Systems and methods for providing an advertisement marketplace where buyers and sellers can trade mediacast advertisement inventory programmatically at local, national, and/or worldwide levels. The marketplace system may include a seller-controlled marketplace system which connects sellers with buyers and offers revenue management tools for optimizing yields across direct and programmatic channels. The advertisement inventory is bought and sold as canonical inventory units which group similar but discrete advertisement slots together. The marketplace system may include a seller side platform (SSP) for sellers through which sellers can access demand across multiple sales channels and can make advertisement inventory available and accept or reject bids based on marketplace demand.

A server resource provides notification to subscribers in a respective network environment that the content is available for retrieval at a particular bit rate (e.g., a promotional bit rate) or particular level of quality (e.g., promotional level of quality) amongst multiple levels of quality for a limited duration of time. For example, an especially high level of quality (or bit rate) of the content may be available only for the limited duration of time. After making the especially high level of quality of content available for retrieval during a promotional period, the content may be subsequently available for retrieval only at lower levels of quality. Accordingly, one or more configurations as discussed herein include changing the ability to access content encoded at different levels of quality over time.

A facility for generating and displaying information regarding the packaging of individual media asset files associated with multiple scheduled presentations of interstitial media assets is provided. Scheduling information is received regarding future scheduled media presentations for each of a plurality of media assets via one or more content channels. Based at least in part on the received scheduling information, one or more package files are generated such that each package file includes a plurality of media asset files, each corresponding to at least one of the future scheduled media presentations, for distribution to a plurality of distinct media receivers. Database information is generated regarding the generating of the one or more package files, such that the database information includes a completion time associated with the generating of each package file. At least a portion of the generated database information is displayed on a user client device coupled to a multichannel media distribution computing system.

Methods and systems are described for a media guidance application that limits the incentive for authorized users to share content with unauthorized users, while still allowing users to access content virtually anywhere. Specifically, the media guidance application allows an authorized user to receive only a portion of a media asset that he or she is authorized to access on a different device, after a designated time period, and/or when the remaining portion of the media asset is inaccessible.

A method for receiving media data includes receiving a media presentation description (MPD) file and a session-based description (SBD) file, and determining whether the SBD file includes a starting time attribute indicating a starting time of an SBD timeline of a session. The method also includes determining the starting time of the SBD timeline based on the SBD file in response to the SBD file including the starting time attribute. The method further includes, in response to the SBD file not including the starting time attribute, determining the starting time of the SBD timeline based on an availability starting time attribute of an MPD element of the MPD file in response to (i) a type of the MPD file being dynamic and (ii) a determination that an SBD descriptor corresponding to the SBD file is included in the MPD file at an MPD level.

Metadata for a plurality of media content items is received. The metadata identifies a thumbnail representation of each of the plurality of media content items. The plurality of media content items are displayed in an overview area in an electronic program guide (EPG) in a user interface. The overview area comprises a plurality of cells aligned in one or more rows. The plurality of cells comprise a subset of the metadata for a respective media content item. An input of a selection of one of the plurality of media content items displayed at the EPG in the user interface is received. The selected media content item is displayed in a focus area in the EPG. The focus area comprises a rectangular area that is located near the overview area. The focus area comprises expanded metadata of the selected media content item for presentation in the focus area.

In one aspect, an example apparatus includes storage, and a processor to execute instructions to obtain first data representing a first state of first media scheduled to end at a scheduled end-time, obtain second data representing a second state of a past event corresponding to a subject of the first media, the past event separate from the first media, determine a predicted end-time based on a comparison of the first state and the second state, the predicted end-time indicating that the first media is to end after the scheduled end-time, modify electronic program guide (EPG) data associated with the first media based on the predicted end-time, and generate an EPG based on the modified EPG data.

Systems, devices and methods are described to process timed text that is associated with media or other video programming. Pre-set data that describes the particular format of the timed text that is associated with a program is initially received and stored at the media receiver prior to receiving the program with encoded timed text. The timed text that is associated with the received program is interpreted according to the pre-set data previously stored at the media receiver, and the program with the interpreted timed text is output to a display for presentation to the viewer.

The described technology is generally directed towards validating content selection graphs for use in an in-memory content selection graph data store. When a content selection graph data is generated, the graph nodes can correspond to prebuilt response data. The response data for any of the nodes can be verified against rules based on the type of a node, for example, as well as based on client-specific information for types of clients. The overall validation process can validate the content selection graph for subsequent use, can result in errors or warnings being logged (which may or may not render the graph unusable, e.g., depending on severity), or can fail the content selection graph. If validated, the content selection graph can be used to rapidly return response data when content from the graph is requested.

Multimedia content segment identified by users may be shared among media devices and media device users. Media content segment metadata is generated based on one or more identified media content item segments identified in one or more media content items. The media content segment metadata may include, but is not limited to, information indicating segment start and stop times, information about the particular media content item (e.g., title, actors, original air date), and other user-provided descriptive information. A link for the media content segment metadata may be posted for display on a webpage and which enables other users to access the media content segment metadata.