WO2007048222A1

WO2007048222A1 - Method, system and apparatus for triggering an event action in accordance with viewer preferences

Info

Publication number: WO2007048222A1
Application number: PCT/CA2006/001623
Authority: WO
Inventors: Peter Ratsch; Maarten Boudewijn Heilbron
Original assignee: Bce Inc.
Priority date: 2005-10-27
Filing date: 2006-10-02
Publication date: 2007-05-03
Also published as: CA2524586A1

Abstract

According to embodiments of the present invention there is provided a method, system and apparatus for triggering an event action in accordance with subscriber preferences. The method can be conveniently executed at a subscriber device capable of receiving a plurality of content streams from a content distribution subsystem. The method comprises monitoring a first content stream received from the content distribution subsystem to detect a presence of one or more content indicators indicative of event occurrence on corresponding ones of the plurality of content streams including at least one content stream other than the first content stream. The method further comprises receiving at least one selection parameter from the subscriber, the at least one selection parameter being associated with a respective event of interest and effecting a comparison of a particular one of the one or more content indicators with the at least one selection parameter. Responsive to the comparison of the particular one of the one or more content indicators and a particular one of the at least one selection parameter rendering a positive outcome, the method comprises triggering an event action associated with the particular selection parameter.

Description

METHOD, SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR TRIGGERING AN EVENT ACTION IN ACCORDANCE WITH VIEWER PREFERENCES

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to delivery of video to viewers and, more specifically, to a method, system and apparatus for triggering an event action in accordance with viewer preferences.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Television (TV) has become a ubiquitous medium to reach virtually every household. In fact, a typical North American residence may have more than one TV set. Various means to deliver TV signals to a viewer's home have been developed, including traditional broadcast transmission over the VHF/UHF band, as well as subscriber-based services such as direct-to- home (DTH) delivery via satellite, cable TV systems and the recent development of video- over-internet services (e.g., video-over-IP, xDSL, video-over-DSL and the like).

Some providers of subscriber-based services offer "theme packages" to subscribers, such as movie packages, sports packages, music packages, adult entertainment packages, finance- related packages and the like. Such packages typically give a subscriber access to a number of different channels (ranging from 10-20 channels to hundreds of channels) which carry video relating to a particular "theme" (i.e., movies, sport programs, performances, adult entertainment, finance-related program, etc.), thus giving the subscriber a greater choice from which to select a particular channel to watch. For instance, Bell ExpressVu of Toronto, Canada offers a premium sports package for an additional fee, which allows subscribers to access several simultaneously occurring sport programs (e.g., football games) that are not available to other subscribers who do not subscribe to the premium sports package. Despite the advantages offered by theme packages, there are drawbacks to the viewing experience, particularly relating to the limited extent to which the subscriber can benefit from the multiplicity of available channels. To illustrate, consider the example of twelve (12) concurrently running football games on twelve (12) different TV channels. A situation may arise whereby a particular subscriber is interested in viewing events (such as touchdowns, interceptions, etc.) that tend to occur randomly in one or more of the various football games. Because the viewer does not know in what game, nor when, a particular event of interest is going to occur, the subscriber must constantly flip through the channels hoping to '"catch" an event of interest.

To reduce the inconvenience of channel flipping, some subscribers have been known to set up an Internet-enabled computer in the vicinity of the TV set. Specifically, a connection is established with the computer in order to receive event statistics from a server over the Internet. However, this solution is cumbersome, due to the need for both an Internet-enabled computer and a TV set in the vicinity of one another. Furthermore, even if the subscriber does learn from the event statistics about an event of interest having occurred in a particular game, the subscriber must flip to the right channel and hope that a replay is being presented to show the event of interest.

Clearly, there is a need for an improved approach to enhancing the viewing experience for a subscriber interested in events that tend to occur randomly at various times and on various channels.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with a first broad aspect, the invention seeks to provide a method executable at a subscriber device capable of receiving a plurality of content streams from a content distribution subsystem. The method comprises monitoring a first content stream received from the content distribution subsystem to detect a presence of one or more content indicators indicative of event occurrence on corresponding ones of the plurality of content streams including at least one content stream other than the first content stream. The method further comprises receiving at least one selection parameter, each of the at least one selection parameter being associated with a respective event of interest and effecting a comparison of a particular one of the one or more content indicators with each of the at least one selection parameter. The method further comprises responsive to the comparison rendering a positive outcome for a particular one of the at least one selection parameter, triggering an event action associated with the particular selection parameter.

In accordance with a second broad aspect, the invention seeks to provide a system. The system comprises a content distribution subsystem operable for distributing a plurality of content streams, at least a first content stream containing one or more content indicators indicative of event occurrence on corresponding ones of the plurality of content streams including at least one content stream other than the first content stream. The system further comprises at least one subscriber device operable for obtaining at least one selection parameter, each of the at least one selection parameter being associated with a respective event of interest; receiving the first content stream from the content distribution subsystem and responsive to detecting presence of a particular one of the one or more content indicators in the first content stream, to effect a comparison of the particular one of the one or more content indicators with each of the at least one selection parameter to render a comparison outcome; and responsive to the comparison outcome being positive for a particular one of the at least one selection parameter, triggering an event action associated with the particular selection parameter.

In accordance with a third broad aspect, the invention seeks to provide a subscriber device. The subscriber device comprises a first interface operable for receiving a plurality of content streams from a content distribution subsystem; the plurality of content streams including a first content stream, at least the first control stream comprising one or more content indicators indicative of event occurrence on corresponding ones of the plurality of content streams including at least one content stream other than the first content stream. The subscriber device further comprises a second interface operable for receiving at least one selection parameter, each of the at least one selection parameter being associated with a respective event of interest. The subscriber device further comprises a processor coupled to the first and second interfaces; the processor operable for obtaining the at least one selection parameter via the third interface; responsive to detecting a presence of a particular one of the one or more content indicators in the first one of the plurality of content streams via the first interface, effecting a comparison of the particular one of the one or more content indicators with each of the at least one selection parameter; and responsive to the comparison rendering a positive outcome for a particular one of the at least one selection parameter, triggering an event action associated with the particular selection parameter.

In accordance with a fourth broad aspect, the invention seeks to provide a method executable at a subscriber device capable of receiving a plurality of content streams from a content distribution subsystem. The method comprises monitoring a first content stream received from the content distribution subsystem to detect a presence of one or more content indicators indicative of event occurrence on corresponding ones of the plurality of content streams including at least one content stream other than the first content stream The method further comprises receiving at least one selection parameter, each of the at least one selection parameter being associated with a respective event of interest; and effecting a comparison of a particular one of the one or more content indicators with each of the at least one selection parameter. The method further comprises responsive to the comparison rendering a positive outcome for a particular one of the at least one selection parameter, causing recording of the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs; and ceasing recording of the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs upon detection of a terminating content indicator associated with the respective event of interest.

These and other aspects and features of the invention will now become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the following figures, in which: Figure 1 is a block diagram depicting a system for triggering an event action, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a logical diagram depicting a content provider and a particular subscriber premises device of the system of Figure 1, as well as several of a plurality of content indicators, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figures 3A - 3E are block diagrams schematically representing various Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) for accepting a selection parameter according to various embodiments of the present invention;

Figure 4 is a block diagram schematically depicting a method triggering an event action according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figures 5A and 5B are block diagrams schematically representing viewer announcement pages according to two embodiments of the present invention that can be used to perform certain steps of the method of Figure 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Figure 1 depicts a block diagram of a system 100 for triggering an event action in accordance with viewer preferences. The system 100 comprises a content provider 102. The content provider 102 is operable to acquire, multiplex and distribute multimedia content, such as video and audio content. The content provider 102 is coupled to a plurality of subscriber premises devices 104 via a distribution network 106. As such, the content provider 102 is operable to deliver a plurality of content streams 210, 212 and 214 (depicted as logical streams in broken lines) to viewers who use the plurality of subscriber premises devices 104. The content streams 210, 212 and 214 can contain content such as movies, news, sports events, adult entertainment, finance-related program and the like. It should be understood that the system 100 may contain fewer or more content streams, than the content streams 210, 212 and 214. For the benefit of the reader, it should be noted that the term "content stream" used herein should be construed broadly and can encompass, depending on the implementation and the exact architecture used for the content provider 102 and the distribution network 106, one or more channels, one or more frequencies, one or more data streams and so on. To use the example of a DTH satellite broadcaster, any one of the content streams 210, 212 and 214 can comprise one or more channels, depending on the available satellite transponder bandwidth. Some or all of these channels may include audio, video or additional data, as well as Interactive Television (iTV) applications. Other variants will become apparent to those of skill in the art.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the content provider 102 can be a Direct to Home (DTH) satellite broadcaster of video and audio content. As will be described in greater detail herein below, the DTH-based content provider 102 is operable to collect a variety of content from various content sources (such as a content source 111), multiplex various content streams, encode the multiplexed content streams for distribution and transmit the encoded content streams to a geostationary satellite (not depicted), which forms part of the distribution network 106. The content provider 102 in such an embodiment can be further operable to deliver augmented services, such as pay-per-view, video-on-demand, etc., as well as perform conditional access and billing functions.

