Method and apparatus for generating an interactive radio program

Abstract

A method and system for the creation of interactive radio programming. A moderator of an interactive radio program uses a moderator client to digitize and transmit a radio program with enhanced content to a moderator server through a wide area network. The moderator server uses the digitized radio program and the enhanced content to generate an interactive radio program for transmission to participants in the interactive radio program. The complete interactive radio program is transmitted to participant clients over the wide area network. An audio portion of the interactive radio program may be transmitted over a conventional radio network as well.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method of creating and transmitting an interactive radio program, comprising: 
 operably coupling a moderator server to a communications network;    operably coupling a moderator client to the moderator server through the communications network;    operably coupling a plurality of participant clients to the moderator server through the communications network;    receiving participant comments by the moderator server through the communications network from the plurality of participant clients;    transmitting by the moderator server through the communications network to the moderator client the participant comments;    receiving a digitized audio source by the moderator server through the communications network from the moderator client;    generating an interactive radio program by the moderator server using the participant comments and the digitized audio source; and    transmitting by the moderator server through the communications network to the plurality of participant clients the interactive radio program.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein generating an interactive radio program further includes: 
 receiving enhanced content by the moderator server from the moderator client through the communications network; and    generating by the moderator server the interactive radio program using the enhanced content, participant comments, and the digitized audio source.    
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the interactive radio program further includes an audio portion, the method further comprising transmitting by the moderator server the audio portion through a radio network.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the participant comments further include an interactive radio program audience approval rating.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 receiving by the moderator server a participant exclusion signal corresponding to a specific participant client from the plurality of participant clients; and    generating by the moderator server the interactive radio program using the participant exclusion signal to exclude participant comments received from the specific participant client.    
     
     
         6 . A method of creating and transmitting an interactive radio program over a wide area network, comprising: 
 operably coupling a moderator server to the wide area network;    operably coupling a moderator Web browser to the moderator server through the wide area network;    operably coupling a plurality of participant Web browsers to the moderator server through the wide area network; and    iteratively repeating the following: 
 receiving by the moderator server through the wide area network from the moderator Web browser a digitized audio source;  
 generating by the moderator server an interactive radio program using the digitized audio source;  
 transmitting by the moderator server through the wide area network to the plurality of participant Web browsers the interactive radio program;  
 receiving by the moderator server through the wide area network from the plurality of participant Web browsers a plurality of participant comments responsive to the interactive radio program; and  
 transmitting by the moderator server through the wide area network to the moderator Web browser the plurality of participant comments.  
   
     
     
         7 . A user interface for a moderator of an interactive radio program, comprising: 
 a participant comments portion for display of comments made by participants in the interactive radio program; and    a question display portion for display of questions asked by participants in the interactive radio program wherein the user interface permits a moderator to select a participant question to answer while viewing the participant comments.    
     
     
         8 . The user interface of  claim 7 , wherein the question display portion further includes: 
 a plurality of question fields, each question field including: 
 a participant name subfield;  
 a question text subfield;  
 an answer selection icon; and  
 a delete selection icon.  
   
     
     
         9 . The user interface of  claim 7 , wherein the participant comment portion further includes: 
 a plurality of participant comment records, each participant comment record including: 
 a participant name field; and  
 a participant comment field.  
   
     
     
         10 . The user interface of  claim 7 , further comprising an audience approval rating display portion wherein the user interface permits a moderator to view an audience approval rating submitted by the participants in the interactive radio program.  
     
     
         11 . The user interface of  claim 10 , wherein the audience approval rating display portion further includes: 
 a color coded meter for display of the interactive radio program's current audience approval rating; and    a time graph for display of the interactive radio program's audience approval rating as a function of time.    
     
     
         12 . The user interface of  claim 7 , further comprising a status indicator portion indicating the status of the interactive radio program wherein the user interface permits a moderator to view statistics about the interactive radio program.  
     
     
         13 . The user interface of  claim 12 , wherein the status indicator portion further includes: 
 a number field for displaying a sequence number associated with the interactive radio program;    a name field for display of a name associated with the interactive radio program; and    an online audience display field for display of the number of participants currently participating in the interactive radio program.    
     
     
         14 . The user interface of  claim 7 , further comprising a participant poll display portion for display of poll results received from participants wherein the user interface permits a moderator to view a poll question along with responses by participants in the interactive radio program.  
     
     
         15 . A data processing system for creating and transmitting an interactive radio program, the data processing system comprising: 
 a processor; and    a memory operably coupled to the processor and having program instructions stored therein, the processor being operable to execute the program instructions, the program instructions including: 
 receiving participant comments through a communications network from a plurality of participant clients;  
 transmitting through the communications network to a moderator client the participant comments;  
 receiving a digitized audio source through the communications network from the moderator client;  
 generating an interactive radio program using the participant comments and the digitized audio source; and  
 transmitting through the communications network to the plurality of participant clients the interactive radio program.  
   
     
     
         16 . The data processing system of  claim 15 , wherein the program instructions for generating an interactive radio program further include: 
 receiving enhanced content from the moderator client through the communications network; and    generating the interactive radio program using the enhanced content, participant comments, and the digitized audio source.    
     
     
         17 . The data processing system of  claim 15  wherein the interactive radio program further includes an audio portion, the program instructions further comprising transmitting the audio portion through a radio network.  
     
     
         18 . The data processing system of  claim 15  wherein the participant comments further include an interactive radio program audience approval rating.  
     
     
         19 . The data processing system of  claim 15 , the program instructions further including: 
 receiving a participant exclusion signal corresponding to a specific participant client from the plurality of participant clients; and    generating the interactive radio program using the participant exclusion signal to exclude participant comments received from the specific participant client.    
     
     
         20 . A data processing system for creating and transmitting an interactive radio program over a wide area network, the data processing system comprising: 
 a processor; and    a memory operably coupled to the processor and having program instructions stored therein, the processor being operable to execute the program instructions, the program instructions including: 
 receiving a first digitized audio source through the wide area network from a moderator Web browser;  
 generating a first interactive radio program using the first digitized audio source;  
 transmitting the first interactive radio program through the wide area network to a plurality of participant Web browsers;  
 receiving a plurality of participant comments responsive to the first interactive radio program through the wide area network from the plurality of participant Web browsers;  
 transmitting the plurality of participant comments through the wide area network to the moderator Web browser;  
 receiving a second digitized audio source through the wide area network from the moderator Web browser;  
 generating a second interactive radio program using the second digitized audio source; and  
 transmitting the second interactive radio program through the wide area network to the plurality of participant Web browsers.