Prompting of audience member identification

• US 20020198762A1
• Filed: 06/18/2001
• Published: 12/26/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 06/18/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Original Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Inventors: Donato, Paul
• Granted Patent: US 8,091,100 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/24
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/45 for identifying users
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/441 Acquiring end-user identification , e.g. using personal code sent by the remote control or by inserting a card
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44218 Detecting physical presence or behaviour of the user, e.g. using sensors to detect if the user is leaving the room or changes his face expression during a TV program methods or arrangements for recognising human body or animal bodies or body parts G06V40/10; methods or arrangements for acquiring or recognising human faces, facial parts, facial sketches, facial expressions G06V40/16; methods or arrangements for recognising movements or behaviour G06V40/20; arrangements for identifying users in broadcast systems H04H60/45

Abstract

An audience measurement system determines the likelihood that an audience member is in the audience of a receiver during a particular day part. If the audience member is not likely to be in the audience of the receiver during that day part, the audience member is prompted to enter an audience member identification. On the other hand, if the audience member is likely to be in the audience of the receiver during that day part, prompting of the audience member to enter an audience member identification is suppressed.

Claims

1. A method of prompting an audience member to enter an audience member identification into an audience meter comprising:

determining a probability that the audience member is in an audience of a receiver;

prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is less than a threshold; and

,

suppressing prompting of the audience member if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is greater than the threshold.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the suppression of prompting comprises:

if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is greater than the threshold, determining whether the audience member has already entered the audience member identification;

prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification if the audience member has not already entered the audience member identification; and

,

suppressing prompting of the audience member if the audience member has already entered the audience member identification.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the method is executed only after the passage of a predetermined amount of time from a previous prompting decision.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the suppression of prompting comprises:

if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is greater than the threshold, determining whether the audience member has already entered the audience member identification;

prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification if the audience member has not already entered the audience member identification; and

,

suppressing prompting of the audience member if the audience member has already entered the audience member identification.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

initially prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification upon detection that the receiver has been turned on; and

,

executing the method only after the passage of a predetermined amount of time from the initial prompting.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the suppression of prompting comprises:

if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is greater than the threshold, determining whether the audience member has already entered the audience member identification;

prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification if the audience member has not already entered the audience member identification; and

,

suppressing prompting of the audience member if the audience member has already entered the audience member identification.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the determination of the probability that the audience member is in an audience of the receiver comprises determining the probability that the audience member is in an audience of the receiver based upon a number of times that the audience member has been in the audience of the receiver during a corresponding day part.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the determination of the probability that the audience member is in an audience of the receiver comprises determining the probability that the audience member is in an audience of the receiver based upon a program being received by the receiver during the corresponding day part.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the suppression of prompting comprises:

if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is greater than the threshold, determining whether the audience member has already entered the audience member identification;

prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification if the audience member has not already entered the audience member identification; and

,

suppressing prompting of the audience member if the audience member has already entered the audience member identification.

10. The method of claim 7 wherein the method is executed only after the passage of a predetermined amount of time from a previous prompting decision.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the suppression of prompting comprises:

if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is greater than the threshold, determining whether the audience member has already entered the audience member identification;

prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification if the audience member has not already entered the audience member identification; and

,

suppressing prompting of the audience member if the audience member has already entered the audience member identification.

12. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

initially prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification upon detection that the receiver has been turned on; and

,

executing the method only after the passage of a predetermined amount of time from the initial prompting.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the suppression of prompting comprises:

if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is greater than the threshold, determining whether the audience member has already entered the audience member identification;

prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification if the audience member has not already entered the audience member identification; and

,

suppressing prompting of the audience member if the audience member has already entered the audience member identification.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

storing audience identification data in tables;

collapsing the tables if the tables contain insufficient data to make a prompting decision.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the collapsing of the tables is weighted depending upon age of the audience member identification data.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the determination of a variable comprises determining the variable as a function of a number of times that the audience member was in an audience of the receiver during a predetermined day part and a number of times that the receiver was turned on during the predetermined day part.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein the determination of a variable comprises determining the variable as a function of a number of times that the audience member was in an audience of the receiver during a predetermined day part over a predetermined amount of time and a number of times that the receiver was turned on during the predetermined day part over the predetermined amount of time.

