System for modifying and targeting advertising content of internet radio broadcasts

Abstract

A radio station transmits its broadcast audio content, including audible advertisements, to listeners over the Internet via an Internet Hosting Service that provides listener access to radio station content. A computing system at the radio station digitizes the audio, and supplies marking information that identifies the beginning and duration of commercials. The digital marking information is supplied with the radio station's audio to the Internet Hosting Service. The Internet Hosting Service maintains a repository of replacement audio commercials along with information about the commercials including duration. Upon receiving the digital marker indicating the presence of a commercial, the Internet Hosting Service selects a replacement commercial of comparable duration from its repository. The Internet Hosting Service then substitutes the replacement commercial for the original broadcast commercial and produces an edited audio program for delivery to the listeners that carries advertising of higher value than the original advertising.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An interactive method for substituting replacement radio commercials in place of a plurality of broadcast radio commercial streams on an Internet radio program broadcast by a radio station to an Internet hosting service based on user preferences indicating demographic, and personal preferences, comprising the steps of:
 (a) generating a plurality of replacement radio commercial streams of various predetermined time lengths, whereby each replacement radio commercial has an associated time length;   (b) digitizing said replacement radio commercial streams and said associated time lengths;   (c) storing in an array said digitized replacement radio commercial streams and said associated time lengths, said array stored at an Internet service provider;   (d) maintaining user demographic information and user preferences;   (e) marking each of said broadcast radio commercial streams with a digital marker by said radio station, said digital marker indicating the start and duration time of said broadcast radio commercial within said Internet radio program;   (f) transmitting said marked Internet radio program stream to said Internet hosting service;   (g) receiving of said marked Internet radio program stream by said Internet hosting service;   (h) examining of said marked Internet radio program stream by said Internet hosting service;   (i) detecting a digital marker of a commercial on said received Internet broadcast program stream;   (j) reading the duration time, of said commercial, from said detected digital marker;   (k) comparing said read duration time with said associated time lengths stored in said array;   (l) selecting from said array a digitized replacement radio commercial having an associated time length equal to said read duration time to match said demographic information and said user preferences with said replacement commercial stream having an associated time length equal to said real duration time;   (m) substituting said selected digitized replacement radio commercial stream in place of said broadcast commercial stream; and   (n) repeating steps (h) through (l) until the end of said Internet radio program,   whereby the listener of said Internet radio program stream receives an edited program stream having one or more replacement radio commercial streams substituted in place of said broadcast radio commercial.   
     
     
       2. A method as recited in  claim 1  wherein said marking of broadcast radio commercial streams is performed by a radio station computer system, such as a broadcast automation system. 
     
     
       3. A method as recited in  claim 2  wherein the audio stream of the radio station is digitized into packets bearing sequential serial numbers, and said marking of broadcast commercial streams by marking the start time and duration of the commercial identifies the audio packet serial numbers constituting the beginning and duration of the audio commercial to be replaced. 
     
     
       4. A method as recited in  claim 1  wherein the Internet hosting service maintains commercial type information for targeting ads to consumers, and user demographic information, and matches said user demographics and personal preferences to said commercial type for selecting a commercial targeted to said user. 
     
     
       5. An interactive system for substituting broadcast commercial streams of an Internet radio program stream, with replacement commercial streams, comprising:
 (a) radio station means for marking said broadcast commercial streams of said Internet radio program with a mark, said mark indicating the start and time duration of said broadcast commercial stream;   (b) input server means for receiving said marked Internet radio program stream by an Internet hosting service;   (c) commercial storage means of said Internet hosting service for storing a plurality of digitized radio commercial streams and user preferences;   (d) central processor means for selecting one of said digitized radio commercials from said commercial storage means matching said user preferences;   (e) marker decoder means for decoding said mark, said mark being supplied to said central processor;   (f) comparison means to select a digitalized radio commercial stream in place of said broadcast commercial stream;   (g) central processor mixing means for generating an edited radio program stream by substituting said selected digitized radio commercial streams in place of said broadcast commercial stream; and   (h) output server means for transmitting said edited radio program stream to a user.   
     
     
       6. A system as recited by  claim 5  wherein said commercial storage means further stores commercial type. 
     
     
       7. A system as recited by  claim 5  further comprising user profile storage means for storing individual user ID and user demographics, whereby said central processor employs said user ID to match said user demographics and said user preferences to said commercial type for selecting a commercial targeted to said user. 
     
