Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR AUDIENCE MONITORING
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to television systems, and more
particularly, to the communication of, statistics and characteristics
concerning
viewer interactions with a television, including the viewer's interactions
with an
interactive electronic program guide ~"'EPG").
2. Description of Related Art
It is highly desirable to be able to monitor various television viewer
interactions with the viewer's television set. For instance, an advertiser
would
find it instructive to know which television programs a viewer watches, which
advertisements a viewer watches, the number of times a viewer changes
channels, and what the viewer was watching immediately before changing
channels. An advertiser would also find it instructive to know the number of
times a viewer of an EPG, such as Guide Plus+TM, accesses the guide during
a specific time period, what program or advertisement the viewer was
watching immediately before entering the EPG, and other information
concerning the viewer's interaction with the viewer's television and the EPG.
Such information can be used to analyze the valuation of advertising on
television through an EPG.
The traditional way to monitor some of this information has been to equip a
select number of television sets with modems, as is done to collect the
Nielsen statistics. Typically, the modem-equipped television sets are placed
in selected homes, whereby data concerning the viewing habits of the
persons in the monitored homes is collected and is transmitted to a central
location on some periodic basis, such as on a nightly basis. The above-
described modem-equipped television method is expensive and cumbersome,
and only provides data for a limited number of selected households.
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U.S. Patent No. 6,177,931 discloses an extensive system and method for
capturing raw viewer profile data and for analyzing that date. Such viewer
profile information would provide advertisers with information with which
further advertising decisions can be made. For instance, such information can
be used to evaluate the effectiveness of a particular advertisement. Such
viewer profile information can be used to filter program listings or
advertisements, and can be used to customize delivery of advertisements to
particular viewers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides systems and methods for communicating viewer
profile data to a centralized data center at which analysis of sample viewer
profiles can be performed and feedback for advertisers developed. The present
invention provides for such communication without the use of a modem in each
target household.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of
acquiring television viewer interaction data. The method involves monitoring
usage of a television input device, producing viewer interaction data
representing viewer interaction with a television controlled by the television
input device in response to usage of the television input device, encoding the
viewer interaction data to produce encoded viewer interaction data for
transmission to a central location, accessing the viewer interaction data for
transmission to the central location in response to input received from the
television input device, and causing the television to emit sounds
representing
the encoded viewer interaction data, for reception by a telephone nearby the
television, the telephone being used to communicate the tones to the remote
location.
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Producing the viewer interaction data may involve storing a viewer profile
representing the television viewer interaction, in response to instructions
sent
to the television from the television input device.
Storing data may involve storing at least one of the following: date of
issuance
of an instruction communicated from the television input device to the
television, time of issuance of the instruction, channel tuned immediately
prior
to the instruction, channel tuned immediately following the instruction,
operating mode of the television imrnediately prior the instruction, operating
mode of the television immediately following the instruction, identity of
advertisements displayed on the television, identity of an advertisement
displayed immediately prior to receiving the instruction, identity of
television
program displayed immediately before an instruction to change channels was
received, identity of programs displayed, and identity of program displayed
immediately after receiving the instruction to change channels.
Producing the viewer interaction data may involve storing at least one of data
relating to the status of the television, data related to a tuner of the
television,
and data relating to the content of a signal tuned by the tuner immediately
prior to receiving an instruction from the television input device.
Producing the viewer interaction data may involve storing at least one of:
data
relating to the status of an electronic program guide displayed on the
television, data relating to the content of the electronic program guide
immediately prior to receiving an instruction from the television input
device,
and data relating to the content of the electronic program guide immediately
after to receiving an instruction from the television input device.
Producing the viewer interaction data may involve storing at least one of:
data
relating to the identity of every displayed program title for which a viewer
requests additional information, the identity of every set of news data for
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which the viewer requests additional information, the identity of every set of
sports data for which the viewer requests additional information, the identity
of
every program title that the viewer selects for recording, and the identity of
every program title that the viewer selects to be watched.
The method may further involve storing the viewer interaction data to
accumulate the viewer interaction data over a period of time. Storing may
involve storing the viewer interaction data in memory at the television
controlled by the television input device.