19. The method of claim 16 wherein the determination of a variable comprises determining the variable as a function of a number of times that the audience member was in an audience of the receiver during a predetermined amount of time and a number of times that the receiver was turned on during the predetermined amount of time.

20. The method of claim 16 wherein the determination of a variable comprises determining the variable as a function of a number of times that the audience member was in an audience of the receiver by a predetermined day part and by a SID and a number of times that the receiver was turned on by the predetermined day part and by the SID.

21. The method of claim 16 wherein the determination of a variable comprises determining the variable as a function of a number of times that the audience member was in an audience of the receiver by a predetermined day part over a predetermined amount of time and by a SID and a number of times that the receiver was turned on during the predetermined day part over the predetermined amount of time and by the SID.

22. The method of claim 16 wherein the determination of a variable comprises determining the variable as a function of a number of times that the audience member was in an audience of the receiver during a predetermined amount of time and by a SID and a number of times that the receiver was turned on during the predetermined amount of time and by the SID.

23. The method of claim 16 wherein the determination of a variable comprises determining the variable as a function of a number of times that the audience member was in an audience of the receiver by a SID and a number of times that the receiver was turned on by the SID.

24. The method of claim 16 wherein the suppression of prompting comprises:

determining a probability that the audience member is in an audience of a receiver;

prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is less that a threshold; and

,

suppressing prompting of the audience member if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is greater that the threshold.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein the suppression of prompting of the audience member if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is greater that the threshold comprises:

if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is greater that the threshold, determining whether the audience member has already entered the audience member identification;

prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification if the audience member has not already entered the audience member identification; and

,

suppressing prompting of the audience member if the audience member has already entered the audience member identification.

26. The method of claim 24 wherein the method is executed only after the passage of a predetermined amount of time from a previous prompting decision.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein the suppression of prompting of the audience member if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is greater than the threshold comprises:

if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is greater than the threshold, determining whether the audience member has already entered the audience member identification;

prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification if the audience member has not already entered the audience member identification; and

,

suppressing prompting of the audience member if the audience member has already entered the audience member identification.

28. The method of claim 24 further comprising:

initially prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification upon detection that the receiver has been turned on; and

,

executing the method only after the passage of a predetermined amount of time from the initial prompting.

29. The method of claim 28 wherein the suppression of prompting of the audience member if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is greater that the threshold comprises:

if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is greater that the threshold, determining whether the audience member has already entered the audience member identification;

prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification if the audience member has not already entered the audience member identification; and

,

suppressing prompting of the audience member if the audience member has already entered the audience member identification.

30. The method of claim 24 wherein the determination of the probability that the audience member is in an audience of the receiver comprises determining the probability that the audience member is in an audience of the receiver based upon a number of times that the audience member has been in the audience of the receiver during a corresponding day part.

31. The method of claim 30 wherein the determination of the probability that the audience member is in an audience of the receiver comprises determining the probability that the audience member is in an audience of the receiver based upon a program being received by the receiver during the corresponding day part.

32. The method of claim 30 wherein the suppression of prompting of the audience member if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is greater that the threshold comprises:

if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is greater that the threshold, determining whether the audience member has already entered the audience member identification;

prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification if the audience member has not already entered the audience member identification; and

,

suppressing prompting of the audience member if the audience member has already entered the audience member identification.

33. The method of claim 30 wherein the method is executed only after the passage of a predetermined amount of time from a previous prompting decision.

34. The method of claim 33 wherein the suppression of prompting of the audience member if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is greater that the threshold comprises:

if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is greater that the threshold, determining whether the audience member has already entered the audience member identification;

prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification if the audience member has not already entered the audience member identification; and

,

suppressing prompting of the audience member if the audience member has already entered the audience member identification.

