IP Library Granted Patent US 12,052,446
Granted Patent B2
US 12,052,446 · App. 17/967,642 · Granted Jul 30, 2024

Methods and apparatus for monitoring the insertion of local media into a program stream

Inventors: Arun Ramaswamy (Tampa, FL); Paul C. Kemper (Palm Harbor, FL)
Assignee: The Nielsen Company (US), LLC
H04N21/23424G11B27/28G11B27/3018G11B27/322H04H20/103H04H20/106H04H60/37H04H60/54H04N7/163H04N21/235H04N21/2407H04N21/25883H04N21/25891H04N21/44008H04N21/44016H04N21/44222H04N21/4532H04N21/8352H04N21/8455H04H20/14
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,052,446
App. No.
17/967,642
Granted
Jul 30, 2024
Kind
B2
Abstract

Methods and apparatus for monitoring locally inserted media are disclosed. A disclosed apparatus includes instructions to detect, at a media device at an end user location, a frequency of a watermark that was spliced into a primary media stream received at the media device after the primary media stream was received at the end user location, associate identifying tags with segments of the primary media stream that were spliced, in response to the detection of the watermark, determine an advertisement associated with the segments of the primary media based on the identifying tags, present the primary media at a first time and the advertisement at second times, record a log including first identifying information including an identity of the content of the primary media and second identifying information including a change in the frequency of the watermark corresponding to the advertisement; and transmit the log to a data collection facility.

Claims (42)

1. A computing system comprising:

a processor; and

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon program instructions that, upon execution by the processor, cause performance of a set of operations comprising:

detecting, at a media device at an end user location, a frequency of a watermark that was spliced into a primary media stream received at the media device after the primary media stream was received at the end user location;

associating identifying tags with segments of the primary media stream that were spliced;

determining an advertisement associated with each of the segments of the primary media based on the identifying tags and received separately from the primary media;

presenting, by the media device, the primary media at a first time and the advertisement at second times; and

recording a log including first identifying information including an identity of a content of the primary media and second identifying information including a change in the frequency of the watermark corresponding to the advertisement.

2. The computing system of claim 1 , the set of operations further comprising:

detecting the watermark by extracting the watermark from the primary media, and transmitting the log to a data collection facility.

3. The computing system of claim 1 , the set of operations further comprising:

detecting the watermark by extracting a watermark from audio of the primary media.

4. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the end user location is a household.

5. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the media device is a television.

6. The computing system of claim 1 , the set of operations further comprising:

determining the advertisement by determining the advertisement associated with a demographic associated with the end user location.

7. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the advertisement is received in a digital stream separate from transmission of the primary media to the end user location.

8. The computing system of claim 1 , the set of operations further comprising:

splicing, at the media device, the advertisement into the primary media.

9. The computing system of claim 1 , the set of operations further comprising:

generating a media stream including the primary media and the advertisement.

10. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the identity includes a title for the primary media.

11. A computing system comprising:

a processor; and

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon program instructions that, upon execution by the processor, cause performance of a set of operations comprising:

detecting, at a media device at a media presentation location, a plurality of cues in media received at the media device;

obtaining, separately from the media, an advertisement associated with a user of the media device;

presenting, by the media device, the media at a first time and the advertisement at a second time indicated by the at least one of the plurality of cues;

recording, based on presenting the advertisement at the second time, a log including first identifying information extracted from the media including at least two of: metadata identifying a content of the media, second identifying information for the advertisement, third identifying information to uniquely identify a first frame of the advertisement and a second frame of the advertisement, or fourth identifying information to identify a change in a frequency of the at least one of the plurality of cues in the media; and

transmitting the log to a data collection facility.

12. The computing system of claim 11 , wherein the at least one of the plurality of cues is a Society of Cable and Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) cue.

13. The computing system of claim 11 , the set of operations further comprising:

detecting the at least one of the plurality of cues by extracting a watermark from the media.

14. The computing system of claim 11 , wherein the media presentation location is a household.

15. The computing system of claim 11 , wherein the media device is a television.

16. The computing system of claim 11 , the set of operations further comprising:

determining the advertisement by determining the advertisement associated with a demographic the user.

17. The computing system of claim 11 , wherein the advertisement is received in a digital stream separate from transmission of the media to the media presentation location.

18. The computing system of claim 11 , the set of operations further comprising:

splicing, at the media device, the advertisement into the media.

19. The computing system of claim 11 , wherein the at least one of the plurality of cues comprises information indicating a specific location, within the received media, and wherein the indicated specific location within received media indicates the second time at which the advertisement is presented.

20. The computing system of claim 11 , wherein the identifying information includes a type of the media.

Assignments (6)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 8, 2023
From: RAMASWAMY, ARUN; KEMPTER, PAUL
To: NIELSEN MEDIA RESEARCH, INC
Reel/Frame 063890/0911 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Jun 8, 2023
From: NIELSEN MEDIA RESEARCH, INC.
To: NIELSEN MEDIA RESEARCH, LLC
Reel/Frame 063916/0173 →
MERGER Recorded Jun 8, 2023
From: NIELSEN MEDIA RESEARCH, LLC (FORMERLY KNOWN AS NIELSEN MEDIA, INC)
To: THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC
Reel/Frame 063916/0247 →
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 →
Continuity (7)
Continuation 16428313 · May 31, 2019
Continuation 15368136 · Dec 2, 2016
Continuation 14556095 · Nov 28, 2014
Continuation 11618245 · Dec 29, 2006
Continuation PCTUS2005026426 · Jul 25, 2005
Provisional Application 60590626 · Jul 23, 2004
Related Publication 20230037853A1 · Feb 9, 2023