JP2000156851A - Program distribution system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a program distribution system capable of determining program formation and a service charge capable of maintaining the balance in satisfaction between a program provider and users. SOLUTION: Each viewer site 104 (104a to 104d) generates a request message including at least the contents ID of contents selected from a previously determined contents list, an allowable degree indicating a period capable of waiting for the broadcast of the contents and a degree of ardent desire indicating the degree of ardently desiring the broadcast of the contents, transmits the generated request message to a DB sits 102 through a communication line 105. The DB site 102 determines the degree of popularity of each contents based on respective request messages, broadcasts the contents based on the determined popularity degree and determines a service charge to be billed to each viewer based on the request message.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a program broadcasting system, and more particularly, to a program broadcasting system that organizes a program in response to a request from a viewer and broadcasts the program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a broadcast program broadcasted from a broadcasting station is prepared in advance by the broadcasting station, and is broadcast at a predetermined broadcasting time. On the other hand, the viewer finds a favorite broadcast program by referring to the program broadcast schedule, receives a broadcast program broadcasted from a broadcast station by, for example, a television receiver, and records the received broadcast program in real time or by recording. View. In other words, conventional broadcasting does not have the property of organizing and distributing broadcast programs interactively according to the viewer's preference, but distributing broadcast programs from a broadcasting station to a plurality of viewers in a one-to-many relationship. Can be defined as

[0003] In recent years, however, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-164551, "Program Providing System", a broadcast program that accepts a request for a program from a viewer and broadcasts a program with a large number of requests. One way has been proposed.

[0004]

However, in the case of adopting a broadcast mode in which a program is broadcast in response to a viewer's request, the broadcast is highly public and the available broadcast band is limited. In addition, since some broadcast programs, such as movies, have a broadcast time of several hours, regardless of the efforts of the program provider, all viewer requests are accepted. There is a problem that it is difficult to respond.

[0005] Further, in the case of adopting a broadcast mode in which a program is broadcast in response to a viewer's request, the program provider has an advantage in organizing and broadcasting the program in response to the viewer's request. On the other hand, there is a demand on the viewer side that the requested program should be broadcast quickly and surely at a low price. Therefore, in the case of adopting a broadcast mode of broadcasting a program in response to a viewer's request, for example, an individual service fee is set for each viewer according to the profit of the program provider and the satisfaction of the viewer. It is desirable to charge, but since the number of viewers may be as large as the nation, in some cases, the requests of all viewers are aggregated, the program is organized so that the viewers are satisfied, There is a problem that it is almost impossible to manually perform a task of charging a service fee for each viewer.

As described above, in the prior art, only one way of broadcasting, in which a program is broadcasted in response to a viewer's request, has been proposed. It has not been sufficiently studied how to maintain the balance, what processing should be performed to satisfy both, and more specifically, what kind of configuration system should be constructed.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above, and performs programming in response to a request from a viewer.
A program in a broadcasting mode of performing program broadcasting, which can determine a program organization and a service fee so as to maintain a balance between satisfaction of a program provider and a viewer without human intervention. The purpose is to provide a distribution system.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a program distribution system according to claim 1 manages a plurality of contents as a broadcast program and distributes the contents by broadcasting; A plurality of second sites for receiving and playing back content broadcast from one site, wherein the first site and the plurality of second sites communicate with each other via a communication line. And the second site waits for the identification information of the content selected from the predetermined content list and the broadcast of the content according to the input operation of the viewer. A request message including at least waiting time information indicating a possible period and ambition information indicating a degree of eagerness for broadcasting the content is generated, and the generated request message is generated. A request to broadcast the corresponding content, the first site receiving the request message from the plurality of second sites, Based on the received request message, the popularity of each managed content is determined, and based on the determined popularity, the content is broadcast, and viewing and listening at each second site is performed based on the request message. Service fee to be charged to the user.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the program distribution system according to the first aspect, the second site receives and accumulates the content broadcast from the first site and then reproduces the content. Is what you do.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the program distribution system according to the first aspect, the first site transmits the waiting time information and the ambition information in the request message and the request message. A service fee to be charged to a viewer of the second site that has transmitted the request message is determined based on the content requested to be broadcast.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the program distribution system according to the first aspect, the first site transmits the waiting time information and the ambition information in the request message and the request message. A service fee to be charged to a viewer of the second site that has transmitted the request message is determined based on the content requested to be broadcast and the broadcast date of the content requested to be broadcast. .

