Systems and methods for providing an on-demand entertainment service

Abstract

The present invention provides systems and methods for, in some cases, supplementing a broadcast media service with an on-demand service.

1 . A system comprising:
 a distribution network; and   a distribution system including:
 (1) a receiver system operable to receive a signal transmitted from a media source, said signal including a media channel comprising a stream of audio data and further comprising a stream of video data and/or graphical data, 
 (2) an on-demand system, and 
 (3) a transmission system operable to take output from the on-demand system and output from the receiver system and transmit the outputs to a set-top-box via the distribution network, the output from the receiving system includes the media channel comprising the stream of audio data, wherein 
   the set-top-box is operable to:
 (1) provide the audio data included in the media channel to an audio system that reproduces the audio for a user of the set-top-box to hear, 
 (2) provide the video and/or graphical data included in the media channel to a video system that displays the video and/or graphical data on a display device for the user to see, 
 (3) display a user selectable element on the display device so that the first user selectable element is displayed on the display device together with the video and/or graphical data obtained from the media channel, and 
 (4) in response to the user of the set-top-box selecting the selectable element, transmit a message to the on-demand system to initiate an on-demand session, wherein the message comprises meta information associated with the user selectable element, and 
   the on-demand system is configured such that, in response to receiving the message transmitted from the set-top-box, the on-demand system: uses the meta information included in the message to select an asset, and transmits the selected asset to the set-top-box as part of an on-demand session.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the media channel further comprises application data comprising the meta information. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , the transmission system is configured to transmit the meta information with the stream of audio data. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the set-top-box is configured to display the user selectable element in response to receiving the meta information. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the meta information comprises an identifier for identifying an on-demand video.