Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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MEDIA PROCESSING METHODS AND SYSTEMS
Field and Background of the Invention
1) This invention relates to methods and systems for processing media.
More particularly, the invention relates to systems and methods for
creating a library of material, such as music or film, making such
material available for viewing by distribution or broadcast, evaluation
of the material, and effectively associating such material with
advertising and advertisers.
Summary of the Invention
2) The invention is, therefore, a mechanism or system whereby
creators of original and other content are able to make their works
available, and whereby reviewers are able to selectively view such
works and evaluate them, preferably in a manner based primarily on
the quality of the content or its appeal to a demographic of
audiences. Preferably, the reviewers would view such work based on
content alone without any knowledge as to the name or identity of
the creator. Thus, in one aspect, the invention is one where the
works of creators which are uploaded to server or a computer for
review by others, are evaluated on their merits, thereby making it
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possible for lesser known or unknown creators to present their
works on a more level playing field with others who may have better
access to entities or outlets which conventionally distribute such
works. In other words, the system and methods of the invention
allow works to be evaluated primarily on content and inherent
merit, and not so much on the fame or name recognition value of
the creator, or personal contacts or connections that creator might
have.
3) In accordance with onc aspect of the invention, reviewers of
the creative works would rate the content of such works on the
merits thereof, which may include a number of parameters, and the
works would be placed in a digital or computer based library or
location if the reviewers considered that such works qualify for
broadcast or distribution. Such a library of content would be
available for access by other electronic devices including
computers, smart phones and tablets to general users or
subscribers. Furthermore, in accordance with the invention, the
number of subscribers and their demographics would be constantly
monitored by software on a central computer for the purposes of
associating advertisers and advertisements with the content when
viewed by a subscriber or an audience. In a further aspect, revenue
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derived from advertisers in this manner would be calculated by the
central computer or other hardware and would, in part, be used to
pay creative artists of the works so that they would directly
benefit from the fruits of their creativity, preferably to a
significantly larger degree than under present conventional
procedures.
Brief Description of the Drawings
4) Fig. 1 represents one embodiment of the invention, shown in
a schematic format.
Fig. 2 demonstrates how the current distribution model works.
The triangle represents the distribution channel/distributor, the
'X's" represent content creators, the arrow represents the path
content creators fight along to get noticed and hopefully get to
broadcast to generate income. With so many content creators and so
few channels available for broadcast, thereby limiting
distribution as indicated in the figure, the current model allows
the distributors complete control to pick and chose what gets
broadcast and how much that content creator is paid.
Fig. 3 demonstrates how the current invention can expand its
broadcast allotment at any time which allows the distribution model
to also expand to process more content through the system.
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The actions described in the following three figures is made
possible due to the current invention's ability to expand broadcast
availability (as shown by additional tv icons) at any moment
allowing for a wider distribution channel (inverted triangle) and
increased processing and therefore additional content to
broadcast, which equates to more content creators getting income
and exposure which leads to more exposure and additional income.
Fig. 3A demonstrates a starting configuration of content
creators flowing down through the current invention's system. When
a surge of content arrives filling thc distribution channel in its
current configuration it adjusts as shown in Fig. 3B
Fig. 3B demonstrates how the distribution channel has widened
at the top allowing more content creators access to distribution,
additionally the distribution out the bottom of the distribution
channel to broadcast also widens to accommodate more access to
more broadcast options.
Fig. 3C demonstrates a further widening than detailed in
Fig. 3B, wider inflow at the top, wider overall channel, wider
distribution out the bottom to more broadcast options.
Detailed Description of the Invention
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5) The following is a detailed description of the steps and
processes involved in accordance with the media processing of the
invention. It will be appreciated that there may be variations in
the order of these steps, or the manner in which each of these
steps is carried out, all of which will fall within the scope of
the invention.
The procedures of the invention are carried out by uploading
submitted material to a computer or server, and reviewing,
evaluating and posting such material, according to the outcome
of the process, as one or more files on the computer or server.
Reviewers and others processing the uploaded material will have
varying degrees of access thereto, and may move or copy the
uploaded material, in accordance with security and authorization
protocols, either in its original or an edited version to other
parts or segments of the computer or server, or to remote
computers, depending upon whether such uploaded material is
considered to meet quality and/or creative standards. Other
relevant material may also be uploaded to the computer or
server, including advertising, broadcast schedules, numbers of
viewers, to name some examples, although more examples will be
identified below. Such other relevant material may be
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selectively combined with or associated with the uploaded
submitted material in various forms and combinations, and stored
on the computer or server. The computer, server, central server,
or data center in one embodiment may be defined as a grouping of
integrative computer components comprising, a set of networked
servers connected to the internet via a core router, the core
router being balanced for receiving network traffic from around
the world by means of a hardware load balancer and software,
filtered with a firewall and network packets transmitted via a
spine and a leaf router, thcn stored and processed on high
compute flex node servers, and installed with multiple types of
software for gathering, analyzing and formatting information,
including viewership, associated advertising, accounting
software, (to name some examples), the software in one
embodiment may be defined as, an iOS development software
program, an Android development software program, a Network
Operations Management software program, and a Perforce Helix
Version Control software program. Certain functions of the
invention require additional specialized software coding
algorithms to work, an example of such a function would be
advertisements placed in downloaded content that self-delete
once the advertisements have been viewed a preset number of
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times.
