Google Inc.

Owen Arthur Charlebois

Simon Michael Rowe

Nick Salvatore Arini

Nicholas Salvatore Arini

Elissa Lee Chennavasin

A TV audience survey system for determining the TV viewing activities of a plurality of individuals in a household includes a master device and multiple tags, each tag assigned to an individual. After an individual logs into the system and starts watching the TV, the master device communicates with the corresponding tag repeatedly to accumulate data representing the individual's TV viewing activities. Such data can be used to determine when the individual stops watching the TV for an extended period of time without logging out of the system and when the household member remains watching the TV after logging or being logged out of the system. The master device then reports the accumulated data to a remote server, which uses the data to determine whether the individual complies with the logging protocol defined by the TV audience survey system and update the TV viewership data associated with this household.

Logging individuals for TV measurement compliance

A media correlation method, executed by a processor, determines an identity of a program. The method includes detecting a sign-in by a first media device; determining a location of the first media device relative to a second media device; receiving from the first media device, content clips emanating from the second media device; and identifying a program displayed on the second media device based on the received content clips.

Media correlation by feature matching

A system for logging the TV viewing activities at a household includes a TV messaging device at the household and a remote TV viewership measurement server communicatively coupled to the messaging device. The TV messaging device receives an infrared signal including a TV operation code from a remote control device within the household. The infrared signal is directed to a particular TV to perform a predefined operation. The TV messaging device generates a TV operation message including the TV operation code and a household identifier associated with the household and transmits the TV operation message to the TV viewership measurement server. Upon receipt of the TV operation message, the TV viewership measurement server tries to identify one of multiple TV devices within the household as being the target of the TV operation code and updates TV viewership data associated with the household in accordance with the TV operation code.

Growing community of inventors

Columbia, MA, United States of America

Owen Arthur Charlebois