Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, receiving, from a streaming application, a listing of media content items provided by the streaming application to a first device of a first user, determining a priority set of the media content items of the listing of media content items according to relative demand profiles of a plurality of media content items, for each priority media content item of the priority set of the media content items, providing the priority media content item to an edge server of a set of edge servers accessible to the first device, updating edge server location information associated with the priority media content item, and providing the edge server location information to the streaming application. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Systems and methods are described to enhance interactive engagement during simultaneous delivery of serial or digital content (e.g., audio, video) to a plurality of users. A machine-based awareness of the context of the content and/or one or more user reactions to the presentation of the content may be used as a basis to interrupt content delivery in order to intersperse a snippet that includes a virtual agent with an awareness of the context(s) of the content and/or the one or more user reactions. This “contextual virtual agent” (CVA) enacts actions and/or dialog based on the one or more machine-classified contexts coupled with identified interests and/or aspirations of individuals within the group of users. The CVA may also base its activities on a machine-based awareness of “future” content that has not yet been delivered to the group, but classified by natural language and/or computer vision processing. Interrupting the delivery of content substantially simultaneously to a group of users and initiating dialog regarding content by a CVA enhances opportunities for users to engage with each other about their shared interactive experience.

An example method includes obtaining a plurality of candidate media segments for possible inclusion in a single stream of media segments that is personalized for a first user, wherein at least one candidate media segment of the plurality of candidate media segments comprises an excerpt from a media asset, selecting, based on a known media consumption behavior of the first user, a subset of the plurality of candidate media segments, wherein the subset includes candidate media segments of the plurality of candidate media segments that are to be included in the single stream of media segments, modifying at least one candidate media segment in the subset based on the known media consumption behavior of the first user, and compiling the subset into the single stream of media segments, wherein the single stream of media segments includes the at least one candidate media segment in the subset that was modified.

A method for providing a personalized media stream includes receiving a signal from a user to launch a personalized media stream, determining a current time, identifying a first time slot of a schedule into which the current time falls, identifying a first channel that is associated with the first time slot, wherein viewing history for the user indicates that the user has viewed the first channel during the first time slot in the past, automatically tuning the display device to the first channel in response to the signal, receiving, subsequent to the automatically tuning, a command from the user to pause a program playing on the first channel, identifying a second channel associated with a second time slot, wherein the second time slot occurs later in time that the first time slot, and buffering a portion of a program being shown on the second channel during the second time slot.

A method is provided for displaying an immersive video content according to eye movement of a viewer includes the steps of detecting, using an eye tracking device, a field of view of at least one eye of the viewer, transmitting eye tracking coordinates from the detected field of view to an eye tracking processor, identifying a region on a video display corresponding to the transmitted eye tracking processor, adapting the immersive video content from a video storage device at a first resolution for a first portion of the immersive video content and a second resolution for a second portion of the immersive video content, the first resolution being higher than the second resolution, displaying the first portion of the immersive video content on the video display within a zone, and displaying the second portion of the immersive video content on the video display outside of the zone.

Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture to reduce false positive signature matches due to similar media segments in different reference media assets are disclosed. Example apparatus disclosed herein include a signature matcher to compare monitored media signatures with a library of reference media signatures, the monitored media signatures associated with monitored media, the library of reference media signatures including sequences of reference signatures associated with respective reference media assets. Disclosed example apparatus also include a match information identifier to identify a number of different matched reference media assets associated with ones of the sequences of reference media signatures that match a sequence of matched monitored media signatures. Disclosed example apparatus further include a false positive identifier to, in response to the number of different matched reference media assets satisfying a threshold number, eliminate one or more of the matched reference media assets from being credited to the monitored media.

In one aspect, a method is performed by a computing system that is in communication with a content-presentation device, where the content-presentation device is scheduled to perform, at a modification start-time, a content-modification operation that comprises modifying a modifiable content-segment that the content-presentation device is scheduled to receive. The method includes determining that the content-presentation device has detected, within a predefined time period after the modification start-time and during performance of the content-modification operation, a mismatch between reference fingerprint data representing the modifiable content-segment and query fingerprint data representing content received by the content-presentation device from a tuner device connected to the content-presentation device. The method also includes determining that the mismatch is due to the tuner device having modified the modifiable content-segment before the modification start-time and, in response to determining that the mismatch is due to the tuner device having modified the modifiable content-segment before the modification start-time, performing an action.

A secondary content such as an advertisement may be inserted based on users' interests in 360 degree video streaming. Users may have different interests and may watch different areas within a 360 degree video. The information about area(s) of 360 degree scenes that users watch the most may be used to select an ad(s) relevant to their interests. One or more secondary content viewports may be defined within a 360 degree video frame. Secondary content viewport parameter(s) may be tracked. For example, statistics of the user's head orientation for some time leading to tile presentation of the ad(s) may be collected. Secondary content may be determined based on the tracked secondary content viewport parameters).

Media content search results ranked by popularity is described. In embodiment(s), a search request for television media content can be initiated by a viewer, and television media content that is relevant to the search request can be identified. The relevant television media content can then be ranked based on a popularity rating and the relevant television media content can be displayed in an ordered list that is ordered by popularity rankings.

A network test instrument is operable to conduct sweep tests with a cable modem termination system having a distributed architecture. Through signaling performed via a telemetry channel between the network test instrument and a sweep server, the network test instrument can initiate the sweep test. The sweep server communicates with the cable modem termination system to facilitate the sweep test between the network test instrument and the cable modem termination system.