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the program distribution system according to the first aspect, the first site is requested to broadcast by the ambition information in the request message and the request message. A service fee to be charged to a viewer of the second site that has transmitted the request message is determined based on the content and the broadcast date of the content requested to be broadcast.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the program distribution system according to any one of the third to fifth aspects, the first site is indicated by waiting time information in the request message. When the corresponding content is broadcast before the period elapses, the service fee is charged to the viewer of the second site that has transmitted the request message.

Further, a program distribution system according to claim 7 is
The program distribution system according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the content broadcasted by the first site before a period indicated by waiting time information in the request message elapses. Is received at the second site that has requested the service fee, the service fee is charged to the viewer of the second site at a predetermined timing.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of a program distribution system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The program distribution system according to the present invention receives a request for content to be broadcasted from a user of the system in a pay data broadcast, counts the received requests, calculates the popularity of the content, and calculates the popularity of the content. The program is organized based on the degree. In this program distribution system, in order to increase the degree of satisfaction of the user (viewer) and the program provider, the program is simply regarded as "popularity = fee that the user is willing to pay" We will adopt the policy of broadcasting from. Then, the program distribution system controls the program scheduling by focusing on the relationship between the broadcast frequency indicating how many times a popular program is repeatedly broadcast and the resulting satisfaction index such as the collected amount.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a program distribution system according to the present embodiment. The program distribution system 100 shown in FIG. 1 includes a content database (content D) for managing a plurality of contents as broadcast programs (TV programs).
B) a DB site (first site) 102 as a broadcasting station that has 101 and broadcasts the content in the content DB 101 via broadcasting equipment (not shown);
02 from the antenna 103 (10
3a to 103d) and a plurality of viewer sites (second sites) 104 (104a to 104d) for reproducing the received content in real time or by accumulating and reproducing the content.
And

In the program distribution system 100, the DB site 102 receives a request for content desired to be broadcast from a viewer at each viewer site 104, creates a popularity list of the content according to the request, and creates the created popularity degree. The program is organized based on the list, and the corresponding content is broadcast based on the result of the program organization. Therefore, as shown in FIG.
The B site 102 and the plurality of viewer sites 104 are connected to each other via a communication line 105, and a request message relating to a content to be broadcast is transmitted from each viewer site 104 to the DB site 102 via the communication line 105. Sent.

FIG. 2 shows the program distribution system 1 shown in FIG.
FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of viewing content at 00. Note that the viewer site 104 in the present embodiment is
Shows the content broadcast from the DB site 102 in FIG.
It is assumed that the content is stored in the DB 106 shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, a request message described below is transmitted from the viewer site 104 to the DB site 102. The requested information (contents of the request message) is stored in the DB of the viewer site 104.
Stored in 106. And the viewer site 104
Receives only the content corresponding to the requested information stored in the DB 106 from the content broadcast from the DB site 102, and stores the received content in the DB 106. After that, the viewer
The content stored in 106 is reproduced and viewed.

That is, in the program distribution system 100 according to the present embodiment, the viewer can store and view only the requested content. in this way,
By configuring each viewer site 104 to store and play back the content broadcast from the DB site 102, if each viewer site 104 is in a storage standby state, when the requested content is broadcast, The content can be stored and can be reproduced and viewed at any time. DB site 10
2 also enables broadcasting of the content at an arbitrary timing.

Next, the program distribution system 1 shown in FIG.
The content distribution process according to the request executed in 00 will be described.

