Measuring video asset viewing

• US 10,089,592 B2
• Filed: 01/28/2012
• Issued: 10/02/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Comcast Cable Communications LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Comcast Cable Communications LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Inventors: Orlowski, Robert Alan
• Primary Examiner(s): Peng, Fred
• Application Number:
  US13/360,704
• Publication Number:
  US 20140351835A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,439 Days
• Field of Search: 725 9- 21
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23424 involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for inserting or substituting an advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2668 Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles information retrieval from the Internet by querying with filtering and personalisation G06F16/9535; arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast H04H20/10; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/063
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4383 Accessing a communication channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44204 Monitoring of content usage, e.g. the number of times a movie has been viewed, copied or the amount which has been watched monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; protecting generic digital content where the protection is independent of the precise nature of the content G06F21/10; arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services in broadcast systems H04H60/31
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4821 using a grid, e.g. sorted out by channel and broadcast time
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02

Abstract

A computer-implemented method of using channel tuning data from a video asset viewing device connected to a network to measure video asset viewing at a second-by-second level during one or more user defined lead-in periods, and then correlating that with video asset viewing during a user defined target period, for the purpose of analyzing how viewing activity during the lead-in period(s) correlates with viewing activity during the target period, thus producing longitudinal viewing metrics; all while maintaining viewer anonymity. Additionally, viewing metrics can be categorized based on user defined demographic, geographic, and histogram groupings representing the percentage of video asset viewing with the result that the analyst is able to gain detailed insight into customer viewing behavior. The lead-in video asset may be any video asset or assets. The target may be any subsequent video asset. The metrics produced are useful to service providers, advertisers, and content producers.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a computing system and from a plurality of devices, a plurality of content-viewing events associated with output of a plurality of content assets by the plurality of devices during a period of time;

selecting, by the computing system, a pair of content-viewing events from the plurality of content-viewing events, based at least in part on a first time and a first device of the plurality of devices indicated by a first content-viewing event of the pair of content-viewing events, and a second time indicated by a second content-viewing event of the pair of content-viewing events;

determining, by the computing system, a plurality of intervals within the period of time, each interval of the plurality of intervals having an equal duration;

generating, by the computing system and based at least in part on the plurality of content-viewing events, a plurality of entries for storage in a database, wherein an entry of the plurality of entries associates the first device of the plurality of devices with an array of elements, wherein an element of the array of elements comprises a value indicating whether the first device outputted a first content asset of the plurality of content assets throughout a first interval of the plurality of intervals, wherein the element indicates a source from which the first content asset was received by the first device, and wherein the first interval is between the first time and the second time; and

determining, by the computing system and based on the plurality of entries, a quantity of the plurality of devices that outputted;

the first content asset, of the plurality of content assets, before a second content asset, and

a third content asset, of the plurality of content assets, after the second content asset.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the element indicates the first content asset.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the second content-viewing event is also associated with the first device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the second content-viewing event is associated with a second device, and the first device and the second device are both associated with at least one of a particular account, a particular household, or one or more particular viewers.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, by the computing system and based on the plurality of entries, a content-viewing metric indicating a correspondence between the first content asset of the plurality of content assets being outputted during a first portion of the period of time and the third content asset of the plurality of content assets being outputted during a second portion of the period of time, the second portion comprising a later portion of the period of time than the first portion.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein determining the content-viewing metric comprises:

determining a first group of elements from the arrays of elements in the plurality of entries, wherein each element of the first group of elements corresponds to the first content asset;

determining a second group of elements from the arrays of elements in the plurality of entries, wherein each element of the second group of elements corresponds to the third content asset; and

determining a ratio of a number of elements in the first group of elements to a number of elements in the second group of elements.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein each element of the first group of elements is associated with the first device, and each element of the second group of elements is associated with the first device.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein:

each element of the first group of elements is determined to correspond to the first content asset based on determining that the element of the first group of elements comprises a value indicating that the first content asset was outputted during the first portion of the period of time; and

each element of the second group of elements is determined to correspond to the third content asset based on determining that the element of the second group of elements comprises a value indicating that the third content asset was outputted during the second portion of the period of time.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein:

determining that the element of the first group of elements comprises a value indicating that the first content asset was outputted during the first portion of the period of time comprises determining that the element of the first group of elements comprises a value indicating the first content asset; and

determining that the element of the second group of elements comprises a value indicating that the third content asset was outputted during the second portion of the period of time comprises determining that the element of the second group of elements comprises a value indicating the third content asset.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein:

determining that the element of the first group of elements comprises a value indicating that the first content asset was outputted during the first portion of the period of time comprises determining that the element of the first group of elements comprises a value indicating a source from which the first content asset was received; and

determining that the element of the second group of elements comprises a value indicating that the third content asset was outputted during the second portion of the period of time comprises determining that the element of the second group of elements comprises a value indicating a source from which the third content asset was received.

