Granted Patent B2

US 10,182,261 · App. 15/431,036 · Granted Jan 15, 2019

Inventors: Michael Vinson (Piedmont, CA); Maria Loper (Portland, OR); Amir Yazdani (Portland, OR); Bruce Goerlich (Forest Hills, NY)

Assignee: Rentrak Corporation

H04N21/4667H04N21/42213H04N21/442H04N21/44204H04N21/44213H04N21/44218H04N21/44222H04N21/47217H04N21/6582H04N21/812

Abstract

Claims (60)

1. A computer-implemented method performed at a viewing behavior analysis system in communication across a network with a plurality of content providers and a plurality of video playback devices, the method comprising:

receiving, at the viewing behavior analysis system, tune data across the network from the plurality of video playback devices, each video playback device of the plurality of video playback devices associated with a client, the tune data comprising one or more events representing viewing behavior of content presented on video playback devices associated with a plurality of the clients;

constructing, at the viewing behavior analysis system, a viewership profile of a specific channel and a specific time period based on the tune data, the viewership profile reflecting a number of viewers that viewed the specific channel during the specific time period;

analyzing, at the viewing behavior analysis system, the viewership profile to identify a plurality of drops in the number of viewers during the specific time period;

determining, at the viewing behavior analysis system, a rate of change of the number of viewers for each drop;

determining, at the viewing behavior analysis system, a location and a time period of one or more advertisement blocks based on the rates of change of the plurality of drops;

determining, at the viewing behavior analysis system, a number of viewers that viewed each advertisement block based on the location and the time period of each advertisement block;

determining, at the viewing behavior analysis system, a parameter reflecting a comparison between the number of viewers that viewed each advertisement block and a number of viewers that viewed non-advertised content; and

providing, from the viewing behavior analysis system, a report comprising at least the determined parameter indicating a performance of an advertisement of the advertisement block.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the parameter comprises a proportion of the number of viewers that viewed each advertisement block and the number of viewers that viewed non-advertised content.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the parameter comprises a proportion of the number of viewers that viewed each advertisement block and the number of viewers that viewed the specific channel during the specific time period.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more events comprises one or more of: a power-up command, a power-down command, a channel change event, and a playback command.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of clients comprises at least a set-top box client and a digital video recorder client.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein the plurality of clients further comprises a mobile device.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining an extrapolated number of viewers of the specific channel and the specific time period, the extrapolated number of viewers comprising an estimated number of viewers associated with clients from which tune data is not received,

wherein the viewership profile reflects at least the extrapolated number of viewers.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

adjusting the number of viewers that viewed the specific channel during the specific time period by applying a weighting factor to tune data from specific clients,

wherein the viewership profile reflects at least the adjusted number of viewers.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a specific geographic or demographic group,

wherein determining the parameter reflecting a comparison between the number of viewers that viewed each advertisement block and the number of viewers that viewed non-advertised content comprises:

determining a first parameter that reflects a comparison between a number of viewers inside the specific geographic or demographic group that viewed each advertisement block and a number of viewers inside the specific geographic or demographic group that viewed non-advertised content; and

determining a second parameter that reflects a comparison between a number of viewers outside the specific geographic or demographic group that viewed each advertisement block and a number of viewers outside the specific geographic or demographic group that viewed non-advertised content.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

analyzing the locations and the time periods of the one or more advertisement blocks to identify a first advertisement block that overlaps in time with a second advertisement block;

reconciling the first advertisement block with the second advertisement block by performing one of:

combining the first advertisement block and the second advertisement block and assigning the combined advertisement block a time period corresponding to the combined time of the first advertisement block and the second advertisement block; and

removing one of the first advertisement block and the second advertisement block from the one or more advertisement blocks.

11. A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform a method, the method comprising:

receiving, at a viewing behavior analysis system, tune data across the network from a plurality of view playback devices, each video playback device of the plurality of video playback devices being associated with a client, the tune data comprising one or more events representing viewing behavior of content presented on video playback devices associated with a plurality of the clients;

constructing, at the viewing behavior analysis system, a viewership profile of a specific channel and a specific time period based on the tune data, the viewership profile reflecting a number of viewers that viewed the specific channel during the specific time period;

analyzing, at the viewing behavior analysis system, the viewership profile to identify a plurality of drops in the number of viewers during the specific time period;

determining, at the viewing behavior analysis system, a rate of change of the number of viewers for each drop;

determining, at the viewing behavior analysis system, a location and a time period of one or more advertisement blocks based on the rates of change of the plurality of drops;

determining, at the viewing behavior analysis system, a number of viewers that viewed each advertisement block based on the location and the time period of each advertisement block;

determining, at the viewing behavior analysis system, a parameter reflecting a comparison between the number of viewers that viewed each advertisement block and a number of viewers that viewed non-advertised content; and

providing, from the viewing behavior analysis system, a report comprising at least the determined parameter indicating a performance of an advertisement of the advertisement block.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the parameter comprises a proportion of the number of viewers that viewed each advertisement block and the number of viewers that viewed non-advertised content.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the parameter comprises a proportion of the number of viewers that viewed each advertisement block and the number of viewers that viewed the specific channel during the specific time period.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the one or more events comprises one or more of: a power-up command, a power-down command, a channel change event, and a playback command.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of clients comprises at least a set-top box client and a digital video recorder client.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of clients further comprises a mobile device.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises:

determining an extrapolated number of viewers of the specific channel and the specific time period, the extrapolated number of viewers comprising an estimated number of viewers associated with clients from which tune data is not received,

wherein the viewership profile reflects at least the extrapolated number of viewers.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises:

adjusting the number of viewers that viewed the specific channel during the specific time period by applying a weighting factor to tune data from specific clients,

wherein the viewership profile reflects at least the adjusted number of viewers.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises:

receiving a specific geographic or demographic group,

wherein determining the parameter reflecting a comparison between the number of viewers that viewed each advertisement block and the number of viewers that viewed non-advertised content comprises:

determining a first parameter that reflects a comparison between a number of viewers inside the specific geographic or demographic group that viewed each advertisement block and a number of viewers inside the specific geographic or demographic group that viewed non-advertised content; and

determining a second parameter that reflects a comparison between a number of viewers outside the specific geographic or demographic group that viewed each advertisement block and a number of viewers outside the specific geographic or demographic group that viewed non-advertised content.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises:

analyzing the locations and the time periods of the one or more advertisement blocks to identify a first advertisement block that overlaps in time with a second advertisement block;

reconciling the first advertisement block with the second advertisement block by performing one of:

combining the first advertisement block and the second advertisement block and assigning the combined advertisement block a time period corresponding to the combined time of the first advertisement block and the second advertisement block; and

removing one of the first advertisement block and the second advertisement block from the one or more advertisement blocks.

Assignments (8)

Continuity (3)