It will therefore be appreciated that the procedures and steps
in accordance with the invention are all carried out on electronic
hardware, including computers, servers, tablets, to name some
examples without limitation, and the discussion of the various
processes of the invention should be understood to take place in
this context and environment.
Current Issues And Responses
6) It is well-established among artists that almost all avenues
for distribution of creative works are controlled by a few large
industry corporations that have a limited amount of
distribution/broadcast time allotments based on their company's
infrastructure, creating a fierce competition between content
creators for that limited time that is ultimately unable to
distribute/broadcast all the chosen content the large companies
would want to distribute. Just like more people than jobs available
makes the salaries go down, more content than broadcast ability
makes the content less valuable and by extension the income
generated by broadcast lower. The challenge, especially for lesser
known artists, is how to get enough exposure to get to the top of
the content pile and convert that exposure into income by garnering
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broadcast time. With the current inventions ability to expand
broadcasting time allotments with no limitations, the evaluation
to distribution channel can open wider and wider to allow more and
more quality content to ultimately flow to the audience, allowing
the content creators to generate significant income from their
quality works without having to fight for the limited amount of
broadcast time allotments the existing industry model allows.
7) The invention attempts to isolate the best content from
emerging and established creativc artists, perform such works on
multiple media platforms, and provide more than reasonable income
to the artists. The invention provides content that is not tied to
the familiar seasonal programming, which gives the audience a new
season of shows starting only once or twice per year. By its
nature, the system of the invention is able to deliver continually
evolving top-quality content, exposing the viewing audience to
potentially thousands of new artists annually in direct contrast
to the familiar seasonal programming. Consistent to all of the
content is the fact that it has been approved through a multi-
level blind and independent review process, rewarding an audience
which does not have to invest the time and energy to find such
content.
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Submission and Review
8) The process is initiated by the artist or creator of the
content. The content may take many different forms, but will most
often likely be film, video or music. However, other creative works
including books, artwork, stand-up comedy, dance, scripts and the
like may also be processed in accordance with the invention.
9) The artist or whomever holds the rights to the works must
establish a private account, preferably through an internet
connection between computers in a secured manner, within the
invention, and once completed that individual will receive their
I.D. number and the uploaded content will further receive a
specific I.D. that is an extension of the private accounts I.D.
10) Upon completion of the created works, the artist or their
representative would upload the content onto a receiving computer
or server through the submission depository, such as through an
online submission portal. Upon completion of this process,
transfer of the content file, and payment, the artist may be
provided with an acknowledgment of receipt, which may include an
identification number and confirmation that the content has been
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uploaded for further review. In addition, the artist may be charged
a fee, such as a nominal fee of $25-$75 for a submission, although
these may be arbitrary numbers. The amount of the fee may be
related to the length of the content, which will of course affect
the amount of time needed to review and evaluate the submitted
work, as will be described in further detail below.
11) Once the work has been submitted to and uploaded in the
depository, the next step in the process is initiated, and this
involves review of thc work to assess its quality or appeal, and
to determine whether the work should continue to move through the
evaluation process. The nature of the review, and the parameters
by means of which a work is assessed, may vary widely depending
upon, for example, the work itself and the demographic to which it
is directed. The following sets forth descriptions of preferred
review procedures, but these may be changed or altered as
determined, and still remain within the scope of the invention.
12) One important preferred feature of the review process is that
it is "blind". By this is meant that the reviewers of the work
have no knowledge as to the identity or past contributions of the
creator of the work. The objective is, of course, to provide an
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unbiased review of the work itself without the influence of
extraneous factors, such as the relative fame or obscurity of the
creator, as well as contacts or connections the creator may have.
The review may comprise a number of phases. In one embodiment, the
first phase of the review process requires that the work or content
be screened and reviewed by a multitude of review board members,
typically 8 to 10 members per level as an example, which would be
established in accordance with this invention. Each of these
reviewers would review the work, either by accessing in an
authorized and secured manner the content on the computer or server
on which they are uploaded, or by copying the content to a remote
device, individually and separately in this phase. Each reviewer
would rate the work, making notes as may be appropriate to ensure
the sufficiency and completeness of the review, and also to
maintain its integrity, as well as noting their thoughts in regards
to the specific piece under review moving to the next level of
blind review. This may all be done completely within the confines
of the central data center of the server or computer.
13) In one aspect of the invention, the work will be subject to
three separate phases of review each by a multiple or plurality of
reviewers, so that before a work or piece of content may be
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accepted for broadcast, to be described further below, it will
have moved through and been reviewed by reviewers in these three
separate blind phases, so that the result will be the combined
contributions of potentially 24 to 30 members of the review board,
none of whom know the creator's identity, age, race, or gender.