11. The method of claim 6, wherein each element of the first group of elements is associated with the first device, and each element of the second group of elements corresponds to at least one of an account associated with the first device, a household associated with the first device, or a viewer associated with the first device.

12. A method comprising:

receiving, by a computing system and from a plurality of devices, log data indicating output of a plurality of content assets by the plurality of devices during a period of time;

determining, by the computing system, a plurality of intervals within the period of time, each interval of the plurality of intervals having an equal duration;

generating, by the computing system and based at least in part on the log data, a plurality of entries for storage in a database, wherein each entry of the plurality of entries corresponds to a device of the plurality of devices and comprises a plurality of values, and wherein each value of the plurality of values corresponds to an interval of the plurality of intervals and indicates one or more content assets of the plurality of content assets that the device outputted throughout the interval;

determining, by the computing system and based on the plurality of entries, a quantity of the plurality of devices that outputted both;

a first instance of an advertisement, of the plurality of content assets, and

a second instance of the advertisement; and

determining, by the computing system, a metric indicative of a comparison of the quantity of the plurality of devices that outputted both the first instance of the advertisement and the second instance of the advertisement to a quantity of the plurality of devices that outputted the first instance of the advertisement.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the first instance of the advertisement references the second instance of the advertisement.

14. A method comprising:

receiving, by a computing system and from a plurality of devices, log data indicating output of a plurality of content assets by the plurality of devices during a period of time;

determining, by the computing system, a plurality of intervals within the period of time, each interval of the plurality of intervals having an equal duration;

generating, by the computing system and based at least in part on the log data, a plurality of entries for storage in a database, wherein each entry of the plurality of entries corresponds to a device of the plurality of devices and comprises a plurality of values, and wherein each value of the plurality of values corresponds to an interval of the plurality of intervals and indicates one or more content assets of the plurality of content assets that the device outputted throughout the interval;

determining, by the computing system and based on the plurality of entries, a quantity of the plurality of devices that outputted both a first content asset of the plurality of content assets and a second content asset of the plurality of content assets, wherein the first content asset comprises an episode in a series of episodic video content, and the second content asset comprises a subsequent episode in the series of episodic video content; and

determining, by the computing system, a metric indicative of a comparison of the quantity of the plurality of devices that outputted both the first content asset and the second content asset to a quantity of the plurality of devices that outputted the first content asset.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the log data comprises a plurality of content-viewing events associated with the output of a plurality of content assets by the plurality of devices.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the metric measures an impact outputting the first content asset has on outputting the second content asset.

17. A method comprising:

receiving, by a computing system and from a plurality of devices, log data indicating output of a plurality of content assets by the plurality of devices during a period of time;

determining, by the computing system, a plurality of intervals within the period of time, each interval of the plurality of intervals having an equal duration;

generating, by the computing system and based at least in part on the log data, a plurality of entries for storage in a database, wherein each entry of the plurality of entries corresponds to a device of the plurality of devices and comprises a plurality of values, and wherein each value of the plurality of values corresponds to an interval of the plurality of intervals and indicates one or more content assets of the plurality of content assets that the device outputted throughout the interval;

determining, by the computing system and based on the plurality of entries, a quantity of the plurality of devices that outputted both;

a first content asset, of the plurality of content assets, preceding an advertisement, and

a second content asset, of the plurality of content assets, following the advertisement; and

determining, by the computing system, a ratio of the quantity of the plurality of devices that outputted both the first content asset and the second content asset to a quantity of the plurality of devices that outputted the first content asset.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the log data comprises a plurality of content-viewing events associated with the output of the plurality of content assets by the plurality of devices.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising determining, by the computing system, a ratio of the quantity of the plurality of devices that outputted both the first content asset and the second content asset to a quantity of the plurality of devices that outputted the second content asset.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising determining, by the computing system and based on the plurality of entries, a quantity of the plurality of devices that outputted both the advertisement and the second content asset following the advertisement.

21. A method comprising:

receiving, by a computing system and from a plurality of devices, log data indicating output of a plurality of content assets by the plurality of devices during a period of time;

determining, by the computing system, a plurality of intervals within the period of time, each interval of the plurality of intervals having an equal duration;

generating, by the computing system and based at least in part on the log data, a plurality of entries for storage in a database, wherein each entry of the plurality of entries corresponds to a device of the plurality of devices and comprises a plurality of values, and wherein each value of the plurality of values corresponds to an interval of the plurality of intervals and indicates one or more content assets of the plurality of content assets that the device outputted throughout the interval;

determining, by the computing system and based on the plurality of entries, a quantity of the plurality of devices that outputted both a first content asset of the plurality of content assets and a second content asset of the plurality of content assets, wherein the first content asset comprises an advertisement for a provider, and the second content asset comprises a different advertisement for the provider; and

determining, by the computing system, a ratio of the quantity of the plurality of devices that outputted both the first content asset and the second content asset to a quantity of the plurality of devices that outputted the second content asset.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

populating an entry of a plurality of entries corresponding to a first device of the plurality of devices with a value based on a determination of one or more content assets of the plurality of content assets that the first device outputted throughout a corresponding interval.

