RATING MULTIMEDIA PROGRAMS ACCESSED FROM A PROVIDER NETWORK
First Claim
1. A method for measuring viewership of multimedia programs, the method comprising:
- for a plurality of multimedia programs accessible from a provider network, measuring periodically from within the provider network the number of viewers that are accessing the plurality of multimedia programs; and
storing a plurality of values indicative of the number of viewers that are accessing the plurality of multimedia programs.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system measures viewership of multimedia programs such as television programs, pay-per-view sporting events, and video-on-demand movies. Viewership data from a plurality of multimedia programs may be compared to determine ratings for the multimedia programs. Multimedia streams en route to set top boxes may be monitored using packet inspection to identify the multimedia program or programs included in the multimedia streams. An electronic table or array may be stored and updated with viewership statistics of monitored multimedia programs. Some embodiments track the total number of households or televisions that are powered on in a viewing area. Ratings are available substantially in real time by accessing a stored table with viewership information or by frequently polling a plurality of stored values to determine which multimedia program is being viewed by all or substantially all viewers in an area.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method for measuring viewership of multimedia programs, the method comprising:
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for a plurality of multimedia programs accessible from a provider network, measuring periodically from within the provider network the number of viewers that are accessing the plurality of multimedia programs; and storing a plurality of values indicative of the number of viewers that are accessing the plurality of multimedia programs. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 22)
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15. A computer program stored on a computer readable media, the computer program having instructions operable for:
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for a plurality of multimedia programs accessible from a provider network, measuring periodically from within the provider network the number of viewers that are then accessing the plurality of multimedia programs; and storing a plurality of values indicative of the number of viewers that are accessing the plurality of multimedia programs; wherein measuring periodically includes polling at preselected intervals a plurality of stored identifiers for any available set top boxes then served by the provider network, wherein a portion of the plurality of stored identifiers relates to a multimedia program then accessed by or recently accessed by a corresponding set top box of the available set top boxes then served by the provider network. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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23. A ratings server enabled for measuring viewership of multimedia programs, the ratings server comprising software stored on a computer readable medium enabled for:
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for a plurality of multicast streams that are each transmitted to a corresponding set top box, monitoring the multicast stream to determine an identity of a multimedia program carried by the multicast stream, wherein the multimedia program is requested by the corresponding set top box; accumulating a first number of set top boxes that have requested a first multimedia program; and accumulating a second number of set top boxes that have requested a second multimedia program. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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Specification