Jelli says the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office has issued a patent for its “social broadcasting user experience.”
Jelli is a social platform that combines the reach of radio with the engagement of the web, the company says. With Jelli, listeners can “rocket” songs up or down a playlist through real-time voting and game elements, using a smartphone app or via the Web.
The patent describes a range of methods related to audience participation with a broadcast. Broadcasting is defined broadly as any one-to-many communication regardless of transmission method such as terrestrial, digital, satellite, streaming, or broadcast medium, like radio or television.
Jelli CEO Mike Dougherty says the company has made a significant R&D investment in both the technology, platform and underlying intellectual property around user-controlled broadcasting. “We are pleased to receive a fundamental patent in this area to protect the innovations of our team, for our company and partners.”
Some 175 stations now use Jelli; the company recently signed a deal with Entercom to deploy the system on more than 100 stations.