As would be appreciated by those of skill in the art, in the aforementioned satellite broadcast scenario, the distribution network 106 comprises a satellite uplink, a stationary orbit satellite and earth repeaters for receiving, amplifying and broadcasting the content streams (such as the content streams 210, 212 and 214) over the broadcasting footprint. All these components are known in the art and are omitted from Figure 1 for the sake of simplicity. The subscriber premises device 104 can comprise a receiver device, such as combined receiver and decoder (commonly referred to as a set-top box) for receiving and decoding the broadcasted content stream from the geostationary satellite. A non limiting example of the receiver device is manufactured by EchoStar of 9601 South Meridian Blvd., Englewood, CO, USA. These receiver devices are designed to provide for receiving of multiple broadcast television channels (for instance, television channels embedded into one or more content streams 210, 212 and 214) to service viewers within the footprint of the DTH satellite transponder coverage.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the content provider 102 can be a cable provider. In these embodiments, the distribution network 106 can be a coaxial cable distribution network and can comprise the required amplifiers, switches and hubs, also known to those skilled in the art. In these embodiments, the subscriber premises device 104 can comprise a cable receiver device. In yet further embodiments, the content provider 102 can be a video-over-IP content provider (herein below referred to as IPTV). In these embodiments, the subscriber premises device 104 can comprise an IPTV decoder operable to change into one or more channel streams distributed by the content provider 102 and the distribution network 106 can traverse a data network, such as the Internet.

No matter what type of distribution network 106 is employed, the subscriber premises device 104 comprises various components and interfaces. Firstly, the subscriber premises device 104 comprises a content interface 104i for receiving the content streams 210, 212 and 214 from the content provider 102.

Specifically, in the above-mentioned satellite broadcast scenario, the content interface 104i can comprise a reception device (such as a satellite dish, an antenna or the like, typically installed outside the subscriber's premises, such as on the side of a house or on the roof), as well as outside/inside wiring between the reception device and the remainder of the subscriber premises device 104. All of these components are known to those of skill in the art and, as such, need not be discussed here. In the above-mentioned cable scenario, the content interface 104i can comprises a coaxial cable interface. In the above-mentioned IPTV scenario, the content interface 104i can comprise an Ethernet cable connection and can support various access technologies, such as DSL, cable, fiber-to-the-home, dial up and the like.

The subscriber premises device 104 can further comprise a display interface 104₂ for connecting to a display (such as a monitor, TV or the like) for outputting a signal representing one of the plurality of content streams 210, 212 and 214. The subscriber premises device 104 can further comprise a control port 104₃ for receiving control signals from a control device, such as a remote control or the like. It should be understood that the control port 104₃ can be adapted to receive control signals over infra-red waves, UHF, Bluetooth® or any other suitable transmission medium.

The subscriber premises device 104 can further comprise a processor 104₄ that can be used for controlling other components of the subscriber premises device 104 (such as the content interface 104i, the display interface 104₂, the control port 104₃ as well as other components). The processor 104₄ can further comprise memory for storing information (such as interactive applications and other information, as will be described in greater detail herein below). Naturally, the subscriber premises device 104 can comprises a number of other interfaces and components, all these interfaces are well known to those skilled in the art and, as such, need not be described here in any detail.

Therefore, it should be apparent that processor 104₄ is operable to receive a content stream (such as one or more of the content streams 210, 212 and 214) from the content provider 102 via the content interface 104_l5 to decode and decrypt the received content stream based on the signals received via the content interface 104] and to generate one or more signals representing the decoded and decrypted content stream for displaying on the display connected to the subscriber premises device 104 via the display interface 104₂, and possibly other components required for receiving, processing, decoding and transmitting the signal to a TV.

It should be appreciated that the viewer who uses the subscriber premises device 104 may have access to other subscriber premises equipment located in subscriber premises 113 (such as home, vacation property, office or the like), such as a computing apparatus 120 which may comprise a PC, a desktop, a laptop, a wireless communication device (such as a cellular phone, a wireless e-mail device, a Personal Digital Assistant, etc.) or the like. It should be noted that in some embodiments of the present invention, the computing apparatus 120 and the subscriber premises device 104 may be embodied in a single apparatus, which may be the case with

IPTV-based systems. The computing apparatus 120 may be connected to a data network 121. In some embodiments of the present invention, the data network 121 can be the same as the distribution network 106; for instance in case of an IPTV-based distribution network 106, both the data network 121 and the distribution network 106 may traverse the Internet. In other embodiments, the data network 121 can be distinct from the distribution network 106. For instance, in the scenario where the distribution network 106 comprises a satellite broadcast network, the data network 121 may comprise a WAN (such as the Internet) or the like.

It will be appreciated that in some embodiments of the present invention, the content provider 102 may also be connected to the data network 121 and as such, the viewer can also access the content provider 102 using the computing apparatus 120 via the data network 121. For example, the content provider 102 may present various information (such as program listings, network maintenance information and the like) on a web site that can be accessed by the viewer via the data network 121 using the computing apparatus 120. This web site may be hosted and/or controlled by the content provider 102. Alternatively, the web site may be hosted by a third party. For the sake of simplicity, this web site is referred to herein below as "content provider web site".

For illustration purposes only, further description will rely on examples of a DTH satellite broadcaster. However, it should be noted that these teachings equally apply to other types distribution systems including but not limited to cable broadcasters and IPTV-based systems.

The content provider 102 can comprise a conditional access and control module 108, a content acquiring module 110, a content processing module 112, a delay module 114A and a distribution module 116. The conditional access and control module 108 can be responsible for controlling other components of the content provider 102, to maintain subscriber profiles, service subscriptions detail and to perform billing functions. The conditional access and control module 108 may comprise one or more databases (not depicted) for storing subscriber profiles and service subscription details, and for maintaining billing schedules and the like. It will be appreciated that the one or more databases can be hosted locally on the conditional access and control module 108, another component of the content provider 102 or accessed remotely by the conditional access and control module 108 via a network (such as the data network 121). The content acquiring module 110 can be responsible for acquiring content from a plurality of content sources, of which only one content source 111 is depicted. The type of content sources 111 used depends on the arrangements that a particular content provider 102 has in place. It should be recognized that some content sources 111 may be operated by the content provider 102 and others may be operated by another content provider, such as an affiliate or a third party data aggregator.

The content processing module 112 can be responsible for compiling various content acquired by the content acquiring module 110 from the content source 111 into content streams 210, 212 and 214 in accordance with bandwidth availability of a particular satellite transponder (not depicted). In other embodiments (in particular in case of IPTV -based systems), the content processing module 112 can be responsible for packetizing the acquired content. In some other embodiments, the content processing module 112 can be responsible for digitizing the content acquired from the content source 111. The content processing module 112 is further operable to process the acquired content according to various compression methods, such as H.264,

MPEG, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 and the like.

The optional delay module 114A can be embodied in a dedicated or multi-purpose computer or any other suitable processing apparatus, and can be operable to introduce a delay into the content streams 210, 212 and 214 compiled by the content processing module 112. In some embodiments of the present invention, the delay is introduced by buffering the content of content streams 210, 212 and 214 in the delay module 114A. The duration of the buffering operation, i.e. the introduced delay, can be a pre-determined period of time, such as 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, etc. The delay module 114A outputs the delayed content streams 210, 212 and 214 to the distribution module 116 for distribution to the plurality of subscriber premises devices 104 via the distribution network 106. In alternative embodiments, the delay module 114A can be embodied in a video-on-demand architecture (not depicted) of the content provider 102, known to those of skill in the art. It should be noted that in some embodiments the delay may be introduced locally at the subscriber premises device 104. This, the delay module (depicted as 114B) can be implemented locally at the subscriber premises device 104. One skilled in the art should appreciate that in the case of the delay module implemented locally at the subscriber premises device 104 as the delay module 114B, the processor 104₄ should comprise multiple tuners, i.e. one for each content stream to which a delay is to be introduced. Conveniently, the delay module 114B can be implemented using a Personal Video Recorder (PVR) function (not depicted), using either volatile or non- volatile memory of the customer premises device 104.

The distribution module 116 can be responsible for encoding, encryption and transmission of the content streams 210, 212 and 214 to the subscriber premises devices 104. In some embodiments of the present invention, the distribution module 116 receives the content streams 210, 212 and 214 from the delay module 114A (if delay is to be introduced to the content) or from the content processing module 112 (if no delay is required or if the delay module 114B is implemented locally at the subscriber premises device 104), and encodes and encrypts the content streams 210, 212 and 214 according to known encoding and encryption techniques. Once the content streams 210, 212 and 214 are encrypted, the distribution module 116 is operable to transmit the encrypted content streams 210, 212 and 214 to the plurality of subscriber premises devices 104 via the distribution network 106. The exact method of transmission depends on the type of the content provider 102 (ex. Direct to Home satellite broadcaster, cable distributor, IPTV distributor or the like) and the corresponding distribution network 106 (ex. satellite, cable, Internet or the like). These processes are well known to those skilled in the art and, as such, need not be described in detail.

Having described the components of system 100, reference is now made to Figure 2, which depicts the content provider 102 and a particular subscriber premises device 104, as well as several of a plurality of content indicators generated and distributed in the content streams 210, 212 and 214. Clearly, the system 100 may generate fewer or more content streams. For illustration purposes only, assume that the content streams 210 and 212 both carry sporting channels (such as well known Sky Sports, Viasat Sports and the like) and the content stream 214 carries a news channel (such as the well known CNN, BBC or the like). In some embodiments of the present invention, it is contemplated that the content provider 102 can be responsible for generating and distributing so-called "content indicators", each content indicator being indicative of occurrence of a particular event in one of the content streams 210, 212 and 214. Specifically, an operator (not depicted) monitors the content of the content streams 210, 212 and 214 and, in the case of the content stream 210, generates a content indicator 21Oi indicative of an occurrence of an event in the content stream 210 using a computing apparatus (not depicted) coupled to the content processing module 112. In one specific non-limiting example, the content stream 210 can convey video footage of a hockey game. The operator at the content processing module 112 can in fact generate multiple content indicators 21Oi indicative of occurrence of various events in the content stream 210. A given content indicator 21Oi can convey one of a plurality of events occurring in the content stream 210, such as "goal", "goal; Saku Koivu \ "injury", "injury; Saku Koivu" and the like. It should be noted that the content indicator can be embodied in a text file, an XML file, an HTML file or other suitable file formats. It should be noted that the generated content indicators 21Oi can carry plural quanta of information such as, in case of a hockey game, an event type, a player name, a team name, etc. separated by appropriate separators. For illustration purposes, in case of XML format used, the content indicator 21Oi can be encoded in the following exemplary format:

<game> Montreal at Toronto </game>

<team> Montreal </team>

<player> Saku Koivu </player>

<score> Montreal 2 Toronto 4 </score>

It should be noted that the type of information that describes an event is not particularly limited and depends on the type of event being described.

