SYSTEMS AND METHOD FOR TIMING COMMERCIAL BREAKS

摘要

Various arrangements are presented for handling broadcast television commercials. A television receiver may receive, from a television service provider, metadata that indicates a commencement of a television commercial break and an expected duration. Based on the metadata, the television receiver may initiate a countdown timer such that the countdown timer is based on the expected duration of the television commercial break and counts down.

主权项

1. A method for handling broadcast television commercials, the method comprising:
receiving, by a television receiver, from a television service provider, metadata that indicates a commencement of a television commercial break during a television broadcast and an expected duration of the television commercial break; identifying, by the television receiver, a piece of content equal to or less than the expected duration to request from a playlist of preselected pieces of content, wherein:
the playlist was set by a user of the television receiver; andrankings of the preselected pieces of content on the playlist are used in identifying the piece of content; requesting, by the television receiver, the identified piece of content; receiving, by the television receiver, the requested piece of content; and outputting, by the television receiver, for presentation to a display device, the received piece of content during the television commercial break.