The following description relates to methods and techniques of distributing broadcast content.
Documents may be broadcast to one or more receivers on a regular basis. Broadcasting may include sending documents in email, sending alerts or notices that documents are available from a distribution source, and faxing documents. The documents are typically scheduled for regular distribution to the one or more receivers through one or more electronic distribution channels. The receivers may include subscribers to a subscription service, such as email, where subscribers receive the latest data and updates for products, research, and markets. The receivers may include managers and project planners who receive status reports, spreadsheets, and research data for one or more business goals, and may be within or outside a distributing party's organization.
The distribution schedule for the documents may include daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly distribution of reports. Generally, the same document is distributed. However, the data or content within the document may be updated with more recent data. Even though the data may be updated with data that is more recent than the last document that was broadcasted, the updated data may not be added or different data. If the updated data is not new, the receiver can get essentially the same document that was sent in the last reporting period. The receiver may spend their time and efforts searching for new data that is not in the received document. Also, if large documents are sent to multiple receivers at the same time, the large documents may increase network traffic and reduce the transmission rate of other communications on the distribution channels and/or network system.
In another aspect, the document may have the same data, but may have a different template and/or format. If the receiver is primarily concerned with receiving new data in the document, the document may not need to be distributed at the next distribution interval, even though the formatting of the data is different.
A technique of determining whether the document being sent contains data that is additional or different from the previously-distributed document is to compare the previously-distributed document with the document that is currently being prepared to be distributed. The technique may include the storing of both the previously-distributed document and the document updated with new data on the distribution system. The documents that are reported tend to be large in size. The storing of one or both of the documents can consume system resources, and a comparison of the content of those large documents may be a time-consuming task.