least one system user.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of querying the least one system user to provide the demographic information when the connection is established.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1  further including the step of presenting an interactive component in the broadcast of the at least one commercial whereby additional information may be retrieved from the memory based on the at least one system user's response to the interactive component.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the identification information comprises at least one of: detected I.P. address and login ID.  
     
     
         12 . A system for broadcasting multimedia information over a data network, comprising; 
 a server device connectable to the data network to which at least one system user may connect, wherein the server device is configured to broadcast multimedia to the at least one system user over the data network;    a first memory configured to store identification and demographic information for the at least one system user;    said server is further configured to extract the identification information for the at least one system user upon establishment of the connection, which is then employed to search the at least one memory to locate demographic information; and    a second memory accessible by the server upon which is stored commercials which are transmittable to the at least one system user wherein the server is further configured to select and transmit at least one appropriate commercial based on the retrieved demographic information for the at least one system user during at least one detected commercial break.    
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12  wherein the data network is the Internet.  
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 12  wherein the server is further configured to broadcast the multimedia information to a plurality of system users and to transmit different ones of at least one appropriate commercial simultaneously to each of the plurality of system users.  
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 12  wherein the multimedia presentation comprises at least one of: a multimedia file stored in a third memory and a live broadcast received from a remote location.  
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 12  wherein the detected commercial breaks may comprise Ad Hoc commercial breaks.  
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 12  wherein the server is further configured to query the at least one system user for the demographic information when the connection with the server device is established.  
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 12  wherein the server is further configured to present an interface to the at least one system server through which a plurality of multimedia programs are selectable for broadcasting over the data network.  
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 12  wherein the server is further configured to select the appropriate commercials to be broadcast based on time available during the detected commercial break.  
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 12  wherein the server is further configured to select the commercials to be broadcast based on an analysis of a plurality of items of the demographic information for the at least one system user.  
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 12  wherein the server is further configured to include interactive elements in the commercials transmitted to the at least one system user, where upon detected activation of the interactive element, additional information is retrieved and transmitted to the at least one system user.