35. The method of claim 30 further comprising:

initially prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification upon detection that the receiver has been turned on; and

,

executing the method only after the passage of a predetermined amount of time from the initial prompting.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein the suppression of prompting of the audience member if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is greater that the threshold comprises:

if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is greater that the threshold, determining whether the audience member has already entered the audience member identification;

prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification if the audience member has not already entered the audience member identification; and

,

suppressing prompting of the audience member if the audience member has already entered the audience member identification.

37. The method of claim 24 further comprising:

storing audience identification data in tables;

collapsing the tables if the tables contain insufficient data to make a prompting decision.

38. The method of claim 37 wherein the collapsing of the tables is weighted depending upon age of the audience member identification data.

39. The method of claim 16 wherein the method is executed only after the passage of a predetermined amount of time from a previous prompting decision.

40. The method of claim 16 further comprising:

initially prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification upon detection that the receiver has been turned on; and

,

executing the method only after the passage of a predetermined amount of time from the initial prompting.

41. The method of claim 16 wherein the suppression of prompting comprises:

if the variable is greater than the threshold, determining whether the variable is equal to a current persons count;

prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification if the variable is not equal to the current persons count; and

,

suppressing prompting of the audience member if the variable is equal to the current persons count.

42. The method of claim 41 wherein the suppression of prompting of the audience member if the variable is equal to the current persons count comprises:

if the variable is equal to the current persons count, determining a probability that the audience member is in an audience of a receiver;

prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is less that a threshold; and

,

suppressing prompting of the audience member if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is greater that the threshold.

43. The method of claim 42 wherein the suppression of prompting of the audience member if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is greater that the threshold comprises:

if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is greater that the threshold, determining whether the audience member has already entered the audience member identification;

prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification if the audience member has not already entered the audience member identification; and

,

suppressing prompting of the audience member if the audience member has already entered the audience member identification.

16. A method of prompting an audience member to enter an audience member identification into an audience meter comprising:

determining a variable as a function of a number of times that the audience member was in an audience of a receiver and a number of times that the receiver was turned on;

prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification if the variable is not greater than a threshold; and

,

suppressing prompting of the audience member if the variable is greater than the threshold.

44. A method of prompting an audience member to enter an audience member identification into an audience meter comprising:

prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification at intermittent prompting occasions;

at each prompting occasion, determining a likelihood based upon past audience composition and tuning habits that the audience member is in an audience of a receiver; and

,

suppressing prompting of the audience member if the determination made at a corresponding prompting occasion indicates that it is likely that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver.

45. The method of claim 44 wherein the determination of likelihood comprises determining a probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver, and wherein the suppression of prompting comprises:

prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is less than a threshold; and

,

suppressing prompting of the audience member if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is greater than the threshold.

46. The method of claim 45 wherein the determination of a probability comprises determining by day part the probability that the audience member is in the audience of a receiver.

47. The method of claim 45 wherein the determination of a probability comprises determining by SID class the probability that the audience member is in the audience of a receiver.

48. The method of claim 44 wherein the determination of likelihood comprises determining a variable as a function of a number of times that the audience member was in an audience of a receiver and a number of times that the receiver was turned on, and wherein the suppression of prompting comprises:

prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification if the variable is not greater than a threshold; and

,

suppressing prompting of the audience member if the variable is greater than the threshold.

49. The method of claim 48 wherein the determination of a variable comprises determining by day part the variable as a function of the number of times that the audience member was in the audience of the receiver and the number of times that the receiver was turned on.

50. The method of claim 48 wherein the determination of a variable comprises determining by SID class the variable as a function of the number of times that the audience member was in the audience of the receiver and the number of times that the receiver was turned on.

51. The method of claim 48 wherein the suppression of prompting of the audience member if the variable is greater than the threshold comprises:

if the variable is greater than the threshold, determining whether the variable is equal to a current persons count;

prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification if the variable is not equal to the current persons count; and

,

suppressing prompting of the audience member if the variable is equal to the current persons count.

