Methods and apparatus to assign viewers to media meter data

• US 10,219,039 B2
• Filed: 09/25/2015
• Issued: 02/26/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/09/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Original Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Inventors: Mowrer, Samantha M., Poppie, Molly, Shankar, Balachander, Wong, Ieok Hou, Lee, Choongkoo, Cui, Xiaoqi, Kurzynski, David J., Peters, Richard, Spoentgen, Remy
• Primary Examiner(s): Flynn, Nathan J
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kurien, Christen A
• Application Number:
  US14/866,158
• Publication Number:
  US 20160269783A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,250 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42203 sound input device, e.g. microphone
• 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 21/4524 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4663 involving probabilistic networks, e.g. Bayesian networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4667 Processing of monitored end-user data, e.g. trend analysis based on the log file of viewer selections

Abstract

Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed to assign viewers to media meter data. An example method includes calculating, with a processor, first viewing probabilities for tuning panelists in a tuning household during a first set of time periods, calculating, with the processor, second viewing probabilities for viewing panelists in a plurality of candidate viewing households during a second set of time periods, identifying, with the processor, a matching one of the plurality of candidate viewing households based on an absolute difference value between an average value of the first viewing probabilities and respective ones of average values of the second viewing probabilities, and reducing an imputation error by imputing, with the processor, tuning minutes of the tuning household as viewing minutes for the respective tuning panelists when the matching one of the plurality of candidate viewing households exhibits viewing activity during one of the second set of time periods that matches one of the first set of time periods.

Claims

1. A method to impute panelist household viewing behavior, the method comprising:

monitoring, via a first meter, a first media presentation device in a tuning household associated with tuning panelists, the first meter structured to collect first media identification data indicative of first media to which the first media presentation device is tuned without collecting person identifying information indicative of which of the tuning panelists are exposed to the first media;

monitoring, via second meters, second media presentation devices in a set of viewing households associated with viewing panelists, the second meters structured to (i) collect second media identification data indicative of respective second media to which the second media presentation devices are tuned and (ii) collect person identifying information indicative of which of the viewing panelists are exposed to the respective second media;

transmitting, via a network, first data from the first meter, the first data including the first media identification data, the first data not including the person identifying information associated with the tuning panelists;

transmitting, via the network, second data from the second meters, the second data including the second media identification data and the person identifying information associated with the viewing panelists;

calculating, by executing an instruction with a processor, first viewing probabilities for the tuning panelists during a first set of time periods, the first viewing probabilities calculated based on the first data;

identifying a plurality of candidate viewing households from among the set of viewing households based on a similarity of household characteristics with the tuning household;

calculating, by executing an instruction with the processor, second viewing probabilities for the viewing panelists in the plurality of candidate viewing households during a second set of time periods, the second viewing probabilities calculated based on the second data;

identifying, by executing an instruction with the processor, a matching one of the plurality of candidate viewing households that matches the tuning household based on an absolute difference value between an average value of the first viewing probabilities and respective ones of average values of the second viewing probabilities; and

imputing, by executing an instruction with the processor, ones of tuning minutes of the tuning household as viewing minutes for ones of the tuning panelists when the matching one of the plurality of candidate viewing households exhibits viewing activity during one of the second set of time periods that matches one of the first set of time periods, the tuning minutes indicative of when the first media presentation device was tuned to the first media, the viewing minutes indicative of when the ones of the tuning panelists were exposed to the first media to which the first media presentation device was tuned.

2. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the first set of time periods and the second set of time periods include data points having a quarter hour resolution.

3. The method as defined in claim 1, further including calculating an adjusted quarter hour ratio when a number of the first set of time periods is dissimilar to a number of the second set of time periods.

4. The method as defined in claim 3, wherein the adjusted quarter hour ratio includes a ratio of the number of the second set of time periods divided by the number of the first set of time periods.

5. The method as defined in claim 4, further including generating a final quarter hour order value associated with the second set of time periods by multiplying the adjusted quarter hour ratio by a temporal placeholder associated with the first set of time periods.

6. The method as defined in claim 5, further including expanding the number of the second set of time periods to match the first set of time periods based on the final quarter hour order value.

7. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein identifying the matching one of the plurality of candidate viewing households based on the absolute difference value further includes selecting the matching one of the plurality of candidate viewing households that do not exhibit viewing behavior within a similar geographic area when the absolute difference value satisfies a threshold value from a next-lowest absolute difference value.