(1) Request Message Generation / Transmission Processing First, a request message transmitted from the viewer site 104 to the DB site 102 will be described. Here, it is assumed that a list of requestable contents has been distributed from the DB site 102 to each viewer site 104 in advance. For example, the viewer refers to a list of contents on a menu screen (not shown), selects a desired content to be broadcast, determines how long the user can wait for the broadcast (tolerance (waiting time information)), and how much the content is. At least whether or not the user is eager to watch (aspiration degree (aspiration information)). For example, the tolerance and the ambition can be specified in the following format. -Tolerance: 1 day, 3 days, 1 week, 1 month, 6 months-Aspiration: 1 time, 2 times, 3 times, ..., 10 times

When the viewer selects the content and specifies the tolerance and ambition, the viewer site 104 responds to the input of the viewer by saying “Who, what content, by what time (tolerance), and how long. Request message indicating at least whether or not the user is eager to watch (eagerness). This request message is represented in the following format, for example.

[0025]

(Equation 1)

In the request message of the above format, the subscript “i” represents the ID of the RQT itself. Parameters "contentID", "urgency", "ferv
“ent” and “userID” indicate “ID of requested content”, “allowance”, “enthusiasm”, and “viewer ID (user ID)”, respectively. In the following, it represents the request message of ID = i and RQT _i, for the attribute value of RQT _i, as RQT _i .urgency, to be expressed with the attribute name after the ".".

Note that "urgency", that is, the tolerance is D
It is used when calculating the expiration date of the request message after arriving at the B site 102. As will be explained in detail later, the period specified as the tolerance (expiration date)
If the requested content is not broadcast before elapse, the corresponding request message is invalidated.

(2) Determining the Service Charge The “tolerance” and “enthusiasm” in the above-mentioned request message indicate that the content corresponding to “contentID” is broadcast and the viewer views the content (described later) (There are various methods for charging the viewer as described above.) This is a parameter for determining a service fee to be charged to the viewer who has requested this content. In other words, the “tolerance” and the “aspiration” in the request message are parameters indicating how much service fee the viewer may pay, and the “tolerance” and the “aspiration” It is an index of the degree of satisfaction for each viewer that he or she will be satisfied if the requested content is broadcast at the appropriate timing.

The DB site 102 is a viewer site 104
From the request message (RQT _i)
Enter the received request message in the queue and enter
Process request messages in the order you enter them. DB server
Site 102 is the RQT at the head of the queue_iAnd take out
The "contentID", "urgency" and "fervent"
Viewing that sent the request message based on
Service fee to be charged to the user. That is,
For each viewer, based on the content of the request message
The service fee will be determined.

The service fee is, for example, a function having parameters of “tolerance”, “enthusiasm”, and “content type” as shown in pay1 below.

[0031]

(Equation 2)

However, the function of the service fee is set for each application, and the following are considered as general rules. If the “acceptance” is high, that is, if the user wants a quick response, the fee is increased. If the “enthusiasm” is large, it is considered that this is an indication of the viewer's intention to watch because it is permissible to pay more, so the fee is increased. Set the fee according to the "content type".

To summarize the general rules for the above-mentioned charge setting, the larger the tolerance and ambition, the higher the service charge to be charged. In addition, "pa
The service fee charged to each viewer may be determined in consideration of the time required for broadcasting the content (waiting time of the viewer) to the function of “y1”.

Also, unlike the function pay1, a method of determining the service fee mainly depending on the time required until the content is broadcast may be considered. For example, if you request a 6 month tolerance (expiration date) but happen to be broadcast 3 days later,
Waiting time (waiting_time) 3 days as a parameter
The service fee is calculated using the following function pay2. Note that, as in the case of pay1, a request that has passed the expiration date specified by the tolerance is invalidated and discarded.

[0035]

(Equation 3)

Regardless of which method is used to determine the service fee, the above-mentioned fee table showing the relationship between each parameter and the service fee is set in advance for each viewing so that the service fee becomes clear. It is preferably delivered to the person.

(3) Popularity based on request message
Creation of degree list DB site 102 requests from viewer site 104
Message (RQT _i), The server
In addition to the service fee determination process,
Execute. In other words, the DB site 102
RQT taken out_iAbout "contentID"
The popularity squirrel of the content in the content DB 101
RQT created and extracted_iThe applicable resource
Execute processing to be added to the quest node.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a content popularity list and request nodes. As shown in FIG. 3, the content popularity list 201 includes “content ID” for specifying the content and “popularity” indicating the popularity of the content specified by the content ID. Also, the received request message is “contentID” in the request message.
., And is associated with the corresponding content in the popularity list 201 by the pointer 203.

