Systems, methods and products for assessing subscriber content access

• US 7,802,276 B2
• Filed: 08/26/2005
• Issued: 09/21/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/06/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Alphonso, Inc.
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Swix, Scott R., Koch, Robert A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ustaris, Joseph G
• Application Number:
  US11/212,369
• Publication Number:
  US 20050283792A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,852 Days
• Field of Search: 725/9, 725/14, 725/16, 725/21, 725/22, 386/83
• US Class Current: 725/14
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/78 CATV [Community Antenna Television] systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 2201/30 characterised by the use of a return channel, e.g. for collecting users' opinions, for returning broadcast space/time information or for requesting data
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/33 Arrangements for monitoring the users' behaviour or opinions
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/44 for identifying broadcast stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/97 using uplink of the CATV systems
• 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 21/44224 Monitoring of user activity on external systems, e.g. Internet browsing
• 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

Abstract

Methods, systems, and products are disclosed for reporting a subscriber'"'"'s content access selections to marketers. One such method stores when content is provided to a subscriber and when that content is displayed by the subscriber. The method then reports when the content is provided and when the content is viewed, thus describing the subscriber'"'"'s content selections.

Claims

1. A method for reporting a subscriber'"'"'s content access selections, comprising:

storing a date and time when content is delivered to a subscriber'"'"'s device;

storing channel numbers associated with subscriber events describing commands entered as the subscriber views the content;

comparing a channel number associated with a subscriber event to a table that associates channel numbers to channel identifiers;

retrieving a channel identification code associated with a network;

uploading the channel identification code and the subscriber event to a network server in the network;

merging, by the network server, content metadata with the channel identification code and the subscriber event to describe the subscriber'"'"'s content access selections; and

comparing the date and time to the subscriber'"'"'s content access selections to determine when the content was displayed by the subscriber'"'"'s device.

2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising determining a date and time identifier indicating when the content was displayed.

3. A method according to claim 1, further comprising determining a time between delivery and display.

4. A method according to claim 1, further comprising comparing the content delivered to the subscriber'"'"'s device to alternate content viewed by the subscriber from an alternate source.

5. A method according to claim 1, further comprising comparing the content delivered to the subscriber'"'"'s device to recorded content that is recorded by the subscriber.

6. A method according to claim 1, further comprising applying priority assignments to the content metadata such that metadata from an electronic programming guide has a lowest priority.

7. A method according to claim 1, further comprising projecting purchasing habits from the subscriber'"'"'s content access selections.

8. A system, comprising:

a processor executing instructions stored in memory that cause the processor to;

store a date and time when content is delivered to a subscriber'"'"'s device;

store channel numbers associated with subscriber events describing commands entered as the subscriber views the content;

compare a channel number associated with a subscriber event to a table that associates channel numbers to channel identifiers;

retrieve a channel identification code associated with the channel number;

upload the channel identification code and the subscriber event to a network server in a network;

merge, by the network server, content metadata with the channel identification code and the subscriber event to describe the subscriber'"'"'s content access selections; and

compare the date and time to the subscriber'"'"'s content access selections to determine when the content was displayed by the subscriber'"'"'s device.

9. A system according to claim 8, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to report a date and time identifier that the content was broadcast to the subscriber'"'"'s device.

10. A system according to claim 8, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to compare a first date and time identifier to a second date and time identifier to determine a time between delivery and display.

11. A system according to claim 8, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to compare the content delivered to the subscriber'"'"'s device to alternate content viewed by the subscriber from an alternate source.

12. A system according to claim 8, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to compare a first date and time identifier to a time that recorded content is recorded by the subscriber to yield a comparison of a time of recording to an actual time of viewing.

13. A system according to claim 8, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to compare a first date and time identifier to a time that the content is stored to the memory to yield a comparison of a time of recording to an actual time of viewing.

14. A system according to claim 8, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to project purchasing habits from the subscriber'"'"'s content access selections.

15. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing processor executable instructions for performing a method, the method comprising:

receiving a first date and time identifier that indicates when content is delivered to at least one subscriber'"'"'s device;

storing channel numbers associated with subscriber events describing commands entered as the subscriber views the content;

comparing a channel number associated with a subscriber event to a table that associates channel numbers to channel identifiers;

retrieving a channel identification code associated with the channel number;

uploading the channel identification code and the subscriber event to a network server in a network;

uploading the first date and time identifier to the network server;

merging, by the network server, content metadata with the channel identification code and the subscriber event to describe the subscriber'"'"'s content access selections;

applying priority assignments to the content metadata such that metadata from an electronic programming guide has a lower priority than national ad metadata and local ad insert metadata has a higher priority than the national ad metadata; and

comparing the first date and time identifier to the subscriber'"'"'s content access selections to determine when the content was displayed by the subscriber'"'"'s device.

16. A computer program product according to claim 15, further comprising computer code for storing a date and time that the content was broadcast to the subscriber'"'"'s device.

17. A computer program product according to claim 15, further comprising computer code for comparing the first date and time identifier to a second date and time identifier to determine a time between delivery and display.

18. A computer program product according to claim 15, further comprising computer code for comparing the content delivered to the subscriber'"'"'s device to alternate content viewed by the subscriber from an alternate source.

19. A computer program product according to claim 15, further comprising computer code for comparing the first date and time identifier to a time that recorded content is recorded by the subscriber to yield a comparison of a time of recording to an actual time of viewing.

20. A computer program product according to claim 15, further comprising computer code for projecting purchasing habits from the subscriber'"'"'s content access selections.