The method may further involve prompting a viewer of the television to
communicate the encoded viewer interaction data to the central location.
Accessing may involve displaying the encoded viewer interaction data on the
television.
Prompting may involve prompting the viewer to speak the displayed encoded
viewer interaction data into a telephone, the telephone being used to
communicate spoken encoded viewer interaction data to the central location.
Displaying may involve displaying the encoded viewer interaction data as a
set of numbers on an information screen on the television and/or displaying
the encoded viewer interaction data as at least one term from a dictionary of
terms.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided an
apparatus for acquiring television viewer interaction data. The apparatus
includes means for monitoring usage of a television input device, means for
producing viewer interaction data representing viewer interaction with a
television controlled by the television input device in response to usage of
the
television input device, means for encoding the viewer interaction data to
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produce encoded viewer interaction data for transmission to a central
location,
means for accessing the viewer interaction data for transmission to the
central
location in response to input received from the television input device, and
means for causing the television to emit sounds representing the encoded
viewer interaction data, for reception by a telephone nearby the television,
the
telephone being used to communicate the tones to the remote location.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided a
computer readable medium containing instructions for controlling a processor
circuit to monitor usage of a television input device by carrying out the
method
described above.
In accordance with another' aspect of the invention, there is provided a
method of acquiring television viewer interaction data. The method involves
monitoring usage of a television input device, producing viewer interaction
data representing viewer interaction with a television controlled by the
television input device in response to usage of the television input device,
encoding the viewer interaction data to produce encoded viewer interaction
data for transmission to a central location, accessing the viewer interaction
data for transmission to the central location in response to input received
from
the television input device, and prompting a viewer of the television to
communicate the encoded viewer interaction data to the central location.
The method may further involve causing the television to emit sounds
representing the encoded viewer interaction data, for reception by a telephone
nearby the television, the telephone being used to communicate the tones to
the remote location.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided an
apparatus for acquiring television user interaction data., The apparatus
comprises means for monitoring usage of a television input device, means for
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producing viewer interaction data representing viewer interaction with a
television controlled by the television input device in response to usage of
the
television input device, means for encoding the viewer interaction data to
produce encoded viewer interaction data for transmission to a central
location,
means for accessing the viewer interactian data far transmission to the
central location in response to input received from the television input
device,
and means for prompting a viewer of the television to communicate the
encoded viewer interaction data to the central location.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention there is provided a
computer readable medium containing instructions for controlling a processor
circuit to acquire television viewer interaction data by carrying out the
method
above.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention
will
become better understood with regard to the following description, appended
claims, and accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In drawings which illustrate embodiments of the invention,
Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a system for audience monitoring
according to one ernbadiment of the invention;
Figure 2 is a sample of an on screen television display of an Electronic
Program Guide (EPG) employed on a television set in the system
shown in Figure 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Figure 1 shows a system for audience monitoring according to one
embodiment of the invention, in which a television set 10 is operable to
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controlled by a viewer's input device 12. The television set 10 is operable to
tune to television signals assigned to different channels to permit a viewer
to
watch television programming an any of said channels. Such programming
may include television programs and advertising, for example. The television
set may also have the capability of presenting to the user an electronic
program guide (EPG) such as shown at 14 in Figure 2 that may provide
television scheduling data 15, including program titles 16, advertising data
18
and other types of information including but not limited to news data (not
shown), sports data (not shown) and program information data 20. Further
details of the EPG may be obtained from U.S. Patent No. 5,581,614, for
example. Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the viewer's input device 12 may be
used to allow the viewer to interact with the television 10 and/or the
electronic
program guide 14 to control the television to tune to a particular channel,
for
example and to permit interaction with the electronic program guide to permit
the viewer to select for viewing, program schedule data, program data, news
data, sports data, advertising data and/or to select particular programs to be
recorded.
A microprocessor 22 in the television set 10 is programmed to monitor each
viewer interaction with the television through the viewer's input device 12.
