METHODS, APPARATUS AND ARTICLES OF MANUFACTURE TO ESTIMATE LOCAL MARKET AUDIENCES OF MEDIA CONTENT

• US 20120254911A1
• Filed: 04/01/2011
• Published: 10/04/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nielsen Company (US) LLC (RR Donnelley & Sons Company)
• Original Assignee: Nielsen Company (US) LLC (RR Donnelley & Sons Company)
• Inventors: Doe, Peter Campbell
• Granted Patent: US 9,420,320 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/14
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/31 Arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/51 of receiving stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/66 for using the result on distributors' side
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25841 involving the geographical location of the client retrieval from the Internet by querying based on geographical locations G06F16/9537; arrangements for identifying locations of receiving stations in broadcast systems H04H60/51; location of the user terminal in data switching networks H04L67/52; services making use of the location of users or terminals in wireless networks H04W4/02; locating users or terminals in wireless networks H04W64/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25866 Management of end-user data customer care in data networks H04L41/5077
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4104 Peripherals receiving signals from specially adapted client devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4112 having fewer capabilities than the client, e.g. thin client having less processing power or no tuning capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4383 Accessing a communication channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44213 Monitoring of end-user related data arrangements for monitoring the users' behaviour or opinions in broadcast systems H04H60/33
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4524 involving the geographical location of the client retrieval from the Internet by querying based on geographical locations G06F16/9537; systems specially adapted for using geographical information in broadcast systems H04H60/70; protocols in which the network application is adapted for the location of the user terminal in communication control or processing H04L67/52; services making use of the location of users or terminals in wireless networks H04W4/02; locating users or terminals in wireless networks H04W64/00

Abstract

Example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture to estimate local market audiences of media content are disclosed herein. An example method disclosed herein includes weighting audience measurement data associated with a first geographic area based on population data associated with a second geographic area different from the first geographic area to form weighted data, determining a factor based on the audience measurement data and tuning data associated with the second geographic area, and processing the weighted data based on the factor to determine an audience exposure metric estimating exposure to media content in the second geographic area.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

weighting, using a processor, audience measurement data associated with a first geographic area based on population data associated with a second geographic area different from the first geographic area to form weighted data;

determining, using the processor, a factor based on the audience measurement data and tuning data associated with the second geographic area; and

processing, using the processor, the weighted data based on the factor to determine an audience exposure metric estimating exposure to media content in the second geographic area.

2. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the first geographic area is associated with a national audience of the media content, and the second geographic area is associated with a local audience located in a local market.

3. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the audience exposure metric comprises at least one of an audience population estimate estimating a number of persons in the second geographic area that have been exposed to the media content, or an audience ratings estimate estimating a percentage of persons in the second geographic area that have been exposed to the media content.

4. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein weighting the audience measurement data comprises weighting the audience measurement data based on a target demographic group represented in the population data, a target program, a target date, and a target time-of-day.

5. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the tuning data is set-top box return path tuning data associated with the second geographic area, determining the factor comprises determining a ratio of a first audience metric determined from the set-top box return path tuning data and a second audience metric determined from a cutback portion of the audience measurement data, and processing the weighted data comprises scaling a third audience metric determined from the weighted data based on the factor.

6. A method as defined in claim 5, wherein the first, second and third audience metrics are at least one of respective first, second and third audience population estimates or respective first, second and third audience ratings estimates.

7. A method as defined in claim 5, wherein the cutback portion of the audience measurement data corresponds to a portion of the audience measurement data associated with monitored sites having set-top box characteristics substantially similar to the set-top box return path tuning data.

8. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein determining the factor comprises determining a product of an audience participation factor, an audience members per household factor, and a total households against cutback rating factor, and processing the weighted data comprises scaling an initial audience metric determined from the weighted data based on the factor.

9. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the tuning data is set-top box return path tuning data associated with the second geographic area, and the method further comprises:

imputing characteristics of the set-top box return path tuning data;

adding cutback indicators to the weighted data;

estimating a demographic audience metric using the weighted data;

estimating a cutback audience metric using a portion of the weighted data having a cutback indicator selected based on the set-top box return path tuning data;

estimating a set-top box audience metric using the set-top box return path tuning data; and

combining the demographic audience metric, the cutback audience metric and the set-top box audience metric to form the audience exposure metric.

10. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the audience measurement data is first audience measurement data, and processing the weighted data comprises adjusting the audience exposure metric based on second audience measurement data associated with the second geographic area and that is different from the tuning data.

11. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the audience measurement data includes demographic information associated with a plurality of statistically selected households located in the first geographic area, the population data includes demographic information for households located in the second geographic area, and the tuning data does not include demographic information.

12. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising obtaining the tuning data from return path data of a plurality of set-top boxes located in the second geographic area.

13. An apparatus comprising:

an exposure weighter to weight audience measurement data associated with a first geographic area based on population data associated with a second geographic area different from the first geographic area to form weighted data; and

an audience factorer to;

determine a factor based on the audience measurement data and tuning data associated with the second geographic area; and

process the weighted data based on the factor to determine an audience exposure metric estimating exposure to media content in the second geographic area.

14. An apparatus as defined in claim 13, wherein the first geographic area is associated with a national audience of the media content, and the second geographic area is associated with a local audience located in a local market.

15. An apparatus as defined in claim 13, wherein the exposure weighter comprises:

a sampler to obtain a subset of the audience measurement data; and

a weighter to weight the subset based on a target demographic group represented in the population data, a target program, a target date, and a target time-of-day.

16. An apparatus as defined in claim 13, wherein the tuning data is local set-top box return path tuning data, and to factor the weighted data, the local audience factorer is to:

determine a factor comprising a ratio of a first audience metric determined from the local set-top box return path tuning data and a second audience metric determined from a cutback portion of the national audience measurement data; and

scale a third audience metric determined from the weighted data based on the factor.

17. An apparatus as defined in claim 13, wherein to factor the weighted data, the local audience factorer is to;

determine a factor comprising a product of an audience participation factor, a viewers per household factor, and a total households against cutback rating factor; and

scale an initial audience metric determined from the weighted data based on the factor.

18. An apparatus as defined in claim 13, wherein the local tuning data is set-top box return path tuning data associated with the second geographic area, and the audience factorer comprises:

a characterizer to impute characteristics of the set-top box return path tuning data;

a cutback indicator to add cutback indicators to the weighted data;

a first estimator to determine a demographic audience metric using the weighted data;

a second estimator to determine a cutback audience metric using a portion of the weighted data having a cutback indicator selected based on the set-top box return path tuning data;

a third estimator to determine a set-top box audience metric using the set-top box return path tuning data; and

a fourth estimator to combine the demographic audience metric, the cutback audience metric and the set-top box audience metric to form the audience exposure metric.

19. An apparatus as defined in claim 18, wherein the audience measurement data is first audience measurement data, and the audience factorer further comprises an adjustor to adjust the audience exposure metric based on second audience measurement data associated with the second geographic area and that is different from the tuning data.

20. A tangible article of manufacture storing machine-readable instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to at least:

weight audience measurement data associated with a first geographic area based on population data associated with a second geographic area different from the first geographic area to form weighted data;

determine a factor based on the audience measurement data and tuning data associated with the second geographic area; and

process the weighted data based on the factor to determine an audience exposure metric estimating exposure to media content in the second geographic area.

21. A tangible article of manufacture as defined in claim 20, wherein the first geographic area is associated with a national audience of the media content, and the second geographic area is associated with a local audience located in a local market.

22. A tangible article of manufacture as defined in claim 20, wherein the tuning data is set-top box return path tuning data associated with the second geographic area, and the machine-readable instructions, when executed, cause the machine to:

determine the factor to be a ratio of a first audience metric determined from the set-top box return path tuning data and a second audience metric determined from a cutback portion of the audience measurement data; and

scale a third audience metric determined from the weighted data based on the factor.

23. A tangible article of manufacture as defined in claim 20, wherein the tuning data is set-top box return path tuning data associated with the second geographic area, and the machine-readable instructions, when executed, cause the machine to:

impute characteristics of the set-top box return path tuning data;

add cutback indicators to the weighted data;

estimate a demographic audience metric using the weighted data;

estimate a cutback audience metric using a portion of the weighted data having a cutback indicator selected based on the set-top box return path tuning data;

estimate a set-top box audience metric using the set-top box return path tuning data; and

combine the demographic audience metric, the cutback audience metric and the set-top box audience metric to form the audience exposure metric.