Method and apparatus for scanning, personalizing, and casting multimedia data streams via a communication network and television

A streaming data filtering method and apparatus utilizing users' profiles to deliver streaming data to users is presented. The invention uses context-based cues to extract content from both video and text ontologies. The invention provides novel techniques that semi-automatically generate a media concept hierarchy using hierarchical classifiers for representing text, closed-caption, and video features. This hierarchy is used to classify arrival of real-time news and will also be used to match users' profiles. Moreover, this hierarchy can be dynamically re-organized based upon user changes and arrival of real-time news. Matching a request with respect to a concept hierarchy is more efficient and reliable than searching specific keywords since the views of collected documents are refined as the hierarchy is traversed.