Methods and apparatus to monitor reception of programs and content by broadcast receivers
First Claim
1. A method for identifying a broadcast program tuned by a monitored digital receiver at a first location, wherein the broadcast program is one of a plurality of broadcast programs, and wherein each of the plurality of broadcast programs is transmitted as a sequence of data packets based on a digital protocol, the method comprising:
- determining, at the first location, a monitored signature representative of a monitored program signal providing the broadcast program tuned by the monitored digital receiver;
determining, at the first location, a reference signature from a set of data packets corresponding to a reference broadcast program tuned by a reference receiver from the plurality of broadcast programs, the reference signature representative of a reference program signal providing the reference broadcast program tuned by the reference receiver;
comparing, at the first location, the monitored signature and the reference signature; and
only when the monitored signature and the reference signature substantially match, detecting, at the first location, an identifying code accompanying the reference broadcast program without using either of the monitored signature or the reference signature, the identifying code capable of identifying the broadcast program tuned by the monitored digital receiver and tuned by the reference receiver.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus to monitor reception of programs and content by broadcast receivers are disclosed. An example method disclosed herein to monitor reception of a broadcast program by a broadcast receiver located in a statistically selected site comprises retrieving an audience measurement data packet from the broadcast receiver in order to identify the broadcast program, detecting a code embedded in the broadcast program in order to identify the broadcast program, extracting a signature from the broadcast program in order to identify the broadcast program, identifying the broadcast program through use of a software agent, and selecting at least one of the audience measurement data packet, the embedded code, the extracted signature or the software agent to identify the received program.
237 Citations
40 Claims
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1. A method for identifying a broadcast program tuned by a monitored digital receiver at a first location, wherein the broadcast program is one of a plurality of broadcast programs, and wherein each of the plurality of broadcast programs is transmitted as a sequence of data packets based on a digital protocol, the method comprising:
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determining, at the first location, a monitored signature representative of a monitored program signal providing the broadcast program tuned by the monitored digital receiver; determining, at the first location, a reference signature from a set of data packets corresponding to a reference broadcast program tuned by a reference receiver from the plurality of broadcast programs, the reference signature representative of a reference program signal providing the reference broadcast program tuned by the reference receiver; comparing, at the first location, the monitored signature and the reference signature; and only when the monitored signature and the reference signature substantially match, detecting, at the first location, an identifying code accompanying the reference broadcast program without using either of the monitored signature or the reference signature, the identifying code capable of identifying the broadcast program tuned by the monitored digital receiver and tuned by the reference receiver. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A system to identify a broadcast program tuned by a monitored digital receiver, wherein the broadcast program is one of a plurality of broadcast programs, and wherein each of the plurality of broadcast programs is transmitted as a sequence of data packets based on a digital protocol, the system comprising:
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a first signal processor configured to determine a monitored signature representative of a monitored program signal providing the broadcast program tuned by the monitored digital receiver; a second signal processor configured to determine a reference signature from a set of data packets corresponding to a reference broadcast program tuned by a reference receiver from the plurality of broadcast programs, the reference signature representative of a reference program signal providing the reference broadcast program tuned by the reference receiver; a comparator configured to compare the monitored signature and the reference signature, wherein the comparator is configured to associate an identifying code detected from the reference program signal tuned by the reference receiver with the broadcast program tuned by the monitored digital receiver only when the monitored signature substantially matches the reference signature, the identifying code is included in the reference program signal in addition to the reference broadcast program and is not detectable from the monitored and reference signatures, and the identifying code is not detectable from a non-invasive sensor configured to detect an output of the monitored digital receiver; and the second signal processor and the comparator cooperating to respectively determine reference signatures for different reference programs and compare the monitored signature to respective ones of the reference signatures until a substantial match is detected. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A system for identifying a program tuned by a monitored receiver, wherein the monitored receiver is located in a household, and wherein the system comprises:
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a source tuner, separate from a tuner of the monitored receiver, arranged to tune to programs tunable by the monitored receiver, wherein the source tuner is located in the household; a program signature extractor in communication with the monitored receiver and the source tuner and arranged to extract a first program signature representative of a characteristic of a first program signal provided by an output of the monitored receiver and to extract a second program signature representative of a characteristic of a second program signal provided by an output of the source tuner, the signature extractor located in the household; a signature correlator located in the household and arranged to correlate the first and second program signatures; and a code reader located in the household, in communication with the source tuner and arranged to read a code included with the program and different from the first and second program signatures only when the signature correlator detects a match between the first and second program signatures, the is code not detectable from either the first or the second program signatures.
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Specification