Methods and systems for reducing spillover by detecting signal distortion

1. A method to reduce spillover in a media measuring system, comprising:

identifying, via a processor, media associated with media monitoring data, the media monitoring data being received from a first meter associated with a first media presentation device;

identifying, via the processor, an expected frequency spectrum associated with the media;

comparing, via the processor, the expected frequency spectrum to an actual frequency spectrum collected from the media by the first meter to determine if spillover occurred; and

crediting, via the processor, the media as a media exposure if spillover did not occur.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the actual frequency spectrum is a representation of the audio signal in a frequency domain.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein comparing the expected frequency spectrum to the actual frequency spectrum includes determining, via the processor, if the audio signal was distorted.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein determining if the audio signal was distorted includes comparing, via the processor, a summation of the absolute values of the differences between amplitudes of corresponding frequency components of the actual frequency spectrum and the expected frequency spectrum to a threshold.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein crediting the media as the media exposure includes marking the media monitoring data as credited.

6. The method of claim 5 , further including transmitting the marked media monitoring data to a central facility.

7. The method of claim 1 , further including not crediting the media as a media exposure if spillover did occur.

8. The method of claim 1 , further including, if spillover did occur, discarding, via the processor, the media monitoring data associated with the spillover.

9. The method of claim 1 , further including, if spillover did occur, marking, via the processor, the media monitoring data associated with the spillover as not credited.

10. A spillover manager to reduce spillover in a media measuring system, comprising:

a frequency spectrum comparator to:

identify an expected frequency spectrum for media associated with media monitoring data received from a meter associated with a media presentation device; and

compare the expected frequency spectrum to an actual frequency spectrum to determine if spillover occurred, the actual frequency spectrum based on a sample of the media collected by the meter; and

a media creditor to:

credit the media with an exposure if spillover did not occur; and

not credit the media with an exposure if spillover did occur.

11. The spillover manager of claim 10 , wherein the frequency spectrum is a representation of the audio signal in a frequency domain.

12. The spillover manager of claim 10 , wherein the frequency spectrum comparator is to compare the expected frequency spectrum to the actual frequency spectrum to determine if the audio signal was distorted.

13. The spillover manager of claim 12 , wherein to determine if the audio signal was distorted, the frequency spectrum comparator is to compare a summation of the absolute values of the differences between amplitudes of corresponding frequency components of the actual frequency spectrum and the expected frequency spectrum to a threshold.

14. The spillover manager of claim 10 , wherein to credit the media with the exposure, the media creditor is to mark the media monitoring data as credited.

15. The spillover manager of claim 14 , further including a transmitter to transmit the marked media monitoring data to a central facility.

16. The spillover manager of claim 10 , wherein the media creditor is to discard the media monitoring data if spillover did occur.

17. The spillover manager of claim 10 , wherein the media creditor is to mark the media monitoring data as not credited if spillover did occur.

18. A tangible computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a computing device to at least:

identify media associated with media monitoring data, the media monitoring data being received from a first meter associated with a first media presentation device;

identify an expected frequency spectrum associated with the media;

compare the expected frequency spectrum to an actual frequency spectrum collected from the media by the first meter to determine if spillover occurred; and

credit the media as a media exposure if spillover did not occur.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the actual frequency spectrum is a representation of the audio signal in a frequency domain.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 18 , wherein comparing the expected frequency spectrum to the actual frequency spectrum includes determining if the audio signal was distorted.

21. The computer readable medium of claim 20 , wherein determining if the audio signal was distorted includes comparing a summation of the absolute values of the differences between amplitudes of corresponding frequency components of the actual frequency spectrum and the expected frequency spectrum to a threshold.

22. The computer readable medium of claim 18 , wherein crediting the media as the media exposure includes marking the media monitoring data as credited.

23. The computer readable medium of claim 22 , further including instructions that cause the computing device to transmit the marked media monitoring data to a central facility.

24. The computer readable medium of claim 18 , further including not crediting the media as a media exposure if spillover did occur.

25. The computer readable medium of claim 18 , further including instructions that cause the computing device to discard the media monitoring data if spillover did occur.

26. The computer readable medium of claim 18 , further including instructions that cause the computing device to mark the media monitoring data as not credited if spillover did occur.