14) By utilizing at least a small multiple of reviewers, eight as
an example in three separate phases, a triple blind process is
carried out independently and without any of the basic current
industry standard prejudices that influence the decision making
process, so that the process will facilitate identification of the
best material, which may then move to the next phase. In one aspect
of the invention, each of these reviewers will review the work
independently without reference to the others, but other
variations are possible in which reviewers may, at least in one or
more of the evaluation phases, work in pairs or groups of determine
size which may be considered the most effective manner of
evaluating the work.
15) A step which may be incorporated to protect the integrity of
the review is to ensure that a board member cannot follow a
specific piece of content, such as, for example, as it moves from
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one segment of the data center to another segment of the data
center potentially moving to broadcast. Since all of the content,
and indeed the reviewers themselves, are not identified, reviewers
cannot effectively "push" any specific piece of content to the
broadcast phase on his or her own. When being reviewed, the item
of content has no name or other identifying information attached
to it, the reviewers have no names attached to them, the reviewers
notes are not attached to the content being reviewed but kept
alongside the content undisclosed to any other reviewer that might
review thc samc contcnt, with the final notes only being rovicwed
at the end of the evaluation process and senior review board
members actively facilitating the next steps. The content creator
of a pending broadcast is notified or informed thereof, while the
writing staff may also construct a letter to the content creator
whose work was not accepted for broadcast informing of this result.
The notes prepared by the reviewers may accompany any refusal (or
even acceptance) to indicate along with encouragement that the
creator consider the suggestions noted, make changes, and
resubmit. Additionally, another segment of the data center
computer system may require tracking of the reviewers who are
evaluating any specific piece of content in order to make sure
that the quality control process of reviewing content is
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maintained. As such, this rigorous neutrality in the review process
helps to ensure that the same and best content will almost always
rise to broadcast level no matter how many times it is run through
the process, or indeed which reviewers from the review board pool
evaluates the content.
16) The evaluation of the work may be based on a number of set
parameters, factors or programs, which reviewers may have for
guidance, and these may include: the storyline, character
development, acting, direction as well as overall production
quality for films and videos. In the arena of music, factors to
consider in the evaluation may include: melody, harmony, rhythm,
form, lyrics, and production quality. These are, of course,
examples only.
17) Upon completion of the review process and phases described
above, all content is given a final screening or listening by a
majority of the review board, preferably in appropriately equipped
screening rooms. The content may be screened directly from the
computer or server, or copied and screened therefrom. This final
screening may comprise the content which has survived and been
approved through the phases described above, or it may even include
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some or all of the works which may not have passed muster in these
initial reviews. The addition of pieces that did not pass muster
may serve several purposes: it gives another opportunity to a piece
of quality content that might have somehow been overlooked.
Further, if it does not meet the requirements, the entirety of
those attending the final screening prior to setting broadcast
timing may make verbal notes as it plays, which may be uploaded
and associated with the content on the server. After the final
screening review, and approval of the works which have been
selected for furthcr processing, thc artist or thc creator of the
work is contacted to inform them of the decision, and to arrange
and schedule broadcast for such content. The system may require
the existence of an "Artist Relations Department" for this purpose.
18) The selected content is then coded and processed into the
broadcast management system, which may reside on another segment
of the central data system, and scheduled for airing. The broadcast
management systems programming functions allow for certain user
preferences when using the current invention. This would, for
example, allow the work to be paused, fast forwarded, rewound, and
the place kept for continued future viewing. Other features such
as the ability to designate the work as a "favorite" may be
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provided. Additionally, the user may also have the option of
accessing the content from a content library which is created in
accordance with the invention. The content library can be
contrasted with the broadcast of the work: during a broadcast, the
viewer would watch selected material and programs which are playing
in real time much like one does when watching network TV. However,
the same content may also be present in a content library so that
the user or an audience member can access the work at any time, or
perhaps start watching from the beginning, which may have been
missed if the broadcast was joincd only partway into the airing of
the work.
19) In one aspect of the invention, the work, which may be a
video, will be placed into a specific rotational programming cycle
for a period of up to eight weeks. In other words, the work will
be broadcast at over a period of eight weeks in selected time
slots. The broadcast management system may keep a log of each time
a piece of content airs, thereby allowing for an accurate
accounting system so that calculation of payments to the artists
can be effectively controlled, and accurately calculated.
20) In one aspect of the invention, the artist share of revenues
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generated by advertising during the course of the broadcast of
their work may be paid within forty-five days after the content
has ended its, for example, eight week or fifty-six day rotation.
Rotations of shorter length may also be utilized, and payments to
artists may occur on a shorter or longer schedule.
21) While specific numbers may vary depending upon current
circumstances, generally only the top 2% of submitted content would
typically be approved for broadcast. Further, that 2% would be all
that runs on the broadcast system, which would be broadcasting or
streaming continuously, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week,
and 365 days a year. This continuous streaming occurs on multiple
channels at the same time with each channel being dedicated, in
one aspect of the invention, to a specific genre. In some
instances, two or more similar genres may occupy one channel.