Each request node 202 stores the contents of a request message transmitted from a viewer. Specifically, each request node 202 stores at least: tolerance, enthusiasm, service fee, date and time of arrival at the queue, and expiration date. The request node 20
The “expiration date” stored in 2 indicates the date (or date and time) when the period designated as the tolerance expires. That is, the allowance of the request specified by the viewer is used as the expiration date of the request. As will be described later, when the expiration date has passed, the corresponding request node 202 is deleted. Further, in addition to the content ID and the degree of popularity, information indicating the type of the content and the date and time of the last broadcast may be included in the popularity list 201.

The popularity of each content is obtained by calculating the sum of all the valid requests among the requests for the content. Note that an active request is
This means a request for content managed by the DB site 102. For example, if the requested content has been deleted from the content DB 101, the request is invalidated. In such a case, the DB site 102 does not leave such a request message in the request queue, and if there is another DB site, circulates the request message to another DB site. The processing is performed, but the description of such processing is omitted here.

Here, the popularity (pcount _i ) of the content having the content ID _i is as follows.

[0042]

(Equation 4)

In the above popularity (pcount _i ), Σ
It represents the total for all valid requests. δ _ij takes 1 if RQT _j .content_ID == i, otherwise it takes 0.

The popularity here is a value proportional to the fee declared to be payable by the user. Therefore, although the degree of popularity is defined as described above, it is assumed that the degree of popularity is not the charge itself to be charged but a weight constant w applied to the charge.

The contents in the popularity list 201 are:
The contents are sorted in the order of “popularity”, and when the content to be broadcast next is determined, the content with the highest popularity is preferentially selected.

(4) Check of Request Expiration Date The DB site 102 checks at regular time intervals whether the expiration date in each request node 202 has expired. When the DB site 102 finds the expired request node 202, the request node 2
02 (request message) is regarded as invalid and deleted, and processing for reducing the popularity of the content in the corresponding popularity list 201 is executed.

In this embodiment, no service fee is charged to the viewer corresponding to the invalidated request node 202 as described above. This is because the tolerance specified by the viewer in the request message is a parameter indicating the viewer's satisfaction, and if this tolerance is not satisfied, the viewer cannot be satisfied.

(5) Program Planning / Content Broadcasting The DB site 102 uses the popularity list 201 shown in FIG.
, The program is organized for a certain period (N days). Programming is done N days before. For example, N
= 1 day, and programming at 4:00, 7
At 4:00 on the 20th of the month, a program for one day whose broadcast starts from 4:00 on the 21st of July is organized.

At the time of programming, the popularity list 201 is sorted, and the top program is selected as the program to be broadcast. The popularity list 201 and the request node 202 relating to the selected program are frozen at the time when the broadcast is decided, and reset after a copy is created. Since there is time from the programming to the actual broadcast, there is a case where a request message for the content whose broadcasting has been decided may be received, but the request is used for the next programming.

When a schedule indicating which content is to be broadcast and how to broadcast the content is distributed as index information, the result of the program composition is transmitted to each viewer site 1.
04. This allows the viewer to prepare for real-time viewing or stored viewing.

Hereinafter, how to organize a program will be specifically described.

Even if the requested program is actually broadcast, the requesting viewer does not necessarily receive the program. Reasons for this include, for example, watching the program on the other side, and the power of the receiving terminal being turned off. Therefore,
The average reception failure probability Prob [failure] is introduced as a control parameter of the programming method.

Using Prob [failure], the total charge that can be collected when the content of (ID = i) is repeatedly broadcast n times in one program can be expressed by the following equation.

[0054]

(Equation 5)

However, the pcount indicates the popularity of the designated content. In practice, it is necessary to multiply this equation by the weight w [yen / popularity] to make the dimension a circle.

In the present system, the program composition is controlled by paying particular attention to the relationship between the popularity of the request and the broadcast frequency. For content that is very popular, viewers will be more satisfied when the content is repeatedly broadcast during programming,
It is expected that the total amount collected by the provider will also be higher. This is because the viewer is considered to have failed to receive with a certain probability.

