The U.S. Patent Office has awarded three patents to broadcast software company WideOrbit for innovations that the company says “will provide broadcasters with greater control, engagement and monetization of streamed content.”
The patents define and protect inventions that enable: advertising insertion in audio and video streams delivered with HTTP Live Streaming; content manipulation and personalization of live-streamed broadcasts; and control and monetization of content inserted in programming streamed remotely by third parties.
The patent for invention 8,996,712 covers the technology in WideOrbit’s WO Streaming for inserting targeted advertising in audio and video streams based on the HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) protocol. HLS is a common video streaming protocol implemented by Apple as part of its QuickTime, Safari, OS X, and iOS software.
“Although it is not commonly employed by radio broadcasters that stream, virtually all video streaming is based on HLS,” said Rob Green, VP Streaming at WideOrbit. “We believe audio broadcasters will adopt HLS to support the growing complexity of their streaming operations and support use cases like insertion of video advertisements into their streams.”
The patent for invention 8,984,094 delivers content skipping technology that provides listeners greater control over live-streamed broadcasts.
The patent for invention 9,003,443 provides program syndicators with greater control over content insertion at stations that stream programming, regardless of the presence of other insertion systems. Syndicators that employ this invention can insert content and advertising into audio streams without using injection markers or accessing the streaming party’s computer or encoders.