Content Acquisition Process
22) With this approach, the acquisition process is able to tap
into and utilize a wealth of content which may otherwise never see
the light of day, and which is being created by artists who are
able to take advantage of the wide array and benefits of newly
developed audio and video production tools now readily available
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to creators. Tapping into this wealth of content enables the review
board to build a vast library of works which may be broadcast, or
available for viewing, 24 hours a day. Many of these works may
comprise world-class content, and represent submissions filed in
accordance with the present invention which are produced in their
entirety by independent, non-affiliated and out of house creators
and producers, and therefore represent no upfront fees and charges
to the broadcast function of the current invention. The importance
of avoiding upfront fees and expenses serves many purposes and is
onc of the more significant differences between the current
invention and the current industry business model. The methods and
systems of the invention therefore utilize high-quality works much
of which may otherwise be ignored by the relevant industry in
conventional procedures currently used for finding and publishing
and broadcasting high quality works of art.
23) Therefore, unlike conventional TV networks and studios, the
systems and procedures in accordance with the present invention
risk no investment on upfront production costs of content that has
yet to be created, which may or may not attract an audience. This
in turn determines, of course, whether advertisers may be willing
to buy advertising inventory. By tapping into a huge otherwise
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unserved or underserved source, the invention thereafter selects
the very best from this source that is already in existence, having
gone through the production process, and may essentially be ready
to air.
24) For those submissions which have been approved by the review
board, and selected for broadcast, the creators or others involved
with respect to such submissions may, in accordance with the
invention, be paid a majority or at least significant share of the
advertising revenue. The reality of significant carnings which may
be available for the creators will, in turn, most likely push the
competitive bar even higher resulting in even better quality
content. Furthermore, higher-quality content has a potential
consequence of attracting a larger audience, and this naturally
translates into higher advertising fees and revenues, which
translates into higher revenue for the content creator, which
translates into even higher quality content production. In
accordance with the system of the invention, the persons that
benefit most directly from the system are the artist themselves,
who are typically underpaid and under-represented in conventional
markets. But, in the broader sense, both audience and advertisers
will ultimately benefit as well by the surfacing of high quality
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material, so this benefits all involved
Programming Advertising Relationship Model
25) The library of submitted and/or approved content in
accordance with the invention may span the gamut, and include
drama, comedy, action and other genres of film and video. It may
also include a wide variety of music types, stand-up comedy, and
dance which may be broadcast across a suite of streaming channels.
As mentioned above, as submission volumes increase, and the content
quality improves and rises to higher and higher levels, the number
of channels in both music and film will continue to grow, thereby
offering the audience more and more options, and also offering
advertisers the ability to associate their product with quality
materials in specific areas. Additionally, the channels and the
entire system in general allow for any length piece of content.
Traditionally, broadcasters fit programming into a set timed
schedule. This allows them to maximize commercial time per 30 or
60 minute window of time. An example would be 30 minute TV shows
which are 22 minutes in length allowing for 8 minutes of
commercials. This model demands that creative content fit, which
in many instances directly and profoundly affects the organic
nature of the creative process by removing material to fit or
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adding material that is not needed in order to fill the time
requirement. Further, by eliminating the timer on content combined
with the current invention's ability to calculate monetization to
the minute and even to the second, artists that have created
brilliant works of art of mere seconds in regards to Vine or
Instagram can monetize those works as well.
The system in accordance with the present invention may set
programming schedules for all channels, which may be much the way
nctwork television has done in the past. The viewing will be
provided without any subscription fee, and limited commercials. An
additional function of the inventions system is addressing and
attempting to resolve digital advertising algorithm dilemmas
typically faced by other streaming services. This is achieved by
knowing extremely accurately how many people are watching any given
channel at any particular time, together with the age, gender and
location of each audience member. This information can be provided
to advertisers, thereby enabling advertisers to direct their
advertising dollars to a selected demographic whose parameters are
known to a much more significant extent than in conventional past
and current usage.
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26) The system of the invention would also request and ask
audience members to watch and give attention to commercials which
are shown during the performance, and the audience may well be
more amenable to watching such commercials, particularly with the
knowledge that the revenues derived therefrom, or at least a
significant portion thereof, will go to the artists creating the
content which they are currently enjoying. There is, therefore, a
mutually beneficial connection or link between the creators or
artists, the audience, and the advertiser, all of which benefit
from the other in a much more direct sense than has been achieved
in the past. Further, advertisements may ultimately be more
relevant to the specific audience, since products which have no or
little relevance to the known demographic are less likely to be
aired where they may be ignored or disliked. Additionally the
current invention allows viewers to save ads they are interested
in to their personal library account, as well as giving viewers
the ability to make comments about the ad to the advertiser
directly, further helping the company more accurately address
their target market needs. The system also allows viewers to
request additional information about an advertised product while
affording the advertiser the ability to reply to viewers directly
through email or other forms of communication.
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27) The invention may also allow sharing of commercials, whereby
a viewer forwards an interesting and potentially useful commercial
to another. In such case, the advertiser would be notified, and
may also decide to send out additional material which may be
helpful to the viewer or the person with whom the commercial may
be shared. When signing up, a viewer may provide an email address
to which primary or secondary advertising content may be sent.