The
microprocessor 22 is further programmed to translate and convert the data
representing a viewer's interaction profile data ("viewer profile") into data
according to a coding scheme. The interaction profile data may include binary
data, alpha numeric strings and/or terms selected from a pre-established
dictionary of terms, for example. A traditional telephone handset may be used
to transmit an audio presentation of the encoded data to a computer at a
central location programmed to decode the encoded data.
In one embodiment of the invention, the microprocessor 22 in the television
set 10 is programmed to collect viewer interaction data by storing in RAM 24
local to the microprocessor 22 (i.e., at the television set) a representation
of
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every viewer instruction sent to the television set by the viewer's input
device
12. For example, the microprocessor 22 may store in the RAM 24, data
related to the status of the television set 10, the status of a television
tuner 26
in the television set and the content of the signal tuned immediately prior to
and/or immediately following receipt of an instruction to the television set
from
the viewer's input device 12. Such data may include, the date and/or time of
receipt of the instruction, the channel tuned by the television set 10
immediately prior to receipt of the instruction, the channel tuned by the
television set immediately following receipt of the instruction, the operating
mode of the television set immediately prior to receipt of the instruction,
the
operating mode of the television set immediately following receipt of the
instruction, the identity of advertisements watched by the user, the identity
of
an advertisement seen immediately prior to receipt of the instruction, the
identity of an advertisement seen immediately following receipt of the
instruction, the identity of programs watched by the user, the identity of a
program seen immediately prior to receipt of the instruction, and/or the
identity
of a program seen immediately after receipt of the instruction.
In addition, or alternatively, the microprocessor 22 may store in the RAM 24,
data related to the instructions sent by the viewer's input device 12 to an on
screen electronic television program guide 14 of the television as shown in
Figure 2, relating to the content of the guide immediately prior to receipt of
an
instruction and/or immediately following receipt of an instruction. Such data
may include, the identity of every displayed program title 16 for which the
viewer requests additional information 20, the identity of every set of news
data for which the viewer requests additional information, the identity of
every
program title 16 that the viewer requests additional information, the identity
of
every program title that the viewer selects to be recorded and/or the identify
of
every program title that the viewer selects to be watched.
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The viewer profile data may be stored as binary data, alphanumeric strings,
digital audio data representing audio tones representing the viewer profile
data (e.g. digital audio sounds) and/or terms selected from a pre-established
dictionary of terms, for example.
The data can be stored and accumulated over a specific period of time, for
instance, a one month period, after which the data is refreshed for the next
month. An identification of the time interval may be encoded and stored in the
RAM 24. For example, in this embodiment, 0701970801971436 might stand
for the time period from July 1 to August 1, 1997, during which time the user
accessed the EPG 14 143fi times.
Referring to Figure 1, the television viewer may be prompted to communicate
via telephone 30 with a collection service 32 that includes a computer 34. The
television viewer may be prompted to press a unique combination of keys 36
on the viewer's input device 12.
Upon pressing this unique combination of keys 3fi, the stored data may be
retrieved by the microprocessor 22 in the TV set 10. The microprocessor 22
may be further programmed to cooperate with a display monitor 38 of the TV
set 10 to cause the viewer interaction data to be displayed as a string 40 of
numbers in an information screen 42 on the television display monitor 38. As
an alternative to pressing the unique combination of keys 36, the user can be
prompted to select an appropriate information screen from an EPG menu.
In this embodiment, a staff representative 44 of an EPG information provider
at the collection service 32, e.g., a staff representative for the Guide Plus
customer service center, could call television viewersIEPG users (hereinafter,
EPG user) to ask the EPG users to read aloud the encoded information. The
computer 34 at the EPG information provider office could generate requests
for EPG users to be called. The request could automatically dial the telephone
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number of each selected EPG user. Phone numbers for EPG users could, for
example, be collected from warranty card information for television sets in
which the software was installed.
In this embodiment, the staff representative 44 would ask the EPG user to
access the encoded information by, for instance, pressing a unique key 36
combination on the viewer's remote control device 12, or by selecting a
particular information screen option from the EPG's menu. The selected
information screen option may display the string 40 of numbers representing
encoded viewer profile information. The EPG user would then be asked to
read aloud into the telephone 30 the numbers displayed on the information
screen.
