IP Library Granted Patent US 9,438,939
Granted Patent B2
US 9,438,939 · App. 13/930,799 · Granted Sep 6, 2016

Methods and systems to meter media content presented on a wireless communication device

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,438,939
App. No.
13/930,799
Granted
Sep 6, 2016
Kind
B2
Abstract

An example apparatus includes a meter to generate first information indicative of a media presentation mode of a media presentation application executed by a wireless communication device during a presentation of the media content received and presented via the wireless communication device, the media content comprising scheduled programming that is broadcasted or multicasted simultaneously to a plurality of other wireless communication devices during a pre-scheduled time; and generate second information indicative of the media content presented via the wireless communication device. A memory is to store the first information in association with the second information in the wireless communication device; and store third information in association with the first and second information. The third information is indicative of at least one of a location of a cell tower used to transmit the media content, an identifier of the cell tower, or an identifier of a wireless network access point.

Claims (39)

1. An apparatus to generate media metering information associated with a wireless communication device, the apparatus comprising:

a meter to:

generate first information indicative of a media presentation mode of a media presentation application executed by the wireless communication device during a presentation of media received and presented via the wireless communication device, the media including scheduled programming that is broadcasted or multicasted simultaneously to a plurality of other wireless communication devices during a pre-scheduled time; and

generate second information indicative of the media presented via the wireless communication device; and

a memory to:

store the first information in association with the second information in the wireless communication device; and

store third information in association with the first and second information, the third information to be indicative of at least one of a location of a cell tower used to transmit the media to the wireless communication device, an identifier of the cell tower, or an identifier of a wireless network access point used to transmit the media.

2. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein the meter is further to extract identification information associated with the media from a data packet associated with receiving the media.

3. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein the meter is further to:

extract at least one of an audio code or a video code from the media, the extracted code to identify at least one of the media, a media provider, or a media programming provider channel number used to communicate the media; and

generate the second information based on the extracted code.

4. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein the meter is further to:

generate a signature based on the media, the signature being at least one of an audio signature or a video signature; and

generate the second information based on the signature.

5. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein the memory is further to store location information in association with the second information, the location information indicative of a location of the wireless communication device.

6. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein the media presentation mode is at least one of a pause mode, a play mode, a stop mode, a fast forward mode, or a rewind mode.

7. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein the meter is located in the wireless communication device.

8. An apparatus to process metering information, the apparatus comprising:

a memory to:

store a first data structure including reference metering information generated by a first wireless communication device and indicative of a plurality of media received at the first wireless communication device from a transmitting entity; and

store a second data structure including panel metering information generated by a second wireless communication device and indicative of at least some of the media received by the second wireless communication device; and

a validator to determine the validity of the panel metering information based on the reference metering information.

9. The apparatus as defined in claim 8 , wherein the validator is to determine the validity of the panel metering information by comparing first data in the panel metering information to second data in the reference metering information.

10. The apparatus as defined in claim 9 , wherein the first data is associated with a first timestamp, and the validator is to select the second data based on a second timestamp of the second data corresponding to the first timestamp.

11. The apparatus as defined in claim 9 , wherein the first data and the second data include channel information, date information, and time information.

12. The apparatus as defined in claim 8 , wherein the panel metering information is representative of the second wireless communication device switching between a plurality of channels and obtaining at least some of the media content provided via each channel.

13. The apparatus as defined in claim 8 , wherein the panel metering information includes at least one of a service provider identifier, a content type identifier, a program identifier, or a channel identifier.

14. The apparatus as defined in claim 8 , wherein the plurality of media is received at the first wireless communication device from the transmitting entity via a cellular network.

15. An apparatus to generate media metering information associated with a wireless communication device, the apparatus comprising:

an interface to obtain first information indicative of media presented via a wireless communication device;

a validator to generate second information indicative of a technical issue corresponding to the operability of the wireless communication device that affects user-consumption of the media during a presentation of the media; and

a memory to:

store the first information in association with the second information; and

store timestamp information in association with the first information and the second information, the timestamp information to include a first timestamp stored in association with the first information and a second timestamp stored in association with the second information, and a substantial match between the first and second timestamps to indicate that the technical issue occurred during a presentation of the media.

16. The apparatus as defined in claim 15 , wherein the technical issue is indicative of a problem with at least one of hardware, software, or communications.

17. The apparatus as defined in claim 15 , wherein the validator is to generate the second information by tagging the first information as suspect and providing a reason for tagging the first information as suspect.

18. The apparatus as defined in claim 15 , further including an analyzer to use the second information to determine the amount of media exposure credit or media consumption credit to attribute to a media presentation indicated by the first information.

19. The apparatus as defined in claim 15 , wherein the memory is further to store time information indicative of a duration for which the media was presented via the wireless communication device.

20. The apparatus as defined in claim 15 , further including a report generator to correlate the user-consumption of the media with data transmission quality.