Each content indicator 21Oi can further include information associated with the content stream 210 itself to enable the subscriber premises device 104 to change to the content stream 210. The information associated with the content stream 210 can include the channel frequency associated with the content stream 210, a logical definition of the channel, a channel stream definition for requesting the appropriate channel stream from an IPTV server or the like. One should understand that any information associated with the content stream 210 that would enable the subscriber premises device 104 to identify and tune to the content stream 210 can be used.

In other embodiments of the present invention, generation of content indicators can be done automatically by the content processing module 112. The techniques for automatic indexing of content (such as MPEG-7 based Video Annotation techniques and the like) are known in the art and as such need not be discussed in great detail.

In still other embodiments of the present invention, the content indicators can be generated by the content sources (such as the content source 111) and already be incorporated into the content streams received by the content acquiring module 110. For example, in the above- illustrated non-limiting example of a hockey game, the content indicators 21Oi can be generated by a video crew that was sent to the hockey game venue to capture the live video feed. It should be appreciated that the content source 111 may be controlled by the content provider 102 or by another entity, such as another content provider, a dedicated sport programs content provider, a non-related third party that collects, aggregates and distributes statistical information relating to sporting and other events or the like.

In the same manner, a content indicator 212i is generated to describe a particular event occurring in the content stream 212. By way of non-limiting example, let the content generator 212i denote a goal happening in a soccer game broadcast in the content stream 212. In addition, the content indicator 214i can be generated to describe a particular event occurring in the content stream 214. By way of non-limiting example, let the content indicator 214i denote a specific news segment broadcast in the content stream 214. For example, "news segment; Martha Stewart". Alternatively, a content indicator "new album; Britney Spears^'" may be used for describing an event occurring in a content stream that conveys music programming. Other event indicators will become apparent to those skilled in the art having access to the teachings of this invention. A method for distributing content indicators will now be described. The method can be performed in its entirety or in part by the distribution module 116, the content processing module 112, the content acquiring module 110 or other modules of the content provider 102. For illustration purposes only, it is assumed that method is performed by the content processing module 112.

According to the method, once the content indicators 21Oi, 212i and 214i are generated (whether by the content provider 102 or by the content source 111), the content indicators 21Oi, 212i and 214i are multiplexed and inserted into one or more of the content streams 210, 212 and 214. The multiplexing of content indicators 21Oi, 212i and 214i can be performed in its entirety or in part by the content processing module 112, the distribution module 116 or another component of the content provider 102. The content indicators 21Oi, 212i and 214i can be inserted into one or more of the content streams 210, 212 and 214 using a variety of methods, such as injection into the MPEG flow, injection into a data stream, an MPEG stream, injection into the Vertical Blanking Interval and the like.

It should be understood, the content indicators 21Oi, 212i and 214i can also be broadcast in conjunction and in association with one or more content streams 210, 212 and 214. For example, the content indicators 21Oi, 212i and 214i can be also delivered using an out-of-band delivery means, for instance via a wireless network, a data network and the like. Put another way, the content indicators 21Oi, 212i and 214i can be delivered in-band (i.e. via the same medium the content of the content streams 210, 212 and 214 is delivered) or out-of-band (i.e. via a medium different from the one used to deliver content of the content streams 210, 212 and 214).

In yet further embodiments of this invention, the content indicators 21Oi, 212i and 214i can be distributed on a dedicated channel (not depicted). This dedicated channel can be a dedicated Interactive Television (iTV) channel. It is also contemplated that this dedicated channel can be virtually mapped to one or more of the content streams 210, 212 and 214 to allow receipt of the content indicators 21Oi, 212i and 214i on one or more the content streams 210, 212 and 214. The process of virtual mapping is known to those of skill in the art and, as such, need to be discussed in great detail here.

Recalling now that content streams 210 and 212 are sport channels and that the content stream 214 is a news channel, it is assumed that only subscribers to the sports packages have access to the event announcement functionality described herein. It will therefore be the case that the content indicators 21Oi, 212i and 214i are inserted into content streams 210 and 212, but are not inserted into the content stream 214. It should be noted that even though news viewers do not have the event announcement functionality, content indicator 214i denoting an event occurring in the content stream 214 (i.e. the news channel) may nevertheless be inserted into the content streams 210 and 212 to allow sports viewers to be alerted to news events. Of course, it should be understood that this is not a limiting feature of this invention and the multiplexed content indicators 21Oi, 212i and 214i may be inserted in all available content streams (such as all content streams 210, 212 and 214) or into a selection of content streams grouped in a desired manner.

If the delay module 114A is activated to introduce a delay into content streams 210 and 212, it is envisaged that the insertion multiplexed content indicators 21Oi, 212i and 214i into the distributed content streams 210 and 212 will bypass the delay. One should appreciate that this approach allows for delivering content indicators 21Oi, 212i and 214i to the subscriber premises device 104 prior to the event of interest being received and viewed. This in turn allows for the subscriber premises device 104 to receive the content indicators 21Oi, 212i and 214i, to process the received content indicators 21Oi, 212i and 214i and to provide one or more announcements of event of interest prior to reception and displaying occurrence of the event of interest. As such, the viewers using the subscriber premises device 104 can decide as to how they wish to respond to the announcement of the event of interest, as will be described in greater detail herein below.

On the other hand, if the delay module 114B is activated to introduce a delay into the received content streams 210 and 212 locally at the subscriber premises device 104, it is envisaged that the content of the content streams 210 and 212 is displayed after the delay period expires, while the content indicators 21Oi, 212i and 214i are received and processed without undergoing the delay. One should appreciate that this approach allows for processing content indicators 21Oi, 212i and 214i at the subscriber premises device 104 prior to the event of interest being viewed. This in turn allows for the subscriber premises device 104 to provide one or more event announcements based on one or more of the received content indicators 21Oi, 212i and 214i prior to displaying occurrence of the event of interest. As such, the viewers using the subscriber using the subscriber premises device 104 can decide as to how they wish to respond to the announcement of the event of interest, as will be described in greater detail herein below.

Figures 3A - 3E depict various Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) for accepting a so-called 'Viewer choice" which provides an indication of the types of events and other information quanta that are of interest to the viewer which can be used for generating a so-called "selection parameter". It should be noted that the terms "viewer" and "subscriber" are used interchangeably for the purposes of this description. At the same time, it should be noted that the term "subscriber" should be construed broadly and not narrowly to depict a person who has entered into a business relationship with the content provider 102. As such, anyone living in or visiting the customer premises 113 may be considered a subscriber for the purposes of this invention.

How the GUI is presented to the subscriber is not particularly limiting. In some embodiments of the present invention, the subscriber can access GUI similar to those schematically presented in Figures 3A-C by accessing the aforementioned content provider web site using the computing apparatus 120 via the data network 121. The subscriber can access the content provider web site in a conventional manner, by clicking a link, entering an URL or the like. The subscriber may be required to log into a dedicated portion of the content provider web site before being presented the GUI, for example by providing a user name and password combination that was assigned to or created by her or him. Any other suitable means for logging in can be used. In alternative embodiments, the GUI can be presented to the subscriber on a screen of a wireless communication device (such as cellular phone, a wireless e-mail device, a Personal Digital Assistant or the like), a selection kiosk screen or any other suitable means. The subscriber is first presented with a selection parameter screen 202 which is aimed at soliciting a "high level" viewer choice from the subscriber by inviting him or her to select a category of interest 204. Various choices in multiple categories can be provided to the subscriber, such as ''sports'^', "current affairs", "Other" and the like. Under these broad categories, various sub-categories can be provided. For example, under the "sport" category a list of various available sport programs can be provided, such as "footbalF, ""baseball" , "swimming", "hockey", "basketball" and "ice skating". One should understand that the exact choice of categories and sub-categories for the selection parameter screen 202 is not particularly limited and will depend on the nature of content distributed by the service provider 102 and available to the subscriber. It will be recalled that the conditional access and control module 108 of the content provider 102 maintains multiple subscriber profiles that contains information in respect to individual subscriber subscriptions and the like. Information contained in the conditional access and control module 108 can be used to modify the choice of categories and sub-categories presented to the subscriber via the selection parameter screen 202.

The selection parameter can be received by means of the subscriber clicking a mouse on a check button associated with the category/sub-category of the event of interest in a manner well known in the art. It should be understood that any other method for ascertaining the viewer choice can be used, such as receiving the viewer choice by means of a remote control, keyboard, joystick, touchpad, touch screen, voice controlled device and the like. Furthermore, it should be understood that even though the selection parameter screen 202 is depicted using check buttons, other types of interfaces can be used, such as radio buttons, drop down menus and the like. In one specific non-limiting example, the check button beside the "hockey" category 208 is selected, and as such is blacked out, and the check button beside "soccer" category 206 is not selected. An "enter" button 207 can be provided to confirm the acceptance of the viewer choice. Alternatively, the viewer choice can be automatically accepted upon the subscriber selecting one of the check buttons. It should be noted that more than one viewer choice can be accepted using the selection parameter screen 202. For instance, the subscriber may click both "soccer" and "cooking" sub-categories in the "sports" and "other" categories, respectively.

