Multichannel distribution device

Abstract

To provide a multichannel distribution device capable of more accurately determining an evaluation of a distribution video image of a plurality of channels.SOLUTION: A channel switching information generation part 36 generates channel switching information indicating how any one of a plurality of channels is switched by each viewer in each predetermined time. A channel weighting coefficient calculation part 37 calculates, on the basis of the channel switching information, a channel switching time as a whole number of the channel switching in each predetermined time, the number of viewers who views a distribution video image in each channel of the plurality of channels in each predetermined time, a total viewer number obtained by summing the number of viewers in each channel, and a weighting coefficient in each channel as a rate of the number of viewers of each channel to the total viewing number. A sale price determination part 38 determines a sale price in each channel on the basis of a weighting coefficient in each channel in a time when the number of channel switching times is smallest.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a multi-channel distribution device.

Background Art

[0002] A multi-channel distribution device can distribute to a viewer the distribution video of the channel selected by the viewer among the distribution videos of a plurality of channels. The viewer can freely switch channels.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Based on the number of viewers or viewing time of the distribution video of each channel among a plurality of channels, it is conceivable to determine the value of the distribution video of each channel. However, determining the value based on the number of viewers or viewing time may not be the true value of the distribution video of each channel.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a multi-channel distribution device that can more accurately determine the value of the distribution video of each channel among a plurality of channels.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The present invention provides a multi-channel distribution apparatus including: a channel switching detection unit that detects channel switching for each viewer among a plurality of viewers in a state where distribution videos of a plurality of channels are distributed to the plurality of viewers; a channel switching information generation unit that generates channel switching information indicating how each viewer among the plurality of viewers has switched to any one of the plurality of channels at each predetermined time; a channel switching count calculation unit that calculates, based on the channel switching information, the total number of channel switches per the predetermined time, which is the channel switching count; a viewer count calculation unit that calculates the number of viewers who have viewed the distribution videos of each channel among the plurality of channels per the predetermined time; a total viewer count calculation unit that calculates the total number of viewers obtained by summing up the viewer counts of the respective channels; a channel weight coefficient calculation unit that calculates a weight coefficient for each channel, which is the ratio of the viewer count of each channel to the total viewer count; and a sales price determination unit that determines the sales price for each channel based on the weight coefficient for each channel at the time when the channel switching count is the smallest.

Advantages of the Invention

[0007] According to the multi-channel distribution apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to more accurately determine the value of the distribution videos of each channel among the plurality of channels.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0008]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3A

Figure 3B

Figure 4

Figure 5

[0009] Hereinafter, a multi-channel distribution apparatus according to an embodiment will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, a multi-channel distribution apparatus 100 according to an embodiment includes an operation unit 1, cameras 2a to 2d, a control unit 3, a database 4 for storing channel switching information, a database 5 for storing channel weight coefficient information, and a communication unit 6. Any camera will be referred to as camera 2. Here, the number of cameras 2 is four, but the number of cameras 2 may be two or more. The captured images by each camera 2 become the distribution videos of the respective channels for live distribution. Let the total number of channels be n, and the channel numbers be 0 to n - 1.

[0010] The control unit 3 includes a live distribution control unit 31, a timer setting unit 32, a channel display control unit 33, a viewing participation detection unit 34, a channel switching detection unit 35, a channel switching information generation unit 36, a channel weight coefficient calculation unit 37, and a selling price determination unit 38. The control unit 3 can be configured by a central processing unit (microprocessor) of a computer device.

[0011] The multi-channel distribution apparatus 100 is connected to viewer terminals 50a to 50d and other viewer terminals (not shown) via a network 40. Typically, the network 40 is the Internet. Any viewer terminal will be referred to as viewer terminal 50.

[0012] As shown in FIG. 2, the viewer terminal 50 includes a communication unit 51, a video reception unit 52, a display unit 53, and an operation unit 54. The video reception unit 52 receives the distribution video distributed from the multi-channel distribution apparatus 100 via the network 40 and the communication unit 51. The display unit 53 displays the received distribution video. The viewer operates the operation unit 54 to select the channel of the distribution video displayed on the display unit 53.

[0013] Using the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the operation of the multi-channel distribution device 100 will be described. In FIG. 3A, when the multi-channel distribution device 100 starts operating and an operation to start a live distribution is performed by the operation unit 1, the live distribution control unit 31 starts the live distribution in step S1. The timer setting unit 32 starts a timer for time Δt in step S2. The time Δt is, for example, 30 seconds. The time Δt is not limited to 30 seconds and may be a predetermined time.

[0014] The viewing participation detection unit 34 detects in step S3 whether a viewer has participated in viewing the live distribution. If the viewer does not participate in viewing the live distribution (NO), the process proceeds to step S9 in FIG. 3B. If the viewer participates in viewing the live distribution (YES), the channel display control unit 33 determines in step S4 whether the time Δt has elapsed since the start of the distribution. If the time Δt has elapsed since the start of the distribution, it means that the channel weight coefficient information is stored in the database 5 for storing channel weight coefficient information.

