Media Guidance Application for Subscription Stream Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users of content subscription services face frustration due to the complexity of managing multiple accounts and the insufficient number of streams available, leading to difficulties in accessing content at desired times, especially when multiple users try to stream simultaneously.
Innovation Solution
A media guidance application that monitors user activity, manages accounts on behalf of the user, and recommends subscription services or plans by analyzing data to identify trends and optimize streaming capabilities, including detecting instances where available streams are insufficient and recommending alternative plans or additional streams for purchase.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If users manage multiple accounts for multiple subscription services, then users can access content from different providers, but users face overwhelming complexity in creating and maintaining credential information
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a gateway device as an intermediary that manages multiple content provider accounts on behalf of the user. The gateway device stores credential information for multiple content providers and automatically handles authentication, allowing the user to access content from different providers without directly managing multiple accounts. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining versatility in accessing multiple providers while eliminating the complexity of account management through the intermediary gateway device.
2Quantity of substance
If content providers offer a finite number of streams, then service costs are controlled, but users experience frustration when the number of requests exceeds available streams
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway device performs preliminary actions by proactively monitoring stream availability and user viewing patterns. When it detects that the number of available streams is insufficient for upcoming high-demand content, the gateway device automatically purchases additional streams in advance or recommends subscription upgrades to the user before the content becomes unavailable. This resolves the contradiction by ensuring content accessibility at desired times through advance preparation, while maintaining cost control by only acquiring additional streams when necessary based on predicted demand.
3Loss of information
If the gateway device monitors user activity and analyzes data to recommend subscription services, then optimal subscription plans can be identified, but large amounts of data from numerous content providers must be processed
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway device extracts and processes only the essential data elements needed for subscription optimization, such as viewing patterns, content preferences, and stream usage statistics, while filtering out unnecessary data from the large datasets provided by content providers. By taking out only the relevant information needed for analysis, the gateway device can identify optimal subscription plans without being overwhelmed by the full volume of raw data, thus resolving the contradiction between achieving subscription optimization and managing data processing complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
In some aspects, control circuitry receives, at a content provider server that is associated with a first subscription service, a first authentication key from a content aggregator server that is associated with a second subscription service, prior to the user subscribing to the first subscription service. The control circuitry generates and stores, at the content provider server, the first user account after comparing the first authentication key to acceptable authentication. In response to storing the first user account, the control circuitry receives a request from the content aggregator server to subscribe the user to the first subscription service, wherein the request includes a second authentication key. The control circuitry compares the first authentication key to the second authentication key, and in response to determining that the first authentication key matches the second authentication key, validates the first user account and grants access to the first subscription service through the first user account.