Additionally, library accounts may be able to receive the follow-up
advertising information allowing the user to not bc concerned about
their personal home email account being bombarded with advertising
or unwanted information.
28) Advertising and commercials may be self-deleting. When
content is downloaded from the library for free, the viewer must
watch a specific number of commercials embedded in the content to
justify or earn the free download. The advertisements would then
self-delete. Or, they may not self-delete but rather turn off. In
such case, if the viewer shares that content with another person,
or transfers that content to another device, the advertisements
would turn back on for viewing, and the same process would begin
again.
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29) In order to monetize the additional audience member, or a new
device, the invention may require that the account holder register
their devices. When content is shared to another device, it must
be connected to Wi-Fi, or another form of connection to the
services of the invention, which allows the system of the invention
to observe where the content is going, and whether the device may
be recognized. If the device is recognized, the charge may be for
one rate. If not, the new user must register an account with the
platform of the system of the invention in order to view the
content. At such time, the system can notify the advertiser of
additional viewing and associated charges.
30) The system of the invention may also comprise an on-demand
component, whereby an audience member watching a currently
streaming production from a TV like broadcast may further be able
to access a content library so as to view such content from the
library. This has multifaceted benefits. The viewer can thus watch
the program whenever they want, and as many times as they want to.
Further, the viewer would be able to watch from the beginning a
performance which they only started watching in the middle thereof
during a broadcasted stream. Further, viewers may have the ability
to download the content, or send such performance or a link thereof
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to a friend, if it was enjoyed and the viewer believes that others
may derive enjoyment as well. The performance may also be saved to
a viewer's personal favorite or library file, and such performance
can be watched on many devices, including mobile telephones,
laptops, smart TVs, to name a few of the more common ones.
Rotational Broadcasting Mode
31) It should be understood individuals that view entertainment
tend to have viewing patterns. An example would be someone sitting
down to watch TV after dinner and watching for two hours That would
be a repetitive pattern based on their life's schedule. A pattern
such as the aforementioned would not have a typical viewer seeing
large volumes of new content on a daily basis as the media industry
as a whole is a financial model, not a model to expose large
volumes of new content to viewers. This is somewhat like the
automotive industry which could put hundreds of new features on
next year's car but they will actually take 3-5 years to implement
all those features because their business model is capital driven
not giving the consumer everything they have available.
32) The rotational broadcast model of this current invention is
the exact opposite of those models, wherein the goal is to expose
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as much new quality content as is available with the belief that
there is always more content then could ever be shown combined
with the belief that viewers ought to have access to new and
different content every time they chose to take time out to view
entertainment.
33) The current invention builds blocks of content, an example
being a six hour block, (blocks can be built longer or shorter in
other examples). These blocks of content have their position and
rotate forward around the clock each day while also rotating the
content inside those blocks of time each day. An example in regard
to one of the channels may be utilizing eight blocks of time with
six hours of content in each block filling two complete days of
broadcast. BlockABCDEFGHwould start with BlockAbeginning
a broadcast at midnight and running until 6am, then Block B
starting at 6am and running until noon and so on for two solid
days or 48 hours. Then, all blocks rotate forward one location
with the first block (typically Block A being moved to the end of
the line following Block H in the next rotation), this time with
Block B starting at midnight and running until 6am, then Block C
running from 6am until noon with remaining blocks following in
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order. The next cycle has the beginning broadcast at midnight
beginning with Block C. This rotating of the blocks of content
allows a viewer to view the channels in their normal and consistent
viewing pattern for 11 days before once again seeing the same Block
of content. Additionally if the content inside each six hour block
is also rotated forward one full hour each time it arrives in the
initial broadcast position, it creates a dynamic such as when the
viewers' consistent pattern has them viewing when Block A comes
back into their patterned viewing time, the order of the content
has changed affording thc viewer the opportunity to see content in
that six hour block they might not have previously seen. This means
that if a viewer watches one hour of programming per night, it
could take up to 60 days to see all the content offered in the
initial eight 6 hour blocks of content. Broadcast may be effected
by, for example, streaming content on-line or transmitting content
by other conventional means.
Access and Funding
34) It would be well known to artists, whether musician, writer,
director, actor, producer or other, that large industry
corporations generally control almost all of the avenues of
distribution and therefore play a huge part in deciding what works
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may reach the public and which do not. The vast majority of artists
are excluded. While easily accessible technology has enabled a new
generation of artists to produce broadcast-ready content from
their own homes or small studios, whether film, television or
music, the promise of an Internet that would offer an additional
platform for mass exposure to small content creators giving them
the ability to monetize that content remains a substantial
challenge. This may apply to both unknown and even known artists
in their ability capture an audience. Therefore, the driving issue
for many artists is how to get enough exposure, and thereafter
convert that exposure into revenue.