Upon the subscriber confirming the viewer choice (either by clicking the "enter" button 207 or selecting one or more of the categories or sub-categories (such as "hockey" category 208), the subscriber can be presented with further selection parameter screens 210 and 212 as depicted in Figures 3B and 3C. These further selection parameter screens 210 and 212 can be used to specify more detailed viewer choice than the viewer choice specified via the selection parameter screen 202. The information presented on the selection parameter screens 210 and 212 can be customized on the basis of the viewer choice made on the selection parameter screen 202. However, this should not be construed as a limiting feature and information presented on selection parameter screens 210 and 212 may be independent of the information solicited and received via the selection parameter screen 202.

For illustration purposes only, consider the scenario whereby the subscriber has selected the "hockey" category 208 using the selection parameter screen 202. In this scenario the selection parameter screen 210 can be designed to solicit subscriber input that further qualifies the event of interest. For example, the subscriber may be presented with the choice of events such as "power play" 210, "goal" 212, "particular player" 214, "particular team" 216 and others. The choices presented on the selection parameter screen 210 are not particularly limited. The "enter" button 207 may also be provided. The viewer choice may be received from the subscriber in substantially the same manner as was described above with reference to Figure 3A or in any other known manner.

The selection parameter screen 212 can be provided to ascertain yet further information about the viewer choice associated with a particular event of interest. In one specific non-limiting example, consider the following scenario whereby the subscriber has selected "particular player" 214 sub-category via the previously described selection parameter screen 210. In this scenario, the subscriber can be presented the selection parameter screen 212 containing several choices for players, such as "Saku Koivu" 218, "Joe Sakic" 220, "Sidney Crosby" 222 and the like. The variety of choices presented on the selection parameter screen 212 is not particularly limited. The "enter" button 207 may also be provided. The viewer choice may be received from the subscriber in substantially the same manner as was described above with reference to Figure 3A or in any other manner.

It should be recognized that the depth of available choices presented to the subscriber via one or more of the selection parameter screens 202, 210 and 212 depends on the content provider's 102 ability and/or desire to produce the corresponding depth of the content indicators (such as content indicators 21Oi, 212i and 214i). As an example, if the content provider is only able and/or desirous of providing only content identifiers indicative of "high level" events, such as "hockey" or "baseball", then only the selection parameter screen 202 comprising corresponding "high level" viewer choices will be provided. On the other hand, if the content provider 102 is able and/or desirous of providing more detailed content identifiers providing more detailed information about the event, such as "hockey; Toronto at Montreal; goal" then one or more selection parameter screens similar to 210 and 212 can be provided to the subscriber to determine the viewer choice with corresponding depth of details.

Once the subscriber confirms his or her choices using one or more of the selection parameter screens 202, 210 and 212, the content provider web site generates a selection parameter that represents the viewer's choice(s). To illustrate, assume that the subscriber has selected "hockey" using the selection parameter screen 202 and "power play" using the selection parameter screen 210. Once the subscriber confirms his or her choices, for instance by clicking on the "enter" button 207, the content provider web site is operable to generate the selection parameter comprising "Hockey; Goal" . It should be appreciated that a different format can be used, for instance sub-categories can be separated by a comma or alternatively, the selection parameter can comprise a table, each of the table entries comprising a separate sub-category. The selection parameter can be created as a text file, an XML file, a HTML file or using any other suitable file format. The content provider web site stores and transmits the so-generated file containing the selection parameter to the service provider 102 via the data network 121 using one of the known techniques (such as web form, web form to e-mail, web form to database, JAVA scripts or the like). The content provider web site is further operable to insert an identifier associated with the subscriber (such as a user ID, a user log-in name or the like) into the file containing the selection parameter. The content provider 102 determines an identifier of the subscriber premises device 104 associated with the subscriber to whom the selection parameter pertains (for example, by accessing the database stored on the conditional access and control module 108 and performing a look-up function).

Once the identifier of the subscriber premises device 104 (which can be one of an IP address, a MAC address or any other suitable identifier) is determined, the distribution module 116 of the content provider 102 transmits the obtained file containing the selection parameter to the subscriber premises device 104 associated with the subscriber to whom the selection parameter pertains using the determined identifier of the subscriber premises device 104. The transmission can be implemented in any suitable manner, which depends on the type of the distribution network 106 used. In one specific non-limiting example of the distribution network 106 comprising a Direct to Home satellite distribution network, the file containing the selection parameter can be encapsulated into a token and the token can be broadcast to all the available subscriber premises devices 104. The token can further comprise an identifier of the subscriber premises device 104 to which the selection parameter pertains. The subscriber premises device 104 that has the same identifier as the one encapsulated into the broadcast token is operable to recognize its identifier and to retrieve the selection parameter from the received file containing the selection parameter and store the so-extracted selection parameter on the processor 104₄. In this manner, the subscriber premises device 104 becomes aware of the selection parameter provisioned by the subscriber via a computing device connected to a data network. Analogous methods to transmit the selection parameter to the subscriber premises device 104 via other types of distribution networks 106 (such as cable networks, IPTV networks and the like) will be apparent to those skilled in the art and, as such, need not be described in great detail here.

In a variant of the above embodiment, the selection parameter can be determined in substantially the same manner as previously described with reference to Figures 3A-C. For instance, the selection parameter can be derived from viewer choices obtained via one or more of the selection parameter screens 202, 210, 112 conveyed by the content provider web site with which the subscriber interacts using the computing device 120 connected to the data network 121. The computing device 120 can generate a "hash code" representing the selection parameter. The "hash code" can be generated in a known manner and can comprise a unique combination of digits or alphanumeric symbols, such as 8 symbols, 16 symbols, 24 symbols or the like. The content provider web site outputs the "hash code" to the subscriber, for instance using the computing apparatus 120.

Once the subscriber obtains the "hash code", the subscriber can submit the selection parameter to the subscriber premises device 104 by entering the "hash code" via a selection parameter screen such as the selection parameter screen 216 depicted in Figure 3E. The subscriber can enter the "hash code" using the remote control device and can confirm the selection using the "select" key of the remote control device or any other suitable key. Once the subscriber confirms his or her entry, the subscriber premises device 104 is operable to translate the received hash code into the selection parameter(s) and to store the selection parameter(s), for instance using the processor 104₄. As such, the subscriber premises device 104 becomes aware of the selection parameter.

It should be noted that in the above embodiments, the selection parameter screens 210, 210, 212 can be presented to the subscriber by the content provider web site accessed by the subscriber using the computing apparatus 120 or by an application running locally on the computing apparatus 120. It will be appreciated that such an application can be downloaded from the content provider web site via the data network 121 and can be installed locally on the computing apparatus 120. Alternatively, the application can be installed onto the computing apparatus 120 using a CD-ROM, a dynamic wireless network, an USB/memory key or any other suitable means. Alternatively, the subscriber may call the content provider 102 and provide his or her selection parameter over the phone to a customer service representative. Other alternatives for converting the viewer choice into the "hash code" will become apparent to those skilled in the art.

In yet other embodiments of the present invention, and with reference to Figure 3D, the subscriber can make viewer choices using the subscriber premises device 104. The GUI for soliciting viewer choices can be presented by an application running on the processor 104₄ which can be an Interactive Television (iTV) application. This iTV application can be downloaded on demand (such as by the viewer tuning into a dedicated channel) or can be stored by the processor 104₄ and activated when required.

In these embodiments, a selection parameter screen 214 can be conveyed by the subscriber premises device 104 onto the display coupled to the subscriber premises device 104 via the display interface 104₂. The subscriber can provide his or her viewer choices using the keys of the remote control. In one specific non-limiting example, each sub-category can be provided with a numerical code, such as (1) for "soccer'^{' '}, (3) for "swimming", (*1) for "music " and so on. The subscriber can enter one or more of his or her choices by entering the appropriate digits using the keys of the remote control. The subscriber may be invited to confirm his or her selection by clicking the "select" key or any other appropriate key of the remote control ("Click SELECT to confirm" 224). One should understand that any number of selection parameter screens similar to the previously described selection parameter screens 210 and 212 can be presented to the subscriber for obtaining more detailed viewer choices. Once the viewer choices have been made, they are converted into a selection parameter and can be stored at the subscriber premises device 104, for instance using the processor 104₄ of the subscriber premises device 104.

In all of the above embodiments, it should be understood that a number of additional selection parameter screens can be presented to the subscriber to ascertain further information in respect of the selection parameter. For example, viewer choices in respect to a number of additional event announcement options can be solicited. These additional event announcement options can comprise but is not limited to: "type" of event of interest announcement (e.g. "automatic" or "'semi-automatic") used to determine how to handle a particular event of interest announcement, "priority" of a particular selection parameter used to resolve conflicts between concurrently occurring events, and so on. Once the viewer choice is ascertained, the selection parameter can be provisioned with an appropriate trigger. For example, for the type of event of interest announcement, the selection parameter can be augmented with an '"A" trigger for

"automatic" channel change and "S" trigger for "'semi-automatic" channel change. In a similar manner, the selection parameter can be augmented with a priority indication, such as in one non-limiting example, a numeric value from 1 to 5 (1 denoting lowest priority and 5 denoting

It should be further recognized that any one of the subscribers may provide more than one selection parameter indicative of more than one event of interest. In one specific non-limiting example, a particular subscriber may be interested to watch goals in all soccer games, but may only be interested in watching penalties incurred by a specific player. As such, two selection parameters each denoting a respective event of interest can be generated, and ultimately stored by the processor 104₄.

With reference to Figure 4, a method for triggering an event action is now described. It should be noted that the method can be conveniently executed on the processor 104₄ of the subscriber premises device 104 or another suitable component of the subscriber premises device 104. The method for triggering an event action can be executed by an application running on the processor 104₄ which can be an Interactive Television (iTV) application. This iTV application can be downloaded on demand (such as by the viewer tuning into a dedicated channel) or can be stored by the processor 104₄ and activated when required. It should be recalled that the subscriber premises device 104 can be a satellite receiver/decoder, a cable receiver device or an IPTV receiver device. It will be recalled that the subscriber premises device 104 is operable to receive a plurality of content streams, such as content streams 210, 212 and 214 depicted in Figures 1 and 2. It will be further recalled that some or all of the content streams 210, 212 and 214 may contain a plurality of content indicators 21Oi, 212i and 214i indicative of event occurrence on corresponding content streams 210, 212 and 214.

