Method and Apparatus for Demand Assignment of Content Display Opportunities

摘要

On-demand scheduling for presentations in movie theatres is enabled by providing users with the ability to communicate content, theatre and time slot selections. The communication can use message or telephone based devices. By tabulating the selections of plural users, selections which will attract an audience greater in number than a predetermined threshold for the presentation in a given venue and time of a particular content can be identified. Feeding this information back to an exhibitor allows the presentation to be implemented. Communicating the fact of the scheduling to the selecting users and others who may also have interest in the presentation multiplies the potential audience. Others who may have an interest in the scheduled presentation include a) individuals associated in a social network with a selecting user and b) individuals registered with social networking or specialty web sites devoted to content which is the same as, or similar to, the scheduled presentation.

主权项

1. A system useful in increasing efficient use of cinema resources, said system including:
a) data defining content items available for display; b) a plurality of stored data sets, each data set identifying:
1) a particular content item;2) a particular theatre; and3) a time slot for display, and c) a processor responsive to user selection of a data set comprising a particular content item, a particular theatre and a time slot for storing said selected data set only for instances wherein at least two users have identified identical data sets.