23. The method of claim 21, further comprising determining, by the computing system, a ratio of the quantity of the plurality of devices that outputted both the first content asset and the second content asset to a quantity of the plurality of devices that outputted the first content asset.

24. A method comprising:

receiving, by a computing system and from a plurality of video-processing devices, log data indicating that media segments were outputted by the plurality of video-processing devices over a period of time;

determining, by the computing system, a plurality of intervals within the period of time, each interval having an equal duration;

generating, by the computing system and based at least in part on the log data, a plurality of records for storage in a database, wherein each record of the plurality of records indicates a video-processing device and comprises a plurality of elements, and wherein each element of the plurality of elements corresponds to an interval of the plurality of intervals and indicates whether the video-processing device outputted a media segment of the media segments throughout the interval;

determining, by the computing system and based on the plurality of records, that a portion of the plurality of video-processing devices outputted a first media segment and an advertisement associated with the first media segment;

determining, by the computing system and based on the plurality of records, a ratio of a quantity of video-processing devices in the portion of the plurality of video-processing devices that outputted the first media segment and the advertisement associated with the first media segment to;

a quantity of video-processing devices that outputted the first media segment, or

a quantity of video-processing devices that outputted the advertisement associated with the first media segment;

determining that a video-processing device of the plurality of video-processing devices associated with a user outputted the advertisement associated with the first media segment; and

determining that a different video-processing device of the plurality of video-processing devices associated with the user outputted the first media segment.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the advertisement references the first media segment.

26. A method comprising:

receiving, by a computing system and from a plurality of devices, log data indicating that a plurality of users caused a plurality of media segments to be outputted during a period of time;

determining, by the computing system, a plurality of intervals within the period of time, each interval having an equal duration;

generating, by the computing system and based at least in part on the log data, a plurality of records for storage in a database, wherein each record of the plurality of records comprises a plurality of elements, wherein each element of the plurality of elements indicates whether a user of the plurality of users caused a media segment of the plurality of media segments to be outputted throughout one of the intervals of the plurality of intervals, and wherein an element of the plurality of elements indicates a source from which the media segment was received by a device of the plurality of devices and associated with a first user; and

determining, by the computing system and based on the plurality of records, that the first user of the plurality of users caused a first media segment of the plurality of media segments to be outputted by the device of the plurality of devices and associated with the first user and caused a second media segment to be outputted by a different device of the plurality of devices and associated with the first user.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the second media segment comprises an advertisement associated with a provider, and wherein the first media segment comprises a different advertisement associated with the provider.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein the second media segment comprises an advertisement for the first media segment.

29. A method comprising:

receiving, by a computing system and from a plurality of devices, log data indicating that each of a plurality of devices outputted at least one of a first content asset or a second content asset during a period of time;

determining, by the computing system, a plurality of intervals within the period of time, each interval having an equal duration;

generating, by the computing system and based at least in part on the log data, a plurality of records for storage in a database, wherein each record of the plurality of records comprises a plurality of elements, and wherein each element of the plurality of elements indicates whether the first content asset or the second content asset was outputted throughout one of the intervals of the plurality of intervals;

determining, by the computing system and based on the plurality of records, a ratio of a quantity of the plurality of devices that outputted the second content asset to a quantity of devices that outputted the first content asset, wherein each device of the plurality of devices is associated with one of a premises associated with a device that outputted the first content asset, an account associated with a device that outputted the first content asset, or a viewer associated with a device that outputted the first content asset; and

determining, by the computing system and based on the plurality of records, a ratio of a second quantity of the plurality of devices that outputted both the first content asset and the second content asset to the quantity of devices that outputted the first content asset.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein generating the plurality of records based at least in part on the log data comprises:

creating, by the computing system, a first record of the plurality of records associating a first device with a first plurality of elements;

determining, by the computing system, whether the first device outputted a content asset throughout a first interval of the plurality of intervals; and

populating a first element of the first plurality of elements with a value based on the determining whether the first device outputted the content asset throughout the first interval.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the first element indicates the content asset.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein the first element indicates a source from which the content asset was received by the first device.

33. The method of claim 29, wherein the log data comprises a plurality of content-viewing events associated with the output of a plurality of content assets by the plurality of devices.

34. The method of claim 29, wherein the first content asset comprises content referencing the second content asset.