Electronic Program Guide Promoted Listings Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Media entertainment systems face challenges in helping viewers find specific programs among hundreds of channels, and existing electronic program guides (EPGs) do not effectively generate revenue for content providers by promoting listings that are likely to interest viewers.
Innovation Solution
The system tracks and reports on promoted listings displayed and selected by viewers, allowing content providers to pay for prominent placement within the EPG, with data aggregation and billing based on viewer interactions, enabling targeted advertising and revenue generation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If channels are listed linearly by channel number in EPG, then the EPG structure is simple and easy to implement, but viewers cannot easily find programs of interest among hundreds of channels
Solution Approach 1:
The EPG dynamically reorders channel listings based on viewer behavior data, transitioning from a static numerical order to a dynamic order that adapts to individual viewing patterns. The system continuously updates the listing sequence to prioritize channels and programs that each viewer watches most frequently, making the interface adaptable rather than fixed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback loops where viewer watching patterns are tracked and fed back into the EPG ordering algorithm. This feedback mechanism allows the EPG to learn from viewer behavior and automatically adjust channel priorities, creating a self-improving system that becomes more useful over time based on accumulated viewing data.
2Loss of time
If EPG displays all available channels in numerical order, then complete channel coverage is provided, but viewers spend excessive time searching for specific programs
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-calculating and pre-ordering channel listings based on historical viewer data before the viewer even starts browsing. Channels and programs that are likely to be of interest are positioned prominently in the EPG grid in advance, so viewers encounter relevant content immediately without needing to search through hundreds of channels.
Solution Approach 2:
The EPG implementation varies the listing order locally for each individual viewer based on their specific viewing patterns, rather than applying a uniform ordering to all users. Each viewer receives a customized EPG layout that reflects their personal preferences and behavior, allowing optimal program discovery for each user segment.
3Adaptability or versatility
If EPG provides basic program listing functionality, then the system is simple to implement, but it does not generate revenue for content providers
Solution Approach 1:
The EPG system serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides program information to viewers, tracks viewing patterns for analytics, and generates revenue through promoted listings. The same infrastructure that delivers EPG data to clients also collects tracking data and enables commercial operations, making the system multi-functional rather than single-purpose.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary tracking and reporting layer between the EPG display and the content providers. This intermediary component captures viewing data, processes it through analytics, and translates it into actionable intelligence for content providers, enabling revenue generation without directly modifying the core EPG display functionality.
Data Source
AI summary
Promoted listing are generated and transmitted to client devices where they are displayed prominently in relation to non-promoted listings. The client devices record tracking data that indicates that a particular promoted listing has been displayed to and/or selected by a user. The tracking data is sent from the client device to a content distribution system that aggregates tracking data from multiple client devices, generates reports and/or bills based on the tracking data, and supplies the reports and/or bills to content providers associated with the promoted listings.