Firstly, it is assumed that the subscriber is currently watching a first content stream, say content stream 210 depicted in Figures 1 and 2 on a display to the subscriber premises device 104 via the display interface 104₂. The method starts at step 410 wherein the processor 104₄ is monitoring the first content stream 210 for at least one content indicator. In other words, the processor 104₄ monitors at least one of the data tracks or VBI lines of the first content stream 210 in an attempt to detect at least one content indicator (such as content indicators 212i or 214i) that is indicative of event occurrence on other content streams (such as content streams 212 or 214 respectively).

At step 412, the processor 1044 determines if at least one content indicator has been received within the first content stream 210. The first content stream 210 may be a data stream related to the currently tuned channel. Alternatively, the first content stream 210 can be an independent data stream in the content stream to which the processor 104₄ is currently tuned to.

If no content indicators have been received (i.e. step 412 = NO), the processor 104₄ returns to step 410 and continues to monitor the first content stream 210 in an attempt to detect at least one content indicator. If, on the other hand, a content indicator has been received (i.e. step 412 = YES), the processor 104₄ proceeds to step 414 when the subscriber premises device 104 obtains at least one selection parameter.

It should be recalled that the viewer choices can be ascertained using one of the selection parameter screens 202, 210, 212, 214 or 216 described with reference to Figures 3A-E and based on the obtained viewer choice a selection parameter can be generated. The selection parameter can eventually be stored in the memory of the processor 104₄. In some embodiments of the present invention, the at least one selection parameter can be generated before occurrence of the event of interest on one of the content streams 210, 212 or 214 and stored in the memory of the processor 104₄ for retrieval at a later time. Thus, the processor 104₄ can obtain the at least one selection parameter by retrieving the stored at least one selection parameter from the memory of processor 104₄.

Is should be understood that it is further contemplated that in an alternative embodiment, the processor 104₄ can ascertain viewer choices and generate the respective selection parameters concurrently with receiving a particular content stream (such as the content streams 210, 212 or 214). Thus, the at least one selection parameter can be obtained by generating the selection parameter from a viewer choice ascertained concurrently with receiving of the content stream (such as one of the content streams 210, 212 or 214) that contains on instance of the potential event of interest . To illustrate, consider the following scenario. The subscriber is watching a hockey game that is running on the content stream 210. Upon occurrence of a particular event (such as a goal), the subscriber premises device 104 can solicit a viewer choice from the subscriber to indicate whether he or she would be interested in other similar events (such as all other goals or goals from the same team/player) occurring on other content streams being announced according to the teachings of this invention. The viewer choice can be solicited using one or more selection parameter screens similar to those depicted in Figures 3A-D and an appropriate selection parameter can be generated based on the so-ascertained viewer choice.

At this point it would be beneficial for the sake of the reader to discuss in further detail various alternatives for detail of the selection parameter. One would appreciate that different subscribers may be interested in different events. For instance, one subscriber may be interested in all goals in all sport programs. Another subscriber may be interested in only specific goals, such as a goal by a particular team and/or player in all sport programs. Yet another subscriber may be interested in goals occurring in only specific sport program. It should be recognized, that using the selection parameter screens 202, 210 and 212 selection parameters with different level of detail indicative of subscriber-specific interest may be obtained.

The processor 104₄ then proceeds to step 416, where the processor 104₄ effects a comparison of the at least one received content indicator (such as content indicator 21Oi, 212i or 214i) with the at least one locally stored selection parameter. Effectively, the processor 104₄ compares each of the received content indicators (such as content indicators 21Oi, 212i or 214i) with each of the stored selection parameters to determine whether there is a match.

At step 418, the processor 104₄ determines whether comparison renders a positive outcome. For the benefit of the reader and with reference to Table 1, the following examples are provided of what comparison scenarios would render a "positive outcome" and what comparison scenarios would render a "negative outcome" within the meaning of this invention.

Table 1

It should be recalled that both the content indicators (ex. content indicators 21Oi, 212i or 214i) and the selection parameters can have different levels of detail. Table 1 describes different scenarios for comparing a specific one of content indicators and a specific one of the selection parameters and the rendered outcome of the comparison. In the example presented in row 1, the stored selection parameter may contain "gøα/" indicating that the subscriber is interested in all goals occurring on all content streams. The received content indicator (such as the content indicator 21Oi) may be more or less detailed and contain, for example, three components "Toronto at Montreal; Goal; Saku Koivu". In this example, the comparison between the content indicator and the selection parameter would render a positive result.

In another example depicted in row 2, the stored selection parameter may contain "Montreal at Toronto; Goal; Saku Koivu" indicating that the subscriber is only interested in goals by Saku Koivu occurring in a Montreal at Toronto game. The received content indicator (such as the content indicator 21Oi) in this example may contain a "goaf indicating the nature of the event that is about to occur. In this example, the comparison between the content indicator and the selection parameter would render a negative result. It should be appreciated that these two examples are provided for illustrative purposes only and other variations are within the scope of this invention.

In the example depicted in row 3, the comparison between the stored selection parameter comprising "goal; Saku Koivu " and the received content identifier "goal" would render a negative result. In the example depicted in row 4, the comparison between the stored selection parameter comprising "New Jersey at Toronto; goal" and the received content identifier "Montreal at Toronto; goal" would likewise render a negative result. In the example depicted in row 5 on the other hand, the comparison between the stored selection parameter comprising "hockey" and the received content identifier "hockey; Toronto; Montreal" would render a positive result. The examples provided in rows 6 and 7 in which comparison effected between the stored selection parameter comprising "hockey; Toronto; Montreal" and the received content identifier "hockey", as well the stored selection parameter comprising "hockey" and the received content identifier "soccer", would both render a negative result

To complete the discussion, the example provided in row 8 in which comparison is effected between each of the stored selection parameters (i.e. a first selection parameter containing "soccer" and a second selection parameter containing "hockey") and the received content indicator containing "soccer" . This scenario may occur when the subscriber has provisioned more than one viewer choice and, as such, more than one selection parameter has been generated and stored. In this example, the comparison would render a positive result, as the received content indicator matches at least one of the stored selection parameters.

It should be appreciated that various scenarios represented with reference to Table 1 are merely examples to illustrate comparison principles of this invention. As such, those skilled in the art will be able to appreciate these principles and apply them to other comparison scenarios.

If step 418 renders a negative result or, in other words, if none of the stored selection parameters matches any of the at least one received content indicator (i.e. step 418 = NO), the subscriber premises device 104 returns to step 410 where it continues to monitor for a content indicator. If on the other hand, a positive match has been determined or, in other words, if at least one stored selection parameter matches at least one received content indicator (i.e. step 418 = YES), the processor 104₄ proceeds to step 420 where it determines if any additional event announcement options have been selected for the particular selection parameter.

For the benefit of the reader two possible additional announcement options are now described. The first option is prioritization of various events of interest and the second option is the "automatic " vs. "semi-automatic " channel change. It should be appreciated that these options are described by way of an example and should not be used to limit the scope of this invention. It should be further understood that for any given selection parameter more than one additional event announcement option can be selected, or for that matter a particular selection parameter may have no associated additional even announcement options selected.

It will be appreciated that more than one of the content indicators 21Oi, 212i and 214i that are received quasi-simultaneously can match at least one stored selection parameter at any given time. This is likely to occur where two potential events of interest are occurring almost simultaneously in two different content streams, say content stream 210 and content stream 212. In this scenario, two content indicators 21Oi and 212i will be generated and both content indicators 21Oi and 212i will match one or more of the stored selection parameters if the subscriber is interested in those particular events and has accordingly provisioned corresponding selection parameters. In order to enable the processor 1044 to effectively "prioritize" one event over the other, the processor 104₄ may consult the content of the selection parameter. It will be recalled that the subscriber may provision selection parameter priority to determine priority treatment of one event of interest over the other using one or more modified selection parameter screens 202, 210 or 212. For instance, a particular subscriber may "prioritize" goals over penalties sustained by a specific player over goals by another player. In this non-limiting example, the selection parameter pertaining to goals may have a priority indication with a higher value than the selection parameter pertaining to "penalties by specific player". As such, an effective conflict resolution method is provided to "prioritize" certain events of interest over other events of interest based on a subscriber- specific selection parameter. In other embodiments of the present invention, the prioritization criterion can be selected by the operator who generated the quasi-simultaneous content indicators (in this case the content indicators 21Oi and 212i) and, as such, the prioritization code may be part of the content indicators 21Oi and 212i. It should be appreciated that in other embodiments, the processor 104₄ may announce the events of interest in a "first-in-first-out" manner, i.e. announcing the events of interest in sequence that a positive comparison has been determined between the respective content indicator and at least one sorted selection parameter.

The processor 104₄ can also select between "automatic^"' and "semi-automatic" channel change options based on the additional event announcement options contained in the selection parameters. In some embodiments of the present invention, the viewer can provide his or her preference in respect to "automatic" and "semi-automatic" channel change options when providing a particular viewer choice (for instance, a particular viewer may wish to select an

"automatic" channel change option for all "goals ", but a "'semi-automatic" channel change option for "penalties "). In other embodiments, a default event announcement option may be pre-programmed into the subscriber premises device 104 (for all events are announced with an

"automatic" channel change option).

It should be noted that step 420 is optional and as such can be varied or omitted altogether (for instance, the subscriber premises device 104 can always default to one option).