52. The method of claim 51 wherein the suppression of prompting of the audience member if the variable is equal to the current persons count comprises:

if the variable is equal to the current persons count, determining a probability that the audience member is in an audience of a receiver;

prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is less that a threshold; and

,

suppressing prompting of the audience member if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is greater that the threshold.

53. The method of claim 44 wherein the intermittent prompting occasions are nominally separated from one another by a period T, and wherein the method further comprises varying the period T depending upon prior responses to the prompting.

54. A method of prompting an audience member to enter an audience member identification into an audience meter comprising:

applying a heuristic to determine whether the audience member is in an audience of a receiver;

counting the audience members in the audience of the receiver to produce a count;

prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification if the heuristic indicates that the audience member is not in the audience of the receiver and if the count is not equal a number of logged in audience members; and

,

suppressing prompting of the audience member if the heuristic indicates that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver and if the count is equal the number of logged in audience members.

55. The method of claim 54 wherein the application of a heuristic to determine whether the audience member is in an audience of a receiver comprises determining a probability that the audience member is in an audience of a receiver, wherein the prompting of the audience member to enter the audience member identification comprises prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is less than a threshold and if the count is not equal a number of logged in audience members, and wherein the suppression of prompting of the audience member comprises suppressing prompting of the audience member if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is greater than the threshold and if the count is equal a number of logged in audience members.

56. The method of claim 55 wherein the determination of the probability that the audience member is in an audience of the receiver comprises determining the probability that the audience member is in an audience of the receiver based upon a number of times that the audience member has been in the audience of the receiver during a corresponding day part.

57. The method of claim 54 wherein the application of a heuristic to determine whether the audience member is in an audience of a receiver comprises determining a variable as a function of a number of times that the audience member was in an audience of a receiver and a number of times that the receiver was turned on, wherein the prompting of the audience member to enter the audience member identification comprises prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification if the variable is not greater than a threshold and if the count is not equal a number of logged in audience members, and wherein the suppression of prompting of the audience member comprises suppressing prompting of the audience member if the variable is greater than the threshold and if the count is equal a number of logged in audience members.

58. The method of claim 57 wherein the determination of a variable comprises determining the variable as a function of a number of times that the audience member was in an audience of the receiver during a predetermined day part and a number of times that the receiver was turned on during the predetermined day part.

59. The method of claim 57 wherein the determination of a variable comprises determining the variable as a function of a number of times that the audience member was in an audience of the receiver during a predetermined day part over a predetermined amount of time and a number of times that the receiver was turned on during the predetermined day part over the predetermined amount of time.

60. The method of claim 57 wherein the determination of a variable comprises determining the variable as a function of a number of times that the audience member was in an audience of the receiver during a predetermined amount of time and a number of times that the receiver was turned on during the predetermined amount of time.

61. The method of claim 57 wherein the determination of a variable comprises determining the variable as a function of a number of times that the audience member was in an audience of the receiver by a predetermined day part and by a SID and a number of times that the receiver was turned on by the predetermined day part and by the SID.

62. The method of claim 57 wherein the determination of a variable comprises determining the variable as a function of a number of times that the audience member was in an audience of the receiver by a predetermined day part over a predetermined amount of time and by a SID and a number of times that the receiver was turned on during the predetermined day part over the predetermined amount of time and by the SID.

63. The method of claim 57 wherein the determination of a variable comprises determining the variable as a function of a number of times that the audience member was in an audience of the receiver during a predetermined amount of time and by a SID and a number of times that the receiver was turned on during the predetermined amount of time and by the SID.

64. The method of claim 57 wherein the determination of a variable comprises determining the variable as a function of a number of times that the audience member was in an audience of the receiver by a SID and a number of times that the receiver was turned on by the SID.

65. The method of claim 54 wherein the method is executed only after the passage of a predetermined amount of time from a previous prompting decision.

66. The method of claim 54 further comprising:

initially prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification upon detection that the receiver has been turned on; and

,

executing the method only after the passage of a predetermined amount of time from the initial prompting.

67. The method of claim 54 further comprising:

storing audience identification data in tables;

collapsing the tables if the tables contain insufficient data to make a prompting decision.

