RATING MULTIMEDIA PROGRAMS ACCESSED FROM A PROVIDER NETWORK

• US 20090150917A1
• Filed: 12/06/2007
• Published: 06/11/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Knowledge Ventures, L.P. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Knowledge Ventures, L.P. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Wilson, Brian, Jones, Todd W., Huffman, James
• Granted Patent: US 8,938,747 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/9
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/31 Arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/32 Arrangements for monitoring conditions of receiving stations, e.g. malfunction or breakdown of receiving stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/64 for providing detail information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/66 for using the result on distributors' side

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.

Claims

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.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

calculating an average number of viewers for a portion of the plurality of multimedia programs.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

measuring whether a plurality of viewers have requested a DVR to record a portion of the plurality of multimedia programs.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

measuring a number of televisions that are powered-on in a viewing area of the provider network.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein measuring the number of televisions that are powered-on includes receiving state data for a plurality of set top boxes.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein measuring periodically from within the provider network the number of viewers that are accessing the plurality of multimedia programs 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.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein a stored electronic table has an entry for a portion of the available set top boxes, wherein each entry has a record corresponding to a plurality of preselected intervals, the method further comprising:

substantially at the plurality of preselected intervals, capturing an identifier associated with a multimedia program being accessed by each of the portion of the available set top boxes; and

storing the identifier in the electronic table as a record corresponding to a then-current preselected interval, wherein the record further corresponds to an entry related to one of the portion of available set top boxes.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the preselected interval is less than one hour.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the preselected interval is less than five minutes.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein measuring periodically from within the provider network the number of viewers that are then accessing the plurality of multimedia programs occurs at a network edge device.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the network edge device is a client facing tier switch.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein measuring periodically the number of viewers that are then accessing the plurality of multimedia programs includes analyzing traffic sent through the client facing tier switch.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

monitoring requests for multimedia programs, wherein the requests are sent from a plurality of set top boxes.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein monitoring requests includes port-mirroring at or near the client facing tier switch to monitor substantially all of the packets sent from the client facing tier switch to a plurality of set top boxes.

22. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

monitoring requests for multimedia programs, wherein the requests are sent from a plurality of set top boxes.

15. A computer program stored on a computer readable media, the computer program having instructions operable for:

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.

16. The computer program of claim 15, the instructions further operable for:

measuring whether a plurality of viewers have requested a digital video recorder (DVR) to record a portion of the plurality of multimedia programs.

17. The computer program of claim 16, the instructions further operable for:

measuring a number of televisions that are powered-on in a viewing area of the provider network.

18. The computer program of claim 17, wherein measuring the number of televisions that are powered-on includes receiving state data for a plurality of set top boxes.

19. The computer program of claim 15, wherein a stored electronic table has an entry for a portion of the available set top boxes, wherein each entry has a record corresponding to a plurality of preselected intervals, the instructions further operable for:

substantially at the plurality of preselected intervals, capturing an identifier associated with a multimedia program being accessed by each of the portion of the available set top boxes; and

storing the identifier in the electronic table as a record corresponding to a then-current preselected interval, wherein the record further corresponds to an entry related to one of the portion of available set top boxes.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein measuring periodically from within the provider network the number of viewers that are then accessing the plurality of multimedia programs occurs at a network edge device.

23. A ratings server enabled for measuring viewership of multimedia programs, the ratings server comprising software stored on a computer readable medium enabled for:

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.

21. The method of claim 23, wherein measuring periodically the number of viewers that are then accessing the plurality of multimedia programs includes analyzing traffic sent through a client facing tier switch.