Once the appropriate event announcement options are determined at step 420 (or, if step 420 is omitted, once the default event announcement options are ascertained by the processor IO4₄), the processor 104₄ proceeds to step 422 to announce the event of interest. The event may be announced using a subscriber notification screen now described with reference to Figures 5A- B. Figures 5A and 5B depict so-called subscriber notification screens that can be used to provide one or more event announcements to the viewer who uses the subscriber premises device 104 via the display interface 104₂. These subscriber notification screens can be conveniently generated by the processor 104₄. For illustration purposes only, consider the following scenario. The subscriber who uses the subscriber premises device 104 is currently tuned into the content stream 210. The subscriber has also provided a viewer choice via the selection parameter screens 202, 210 and 212 (Figures 3A-C) denoting her interest in "soccer", "goals'^'' and "actions by Saku Koivu" and the resultant selection parameter is stored at the subscriber premises device 104.

With reference to Figure 5A, one embodiment of the announcement of an event of interest is described. A subscriber notification screen 302A is provided to the subscriber using the display coupled to the subscriber premises device 104 via the display interface 104₂. For the purposes of the description of this embodiment, it is assumed that the selection parameter has been provisioned with the "semi-automatic " channel change additional event announcement option according to the ascertained viewer choice and, as such, at step 420 it has been determined that the "semi-automatic" channel change option is to be used. The subscriber notification screen 302A can comprise at least two portions - a content area 304A and an event reminder area generally depicted at 306A. The content area 304A can be used to display the content of the current content stream (such as the content stream 210). If required, sizing of the image to fit the size of the content area 304A can be done by one of the known techniques, such as video- scaling and the like. Alternatively, the event reminder area 306A can be overlaid over the content area 304A, which in this scenario may occupy all the available screen real estate.

The event reminder area 306A can be used to provide an event announcement to the subscriber. In one specific non-limiting example, once the match between the at least one selection parameter and at least one content indicator is determined (at step 418), an event announcement is provided to the subscriber using the event reminder area 306A. The event announcement may have a heading, such as "Event Reminder^''^'' or any other suitable heading. The event announcement can further comprise details about the event of interest, such as "Toronto at Montreal; Goal; Saku Koivu" or any other suitable reminder. This information is retrieved from the received content indicator by the processor 104₄ and inserted into the event announcement area 306A using any one of a variety of techniques. For example, the processor 104₄ can incorporate the event announcement into the content stream and transmit the augmented content stream to the display connected to the subscriber premises device 104 via the display interface 104₂, thereby causing the display to output the required information.

It will be appreciated that the information presented in the event announcement area 306A depends on the "'depth" of the event announcement (i.e. the amount of detail representing the event of interest contained in a particular one of the content indicators). The event announcement may further include an indication of the content stream where the event of interest is to occur (it will be recalled that this information may be conveniently included with the content indicator).

It should be understood that in some embodiments of the present invention, the content area 304A and the event reminder area 306A can be overlaid, superimposed or overlapped one over the other. One commonly used technique is known as "lower third super", and allows for providing the event announcement without disturbing the viewing of the current event and at the same time not requiring additional/dedicated real estate on the screen.

According to this scenario, the event announcement may further comprise a query to the subscriber to determine whether the subscriber wishes to tune to the channel stream that carries the announced event of interest. The provided query may be presented in the form of "Automatically change channels? Select=YES, Cancel=NO" or any other suitable message. The subscriber can enter his or her choice using the appropriate keys of the remote control. It should be recalled that the content indicators 21Oi, 212i and 214i may comprise channel frequencies associated with the content streams 210, 212 and 214. The subscriber premises device 104 is operable to extract that information and cause an automatic channel change (i.e. to tune into the appropriate frequency or to request the appropriate channel from the server) in a manner well known in the art. It should also be recalled that a pre-determined delay may be inserted into the content streams 210, 212 and/or 214 either using the delay module 114a of the content provider 102 or the local delay module or 114b of the subscriber premises device 104. As such, the event announcement may be provided in enough time to enable the subscriber to read the event announcement and decide whether he or she wishes to watch the announced event of interest. In case that the subscriber is interested in the particular event of interest, he or she may confirm the channel change and, as such, effect a "semi-automatic'^" channel change based on the subscriber-selected selection parameter, i.e. channel change that requires subscriber confirmation.

An alternative embodiment for providing an event announcement is depicted in Figure 5B. The subscriber notification screen 302B is substantially similar to the subscriber notification screen 302A and contains a content area 304B and an event reminder area 306B. For the purposes of the description of this embodiment, it is assumed that the selection parameter has been provisioned with the "automatic " channel change option according to the ascertained viewer choice and, as such, at step 420 it has been determined that the "automatic" channel change option is to be used. As such, the processes for providing an event announcement are different and are now discussed in detail.

For illustration purposes, it is further assumed that the subscriber premises device 104 is currently tuned into the content stream 210 and that at least one content indicator associated with the content stream 212 (such as the content indicator 212i) matches at least one selection parameter stored on the processor 104₄. In these embodiments, the processor 104₄ "'automatically" tunes into the content stream 212 using the channel frequency information or any other suitable channel information associated with the content stream 212 that is embedded into the content indicator 212i upon detection of the match. An event announcement can be further provided in the event reminder area 306B. The event announcement can comprise a heading (such as "Upcoming Event" or any other suitable heading) and information representing the event of interest, such as "Toronto at Montreal; Goal; Saku Koivu " or any other suitable message. It will be appreciated that the processor 104₄ can derive this information from the received content identifier. The event announcement can further comprise a query to the subscriber to determine whether the subscriber wants to stay tuned to the content stream 212 or whether the subscriber would prefer to tune back to the previous content stream (such as the content stream 210), referred to herein below as the "original content stream". The message to the extent of "Reverse channel change?

Cancel=NO" or any other suitable message can be used. It should be understood that in alternative embodiments of the present invention, the reversal of channel change can be performed in a conventional manner, i.e. the viewer clicking a dedicated key on the remote control, such as a RECALL key, which is normally used for causing the processor 104₄ to tune to a content stream that it has been previously tuned into.

It should be recalled that a pre-determined delay may be inserted into the content streams 210, 212 and/or 214 either using the delay module 114A of the content provider 102 or the delay module 114B of the subscriber premises device 104. As such, the event announcement may be provided in enough time to enable the subscriber to read the event announcement and to decide whether he or she wishes to watch the event of interest or switch back to the other content stream (in this example, the content stream 210) before the event of interest occurs. In case that the subscriber is not interested in the particular event of interest and prefers to turn back to the original content stream (in this example, the content stream 210), he or she may confirm the reversal of the channel change. As such, an "automatic" channel change based on the subscriber-selected selection parameter is effected with the option for the subscriber to cancel, i.e. to reverse, the "automated" channel change.

It is contemplated that in case of the "semi-automatic" and "automatic" channel change, the processor 104₄ can record the content of the original content stream to enable the viewer to return back to the event that was occurring on the original content stream and enjoy it after he or she has viewed the event of interest on another content stream. This functionality can be implemented using the PVR functionality (not depicted) of the processor 104₄. One skilled in the art should appreciate that in these embodiments, the processor 104₄ can comprise two or more tuners (and MPEG decoders) for receiving multiple content streams simultaneously. Alternatively, the processor 104₄ can record an entire content stream, the entire content stream comprising a number of different video and audio streams, and the specific required video/audio stream can be extracted upon playback. In this case, only a single tuner may be sufficient.

It should be noted that the two examples provided herein above (i.e. the event announcement with the "automated" or "semi-automated" channel change) are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to be limiting in any way. For example, it is contemplated that an event announcement indicative of the end of a particular event can be provided. To illustrate, consider the following scenario. The content indicator 21Oi can be indicative of a beginning of a particular event (such as a power play in hockey game) and the content indicator 212j (not depicted) can be indicative of an end of that particular event (such as the power play in hockey game). Accordingly, when the processor 104₄ receives the content indicator 21Oi and if it matches one or more of the selection parameters stored at the subscriber premises device 104, an event announcement may be provided according to the teachings of this invention to indicate the upcoming event of interest. The "automatic" or "semi-automatic" channel change can also be effected according to the teachings of this invention for the subscriber to view the announced event. When the processor 104₄ receives the content indicator 212i, it may provide an announcement similar to that presented on the subscriber notification screen 302B to indicate that the end of the event of interest and to query the subscriber if he or she wishes to revert to the content stream that he or she was viewing in prior to the "automatic" or "semi-automatic" channel change.

It should be further understood that rather then performing the "automatic" or "semiautomatic" channel change, the processor 104₄ can simultaneously display the second content stream that contains the event of interest and the current content stream, so that the viewer can enjoy the content of as well as the event of interest happening on a second content stream. This can be implemented by displaying the first content stream and the original content stream as picture-in-picture. Other arrangements (such as side-by-side and the like) can also be used. It should be understood that in these embodiments, the processor 104₄ comprises at least two decoders (such as MPEG decoders) for displaying two or more content streams simultaneously. It is further contemplated that rather performing an "automatic", "semi-automatic" channel change or the picture-in-picture displaying; the event of interest can be recorded for later viewing by the subscriber. The recording and storage can be performed using the delay module 114A or the delay module 114B.

It should be noted that even though step 422 has been described with reference to announcing the event of interest, it should be noted that the processor 104₄ can trigger any appropriate event action. The event action can comprise one or more of announcing the event of interest, causing "automatic" channel change, causing "semi-automatic" channel change, soliciting subscriber input indicative of a desire to affect an "automatic" channel change, soliciting subscriber input indicative of a desire to reverse a "semi-automatic" channel change, causing simultaneous display of the current channel stream and the channel stream on which the event of interest occurs, "picture-in-picture" display of the current channel stream and the channel stream on which the event of interest occurs, causing recording of the content stream on which the event of interest occurs and the like. It should be recognized that any desirable combination of these event actions can be used.