69. The method of claim 68 wherein the tuning style comprises tuning velocity.

70. The method of claim 68 wherein the tuning style comprises tuning acceleration.

71. The method of claim 68 wherein the tuning style comprises tuning velocity and tuning acceleration.

72. The method of claim 68 wherein the tuning style comprises program clustering.

73. The method of claim 68 wherein the method is executed only after the passage of a predetermined amount of time from a previous prompting decision.

74. The method of claim 68 further comprising:

initially prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification upon detection that the receiver has been turned on; and

,

executing the method only after the passage of a predetermined amount of time from the initial prompting.

75. The method of claim 68 wherein the determination of the probability that the audience member is in an audience of the receiver comprises determining the probability that the audience member is in an audience of the receiver based upon a number of times that the audience member has been in the audience of the receiver during a corresponding day part.

76. The method of claim 68 further comprising:

storing audience identification data in tables;

collapsing the tables if the tables contain insufficient data to make a prompting decision.

68. A method of prompting an audience member to enter an audience member identification into an audience meter comprising:

determining a probability that the audience member is in an audience of a receiver based upon both tuning history and tuning style;

prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is less than a threshold; and

,

suppressing prompting of the audience member if the probability that the audience member is in the audience of the receiver is greater than the threshold.

77. A method of prompting an audience member to enter an audience member identification into an audience meter comprising:

determining a variable as a function of a number of times that the audience member was in an audience of a receiver and a number of times that the receiver was turned on;

determining a probability that the audience member is in an audience of a receiver based upon tuning style;

prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification if the variable is not greater than a first threshold and if the probability is not greater than a second threshold; and

,

suppressing prompting of the audience member if the variable is greater than the threshold and if the probability is greater than a second threshold.

78. The method of claim 77 wherein the tuning style comprises tuning velocity.

79. The method of claim 77 wherein the tuning style comprises tuning acceleration.

80. The method of claim 77 wherein the tuning style comprises tuning velocity and tuning acceleration.

81. The method of claim 77 wherein the tuning style comprises program clustering.

82. The method of claim 77 wherein the determination of a variable comprises determining the variable as a function of a number of times that the audience member was in an audience of the receiver during a predetermined day part and a number of times that the receiver was turned on during the predetermined day part.

83. The method of claim 77 wherein the determination of a variable comprises determining the variable as a function of a number of times that the audience member was in an audience of the receiver during a predetermined day part over a predetermined amount of time and a number of times that the receiver was turned on during the predetermined day part over the predetermined amount of time.

84. The method of claim 77 wherein the determination of a variable comprises determining the variable as a function of a number of times that the audience member was in an audience of the receiver during a predetermined amount of time and a number of times that the receiver was turned on during the predetermined amount of time.

85. The method of claim 77 wherein the determination of a variable comprises determining the variable as a function of a number of times that the audience member was in an audience of the receiver by a predetermined day part and by a SID and a number of times that the receiver was turned on by the predetermined day part and by the SID.

86. The method of claim 77 wherein the determination of a variable comprises determining the variable as a function of a number of times that the audience member was in an audience of the receiver by a predetermined day part over a predetermined amount of time and by a SID and a number of times that the receiver was turned on during the predetermined day part over the predetermined amount of time and by the SID.

87. The method of claim 77 wherein the determination of a variable comprises determining the variable as a function of a number of times that the audience member was in an audience of the receiver during a predetermined amount of time and by a SID and a number of times that the receiver was turned on during the predetermined amount of time and by the SID.

88. The method of claim 77 wherein the determination of a variable comprises determining the variable as a function of a number of times that the audience member was in an audience of the receiver by a SID and a number of times that the receiver was turned on by the SID.

89. The method of claim 77 wherein the method is executed only after the passage of a predetermined amount of time from a previous prompting decision.

90. The method of claim 77 further comprising:

initially prompting the audience member to enter the audience member identification upon detection that the receiver has been turned on; and

,

executing the method only after the passage of a predetermined amount of time from the initial prompting.