The Video Cassette Recorder (VCR) has changed the lives of television (TV) viewers throughout the world. The VCR has offered viewers the flexibility to time-shift TV programs to match their lifestyles.
The viewer stores TV programs onto magnetic tape using the VCR. The VCR gives the viewer the ability to play, rewind, fast forward and pause the stored program material. These functions enable the viewer to pause the program playback whenever he desires, fast forward through unwanted program material or commercials, and to replay favorite scenes. However, a VCR cannot both capture and play back information at the same time.
Digital Video Recorders (DVR) have recently entered into the marketplace. DVRs allow the viewer to store TV programs on a hard disk. This has freed the viewer from the magnetic tape realm. Viewers can pause, rewind, and fast forward live broadcast programs. However, the functionality of DVRs extends beyond recording programs.
Having programs stored locally in a digital form gives the programmer many more options than were previously available. Advertisements (commercials) can now be dynamically replaced and specifically targeted to the particular viewer based on his or her viewing habits. The commercials can be stored locally on the viewer's DVR and shown at any time.
DVRs allow interactive programming with the viewer. Generally, promotions for future shows are displayed to viewers during the normal broadcast programs. Viewers must then remember the date, time, and channel that the program will be aired on to record or view the program. DVRs allow the viewer to schedule the recording of the program immediately.
The only drawback is that the current generation of DVRs do not have the capability to interact with the viewer at this level. There is no means by which to notify the DVR that commercials are directly tied to a certain program or other advertisements. Further, there is no way to tell the DVR that a commercial can be replaced.
It would be advantageous to provide a closed caption tagging system that gives the content provider the ability to send frame specific data across broadcast media. It would further be advantageous to provide a closed caption tagging system that allows the receiver to dynamically interact with the viewer and configure itself based on program content.