Even though the foregoing description has been provided with an example of the subscriber premises device 104 comprising a receiver device coupled to a display, it should be understood that the teachings of this invention equally apply to other types of subscriber devices that can be used for delivering content streams to the viewer. For instance, the subscriber premises device 104 can comprise a wireless communication device (such as a cellular phone, a wireless e-mail device, a Personal Digital Assistant or the like) that is adapted for receipt of streamed video and other content streams.

As such, the subscriber receives an announcement of an event of interest that matches at least one subscriber-selected selection parameter. Therefore, according to the teachings of the present invention a method, system and apparatus for triggering an event action in accordance with viewer preferences is provided. By means of an example, if a particular viewer is interested in all of the power plays and goals available in all NHL games running on a particular evening; she can trigger a series of event actions comprising announcing the events of interest in accordance with her preference (i.e. all the power plays and goals happening in games) and triggering the subscriber device (i.e. the receiver or the like) to change to the channel on which the event of interest is about to occur. In the scenario where a delay module is used, the viewer can also effectively enjoy these events of interest "live". Effectively, the viewer can enjoy all the highlights of all the events that are of a particular interest to that particular viewer. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that in some embodiments, certain functionality of the content provider 102 and/or the subscriber premises device 104 may be implemented as preprogrammed hardware or firmware elements (e.g., application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), electrically erasable programmable read-only memories (EEPROMs), etc.), or other related components. In other embodiments, the content provider 102 and/or the subscriber premises device 104 may comprise an arithmetic and logic unit (ALU) having access to a code memory (not shown) which stores program instructions for the operation of the ALU in order to execute the various processes described above. The program instructions could be stored on a medium which is fixed, tangible and readable directly by the content provider 102 and/or the subscriber premises device 104, (e.g., removable diskette, CD-ROM, ROM, or fixed disk), or the program instructions could be stored remotely but transmittable to the content provider 102 and/or the subscriber premises device 104 via a modem or other interface device (e.g., a communications adapter) connected to a network over a transmission medium. The transmission medium may be either a tangible medium (e.g., optical or analog communications lines) or a medium implemented using wireless techniques (e.g., microwave, infrared or other transmission schemes).

Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that there are yet more alternative implementations and modifications possible for implementing the present invention, and that the above implementations and examples are only illustrations of one or more embodiments of the present invention. The scope of the invention, therefore, is only to be limited by the claims appended hereto.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A method executable at a subscriber device capable of receiving a plurality of content streams from a content distribution subsystem, the method comprising:

monitoring a first content stream received from the content distribution subsystem to detect a presence of one or more content indicators indicative of event occurrence on corresponding ones of the plurality of content streams including at least one content stream other than the first content stream;

receiving at least one selection parameter, each of the at least one selection parameter being associated with a respective event of interest;

effecting a comparison of a particular one of the one or more content indicators with each of the at least one selection parameter; and

responsive to the comparison rendering a positive outcome for a particular one of the at least one selection parameter, triggering an event action associated with the particular selection parameter.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of content streams includes the first content stream.

3. The method of claim 1, the one or more content indicators being generated by the content distribution subsystem.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein each of the one or more content indicators are present in each content stream.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein each of the one or more content indicators are present in each of a subset of the plurality of content streams, the subset of the plurality of content streams including the first content stream.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the subset excludes the at least one content stream other than the first content stream.

7. The method of claim 1, the subscriber device comprising a receiver controllable by a control device, wherein said receiving at least one selection parameter comprises deriving the at least one selection parameter from an input made by the subscriber using the control device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said receiving at least one selection parameter comprises:

obtaining a selection code from the subscriber; the selection code encoding the at least one selection parameter;

decoding the selection code to derive the at least one subscriber selection parameter.

9. The method of claim 8, the subscriber device comprising a receiver controllable by a control device, wherein said obtaining a selection code comprises prompting the subscriber to input the selection code using the control device.

10. The method of claim 8 further comprising

prompting the subscriber for at least one selection parameter; and

generating the selection code responsive to the subscriber providing at least one selection parameter.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the prompting and generating steps are performed by a computing apparatus distinct from the subscriber device.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the computing apparatus comprises one of a Personal Computer, a desktop, a laptop, a wireless communication device and a selection kiosk.

13. The method of claim 11, the computing apparatus being coupled to the content distribution subsystem via a data network; wherein prompting comprises presenting a Graphical User Interface to the subscriber via the data network onto the computing apparatus.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein prompting comprises presenting a Graphical User Interface to the subscriber by an application running on the computing apparatus.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the application has been installed on the computing apparatus by one of downloading from the content distribution subsystem via a data network, downloading the application from a memory key via a USB port, downloading the application from a CD-ROM and downloading the application via a dynamic wireless network.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the respective event of interest associated with the particular selection parameter pertains to one of a sport program, a news program, a finance-related program, an adult entertainment program and a music program.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein comparison of the particular one of the one or more content indicators with each of the at least one selection parameter renders a positive outcome for the particular one of the at least one selection parameter if the particular one of the at least one selection parameter matches the particular one of the one or more content indicators.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein said triggering an event action comprises announcing the respective event of interest to the subscriber.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein said announcing comprises conveying information indicative of the respective event of interest on a display coupled to the subscriber device.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein said information is derived from the particular one of the one or more content indicators.

21. The method of claim 19, the subscriber device being a receiver device and the display being a television, wherein conveying information indicative of the respective event of interest comprises incorporating the information indicative of the respective event of interest into the first content stream and transmitting the first content stream comprising the information indicative of the respective event of interest on the television.

22. The method of claim 18, wherein the particular one of the one or more content indicators comprises an indication of a content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs; and wherein said announcing the respective event of interest comprises announcing the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs.

23. The method of claim 18, wherein the particular one of the one or more content indicators comprises an indication of a content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs; and wherein said triggering an event action further comprises soliciting subscriber input indicative of a desire to change the subscriber device to the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein the particular one of the one or more content indicators comprises an indication of a content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs; and wherein said triggering an event action comprises soliciting subscriber input indicative of a desire to change the subscriber device to the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising changing the subscriber device to the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs upon receipt of subscriber input indicative of a desire to change the subscriber device to the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein the particular one of the one or more content indicators comprises an indication of a content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs; and wherein said triggering an event action comprises changing the subscriber device to the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein said triggering an event action further comprises providing information representing the respective event of interest to the subscriber.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein said triggering an event action further comprises soliciting subscriber input indicative of a desire to effect reversal of said changing.

29. The method of claim 1, wherein said triggering an event action comprises causing concurrent displaying of the first content stream and the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein said causing concurrent displaying comprises triggering a picture-in-picture displaying of the first content stream and the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs.

31. The method of claim 1, wherein said triggering an event action comprises causing recording the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs.

32. The method of claim 31, further comprising displaying the recorded content stream to the subscriber.

33. The method of claim 1, further comprising introducing a pre-determined delay to the plurality of content streams, whereby said triggering an event action occurs before occurrence of the event of interest on the content stream on which the event of interest occurs.

34. The method of claim 1, wherein said monitoring a first content stream comprises receiving the first content stream via a distribution network; and wherein the distribution network is one of a Direct to Home satellite broadcasting network, a cable TV distribution network and an IPTV distribution network.

35. The method of claim 1, wherein said receiving at least one selection parameter is performed prior to said monitoring a first content stream.

36. The method of claim 1, wherein said receiving at least one selection parameter is performed concurrently with said monitoring a first content stream.

37. The method of claim 1, further comprising ascertaining priority of the respective event of interest and only triggering an event action if the ascertained priority is higher than a predetermined priority.

38. The method of claim 37, further comprising receiving the pre-determined priority from the subscriber.

39. The method of claim 37, wherein said ascertaining priority comprises retrieving a priority indicator from one of the particular one of the at least one selection parameter and the particular one of the one or more content indicators.

40. A system comprising:

a content distribution subsystem operable for distributing a plurality of content streams, at least a first content stream containing one or more content indicators indicative of event occurrence on corresponding ones of the plurality of content streams including at least one content stream other than the first content stream;

at least one subscriber device operable for:

obtaining at least one selection parameter, each of the at least one selection parameter being associated with a respective event of interest;

receiving the first content stream from the content distribution subsystem and responsive to detecting presence of a particular one of the one or more content indicators in the first content stream, to effect a comparison of the particular one of the one or more content indicators with each of the at least one selection parameter to render a comparison outcome;

responsive to the comparison outcome being positive for a particular one of the at least one selection parameter, triggering an event action associated with the particular selection parameter.

41. The system of claim 40, wherein the plurality of content streams includes the first content stream.

42. The system of claim 40, wherein the one or more content indicators are being generated by the content distribution subsystem.

43. The system of claim 42, wherein each of the one or more content indicators are present in each of the plurality of content streams.

44. The system of claim 42, wherein each of the one or more content indicators are present in each of a subset of the plurality of content streams, the subset of the plurality of content streams including the first content stream.

45. The system of claim 44, wherein the subset excludes the at least one content stream other than the first content stream.

46. The system of claim 40, the at least one subscriber device comprising a receiver controllable by a control device, wherein the receiver is operable to derive the at least one selection parameter from an input made by the subscriber using the control device.

47. The system of claim 40, wherein the at least one subscriber device is operable to:

obtain a selection code from the subscriber; the selection code encoding the at least one selection parameter;

decode the selection code to derive the at least one subscriber selection parameter.

48. The system of claim 47, the at least one subscriber device comprising a receiver controllable by a control device, wherein the receiver is operable to prompt the subscriber to input the selection code using the control device.

49. The system of claim 47, further comprising a computing apparatus operable to generate the selection code responsive to the subscriber providing at least one selection parameter.

50. The system of claim 48, wherein the computing apparatus comprises one of a Personal Computer, a desktop, a laptop, a wireless communication device and a selection kiosk.