This problem can be considered as a problem of an optimal program schedule for allocating a program to M broadcast frames. Determining M itself, that is, how many days the program is organized is also a factor for optimization. Let pschedule be the function that determines this optimal programming. The input parameters are a program popularity list (pop_list), a reception failure probability function (Prob [failure]), and the number of days (days) scheduled in one program scheduling.

[0058]

(Equation 6)

The output is a program scheduling result that is a sequence of content IDs.

The schedule method includes at least the following three:
One can be considered. (1) pscheduleA Simply broadcast one program at a time in the order of popularity ranking. (2) pscheduleB Using the proportional representation algorithm of the election, schedule one seat (one program) at a time until the number of seats (broadcasting frame) is full. (3) pscheduleC The combination of the pair of (content ID, number of broadcasts) that maximizes the collected amount is calculated.

The (3) pscheduleC method sorts contents in descending order of popularity, and determines the number of broadcasts for each content ID. The number of broadcasts of popular content shall be represented by n _i to i-th from the top. Here, i = 1,..., L (L is the total number of contents).

[0062]

(Equation 7)

N _i is an integer of 0 or more. Also, n _i is equal to or more than n _{i + 1} , and the value is 0 from the subscript (m + 1) -th value _{nm + 1} . The total number is the number of broadcasts M determined by one programming.

[0064]

(Equation 8)

[0065] In the method of pscheduleC, find a sequence of n _i, such as the amount collected the following becomes the maximum.

[0066]

(Equation 9)

The algorithm is as follows. 1. The following substitution is made for all contents.

(Equation 10) 2. Sort and broadcast the content with the largest pcount _i once. 3. The following substitution is made for the i.

[Equation 11] 4. If the broadcast frame M is not satisfied, the process returns to [2].

An analysis result of an algorithm adopted as the proportional representation system of pscheduleB will be described below.

The proportional representation algorithm includes the Don't law and the quota method. The “Don't law is the reason for large political parties.” “The quota method is a democratic method that listens to minority opinions. (Akira Makoto Arisawa, "Recreational Programming", Softbank, 1990).

The inventors of the present invention performed a simulation using a quota method that is sensitive to minority opinions. As a result, the total value of the overall popularity is much larger than the popularity of each content. The result was that even high content was broadcast only once. However, since the inventors of the present invention wanted to analyze a change in the amount of collection when the same program was repeatedly broadcast, the don't method in which repetitive broadcasting is easily performed was adopted as pscheduleB.

Considering that in the case of an election, the number of votes of a large political party is sufficiently larger than the population size. Other parties are large enough compared to the population size. In these cases,
There is not much difference in the result with the don't method or the quota method, but it is analyzed that if the population is very large, the popularity of all the contents is too small and the situation is `` acorn comparison '' it can.

(6) Billing Process The following two cases can be considered as examples of timing for actually billing the service fee to the viewer.

At the time of program composition First, it is conceivable to charge a service fee to each viewer at the time of program composition. That is, since the programming is performed, which content is broadcasted is determined. Therefore, the service fee determined by the above-described method is charged to the viewer who has requested the content. it can.

After receiving the content Secondly, when receiving a reception message indicating that the requested content has been received from the viewer site 104,
It is conceivable to charge a service fee to the viewer of the viewer site 104 that has transmitted the received message. This is done so that the service fee can be charged only to the viewer who has received and viewed the requested content. That is, even if the requested content is broadcast, reception of the content may fail. As a case where the reception fails, for example, a case where the power of the receiving terminal is turned off, a case where the counter program is viewed, and the like are considered.

As shown in FIG. 2, each viewer site 104 records “contentID” so that it is possible to know which content has been requested.
When receiving the content of "entID" or at the time of starting or ending the viewing of the received content, for example, "co
A reception message including at least “ntentID” and “userID” is transmitted to the DB site 102. Here, the reception includes reception for both real-time reproduction and accumulation reproduction of the broadcasted content. The timing at which the viewer site 104 transmits the received message to the DB site 102 can be set arbitrarily.

