METHODS AND APPARATUS TO VERIFY CONSUMPTION OF PROGRAMMING CONTENT

• US 20100037250A1
• Filed: 10/16/2009
• Published: 02/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nielsen Company (US) LLC (RR Donnelley & Sons Company)
• Original Assignee: Nielsen Company (US) LLC (RR Donnelley & Sons Company)
• Inventors: Lawrence, Bradley R. III
• Granted Patent: US 8,677,393 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/14
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/37 for identifying segments of broadcast information, e.g. scenes or extracting programme ID
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/58 of audio determination or detection of speech characteristics in general G10L25/00; speech recognition in general G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/59 of video recognising characters or patterns in general G06F18/00, G06V20/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25866 Management of end-user data customer care in data networks H04L41/5077
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4348 Demultiplexing of additional data and video streams
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• 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 21/44222 Analytics of user selections, e.g. selection of programs or purchase activity monitoring of user selections in data processing systems G06F11/34; arrangements for monitoring the user's behaviour or opinions in broadcast systems H04H60/33
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6582 Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8352 involving content or source identification data, e.g. Unique Material Identifier [UMID]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/173 with two-way working, e.g. subscriber sending a programme selection signal

Abstract

Methods and apparatus to verify consumption of content are described herein. In an example method, a content library is generated within a data structure. The content library includes at least one content identifier associated with programming content. The programming content is insertable into content stream. A content stream including content for broadcasting on a broadcast device is received. To verify consumption of the programming content, a broadcast content identifier associated with the content for broadcasting is compared to the at least one content identifier of the content library.

Claims

1. A method to verify presentation of media content, comprising:

generating a library at a media device located in a household by storing a plurality of content identifiers corresponding to media content received by the media device, wherein the media content is stored by the media device to enable time-shifted playback of the stored media content;

detecting presentation of the stored media content by the media device after the media content is stored by the media device;

extracting a content identifier from the presentation of the stored media content;

comparing the extracted content identifier to one or more of the content identifiers of the library; and

when the extracted content identifier corresponds to the one or more of the content identifiers of the library, verifying the media content as presented by the media device.

2. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the plurality of content identifiers of the library comprises at least one of an audio signature, a video signature, an audio code, a video code, a digital identifier, or a portion of the media content.

3. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the plurality of content identifiers is received at the media device via a first transmission medium and the media content is received at the media device via a second transmission medium different than the first transmission medium.

4. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein one or more of the content identifiers to be stored in the library at the media device is received at the media device via an out-of-band transmission.

5. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein one or more of the plurality of content identifiers to be stored in the library at the media device is associated with one of a television advertisement, a television program, an interactive television application, or an alternate portion of the television program.

6. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the extracted content identifier is associated with one of a television advertisement or a television program.

7. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising conveying information related to the verifying of the media content as presented by the media device to a data collection facility.

8. A machine accessible medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a machine to:

generate a library at a media device located in a household by storing a plurality of content identifiers corresponding to media content received by the media device, wherein the media content is stored by the media device to enable time-shifted playback of the stored media content;

detect presentation of the stored media content by the media device after the media content is stored by the media device;

extract a content identifier from the presentation of the stored media content;

compare the extracted content identifier to one or more of the content identifiers of the library; and

when the extracted content identifier corresponds to the one or more of the content identifiers of the library, verifying the media content as presented by the media device.

9. A machine accessible medium as defined in claim 8, wherein the plurality of content identifiers of the library comprises at least one of an audio signature, a video signature, an audio code, a video code, a digital identifier, or a portion of the media content.

10. A machine accessible medium as defined in claim 8, wherein the plurality of content identifiers is received at the media device via a first transmission medium and the media content is received at the media device via a second transmission medium different than the first transmission medium.

11. A machine accessible medium as defined in claim 8, wherein one or more of the content identifiers to be stored in the library at the media device is received at the media device via an out-of-band transmission.

12. A machine accessible medium as defined in claim 8, wherein one or more of the plurality of content identifiers to be stored in the library at the media device is associated with one of a television advertisement, a television program, an interactive television application, or an alternate portion of the television program.

13. A machine accessible medium as defined in claim 8, wherein the extracted content identifier is associated with one of a television advertisement or a television program.

14. A machine accessible medium as defined in claim 8 having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a machine to convey information related to the verifying of the media content as presented by the media device to a data collection facility.

15. A video recorder located at a household, comprising:

a library generator to generate a library including a plurality of content identifiers corresponding to media content received by the video recorder, wherein the media content is stored in a memory by the video recorder for playback in a time-shifted manner;

a comparator to compare a content identifier extracted from a time-shifted presentation of the stored media content on a device coupled to the video recorder to one or more of the plurality of content identifiers of the library; and

a processor to verify the stored media content as presented by the media device in the time-shifted manner when the extracted content identifier corresponds to the one or more of the content identifiers of the library.

16. A video recorder as defined in claim 15, wherein the plurality of content identifiers of the library comprises at least one of an audio signature, a video signature, an audio code, a video code, or a portion of the programming content.

17. A video recorder as defined in claim 15, wherein the media content comprises at least one of a television advertisement, a television program, an interactive television application, or an alternate portion of the television program.

18. A video recorder as defined in claim 15, wherein the processor is configured convey information related to the verifying of the media content as presented by the device to a data collection facility.

19. A video recorder as defined in claim 15, wherein the media content is an insertable advertisement to be inserted into a content stream received at the household.

20. A video recorder as defined in claim 15, wherein the library is stored as an index including entries to be used to identify the media content.