Content distribution including advertisements

Abstract

Methods, devices, and computer program products are provided to enhance viewing of an entertainment content in the presence of advertisements. At a compliant device, at least a portion of an entertainment content is received and content policy information associated with the received entertainment content is obtained. The content policy information relates to presentation of one or more advertisements during a specific release window of the entertainment content. Such content policy information can be ascertained through one or both of: extraction of watermarks that are embedded in the one or more advertisements or the entertainment content, and computation and matching of fingerprints associated with the one or more advertisements or the entertainment content. Based on the content policy information, presentation of the one or more advertisements is triggered before allowing presentation of advertisement-free playback of the entertainment content, or simultaneous with presentation of the entertainment content.

1 - 15 . (canceled) 
     
     
         16 . A method for providing conditional access to a multimedia content, comprising:
 receiving, at a first device, at least a portion of the multimedia content that includes an entertainment content and one or more advertisements;   initiating presentation of the multimedia content at the first device;   processing digital sample values of the entertainment content or the one or more advertisements using a processor that is implemented at least in-part in electronic circuitry, the processing comprising extracting of one or more watermark messages from the one or more advertisements or the entertainment content;   obtaining information indicative of a usage policy associated with the entertainment content based on a payload of the one or more watermark messages;   determining a particular number of advertisements that must be presented in conformance with the usage policy; and   triggering presentation of the one or more advertisements based on a determination as to whether only the entertainment content, or both the entertainment content and the one or more advertisements, include embedded watermark messages, wherein:   (A) upon a determination that the entertainment content includes embedded watermarks and the one or more advertisements do not include embedded watermarks:
 determining a duration or a number of advertisements that have already been presented based on a duration of the multimedia content that excludes embedded watermark messages, 
 comparing the duration or the number of the advertisements that have already been presented to the particular number of advertisements that must be presented in conformance with the usage policy, and
 upon a determination that the duration or the number of the advertisements that have already been presented is less than the particular number of advertisements that must be presented in conformance with the usage policy, triggering presentation of at least one additional advertisement, and 
 
   (B) upon a determination that both the entertainment content and the one or more advertisements include embedded watermarks:
 using a plurality of timecodes embedded in the one or more advertisements to determine a duration or a number of the advertisements that have already been presented, 
 comparing the duration or the number of the advertisements that have already been presented to the particular number of advertisements that must be presented in conformance with the usage policy, and 
 upon a determination that the duration or the number of the advertisements that have already been presented is less than the particular number of advertisements that must be presented in conformance with the usage policy, triggering presentation of at least one additional advertisement. 
   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 upon a determination that the duration or the number of the advertisements that have already been presented is less than the particular number of advertisements that must be presented in conformance with the usage policy, triggering presentation of the at least one additional advertisement on a plurality of additional devices.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein:
 each of the plurality of additional devices is categorized as one of: a mobile device, a set-top box device, a handheld device, a personal computer, or a Blu-ray device,   the usage policy provides for a different set of enforcement actions for each category of devices, and   the first device and each of the additional devices belong to the same category of devices.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising, after allowing presentation of at least one advertisement, determining whether or not a sufficient number or duration of advertisements has been presented that fulfills the usage policy, and upon a determination that an insufficient number or duration of advertisements has been presented, triggering presentation of at least another advertisement. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the one or more advertisements are selected to target a specific group of users or user devices based on a particular set of criteria. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the particular set of criteria includes one or more of:
 a title of the entertainment content,   an advertisement presentation history of the first device,   an advertisement presentation history of a user of the first device,   a programming contextual relevance of the one or more advertisements,   a current date and time,   feedback of a user related to the one or more advertisements,   a geographical location of the first device,   a platform on which the first device is implemented,   a type of the entertainment content,   a storage format of the entertainment content,   a distributor of the entertainment content, or   a distribution channel of the entertainment content.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising obtaining identification information associated with the entertainment content or with the one or more advertisements using the one or more watermark messages that are extracted from the entertainment content or the one or more advertisements. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the identification information includes one or more of: a content identifier (CID), a source identifier (SourceID) or a timecode. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein processing the digital sample values of the entertainment content or one or more advertisements includes computation of fingerprints that enable identification of the entertainment content or one or more advertisements. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein:
 the entertainment content includes embedded watermarks, and the one or more advertisements include embedded watermarks; and   triggering presentation of the one or more advertisements includes:
 identifying the entertainment content using the one or more watermark messages that are extracted from the entertainment content, 
 identifying the one or more advertisements using the one or more watermark messages that are embedded in the one or more advertisements, 
 based on the usage policy, determining whether or not the identified advertisements are non-skippable with respect to the identified entertainment content, and 
 upon a determination that the identified advertisements are non-skippable, triggering presentation of the one or more non-skippable advertisements. 
   
     
     
         26 . A media playback device, comprising:
 a receiver to receive at least a portion of the multimedia content that includes an entertainment content and one or more advertisements;   a processor and a memory comprising processor executable code that upon execution by the processor configures the processor to:
 initiate presentation of the multimedia content at the media playback device; 
 process digital sample values of the entertainment content or the one or more advertisements to extract one or more watermark messages from the one or more advertisements or the entertainment content; 
 obtain information indicative of a usage policy associated with the entertainment content based on a payload of the one or more watermark messages; 
 determine a particular number of advertisements that must be presented in conformance with the usage policy; and 
 trigger presentation of the one or more advertisements based on a determination as to whether only the entertainment content, or both the entertainment content and the one or more advertisements, include embedded watermark messages, wherein: 
 (A) upon a determination that the entertainment content includes embedded watermarks and the one or more advertisements do not include embedded watermarks the processor executable code upon execution by the processor configures the processor to:
 determine a duration or a number of advertisements that have already been presented based on a duration of the multimedia content that excludes embedded watermark messages, 
 compare the duration or the number of the advertisements that have already been presented to the particular number of advertisements that must be presented in conformance with the usage policy, and 
 upon a determination that the duration or the number of the advertisements that have already been presented is less than the particular number of advertisements that must be presented in conformance with the usage policy, trigger presentation of at least one additional advertisement, and 
 