The encoded viewer profile information read alo~.~d by the EPG user must be
provided to the centralized EPG information service provider's computer 34.
One way to do so is for the audio signal from the telephone to be connected
directly to a computer with speech recognition capabilities. Another way to
provide the information to the centralized computer is for the EPG information
provider staff representative 44 to enter the encoded information online to
the
computer 34 as the numbers are read aloud by the EPG user.
Once the EPG user finishes reading the numbers from the screen, the EPG
staff representative 44 would signal the computer 34 that the data collection
for the particular user has been completed. At that point, the computer 34
could generate the next request and dial the telephone number for the next
EPG user.
In another embodiment of the invention, the viewer profile information is
collected and is converted into digital representations of audio tones, i.e.,
digital audio data. Then, when the special key 36 combination is pressed, or
when the user selects the special information screen 42, the viewer profile
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information is output as digital audio sounds 4~, e.g., audio tones from the
television speaker.
In this embodiment, the EPG information provider staff representative 44
would call EPG users, as described above, and request or prompt the EPG
user to place the telephone handset 48 near a speaker 50 of the television set
before pressing the appropriate remote control device 12 key combination,
or selecting the appropriate information screen 42. In this embodiment, there
is, at the EPG service provider's location, a telephone connection 52 directly
10 to the centralized EPG service provider's computer 34. When the EPG user
enters the information screen, the digital audio sounds 46 (encoded tones)
are emitted by the television speaker 50, transmitted by the telephone
connection 52 to the central EPG information service provider's computer 34,
and stored. A second microprocessor 54 at the service provider's computer 34
may be programmed to recognize and decode the digital audio sounds 46, to
produce binary representations of the sounds and to convert the binary
representations of the sounds into binary representations of the viewer
profile
information. The tones may be decoded using, for instance, DTMF decoding.
In still another embodiment of this invention, a dictionary of 256 words, for
example may be created, each word representing a unique combination of 8
bits. The objective in selecting the words is that the words should be
distinctive and easily identifiable. The approach of using only a select list
of
words recognized by a "dictionary" of terms improves recognition by the EPG
representative andlor by speech recognition equipment at the central
computer. The limited term dictionary approach reduces transcription and/or
recognition errors.
In this embodiment, each word could represent a particular ASCII character,
which in turn represents certain information about the television viewer/EPG
user. Each such word could represent a single, discrete piece of information
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about the viewer. Alternatively, each word could represent one of 256
possible combinations of YESINO flags for eight (8) different categories of
information about the television viewer/EPG user.
In this embodiment, the viewer profile information is collected and converted,
using a translation table, into one or more of the terms of the dictionary.
When
an EPG user is called, as is described above, the EPG user is asked to press
the appropriate key 36 combination, or select the appropriate information
screen 38, and read aloud into the telephone handset the words 56 listed on
the information screen 42. As described above, there is, at the EPG service
provider's office 32, a direct connection 52 to the centralized computer 34.
As
the EPG user reads the words 56 aloud, they are recorded by the computer
34. Alternatively, the EPG staff representative 44 can enter the words 56
online by keying them, or can complete an online "questionnaire". The words
56 read by the EPG user can then be translated by the centralized computer
34 into the appropriate binary data for advertising auditing purposes. Because
the words 56 represent binary data, industry standard error checking and
correction techniques can be used.
This embodiment can be used in combination with the above-described
embodiment in which the television speaker SO emits sounds. That is, instead
of asking the user to read the words, the user is asked to place the telephone
handset 48 next to the television speaker 50 so that when the user enters the
appropriate key 36 combination or selects a particular information screen 42
from the EPG menu, the television speaker 50 will emit audible sounds that
represent the dictionary terms that represent the viewer profile information.
The embodiments of the invention described herein are only considered to be
preferred and/or illustrative of the inventive concept; the scope of the
invention is not to be restricted to such embodiments. Various and numerous
other arrangements may be devised by one skilled in the art without departing
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from the spirit and scope of this invention. For example, alternative terms
for
the dictionary of terms can be used. As an other example, the number of
words in the dictionary can vary; any number of words could be used.