[0015] If the time Δt has elapsed since the start of the distribution in step S4 (YES), the channel display control unit 33 determines in step S5 whether the number of channel switches is less than a predetermined threshold. The threshold for the number of channel switches is, for example, 15 times. If the number of channel switches is less than the threshold (YES), the channel display control unit 33 displays alone on the display unit 53 the channel recommended as the channel with the largest weight coefficient in step S6, and shifts the process to step S9 in FIG. 3B. If the number of channel switches is not less than the threshold (NO), the channel display control unit 33 displays on the display unit 53 a multi-channel in which a plurality of channels are arranged in descending order of weight coefficient in step S7, and shifts the process to step S9.

[0016] If the time Δt has not elapsed since the start of distribution in step S4 (NO), the channel display control unit 33 displays a multi-channel in which a plurality of channels are arranged in channel number order on the display unit 53 in step S8, and shifts the process to step S9.

[0017] In FIG. 3B, the channel change detection unit 35 determines whether or not a channel change has been detected in step S9. If the channel change detection unit 35 detects a channel change (YES), the channel change information generation unit 36 generates channel change information as shown in FIG. 4 in step S10 and records it in the channel change information storage database 4. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S11.

[0018] As shown in FIG. 4, the channel change information includes the channel change date and time, the source channel number, the destination channel number, and the ID of the viewer terminal 50. The ID of the viewer terminal 50 may be a device identification ID such as a UUID (Universally Unique Identifier), or may be the viewer's account.

[0019] After the channel change information generation unit 36 records in the channel change information storage database 4 in step S10, and if the channel change detection unit 35 does not detect a channel change in step S9 (NO), the channel weight coefficient calculation unit 37 determines whether or not the timer for the time Δt has expired in step S11. If the timer for the time Δt has expired (YES), the channel weight coefficient calculation unit 37 records channel weight coefficient information including the number of channel changes and the weight coefficient for each channel as shown in FIG. 5 in the channel weight coefficient information storage database 5.

[0020] As shown in FIG. 5, the channel weight coefficient information includes the start date and time of the measurement period, the end date and time of the measurement period, the number of channel switches, and the weight coefficient. The weight coefficient includes the weight coefficients of each channel from channel 0 to channel (n - 1). The channel weight coefficient calculation unit 37 generates the channel weight coefficient information shown in FIG. 5 every time interval Δt and records it in the database 5 for storing channel weight coefficient information. The number of channel switches and the weight coefficient are obtained as follows.

[0021] The channel weight coefficient calculation unit 37 calculates the total number of channel switches (number of channel switches) that occurred during the time interval Δt.

[0022] Based on the channel switching information recorded in the database 4 for storing channel switching information, the channel weight coefficient calculation unit 37 calculates, for each channel, the number of viewers (select[0] to select[n - 1]) who watched (selected) the distribution video of each channel during the time interval Δt. The channel weight coefficient calculation unit 37 calculates the total number of viewers sum_select of the distribution videos of each channel (select[0] to select[n - 1]) based on Equation (1).

[0023] sum_select = select[0] + select[1] + … + select[n - 2] + select[n - 1] …(1)

[0024] Based on Equations (2) to (n + 1), the channel weight coefficient calculation unit 37 calculates the weight coefficients (w[0] to w[n - 1]) for each channel. The weight coefficients (w[0] to w[n - 1]) are the ratios of the number of viewers (select[0] to select[n - 1]) of each channel to the total number of viewers sum_select.

[0025] w[0] = (select[0] / sum_select) × 100 …(2) w[1] = (select[1] / sum_select) × 100 …(3) … w[n - 2] = (select[n - 2] / sum_select) × 100 …(n) w[n - 1] = (select[n - 1] / sum_select) × 100 …(n + 1)

[0026] Subsequent to step S12, the timer setting unit 32 restarts the timer for time Δt in step S13. The live distribution control unit 31 determines whether to end the live distribution in step S14 based on whether an operation to end the live distribution has been performed by the operation unit 1. If the live distribution is not ended (NO), the processing after step S3 in FIG. 3A is repeated. If the live distribution is ended (YES), the live distribution control unit 31 ends the live distribution in step S15.

[0027] Subsequently, the selling price determination unit 38 determines the selling price of the content in step S16 and ends the process. The selling price of the content may be the price of the distribution video for each channel as a non-fungible token (NFT). The selling price of the content may be the starting price of the auction. The selling price of the content includes the price of the NFT and the starting price of the auction. The selling price determination unit 38 determines the selling price of the content based on the weight coefficients (w[0] to w[n - 1]) for each channel.