35) Indeed, with the wide array of media choices across multiple
devices and platforms now available, it is challenging enough for
multibillion-dollar advertisers to reach consumers, let alone
smaller artists, regardless of the quality of the content. On the
other side of the coin, finding high quality and brilliant material
for viewing is equally challenging, requiring an audience to wade
through an almost infinitely large sea of average or even mediocre
material to discover the gems contained therein.
36) The invention thus provides a system which features a suite
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of channels broadcasting very high quality content from both
emerging and established writers, directors, recording artists and
others that have passed through a review process broadcasting only
the best of the best content and making this content available to
the public across multiple media platforms and through many types
of digital devices. At the same time, a reasonable source of income
is provided to the artists that potentially exceeds any currently
available, especially for unknown or little-known artists.
37) One of the main financial advantages to artists whose content
is utilized by the current invention is that the amount of revenue
they can generate is tied to the advertising rates which move
upward with an increase in viewership. Traditionally, artist
negotiate a set rate for licensing their broadcast ready content
to be utilized by a network. The network then works to maximize
advertising revenue for spots sold inside that licensed content.
The network may generate many multiple times more revenue than it
paid for the rights to broadcast the content.
38) The invention offers creative content across all genres the
opportunity for broadcast, and also the same or comparable
financial arrangements available to current producers for bringing
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broadcast ready media to the major networks. It is emphasized that
selection in accordance with the invention is based on the quality
of content alone.
39) The invention provides a broadcasting model affording an
eloquent blend of network, streaming and on demand services
available on multiple platforms. This follows from the combination
of how it delivers the content, how it sets a programming schedule,
and that it has a content library. Content producers are able to
harness the power of the system of thc invention, and audiences
are able to enjoy top-quality entertainment from already
discovered and previously undiscovered talent without having to
spend valuable time searching. The review process of the present
invention helps to identify the highest quality submissions,
without prejudice. Finally, advertisers are able to gather
extremely important viewer data in up-to-the-minute real time,
which is more accurate than any other distribution channel in the
industry. By requiring viewers to establish an account, and then
further requiring subscribed viewers to utilize their pass code to
access any of the channels, the current invention is uniquely
positioned to know exactly how many people are on each channel at
any given time, specifically what each viewer is watching, the
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general location of the viewer, as well as the age, race, and
gender of the viewer. All of these features are what advertisers
are unable to access presently and desperately need in order to
better direct their advertising campaign spending.
40) A typical network or conventional broadcaster utilizes
capital resources at the front end either to create content,
license it, or buy it. Expenditures may then be recouped through
advertising revenues. However, there are built in risks. If the
content is not popular, the advertising rates arc low, and this
just simply encourages entertainment companies to remain with
previously proven artists and creators, take less risks, and work
safely for revenue streams so that they may be secure in efforts
to recoup their overheads. The system of the present invention
eliminates or substantially reduces the aversion to risk, as there
would be no capital expenditure upfront for content creation or
acquisition. The invention provides a review as described above
for sifting through large amounts of material to identify the best.
The objective is that quality will prevail above all else.
41) It will be appreciated that in an entertainment industry which
includes about 700 cable channels, hundreds of network channels,
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dozens of streaming channels, and countless free channels, certain
things remain consistent: (1) the manner of monetizing content;
(2) the manner of collecting the content; and (3) the manner in
which the content is controlled. The constantly changing factor is
how the content is delivered. Thus, faster downloads, more
definition, medium of use (TV, computer, phone, gaming console and
the like), contract or no contract, grouping, are constantly
evolving in an effort to meet changing needs. There are probably
more than 100 million households with cable TV, approximately 70
million have Nctflix, and there arc many other choices in addition.
All these options guarantee two things. First, many avenues for
commercials, and second, much sifting through volumes of content
to find quality. Additionally, it is equally as difficult for
advertisers to find a market across such diverse viewing options.
The system of the current invention provides an independent and
"blind" review process which elevates quality content to the top
for distribution and broadcast.
42) Advertisers have information relating to audiences in real
time, and, importantly, the creative artists are able to enjoy
substantial returns from their creations. Broadcasting is funded
by content submission fees, thus the artists are supporting a
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platform that can in return support the artist. Advertising revenue
and the rate of that revenue is directly related to the number of
viewers. The number of viewers is determined by the quality of the
content. As the content quality is discovered, the viewership will
rise, hence the advertising revenue will rise, hence the revenue
to the artists will rise, even more substantially due to overhead
costs being covered by submission fees.
43) Advertising rates in accordance with the invention may be
calculated by a mathematical equation, for example, based on the
cost for each thousand people viewing a specific show. A specified
amount of money would be charged on this basis. Rates may move
higher or lower based on the time of the day, or even the day of
the week. This calculation can be scaled down to know the per
minute or even per second amount of ad revenue so as to more
accurately compensate content creators. The ability to scale down
to the second allows for the timer on content length to be removed.
The timer is the length of time content must be to fill or conform
to the traditional broadcast advertising model. Such a model
directly impacts the original and organic nature of creating
content for entertainment purposes.
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Additional Description and Discussion
44) (A) Embedded commercial content in free downloadable content
self-deletes or turns itself off after a set number of views.