Assignments (13)
RELEASE (REEL 054066 / FRAME 0064) Recorded May 11, 2023
From: CITIBANK, N.A.
To: A. C. NIELSEN COMPANY, LLC; EXELATE, INC.; GRACENOTE, INC.; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC; NETRATINGS, LLC
Reel/Frame 063605/0001 →
RELEASE (REEL 053473 / FRAME 0001) Recorded May 11, 2023
From: CITIBANK, N.A.
To: A. C. NIELSEN COMPANY, LLC; EXELATE, INC.; GRACENOTE, INC.; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC; NETRATINGS, LLC
Reel/Frame 063603/0001 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 8, 2023
From: GRACENOTE DIGITAL VENTURES, LLC; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; GRACENOTE, INC.; TNC (US) HOLDINGS, INC.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC
To: ARES CAPITAL CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 063574/0632 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Apr 28, 2023
From: GRACENOTE DIGITAL VENTURES, LLC; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; GRACENOTE, INC.; TNC (US) HOLDINGS, INC.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC
To: CITIBANK, N.A.
Reel/Frame 063561/0381 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jan 31, 2023
From: GRACENOTE DIGITAL VENTURES, LLC; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; GRACENOTE, INC.; TNC (US) HOLDINGS, INC.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC
To: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.
Reel/Frame 063560/0547 →
RELEASE (REEL 037172 / FRAME 0415) Recorded Oct 13, 2022
From: CITIBANK, N.A.
To: THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC
Reel/Frame 061750/0221 →
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE PATENTS LISTED ON SCHEDULE 1 RECORDED ON 6-9-2020 PREVIOUSLY RECORDED ON REEL 053473 FRAME 0001. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE SUPPLEMENTAL IP SECURITY AGREEMENT. Recorded Oct 7, 2020
From: A.C. NIELSEN (ARGENTINA) S.A.; A.C. NIELSEN COMPANY, LLC; ACN HOLDINGS INC.; ACNIELSEN CORPORATION; ACNIELSEN ERATINGS.COM; AFFINNOVA, INC.; ART HOLDING, L.L.C.; ATHENIAN LEASING CORPORATION; CZT/ACN TRADEMARKS, L.L.C.; EXELATE, INC.; GRACENOTE, INC.; GRACENOTE DIGITAL VENTURES, LLC; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; NETRATINGS, LLC; NIELSEN AUDIO, INC.; NIELSEN CONSUMER INSIGHTS, INC.; NIELSEN CONSUMER NEUROSCIENCE, INC.; NIELSEN FINANCE CO.; NIELSEN FINANCE LLC; NIELSEN INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS, INC.; NIELSEN MOBILE, LLC; NMR INVESTING I, INC.; TCG DIVESTITURE INC.; TNC (US) HOLDINGS, INC.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC; VIZU CORPORATION; VNU MARKETING INFORMATION, INC.; NMR LICENSING ASSOCIATES, L.P.; NIELSEN HOLDING AND FINANCE B.V.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY B.V.; VNU INTERNATIONAL B.V.
To: CITIBANK, N.A
Reel/Frame 054066/0064 →
SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jun 9, 2020
From: A. C. NIELSEN COMPANY, LLC; ACN HOLDINGS INC.; ACNIELSEN CORPORATION; ACNIELSEN ERATINGS.COM; AFFINNOVA, INC.; ART HOLDING, L.L.C.; ATHENIAN LEASING CORPORATION; CZT/ACN TRADEMARKS, L.L.C.; EXELATE, INC.; GRACENOTE, INC.; GRACENOTE DIGITAL VENTURES, LLC; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; NETRATINGS, LLC; NIELSEN AUDIO, INC.; NIELSEN CONSUMER INSIGHTS, INC.; NIELSEN CONSUMER NEUROSCIENCE, INC.; NIELSEN FINANCE CO.; NIELSEN FINANCE LLC; NIELSEN INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS, INC.; NIELSEN MOBILE, LLC; NIELSEN UK FINANCE I, LLC; NMR INVESTING I, INC.; TCG DIVESTITURE INC.; TNC (US) HOLDINGS, INC.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC; VIZU CORPORATION; VNU MARKETING INFORMATION, INC.; NMR LICENSING ASSOCIATES, L.P.; NIELSEN HOLDING AND FINANCE B.V.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY B.V.; VNU INTERNATIONAL B.V.
To: CITIBANK, N.A.
Reel/Frame 053473/0001 →
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE CONVEYING PARTY NAME FROM NAMAL NASSER TO KAMAL NASSER PREVIOUSLY RECORDED ON REEL 031311 FRAME 0094. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST.. Recorded May 10, 2016
From: WRIGHT, DAVID H.; NASSER, KAMAL; HERRMANN, JEFF L.; RAMASWAMY, ARUN; MELLO, BRIAN SCOTT
To: NIELSEN MEDIA RESEARCH, INC.
Reel/Frame 038662/0991 →
SUPPLEMENTAL IP SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Nov 30, 2015
From: THE NIELSEN COMPANY ((US), LLC
To: CITIBANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT FOR THE FIRST LIEN SECURED PARTIES
Reel/Frame 037172/0415 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded May 1, 2014
From: NIELSEN MEDIA RESEARCH, INC.
To: NIELSEN MEDIA RESEARCH, LLC
Reel/Frame 032807/0234 →
MERGER Recorded May 1, 2014
From: NIELSEN MEDIA RESEARCH, LLC
To: THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC
Reel/Frame 032802/0092 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 30, 2013
From: WRIGHT, DAVID H.; NASSER, NAMAL; HERRMANN, JEFF L.; RAMASWAMY, ARUN; MELLO, BRIAN SCOTT
To: NIELSEN MEDIA RESEARCH, INC.
Reel/Frame 031311/0094 →