     
       8. A system for modifying and targeting advertising content of an Internet radio broadcast, comprising:
 an originating subsystem comprising,
 an audio source emitting an audio track for a radio program, the audio track containing audio ads; 
 a processor-controlled subsystem, emitting data comprising the start time and duration of each of the audio ads; 
   an ad marking system, comprising a processor, adapted to
 receive the audio track; 
 receive the data comprising the start time and duration of each of the audio advertisements; 
 generate a marked digitized stream comprising audio data from the audio track and at least one digital marker embedded in the digitized stream, indicating the beginning of an original audio ad contained within the audio track and either or both of the duration and end of the original ad; and 
 send the marked stream to a streaming server via the Internet; 
   a streaming server subsystem adapted to receive and process the stream, comprising a processor adapted to
 receive the marked stream from the ad marking system via the Internet; 
 receive a request from a user for a stream; 
 retrieve demographic data for an identity associated with the request from previously stored information; 
 read the at least one digital marker from the marked stream and determine therefrom the start and duration of an original audio ad in the marked stream; 
 retrieve from a repository of audio ads categorized by type and duration a replacement audio ad of a duration equivalent to the determined duration and of a type matching the retrieved demographic data; 
 insert the replacement ad in an output stream in place of the original ad; and 
 send the output stream to the requesting user; 
   
       said system functioning such that each of a plurality of individual users listening to the Internet radio broadcast transmitted by said system receives a personalized program stream containing demographically targeted audio advertising content distinct from that delivered to other users. 
     
     
       9. The system of claim 8,
 wherein the processor of the ad marking system is further adapted to generate the stream such that it is comprised of sequentially numbered packets and such that the at least one digital marker contains packet number information indicating the beginning of the original audio ad and either or both of the duration and end of the original ad;   further wherein the processor of the streaming server subsystem is further adapted to use the packet number information of the at least one digital marker to replace the original ad with the replacement ad.   
     
     
       10. An ad marking system for use by an originator of radio programming in adapting the programming for demographically targeted delivery over the Internet, comprising a processor adapted to:
 receive an audio track for a radio program, the audio track containing original audio ads;   receive data comprising the start time and duration of each of the original audio ads;   generate a marked digitized stream comprising audio data from the audio track and at least one digital marker embedded in the digitized stream indicating the beginning of an original audio ad contained within the audio track and either or both of the duration and end of the original ad; and   send the marked stream via the Internet to a streaming server for distribution over the Internet.   
     
     
       11. The ad marking system of claim 10, wherein the processor is further adapted to generate the stream such that it is comprised of sequentially numbered packets, and such that the at least one digital marker contains packet number information indicating the beginning of the original audio ad and either or both of the duration and end of the original ad. 
     
     
       12. A streaming server system for distributing demographically targeted advertising to a plurality of users listening to a radio program over the Internet, comprising a processor adapted to
 receive a marked digitized stream via the Internet from a radio program originator, comprising an audio track for a radio program containing original audio ads and containing at least one digital marker embedded in the digitized stream indicating the beginning of an original audio ad contained within the audio track and either or both of the duration and end of the original ad;   receive a request from a user for a stream;   retrieve demographic data from previously stored information for an identity associated with the request;   determine from the at least one digital marker the start and duration of the original ad;   retrieve from a repository of audio ads categorized by type and duration a replacement audio ad of a duration equivalent to the determined duration and of a type matching the retrieved demographic data;   insert the replacement ad in place of the original ad in the stream; and   send the stream to the requesting user;   
       said streaming server functioning such that each of a plurality of individual users listening to the Internet radio broadcast transmitted by said streaming server receives a personalized program stream containing demographically targeted audio advertising content distinct from that delivered to other users. 
     
     
       13. The streaming server system of claim 12, wherein the stream received from the radio program originator comprises sequentially numbered packets such that the at least one digital marker contains packet number information indicating the beginning of the original audio ad and either or both of the duration and end of the original ad, and further wherein the processor is further adapted to use the packet number information of the at least one digital marker to replace the original ad with the replacement ad. 
     
     
       14. A method for modifying and demographically targeting advertising content of an Internet radio broadcast, comprising:
 by an audio source, emitting an audio track for a radio program, the audio track containing audio ads;   by a processor-controlled subsystem, emitting data comprising the start time and duration of each of the audio ads;   by an ad marking system comprising a processor,
 receiving the audio track; 
 receiving the data comprising the start time and duration of each of the audio ads; 
 generating a marked digitized stream comprising audio data from the audio track and at least one digital marker embedded in the digitized stream indicating the beginning of an original audio ad contained within the audio track and either or both of the duration and end of the original ad; and 
 sending the marked stream to a streaming server via the Internet; 
   by a streaming server,
 receiving the marked stream from the ad marking system via the Internet; 
 receiving a request from a user for a stream; 
 retrieving demographic data for an identity associated with the request from previously stored information; 
 reading the at least one digital marker from the stream and determining therefrom the start and duration of the original ad; 
 retrieving from a repository of audio ads categorized by type and duration a replacement audio ad of a duration equivalent to the determined duration and of a type matching the retrieved demographic data; 
 inserting the replacement ad in place of the original ad in the stream; and 
 sending the stream to the requesting user; 
   
       wherein each of a plurality of individual users listening to the Internet radio broadcast receives a personalized program stream containing demographically targeted audio advertising content distinct from that delivered to other users. 
     