If the requested content is not broadcast within the expiration date based on the allowance, the request is invalidated as described above, and the viewer is not charged. Then, even if the request is invalidated, the system may be constructed so that when the requested content is broadcast, the content can be received and viewed.

As described above, according to the program distribution system of the present embodiment, the request message from the viewer includes the parameters “permissiveness” and “enthusiasm”. And "Ambition"
In order to determine the service fee to be charged for each viewer using the parameter of, the program is organized in response to a request from the viewer, and in a broadcast form of broadcasting a program, without manual intervention, It is possible to provide a program distribution system capable of determining a program organization and a service fee so as to maintain a balance between satisfaction of a program provider and viewers.

Note that whether or not the viewer is satisfied with the service provided by this system can be determined again based on whether or not a request from the same viewer continues. That is, it is also possible to further optimize the system by feeding back the status of requests from viewers.

Further, in addition to viewing programs by the method shown in FIG. 2, a system configuration capable of viewing programs by the methods shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 is also possible. That is, even a viewer who does not make a request in advance may be able to store and receive and view the program.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a method which is generally used at present and can be viewed in real time without storing the received contents. Since the content is encrypted and broadcast, the viewer needs to prepare a decryption device. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of storing and reproducing the received content. In the system of the format shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a service fee is charged when the content is viewed.

However, when the viewing of the content is permitted by the method shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the following problems occur with respect to the setting of the service fee between the method shown in FIG. 2 and the method shown in FIG.

In view of the request transmission cost (communication cost and its labor), if the viewing of a non-request viewer is permitted, an unfair feeling is given to the requesting viewer.

In the program distribution system 100 according to the present embodiment, the service fee charged for each requesting viewer is different, and even if the same program is broadcast, the total charge is different each time. Therefore, setting a fixed fee for the content for the service fee for the non-request viewer also gives the requester an unfair feeling.

As described above, if the viewing of a non-request sender is permitted, it is very difficult to set the fee. However, this is not a technical problem but an operational problem, and can be sufficiently solved.

Further, in the present embodiment, a broadcast program, that is, a TV program has been described as the content to be broadcast. However, the program distribution system of the present invention is not limited to the TV program, but may be a video, multimedia, A wide variety of data, such as search results from a database and software, can be distributed as contents as broadcasts.

[0086]

As described above, according to the program distribution system of the present invention (claim 1), the first site and the plurality of second sites are connected to each other via the communication line. The second site responds to the input operation of the viewer,
A request message including at least identification information of a content selected from a list of predetermined contents, waiting time information indicating a period during which the content can be waited for to be broadcast, and aspiration information indicating a degree of eagerness to broadcast the content. Is generated, and the generated request message is transmitted to the first site via the communication line to request broadcasting of the corresponding content. The first site receives the request messages from the plurality of second sites. Determining the popularity of each of the managed content based on the received request message, broadcasting the content based on the determined popularity, and viewing the viewer at each second site based on the request message. In order to determine the service charge to be charged for And a program distribution system that can determine a program schedule and a service fee that can maintain the balance between the program provider and the viewer's satisfaction without human intervention. It can be realized.

According to the program distribution system of the present invention (Claim 2), the second site receives and broadcasts the content broadcast from the first site and then reproduces the content. It is possible to construct a system capable of viewing the content broadcast at the time.

According to the program distribution system of the present invention (Claim 3), the first site transmits the waiting time information and the ambition information in the request message and the content requested to be broadcast by the request message. In order to determine a service fee to be charged to the viewer of the second site that has transmitted the request message, the balance between the program provider and the viewer's satisfaction is centered on the viewer's satisfaction. It is possible to construct a system capable of determining program scheduling and service fee that can be maintained.

Further, according to the program distribution system of the present invention (claim 4), the first site transmits the waiting time information and the ambition information in the request message, the content requested to be broadcast by the request message, In order to determine a service fee to be charged to the viewer of the second site that has transmitted the request message based on the broadcast date of the content requested to be broadcast, focusing on viewer satisfaction,
It is possible to construct a system capable of determining a program schedule and a service fee so as to maintain a balance between the program provider and the viewer satisfaction.