Current content (music, video, or film) is downloadable from a
variety of sites for a small fee. The content libraries garner a
minority share of the download fee and also sell advertising space
on the pages of the library to generate more revenue.
45) (Al) In the present invention, the content library
(invention) has many functions, including that it allows for all
of the content to be downloaded for free while still paying the
content creators more than they generate from conventional
libraries. This is accomplished by placing advertisements at the
beginning, middle or end of the downloaded content. Such
advertisement (or ads depending on the length of the content
downloaded) self-deletes or turns itself off after the content has
been viewed a set amount of times. These advertisements generate
revenue for the creator and the library.
46) (B) On demand ability may be linked directly to scheduled
programming. Currently, on-demand services consist of a content
library of a particular network's past shows, or a standalone
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service that holds thousands of content titles of past shows and
films. The on-demand service itself allows viewers to access these
titles for free and actually view some of them for free. However,
the majority of these titles cost the viewers several dollars to
view. The chosen content with fees attached allow the viewers to
watch as much as they wish over a twenty-four hour period.
47) (B1) In the present invention, viewers can go from watching
a show they turned on in the middle to watching that exact content
in thc library with the click of an icon. There, thcy can read
notes, save for viewing later, start watching from the beginning,
or leave review notes for other viewers. A fair comparison would
be, for example, turning on ABC channel 7 in the middle of a show
and clicking on an icon to reach ABCs content library and being
able to do all the aforementioned options. An audience member can
start watching a show on one of the channels that began before
they joined, and they can activate an icon (or use some other
procedure) on the screen and be taken to that exact show in the
content library where the viewer has several options available.
These include: (1) begin watching from the beginning, (2)
Afavoriteg the show (which places it in their personal content
library) for viewing later, (3) read notes on the show from those
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involved in its creation, (4) eventually leave their own comments
after watching it, (5) have full control of the content. In this
regard, several current cable channels allow a viewer to select
the start over function and the show starts over. However, the
viewer is unable to fast forward, rewind, or pause for an extended
period of time. In comparison, therefore, this is not full control
for the viewer.
48) (C) Advertising, with network TV, the Nielson rating system
is the standard. Thc system uses a small cross section of
households that have a viewership box in their house which tracks
what each household is watching, including times, channels etc.
All of that data is then extrapolated out to a number that Nielson
dictates covers the entire country, which is then considered to be
what the country is watching en mass. Advertising rates are then
based on those numbers. Advertisers currently pay for an ad
campaign and get a report after their entire campaign is completed,
and after they have spent their advertising dollars. Only at this
time do they get to see if their ad campaign achieved the desired
results. The main problem with the Nielson model is there are only
about 40,000 homes with Nielson boxes capturing this information
and about 118,000,000 homes with TV=s. Essentially, about 0.00337%
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of the viewing public's viewing habits are being used to calculate
what the remaining about 99.99662% of the public is supposedly
viewing.
49) (Cl) In the present invention, each channel is programmed and
it is known what is playing, much like a network. However, because
the invention utilizes a streaming service, it may be required
that viewers establish a personal account which assigns them a
personal access code. That code must be used each and every time
a viewer wishes to access the channels. In a preferred form, the
only personal data required is age, gender, and zip code. With
this data, it is possible to offer data to advertisers in real
time as to exactly how many people were on a certain channel when
their commercial was run, and, what the age, gender, and zip code
of those people may be. For a company advertising in a local
market, it can also access other local markets in their region, or
any other region in the country. This real time data (which may be
accessed through an account right after a commercial airs to see
the aforementioned numbers) allows for adjustments to an
advertiser's marketing strategy as well as seeing numbers from
other localities in their region to see if expansion makes sense
in an educated manner currently unavailable in the advertising
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industry. In accordance with a feature of the invention,
advertisers can adjust their ad campaign in the midst of their ad
campaign, greatly improving the success rate of their specific
goals.
50) (02) Additionally, through the library, all commercials can
be accessed later by viewers that are of interest but for which
there was no way to record or write down the information in the
moment. By clicking on the favorite icon while the ad is on the
screen of their device, the commercial may be saved to their
personal library account and may further notify the advertiser of
the viewer interest so they can email information to the viewer.
51) (03) Another function available to advertisers is the preload
immediate drop process. This process allows advertisers to set
marker numbers that trigger advertising buys and placements into
broadcast rotation. An advertiser in the Dallas area, for example,
may be interested in expanding into additional local markets but
only wants to spend additional revenue if they can reach a certain
minimum number of viewers. The advertiser can set the minimum
number, set the markets they are interested in, and set their
budget. When those set numbers in any or all of the additional
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markets are achieved, their advertisement is placed in broadcast
rotation for viewing. This allows an advertiser several specific
advantages: (1) It lowers the risks typically associated with
buying ads based on current viewer numbers, numbers that may not
be relevant or current at the time that advertiser's ad actually
runs. This risk lowering process is directly related to the overall
ability to know exactly how many people are viewing each channel
In every city across the country and beyond our borders. (2) Allows
advertisers to test new markets and/or new ad content in the now
as compared to months out waiting to bc scheduled into rotation as
Is the current method. (3) Allows advertisers to monitor immediate
results and configure their longer range ad buys based on real
time numbers by potentially running multiple ads at once for
comparison affects and results. This is in contrast to the current
methods which force advertisers to buy ad time in bulk for
placement over a set time frame with the results of the entire ad
buy coming after the campaign is completed. This is essentially a
system that increases financial risks to the smaller advertiser.