51. The system of claim 49, wherein the computing apparatus is operable to present a Graphical User Interface to the subscriber to solicit the at least one selection parameter from the subscriber; wherein the Graphical User Interface is running on a web server at the content distribution subsystem.

52. The system of claim 49, wherein the computing apparatus comprises an application, the application being operable to present a Graphical User Interface to the subscriber to solicit the at least one selection parameter from the subscriber.

53. The system of claim 40, wherein the content distribution subsystem is further operable to:

obtain the at least one selection parameter from the subscriber;

transmit the at least one selection parameter to the at least one subscriber device for storing therein.

54. The system of claim 53, wherein the content distribution subsystem is operable to obtain the at least one selection parameter by one of soliciting viewer selection via a phone and soliciting viewer selection via a data network.

55. The system of claim 40, wherein the at least one content stream other than the first content stream conveys content selected from a list consisting of a sport program, a news program, a finance-related program, an adult entertainment program and a music program.

56. The system of claim 40, wherein triggering an event action comprises announcing the respective event of interest.

57. The system of claim 56, the system further comprising a display coupled to the subscriber device; wherein announcing the respective event of interest comprises providing information indicative of the event of interest to the subscriber via said display.

58. The system of claim 57, wherein the at least one subscriber device is operable to derive said information from the received at least one content parameter.

59. The system of claim 56, wherein a particular one of the one or more content indicators comprises an indication of a content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs; and wherein announcing the respective event of interest comprises announcing to the subscriber the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs.

60. The system of claim 59, wherein the at least one subscriber device is further operable to solicit subscriber input indicative of a desire to change the subscriber device to the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs.

61. The system of claim 40, wherein a particular one of the one or more content indicators comprises an indication of a content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs; and wherein triggering an event action comprises soliciting subscriber input indicative of a desire to change the subscriber device to the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs.

62. The system of claim 61, wherein the at least one subscriber device is further operable to change the subscriber device to the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs in response to receipt of the subscriber input indicative of a desire to change the subscriber device to the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs.

63. The system of claim 40, wherein the particular one of the one or more content indicators comprises an indication of a content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs; and wherein triggering an event action comprises changing the subscriber device to the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs;

64. The system of claim 63, wherein the at least one subscriber device is further operable to provide information representing the respective event of interest to the subscriber.

65. The system of claim 63, wherein the at least one subscriber device is further operable to solicit subscriber input indicative of a desire to effect reversal of the change.

66. The system of claim 40, the system further comprising a display coupled to the at least one subscriber device; wherein triggering an event action comprises causing the display to simultaneously display the first content stream and the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs.

67. The system of claim 66, wherein causing the display to simultaneously display the first content stream and the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs comprises triggering a picture-in-picture displaying of the first content stream and the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs.

68. The system of claim 40, wherein the content distribution subsystem is further operable to record the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs and to transmit the recorded content stream to the at least one subscriber device when requested by the subscriber.

69. The system of claim 40, the system further comprising a display coupled to the at least one subscriber device; wherein triggering an event action comprises recording the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs and to cause the display to display the recorded content stream when requested by the subscriber.

70. The system of claim 40, the system further comprising a delay module for introducing a pre-determined delay to the plurality of content streams, whereby triggering an event action occurs before occurrence of the respective event of interest on the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs.

71. The system of claim 70, whereby the delay module is located at the content distribution subsystem.

72. The system of claim 70, wherein the delay module is located at the subscriber device.

73. The system of claim 40, the system further comprising a distribution network for distributing the plurality of content streams from the content distribution subsystem to the at least one subscriber device, wherein the distribution network is one of a Direct to Home satellite broadcasting network, a cable TV distribution network and an IPTV distribution network.

74. A subscriber device comprising:

a first interface operable for receiving a plurality of content streams from a content distribution subsystem; the plurality of content streams including a first content stream, at least the first control stream comprising one or more content indicators indicative of event occurrence on corresponding ones of the plurality of content streams including at least one content stream other than the first content stream;

a second interface operable for receiving at least one selection parameter, each of the at least one selection parameter being associated with a respective event of interest;

a processor coupled to the first and second interfaces; the processor operable for:

obtaining the at least one selection parameter via the third interface;

responsive to detecting a presence of a particular one of the one or more content indicators in the first one of the plurality of content streams via the first interface, effecting a comparison of the particular one of the one or more content indicators with each of the at least one selection parameter; and

75. The subscriber device of claim 74, wherein the second interface comprises a control interface for receiving commands from a control device.

76. The subscriber device of claim 75, wherein the processor is further operable to derive the at least one selection parameter generated from a command generated by the subscriber using the control device and received via the control interface.

77. The subscriber device of claim 75, wherein the processor is further operable to derive the at least one selection parameter from a selection code inputted by the subscriber using the control device and received via the control interface.

78. The subscriber device of claim 77, wherein the subscriber device further comprises a third interface operable for connection to a display; and wherein the processor is further operable to prompt via the third interface the subscriber to input the selection code.

79. The subscriber device of claim 74, wherein the second interface is the same as the first interface; and wherein the processor is further operable to receive the at least one selection parameter from the content distribution subsystem.

80. The subscriber device of claim 74, wherein the comparison renders a positive outcome for the particular one of the at least one selection parameter if the particular one of the at least one selection parameter matches the particular one of the one or more content indicators.

81. The subscriber device of claim 74, wherein the subscriber device further comprises a third interface operable for connection to a display; and wherein triggering an event action comprises announcing the respective event of interest via said third interface to the subscriber.

82. The subscriber device of claim 81, wherein the particular one of the one or more content indicators comprises an indication of a content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs; and wherein announcing the respective event of interest comprises announcing the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs.

83. The subscriber device of claim 81, wherein the particular one of the one or more content indicators comprises an indication of a content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs; and wherein the subscriber device further comprises a third interface operable for connection to a display; and wherein the processor is further operable to solicit from the subscriber via the third interface an input indicative of a desire to change the subscriber device to the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs.

84. The subscriber device of claim 74, wherein the particular one of the one or more content indicators comprises an indication of a content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs; and the subscriber device further comprises a third interface operable for connection to a display; and wherein triggering an event action comprises soliciting from the subscriber via the third interface an input indicative of a desire to change the subscriber device to the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs.

85. The subscriber device of claim 84, wherein the processor is further operable to change via the first interface to the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs if the subscriber provides input indicative of a desire to change the subscriber device to the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs.

86. The subscriber device of claim 85, wherein the processor is further operable to record and store the content of the first one of the plurality of content streams via the first interface.

87. The subscriber device of claim 74, wherein the particular one of one or more content indicators comprises an indication of a content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs; and wherein triggering an event action comprises changing via the first interface to the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs.

88. The subscriber device of claim 87, wherein the subscriber device further comprises a third interface operable for connection to a display; and wherein the processor is further operable to provide information representing the respective event of interest via the third interface to the subscriber.

89. The subscriber device of claim 87, wherein the subscriber device further comprises a third interface operable for connection to a display; and wherein the processor is further operable to solicit via the third interface subscriber input indicative of a desire to effect reversal of the change.

90. The subscriber device of claim 74, wherein the subscriber device further comprises a third interface operable for connection to a display; and wherein triggering an event action comprises causing simultaneous displaying of the first content stream and the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs via the third interface.

91. The subscriber device of claim 90, wherein causing simultaneous displaying of the first content stream and the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs comprises triggering a picture-in-picture displaying of the first content stream and the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs.

92. The subscriber device of claim 74, wherein triggering an event action comprises recording the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs.

93. The subscriber device of claim 92, wherein the subscriber device further comprises a third interface operable for connection to a display; and wherein the processor is further operable to cause displaying of the recorded content stream to the subscriber via the third interface.

94. The customer device of claim 74, wherein the processor is further operable to ascertain priority of the respective event of interest; and wherein triggering an event action occurs only if the ascertained priority is higher than a pre-determined priority.

95. The customer device of claim 94, wherein the processor is further operable to receive the pre-determined priority from the subscriber.

96. The customer device of claim 95, wherein said processor is further operable to retrieve a priority indication from one of the particular one of the at least one selection parameter and the particular one of the one or more content indicators.

97. The customer device of claim 74 embodied in a receiver.

98. The customer device of claim 97, wherein the receiver comprises one of a receiver adapted for Direct to Home satellite broadcasting reception, a receiver adapted for cable TV reception and a receiver adapted for IPTV reception.

99. The customer device of claim 74 embodied in a wireless communication device.

100. The customer device of claim 99, wherein the wireless communication device comprises one of a cellular phone, a wireless e-mail device and a Personal Digital Assistant.

101. A method executable at a subscriber device capable of receiving a plurality of content streams from a content distribution subsystem, the method comprising:

monitoring a first content stream received from the content distribution subsystem to detect a presence of one or more content indicators indicative of event occurrence on corresponding ones of the plurality of content streams including at least one content stream other than the first content stream; receiving at least one selection parameter, each of the at least one selection parameter being associated with a respective event of interest;

responsive to the comparison rendering a positive outcome for a particular one of the at least one selection parameter, causing recording of the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs; and

ceasing recording of the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs upon detection of a terminating content indicator associated with the respective event of interest.

102. The method of claim 101, wherein said causing recording comprises triggering the subscriber device to record the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs.

103. The method of claim 102, wherein said triggering causes the subscriber device to store the content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs in a memory.

104. The method of claim 101, further comprising displaying the recorded content stream on which the respective event of interest occurs upon receiving a request from the subscriber.

105. The method of claim 101, further comprising announcing to the subscriber the respective event of interest associated with the particular selection parameter.

106. The method of claim 105, further comprising soliciting subscriber input indicative of a desire to record the respective event of interest; and wherein said causing recording and said ceasing recording are only performed upon receipt of subscriber input indicative of a desire to record.