Further, according to the program distribution system of the present invention (claim 5), the first site requests the ambition information in the request message, the content requested to be broadcast by the request message, and the broadcast request. In order to determine a service fee to be charged to the viewer of the second site that has transmitted the request message based on the broadcast date of the content, the program provider and It is possible to construct a system capable of determining a program schedule and a service fee so as to maintain a balance between the satisfaction levels of users.

Further, according to the program distribution system of the present invention (claim 6), when the first site broadcasts the corresponding content before the period indicated by the waiting time information in the request message elapses. Since the service fee is charged to the viewer of the second site that has transmitted the request message, it is possible to construct a system capable of performing a service fee charging process in consideration of the degree of satisfaction of the viewer.

Further, according to the program distribution system of the present invention (claim 7), the content broadcast by the first site before the time period indicated by the waiting time information in the request message elapses. After receiving at the requested second site, the service fee is charged to the viewer of the second site at a predetermined timing, so that the service fee is charged only to the viewer who can view the content corresponding to the request. This makes it possible to construct a system that can satisfy viewers and can reliably charge the viewer who has viewed the requested content.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a program distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of viewing content in the program distribution system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a popularity list and request nodes of contents created by a DB site in the program distribution system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a method applicable to the program distribution system according to the embodiment of the present invention and capable of viewing in real time without storing received content.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of storing and reproducing received content, which is applicable in the program distribution system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 program distribution system 101 content DB 102 DB site 103 antenna 104 viewer site 105 communication line 106 DB 201 popularity list 202 request node 203 pointer

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 7/16 H04N 17/00 M 17/00 H04L 11/18 (72) Inventor Atsushi Iizawa Ota-ku, Tokyo 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ricoh Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hiroko Mano 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo F-term in Ricoh Co., Ltd. 5C061 BB03 BB07 5C064 BA01 BB01 BB07 BC01 BC07 BC11 BC17 BC25 BD02 BD08 5K030 GA16 HB02 JL01 LD07 LD13

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A first site for managing a plurality of contents as broadcast programs and distributing the contents by broadcasting, and a plurality of second sites for receiving and reproducing contents broadcast from the first site And wherein the first site and the plurality of second sites are connected to each other via a communication line, and wherein the second site is operated by a viewer input operation. , Identification information of a content selected from a predetermined list of contents, waiting time information indicating a period during which the content can be waited for to be broadcast, and a degree of aspiration indicating the degree to which the content is to be broadcast Generating a request message including at least information, transmitting the generated request message to the first site via the communication line, and Requesting broadcast Ntsu, the first site, receives the request message from said plurality of second sites, based on the request message received, to determine the popularity of each content that is managed,
A program distribution system that broadcasts the content based on the determined degree of popularity and determines a service fee to be charged to a viewer at each second site based on the request message. 2. The program distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the second site receives and accumulates a content broadcast from the first site, and then reproduces the content. 3. The first site has transmitted the request message based on waiting time information and ambition information in the request message and the content requested to be broadcast by the request message. 2. The program distribution system according to claim 1, wherein a service fee charged to a viewer of the site is determined. 4. The first site includes information on waiting time and ambition in the request message, content requested to be broadcast by the request message, and a broadcast date of the content requested to be broadcast. The program distribution system according to claim 1, wherein a service fee to be charged to a viewer of the second site that has transmitted the request message is determined based on the request. 5. The first site, based on ambition information in the request message, a content requested to be broadcast by the request message, and a broadcast date of the content requested to be broadcast, The program distribution system according to claim 1, wherein a service fee to be charged to a viewer of the second site that has transmitted the request message is determined. 6. When the first site broadcasts the corresponding content before the period indicated by the waiting time information in the request message elapses, the first site transmits the request message to the second site. The service fee is charged to a viewer.
5. The program distribution system according to any one of 5. 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the broadcasted content is received by the second site that has requested the broadcast of the content before the time period indicated by the waiting time information in the request message has elapsed. The program distribution system according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the service fee is charged to a viewer of the second site at a predetermined timing.