     
       15. The method of claim 14,
 wherein the steps performed with the processor of the ad marking system further comprise generating the stream such that it is comprised of sequentially numbered packets and such that the at least one digital marker contains packet number information indicating the beginning of the original audio ad and either or both of the duration and end of the original ad; and   wherein the steps performed with the processor of the streaming server subsystem further comprise using the packet number information of the at least one digital marker to replace the original ad with the replacement ad.   
     
     
       16. A method performed with a processor for adapting an audio track containing audio advertisements for demographically targeted delivery over the Internet, comprising:
 receiving the audio track;   receiving data comprising the start time and duration of each of the audio ads;   generating a marked digitized stream comprising audio data from the audio track and at least one digital marker embedded in the digitized stream indicating the beginning of an original audio ad contained within the audio track and either or both of the duration and end of the original ad; and   sending the marked stream via the Internet to a streaming server for distribution over the Internet.   
     
     
       17. The method of claim 16, further comprising generating the marked digitized stream such that it is comprised of sequentially numbered packets, and such that the at least one digital marker contains packet number information indicating the beginning of the original audio ad and either or both of the duration and end of the original ad. 
     
     
       18. A method performed with a processor for distributing a radio program stream containing original audio ads to a plurality of users listening to a radio program over the Internet, comprising:
 receiving the radio program from a radio program originator via the Internet in the form of a marked digitized stream comprising an audio track and at least one digital marker embedded in the digitized stream indicating the beginning of an original audio ad contained within the audio track and either or both of the duration and end of the original ad;   receiving a request from a user for a stream;   retrieving demographic data for an identity associated with the request from previously stored information;   determining from the at least one digital marker the start and duration of the original ad;   retrieving from a repository of audio ads categorized by type and duration a replacement ad of a duration equivalent to the determined duration and of a type matching the retrieved demographic data;   inserting the replacement ad in place of the original ad in the stream; and   sending the stream to the requesting user;   
       wherein each of a plurality of individual users listening to the Internet radio broadcast receives a personalized program stream containing demographically targeted audio advertising content distinct from that delivered to other users. 
     
     
       19. The method of claim 18, wherein the stream received from the radio program originator comprises sequentially numbered packets such that the at least one digital marker contains packet number information indicating the beginning of the original ad and either or both of the duration and end of the original ad, said method further comprising using the packet number information of the at least one digital marker to replace the original ad with the replacement ad. 
     
     
       20. An article of manufacture for use in operating a system for adapting a radio programming stream containing original audio advertisements therein for demographically targeted distribution over the Internet, comprising a non-transitory machine-readable medium on which there has been recorded instructions comprising:
 routines for receiving the audio track;   routines for receiving data comprising the start time and duration of each of the audio advertisements;   routines for generating a marked digitized stream comprising audio data from the audio track and at least one digital marker embedded in the digitized stream indicating the beginning of an original audio ad contained within the audio track and either or both of the duration and end of the original ad; and   routines for sending the marked stream via the Internet to a streaming server for distribution over the Internet.   
     
     
       21. The article of claim 20, wherein the instructions recorded on said medium further comprise routines for generating the stream such that it is comprised of sequentially numbered packets, and such that the at least one digital marker contains packet number information indicating the beginning of the original ad and either or both of the duration and end of the original ad. 
     
     
       22. An article of manufacture for adapting a streaming media server for serving a radio program stream to a plurality of users listening to the program over the Internet, comprising a non-transitory machine-readable medium on which there has been recorded instructions comprising:
 routines for receiving a marked digitized stream from a radio program originator via the Internet comprising an audio track for a radio program and at least one digital marker embedded in the digitized stream indicating the beginning of an original audio ad in the audio track and either or both of the duration and end of the original ad;   routines for receiving from a user a request for a stream;   routines for retrieving demographic data for an identity associated with the request from previously stored information;   routines for determining from the at least one digital marker the start and duration of the original ad;   routines for retrieving from a repository of audio ads categorized by type and duration a replacement ad of a duration equivalent to the determined duration and of a type matching the retrieved demographic data;   routines for inserting the replacement ad in place of the original ad in the stream; and   routines for sending the stream to the requesting user;   
       said routines operating with the effect that each of a plurality of individual users listening to the Internet radio broadcast receives a personalized program stream containing demographically targeted audio advertising content distinct from that delivered to other users. 
     
     
       23. The article of claim 22, wherein the received marked digitized stream comprises sequentially numbered packets and the routine for determining from the at least one digital marker the start and duration of the original ad performs the further function of determining packet number information indicating said start and duration.