 (B) upon a determination that both the entertainment content and the one or more advertisements include embedded watermarks the processor executable code upon execution by the processor configures the processor to:
 determine a duration or a number of the advertisements that have already been presented using a plurality of timecodes embedded in the one or more advertisements, 
 compare the duration or the number of the advertisements that have already been presented to the particular number of advertisements that must be presented in conformance with the usage policy, and 
 upon a determination that the duration or the number of the advertisements that have already been presented is less than the particular number of advertisements that must be presented in conformance with the usage policy, trigger presentation of at least one additional advertisement. 
 
   
     
     
         27 . The media playback device of  claim 26 , wherein:
 upon a determination that the duration or the number of the advertisements that have already been presented is less than the particular number of advertisements that must be presented in conformance with the usage policy, the processor executable code upon execution by the processor configures the processor to trigger presentation of the at least one additional advertisement on a plurality of additional devices.   
     
     
         28 . The media playback device of  claim 27 , wherein:
 each of the plurality of additional devices is categorized as one of: a mobile device, a set-top box device, a handheld device, a personal computer, or a Blu-ray device,   the usage policy provides for a different set of enforcement actions for each category of devices, and   the media playback device and each of the additional devices belong to the same category of devices.   
     
     
         29 . The media playback device of  claim 26 , wherein the processor executable code upon execution by the processor further configures the processor to, after presentation of at least one advertisement, determine whether or not a sufficient number or duration of advertisements has been presented that fulfills the usage policy, and upon a determination that an insufficient number or duration of advertisements has been presented, trigger presentation of at least another advertisement. 
     
     
         30 . The media playback device of  claim 26 , wherein the one or more advertisements are selected to target a specific group of users or user devices based on a particular set of criteria. 
     
     
         31 . The media playback device of  claim 30 , wherein the particular set of criteria includes one or more of:
 a title of the entertainment content,   an advertisement presentation history of the media playback device,   an advertisement presentation history of a user of the media playback device,   a programming contextual relevance of the one or more advertisements,   a current date and time,   feedback of a user related to the one or more advertisements,   a geographical location of the media playback device,   a platform on which the media playback device is implemented,   a type of the entertainment content,   a storage format of the entertainment content,   a distributor of the entertainment content, or   a distribution channel of the entertainment content.   
     
     
         32 . The media playback device of  claim 26 , wherein the processor executable code upon execution by the processor further configures the processor to obtain identification information associated with the entertainment content or with the one or more advertisements using the one or more watermarks that are extracted from the entertainment content or the one or more advertisements. 
     
     
         33 . The media playback device of  claim 32 , wherein the identification information includes one or more of: a content identifier (CID), a source identifier (SourceID) or a timecode. 
     
     
         34 . The media playback device of  claim 26 , wherein the processor executable code upon execution by the processor further configures the processor to use the digital sample values of the entertainment content or one or more advertisements to compute fingerprints that enable identification of the entertainment content or one or more advertisements. 
     
     
         35 . The media playback device of  claim 26 , wherein:
 the entertainment content includes embedded watermarks, and the one or more advertisements include embedded watermarks; and   the processor executable code upon execution by the processor configures the processor to:
 identify the entertainment content using the one or more watermark messages that are extracted from the entertainment content, 
 identify the one or more advertisements using the one or more watermark messages that are embedded in the one or more advertisements, 
 based on the usage policy, determine whether or not the identified advertisements are non-skippable with respect to the identified entertainment content, and 
 upon a determination that the identified advertisements are non-skippable, trigger presentation of the one or more non-skippable advertisements. 
   
     
     
         36 . A computer program product embodied on one or more non-transitory computer medium, comprising:
 program code for receiving at least a portion of the multimedia content that includes an entertainment content and one or more advertisements;   program code for initiating presentation of the multimedia content;   program code for processing digital sample values of the entertainment content or the one or more advertisements, the processing comprising extracting of one or more watermark messages from the one or more advertisements or the entertainment content;   program code for obtaining information indicative of a usage policy associated with the entertainment content based on a payload of the one or more watermark messages;   program code for determining a particular number of advertisements that must be presented in conformance with the usage policy; and   program code for triggering presentation of the one or more advertisements based on a determination as to whether only the entertainment content, or both the entertainment content and the one or more advertisements, include embedded watermark messages:   (A) the computer program product further includes program code for, upon a determination that the entertainment content includes embedded watermarks and the one or more advertisements do not include embedded watermarks:
 determining a duration or a number of advertisements that have already been presented based on a duration of the multimedia content that excludes embedded watermark messages, 
 comparing the duration or the number of the advertisements that have already been presented to the particular number of advertisements that must be presented in conformance with the usage policy, and
 upon a determination that the duration or the number of the advertisements that have already been presented is less than the particular number of advertisements that must be presented in conformance with the usage policy, triggering presentation of at least one additional advertisement, and 
 
   (B) the computer program product further includes program code for, upon a determination that both the entertainment content and the one or more advertisements include embedded watermarks:
 using a plurality of timecodes embedded in the one or more advertisements to determine a duration or a number of the advertisements that have already been presented, 
 comparing the duration or the number of the advertisements that have already been presented to the particular number of advertisements that must be presented in conformance with the usage policy, and 
 upon a determination that the duration or the number of the advertisements that have already been presented is less than the particular number of advertisements that must be presented in conformance with the usage policy, triggering presentation of at least one additional advertisement.