8. A system to impute panelist household viewing behavior, the system comprising:

a first meter to monitor a first media presentation device in a tuning household associated with tuning panelists, the first meter structured to collect first media identification data indicative of first media to which the first media presentation device is tuned without collecting person identifying information indicative of which of the tuning panelists are exposed to the first media;

second meters to monitor second media presentation devices in a set of viewing households associated with viewing panelists, the second meters structured to (i) collect second media identification data indicative of respective second media to which the second media presentation devices are tuned and (ii) collect person identifying information indicative of which of the viewing panelists are exposed to the respective second media;

an independent distribution probability selector to identify a plurality of candidate viewing households from among the set of viewing households based on a similarity of household characteristics with a tuning household;

a total probability calculator to;

calculate first viewing probabilities for the tuning panelists during a first set of time periods, the first viewing probabilities calculated based on first data received, via a network, from the first meter, the first data including the first media identification data, the first data not including the person identifying information associated with the tuning panelists; and

calculate second viewing probabilities for the viewing panelists in the plurality of candidate viewing households during a second set of time periods, the second viewing probabilities calculated based on second data received, via the network, from the second meters, the second data including the second media identification data and the person identifying information associated with the viewing panelists; and

a rank engine to;

identify a matching one of the plurality of candidate viewing households that matches the tuning household based on an absolute difference value between an average value of the first viewing probabilities and respective ones of average values of the second viewing probabilities; and

impute ones of tuning minutes of the tuning household as viewing minutes for ones of the tuning panelists when the matching one of the plurality of candidate viewing households exhibits viewing activity during one of the second set of time periods that matches one of the first set of time periods, wherein at least one of the independent distribution probability selector, the total probability calculator, or the rank engine is implemented using a processor, the tuning minutes indicative of when the first media presentation device was tuned to the first media, the viewing minutes indicative of when the ones of the tuning panelists were exposed to the first media to which the first media presentation device was tuned.

9. The system as defined in claim 8, wherein the first set of time periods and the second set of time periods include data points having a quarter hour resolution.

10. The system as defined in claim 8, further including a minutes aggregator to calculate an adjusted quarter hour ratio when a number of the first set of time periods is dissimilar to a number of the second set of time periods.

11. The system as defined in claim 10, wherein the minutes aggregator is to calculate the adjusted quarter hour ratio as a ratio of the number of the second set of time periods and the number of the first set of time periods.

12. The system as defined in claim 11, wherein the minutes aggregator is to generate a final quarter hour order value associated with the second set of time periods by multiplying the adjusted quarter hour ratio by a temporal placeholder associated with the first set of time periods.

13. The system as defined in claim 12, wherein the minutes aggregator is to expand the number of the second set of time periods to match the first set of time periods based on the final quarter hour order value.

14. The system as defined in claim 8, wherein the rank engine is to select the matching one of the plurality of candidate viewing households that do not exhibit viewing behavior within a similar geographic area when the absolute difference value satisfies a threshold value from a next-lowest absolute difference value.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer readable instructions that, when executed, cause a processor to at least:

retrieve first data transmitted from a first meter monitoring a first media presentation device in a tuning household associated with tuning panelists, the first meter structured to collect first media identification data indicative of first media to which the first media presentation device was tuned without collecting person identifying information indicative of which of the tuning panelists were exposed to the first media, the first data including the first media identification data, the first data not including the person identifying information associated with the tuning panelists;

retrieve second data transmitted from a second meter monitoring second media presentation devices in a set of viewing households associated with viewing panelists, the second meters structured to (i) collect second media identification data indicative of respective second media to which the second media presentation devices were tuned and (ii) collect person identifying information indicative of which of the viewing panelists were exposed to the respective second media, the second data including the second media identification data and the person identifying information associated with the viewing panelists;

calculate first viewing probabilities for the tuning panelists during a first set of time periods, the first viewing probabilities calculated based on the first data;

identify a plurality of candidate viewing households from among the set of viewing households based on a similarity of household characteristics with the tuning household;

calculate second viewing probabilities for the viewing panelists in the plurality of candidate viewing households during a second set of time periods, the second viewing probabilities calculated based on the second data;

identify a matching one of the plurality of candidate viewing households that matches the tuning household based on an absolute difference value between an average value of the first viewing probabilities and respective ones of average values of the second viewing probabilities; and

impute ones of tuning minutes of the tuning household as viewing minutes for ones of the tuning panelists when the matching one of the plurality of candidate viewing households exhibits viewing activity during one of the second set of time periods that matches one of the first set of time periods, the tuning minutes indicative of when the first media presentation device was tuned to the first media, the viewing minutes indicative of when the ones of the tuning panelists were exposed to the first media to which the first media presentation device was tuned.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium as defined in claim 15, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to calculate an adjusted quarter hour ratio when a number of the first set of time periods is dissimilar to a number of the second set of time periods.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium as defined in claim 16, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to compute a ratio of the number of the second set of time periods and the number of the first set of time periods.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium as defined in claim 17, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to generate a final quarter hour order value associated with the second set of time periods by multiplying the adjusted quarter hour ratio by a temporal placeholder associated with the first set of time periods.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium as defined in claim 18, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to expand the number of the second set of time periods to match the first set of time periods based on the final quarter hour order value.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium as defined in claim 15, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to select the matching one of the plurality of candidate viewing households that do not exhibit viewing behavior within a similar geographic area when the absolute difference value satisfies a threshold value from a next-lowest absolute difference value.