METHODS AND APPARATUS TO REPORT REFERENCE MEDIA DATA TO MULTIPLE DATA COLLECTION FACILITIES

• US 20160294495A1
• Filed: 03/30/2015
• Published: 10/06/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Original Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Inventors: Heffernan, Ronan
• Granted Patent: US 9,680,583 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/33 Arrangements for monitoring the users' behaviour or opinions
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/37 for identifying segments of broadcast information, e.g. scenes or extracting programme ID
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/56 Arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition covered by groups H04H60/29-H04H60/54

Abstract

Methods and apparatus to report reference media data to multiple data collection facilities are disclosed. An example method includes determining whether a reference media monitoring site located in a first reference area is within a threshold distance of a second reference area. The reference media monitoring site providing reference media data to a first data collection facility associated with the first reference area. The example method also includes transmitting the reference media data to a second data collection facility associated with the second reference area if the reference media monitoring site is within the threshold distance.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining whether a reference media monitoring site located in a first reference area is within a threshold distance of a second reference area, the reference media monitoring site providing reference media data to a first data collection facility associated with the first reference area; and

transmitting the reference media data to a second data collection facility associated with the second reference area if the reference media monitoring site is within the threshold distance.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the reference media data is transmitted to the second data collection facility from the reference media monitoring site.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the reference media data is transmitted to the second data collection facility from the first data collection facility.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a location of the reference media monitoring site based on at least one of coordinates from a global positioning system measurement, Internet Protocol address location data associated with the reference media monitoring site, geocoding of a street address of the reference media monitoring site, or geocoding of a city where the reference media monitoring site is located; and

determining whether the reference media monitoring site is within a threshold distance based on the location of the reference media monitoring site.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a boundary-model of the first reference area, the boundary-model defining a location of a boundary between the first reference area and the second reference area;

calculating a shortest distance between the reference media monitoring site and the boundary; and

determining whether the reference media monitoring site is within the threshold distance based on a comparison of the shortest distance to the threshold distance.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the boundary corresponds to a geopolitical border between a first country and a second different country.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the boundary-model is generated using at least one of a series of coordinate points following contours of the geopolitical border or a series of interconnected lines approximating the contours of the geopolitical border.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the reference media data is collected from over-the-air media.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the first reference area is adjacent the second reference area.

10. A tangible computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to at least:

determine whether a reference media monitoring site located in a first reference area is within a threshold distance of a second reference area, the reference media monitoring site to provide reference media data to a first data collection facility associated with the first reference area; and

transmit the reference media data to a secondary data collection facility associated with the second reference area if the reference media monitoring site is within the threshold distance.

11. The tangible computer readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the reference media data is transmitted to the secondary data collection facility from the reference media monitoring site.

12. The tangible computer readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the reference media data is transmitted to the secondary data collection facility from the first data collection facility.

13. The tangible computer readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions further cause the machine to:

determine a location of the reference media monitoring site based on at least one of coordinates from a global positioning system measurement, Internet Protocol address location data associated with the reference media monitoring site, geocoding of a street address of the reference media monitoring site, or geocoding of a city where the reference media monitoring site is located; and

determine whether the reference media monitoring site is within a threshold distance based on the location of the reference media monitoring site.

14. The tangible computer readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions further cause the machine to:

generate a boundary-model of the first reference area, the boundary-model defining a location of a boundary between the first reference area and the second reference area;

calculate a shortest distance between the reference media monitoring site and the boundary; and

determine whether the reference media monitoring site is within the threshold distance based on a comparison of the shortest distance to the threshold distance.

15. The tangible computer readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the boundary corresponds to a geopolitical border between a first country and a second different country.

16. The tangible computer readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the boundary-model is generated using at least one of a series of coordinate points following contours of the geopolitical border or a series of interconnected lines approximating the contours of the geopolitical border.

17. The tangible computer readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the reference media data is collected from over-the-air media.

18. The tangible computer readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the first reference area is adjacent the second reference area.

19. An apparatus comprising:

a boundary monitoring site identifier to determine whether a reference media monitoring site located in a first reference area is within a threshold distance of a second reference area, the reference media monitoring site to provide reference media data to a first data collection facility associated with the first reference area; and

a communication interface to transmit the reference media data to a second data collection facility associated with the second reference area if the reference media monitoring site is within the threshold distance.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the communication interface is part of the reference media monitoring site.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the communication interface is part of the first data collection facility.

22. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprising a location determiner to determine a location of the reference media monitoring site based on at least one of coordinates from a global positioning system measurement, Internet Protocol address location data associated with the reference media monitoring site, geocoding of a street address of the reference media monitoring site, or geocoding of a city where the reference media monitoring site is located, wherein the boundary monitoring site identifier is to determine whether the reference media monitoring site is within a threshold distance based on the location of the reference media monitoring site.

23. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprising:

a reference area boundary analyzer to generate a boundary-model of the first reference area, the boundary-model defining a location of a boundary between the first reference area and the second reference area; and

a boundary distance calculator to calculate a shortest distance between the reference media monitoring site and the boundary, wherein the boundary monitoring site identifier is to determine whether the reference media monitoring site is within the threshold distance based on a comparison of the shortest distance to the threshold distance.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the boundary corresponds to a geopolitical border between a first country and a second different country.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the boundary-model is generated using at least one of a series of coordinate points following contours of the geopolitical border or a series of interconnected lines approximating the contours of the geopolitical border.

26. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the reference media data is collected from over-the-air media.

27. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the first reference area is adjacent the second reference area.