[0028] The selling price determination unit 38 extracts the time Δt with the fewest number of channel switches and determines the selling price of the content according to the weight coefficients (w[0] to w[n - 1]) for each channel at the time Δt with the fewest number of channel switches. Since the weight coefficient increases as the number of people watching the distribution video increases, the higher the number of people watching the distribution video at the time Δt with the fewest number of channel switches, the higher the selling price of the content. Here, the reason for extracting the time Δt with the fewest number of channel switches is that it is estimated that the largest number of viewers are concentrated on the channel being viewed at the time with the fewest number of channel switches, so it is determined to be the time with the highest value among the content.

[0029] As described above, in FIG. 1, the channel switching detection unit 35 detects channel switching for each viewer among a plurality of viewers in a state where the distribution videos of a plurality of channels are distributed to the plurality of viewers. The channel switching information generation unit 36 generates channel switching information indicating how each viewer among the plurality of viewers switches to any one of the plurality of channels at predetermined time intervals. The predetermined time is set like time Δt by the timer setting unit 32.

[0030] The channel weight coefficient calculation unit 37 calculates the number of channel switches, which is the total number of channel switches at predetermined time intervals, based on the channel switching information. Further, the channel weight coefficient calculation unit 37 calculates the weight coefficient for each channel, which is the ratio of the number of viewers who watched the distribution video of each channel among the plurality of channels at predetermined time intervals to the total number of viewers obtained by summing up the number of viewers of each channel.

[0031] The selling price determination unit 38 determines the selling price for each channel based on the weight coefficient for each channel at the time when the number of channel switches is the smallest.

[0032] The viewing participation detection unit 34 detects that a new viewer has participated in the viewing of the distribution video. When the viewing participation detection unit 34 detects that a new viewer has participated in the viewing of the distribution video, the channel display control unit 33 controls to display, on the display unit 53 of the viewer terminal 50 of the new viewer, the channel with the largest weight coefficient if the number of channel switches at a predetermined time immediately before the new viewer participates in the viewing of the distribution video is less than the threshold value. If the number of channel switches at the predetermined time immediately before is greater than or equal to the threshold value, the channel display control unit 33 controls to display, on the display unit 53, a multi-channel in which the plurality of channels are arranged in descending order of weight coefficient.

[0033] At this time, the channel display control unit 33 refers to the number of channel switching times at a predetermined time immediately before recorded in the channel weight coefficient information storage database 5.

[0034] The multi-channel distribution device 100 determines the value of the distribution video of each channel based on the viewing status of each channel by a plurality of viewers at predetermined time intervals from the start to the end of the distribution of the distribution video of each channel. According to the multi-channel distribution device 100, instead of simply determining the value of each channel based on the number of viewers or the viewing time, the value of the distribution video of each channel is determined based on the viewing status at predetermined time intervals, so the value of the distribution video of each channel can be determined more accurately.

[0035] When the control unit 3 is configured by the central processing unit of the computer device, the processes shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B may be performed by the central processing unit executing the multi-channel distribution program which is a computer program.

[0036] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0037] 1,54 Operation unit 2a~2d Camera 3 Control unit 4 Channel switching information storage database 5 Channel weight coefficient information storage database 6,51 Communication unit 31 Live distribution control unit 32 Timer setting unit 33 Channel display control unit 34 Viewing participation detection unit 35 Channel switching detection unit 36 Channel switching information generation unit 37 Channel weight coefficient calculation unit 38 Sales price determination unit 40 Network 50, 50a~50d Viewer terminals 52 Video receiver 53 Display unit 100 Multichannel distribution device

Claims

1. A channel switching detection unit that detects channel switching for each viewer among the plurality of viewers in a state where distribution videos of a plurality of channels are distributed to the plurality of viewers; A channel switching information generation unit that generates channel switching information indicating how each viewer among the plurality of viewers has switched any one of the plurality of channels every predetermined time; Based on the channel switching information, a channel switching count which is the total number of channel switches every predetermined time, the number of viewers who viewed the distribution videos of each channel among the plurality of channels every predetermined time, the total number of viewers obtained by summing up the number of viewers of each channel, and a channel weight coefficient which is the ratio of the number of viewers of each channel to the total number of viewers are calculated by a channel weight coefficient calculation unit; A sales price determination unit that determines the sales price for each channel based on the weight coefficient for each channel at the time when the channel switching count is the smallest; A multi-channel distribution device comprising the above.

2. A viewing participation detection unit that detects that a new viewer has participated in viewing the distribution video; When the viewing participation detection unit detects that the new viewer has participated in viewing the distribution video, if the channel switching count at the predetermined time immediately before the new viewer participates in viewing the distribution video is less than the threshold value, the channel with the largest weight coefficient is displayed on the display unit of the viewer terminal of the new viewer, and if the channel switching count at the predetermined time immediately before is greater than or equal to the threshold value, control is performed to display a multi-channel in which the plurality of channels are arranged in descending order of the weight coefficient on the display unit; The multi-channel distribution device according to claim 1, further comprising the above.

3. The sales price determined by the sales price determination unit is the price taking the distribution video for each channel as a non-fungible token or the starting price of an auction. The multi-channel distribution device according to claim 1 or 2.

Images