Hopefully, the ad they ran was the better of the two or three they
had produced to choose from, but there is no upfront certainty.
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52) (D) Getting Content to Broadcast: The current way for an
artist to get any form of creative content to air may be as follows.
In, for example, the case of a film, first the script must be
written, then funding must be found in order to begin
pre-production. In order to get funding, one has to have a
successful track record of past works. If not, the creator may
have to beg and borrow from friends and family and that will likely
not cover anything larger than a short film at best. Even if the
creator were able to raise enough capital to produce a full length
feature, a distribution and broadcast outlet will be needed. In
order to get distribution, the creator requires connections, a
manager or agent, but again a successful track record often
controls the acquiring of these connections. Since the industry
spends large amounts of capital on every part of the creative
process, they tend to go with proven success, which often has
nothing to do with quality. Since the distribution process requires
a vast amount of money to advertise and market a product, it is
extremely difficult for an independent artist to get support or
backing from a distribution or broadcast company. If lucky enough
to get that far, the artist typically gets the smallest portion of
the profits if there are any reported. Not only are funds required,
but there is also the fact that the number of slots available for
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viewing is not unlimited. Several decades ago, films stayed in
theatres for about 2-3 months. Today, a few weeks is a long run
before a film is replaced by the next one. On TV/cable shows, there
are endless re-runs, filling time on channels. While the
broadcasters sell ad spots at a premium, they may pay less for
older content that is a safe known quantity that will attract an
established viewership. Even though the spots are limited, the
owners of channels do not want to spend dollars risking on unknown
content because of the costs associated with it and the fact that
thcy charge for thcir services. If thcy arc publicly traded, they
need to produce results for shareholders and hence the ability or
desire to risk diminishes dramatically. If an artist does get a
distribution, he or she may typically generate almost zero return
as the company will argue that the profits went to the costs to
market the works. On the other hand, if the content is a huge hit,
then the artist may get better returns, but typically on the next
project they create and then only through negotiations supported
by previous history.
53) (Dl) The procedure in accordance with the invention is very
different from the above. Assuming an artist has gone through the
creative process and now has finished content ready for
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distribution or broadcast, the artist can submit such finished
content in accordance with the invention for a minimal fee and
that content then goes through a review process, as described
above. If the content makes it all the way to broadcast, it may
have been reviewed by no less than 24-30 industry professionals.
(There may also be non-professionals enlisted to review content.)
None of those professionals have any money involved, have any
reputation involved, nor do they know anything about the content's
creator. Names are reduced to codes, reviewers names are also
reduced to codes, reviewers may be required to make notes on the
content, but other reviewers may not have access to those notes.
Thus, all aspects of the review process are blind and independent.
Additionally, the age, race, gender, social status, and creative
track record are also blind to everyone in the review process.
This means having an agent or manager to get a door to open is no
longer required, being young and fresh is no longer required, being
thin and attractive is no longer required. All that is required is
quality content. Additionally, artists that want to create a
feature length film (the most expensive to accomplish) can submit
a trailer for review. If the trailer moves through the process all
the way to broadcast, the invention provides that it may run on a
trailers channel for interest. Furthermore, the system may allow
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viewers of the trailer to invest in getting the film made, such as
through crowd funding. One aspect of the invention allows for the
artist to raise capital to continue the project, such as by issuing
a letter of intent to broadcast to the artist based on the quality
of the trailer submitted.
54) (E) Monetization of Creative Content: In the current
environment those that create content, whether it is film or TV or
music or other content, there is an understanding that those that
create get the smallest portion of the funds generated by the
created content. Distribution companies have massive overhead as
described earlier and utilize that line of reasoning to justify
the smallest portion going to the creator of the content.
Distribution and advertising can be extremely expensive because
there is no way of really knowing how to find the audience. Thus,
the distribution companies assume they are taking the biggest
financial risk.
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55) (El) In accordance with the present invention, the space or
spots for distribution and broadcast are limitless due to the
scalable nature of the format. Being a streaming service allows
the addition of channels when needed at minimal or relatively low
cost. Because of the unconventional marketing in accordance with
the invention, the costs are significantly lower than conventional
forms of marketing. The process of the invention does not need to
charge extravagant prices, since good content in and of itself
attracts viewers. No charge for quality attracts viewers which
raises advertising rates, which in turn generates more revenue for
content creators. Good content which attracts viewership also
attracts advertisers. Thus the current invention systems allow
each of the three external components, namely, (1) the artist, (2)
the audience, and (3) the advertiser, to support the others while
at the same time benefitting from the others.
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