Methods and apparatus to discriminate between linear and non-linear media

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9294815-B2
Application number	US-201414212646-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 14, 2014
Priority date	Mar 15, 2013
Publication date	Mar 22, 2016
Grant date	Mar 22, 2016

Abstract

Methods and apparatus to discriminate between linear and non-linear media are disclosed An example method to determine whether a media presentation is a linear or a non-linear media presentation comprises generating a reference log comprising a first media identifier of first media and a time at which the first media was presented, accessing a media presentation log comprising a second media identifier of second media and a time at which the second media was presented, and determining whether the second media correspond to a linear media presentation or a non-linear media presentation by comparing the media presentation log to the reference log.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method to automatically determine whether a media presentation is a linear media presentation or a non-linear media presentation, the method comprising:
generating, by executing an instruction with a processor, a reference log including first media identifiers of first media and first times at which the first media was presented as a linear media presentation;
receiving, at the processor, at least one of an audio fingerprint or a watermark code generated by a media monitoring device electronically monitoring the media presentation of second media, the audio fingerprint based on an audio characteristic of the second media electronically measured at discrete times by the media monitoring device;
identifying, by executing an instruction with the processor, second media identifiers of the second media from the at least one of the audio fingerprint or the watermark code by matching the at least one of the audio fingerprint or the watermark code to a reference audio fingerprint or a reference watermark code in a reference database;
generating, by executing an instruction with the processor, a media presentation log for the media presentation, the media presentation log including the second media identifiers of the second media and second times at which the second media was presented;
comparing, by executing an instruction with the processor, the media presentation log to the reference log to determine a number of matches between ones of the first media identifiers and ones of the second media identifiers, the matches between the ones of the first media identifiers and the ones of the second media identifiers being in a same order in the media presentation log and in the reference log; and
classifying, by executing an instruction with the processor, the media presentation of the second media as a linear media presentation when the number of matches satisfies a threshold.

2. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the first media includes first program media and first non-program media, the second media includes second program media and second non-program media, the first media identifiers identify the first program media, and the second media identifiers identify the second program media.

3. The method as defined in claim 1 , further including:
generating the media presentation log by identifying a first portion of the second media as program media and a second portion of the second media as non-program media; and
storing in the media presentation log the second media identifiers, the second times at which the second media was presented, and a media type indicating whether the corresponding part of the second media is the program media or the non-program media.

4. The method as defined in claim 3 , wherein the identifying of the first portion of the second media as program media includes at least one of comparing a signature of the first portion of the second media to a reference signature stored in a signature database, decoding a watermark in the first portion of the second media, detecting a blank frame, detecting a cue tone, or identifying a logo.

5. The method as defined in claim 3 , wherein the identifying of the first portion of the second media as program media includes identifying the first portion of the second media as program media when a code present in the first portion of the second media matches a reference code associated with reference program media.

6. The method as defined in claim 3 , wherein the identifying of the first portion of the second media as program media includes identifying the first portion of the second media as program media when a signature generated based on the portion of the second media matches a reference signature associated with reference program media.

7. The method as defined in claim 3 , wherein the identifying of the portion of the second media as program media or non-program media includes identifying the portion of the second media as non-program media when the portion of the second media is presented following at least one of a blank frame or a cue tone present in the second media.

8. An apparatus to automatically determine whether a media presentation is a linear media presentation or a non-linear media presentation, the apparatus comprising:
a processor; and
a memory including computer readable instructions which, when executed, cause the processor to at least:
generate a reference log including first media identifiers of first media and first times at which the first media was presented as a linear media presentation;
receive at least one of an audio fingerprint or a watermark code generated by a media monitoring device electronically monitoring the media presentation of second media, the audio fingerprint based on an audio characteristic of the second media electronically measured at discrete times by the media monitoring device;
identify second media identifiers of the second media from the at least one of the audio fingerprint or the watermark code by matching the at least one of the audio fingerprint or the watermark code to a reference audio fingerprint or a reference watermark code in a reference database;
generate a media presentation log for the media presentation, the media presentation log including the second media identifiers of the second media and second times at which the second media was presented;
compare the media presentation log to the reference log to determine a number of matches between ones of the first media identifiers and ones of the second media identifiers, the matches between the ones of the first media identifiers and the ones of the second media identifiers being in a same order in the media presentation log and in the reference log; and
classify the media presentation of the second media as a linear media presentation when the number of matches satisfies a threshold.

9. The apparatus as defined in claim 8 , wherein the first media includes first program media and first non-program media, the second media includes second program media and second non-program media, the first media identifiers identify the first program media, and the second media identifiers identify the second program media.

10. The apparatus as defined in claim 8 , wherein the instructions are further to cause the processor to:
generate the media presentation log by identifying a first portion of the second media as program media and a second portion of the media as non-program media; and
store in the media presentation log the second media identifiers, the second times at which the second media was presented, and a media type indicating whether the corresponding part of the second media is the program media or the non-program media.

11. The apparatus as defined in claim 10 , wherein the instructions are further to cause the processor to identify the first portion of the second media as program media by at least one of comparing a signature of the first portion of the second media to a reference signature stored in a signature database, decoding a watermark in the first portion of the second media, detecting a blank frame, detecting a cue tone, or identifying a logo.

12. The apparatus as defined in claim 10 , wherein the instructions are further to cause the processor to identify the first portion of the second media as program media by identifying the first portion of the second media as program media when a code present in the first portion of the second media matches a reference code associated with reference program media.

13. The apparatus as defined in claim 10 , wherein the instructions are further to cause the processor to identify the first portion of the second medi

Assignees

• Nielsen Co Us Llc

Inventors

• Mcmillan F Gavin

Classifications

• H04N21/44213 Primary

  Monitoring of end-user related data (arrangements for monitoring the users' behaviour or opinions in broadcast systems H04H60/33) · CPC title

• H04N21/6582

  Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number (arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38) · CPC title

• H04N21/4394

  involving operations for analysing the audio stream, e.g. detecting features or characteristics in audio streams (arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of audio in broadcast systems H04H60/58) · CPC title

• H04N21/44008

  involving operations for analysing video streams, e.g. detecting features or characteristics in the video stream (arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of video in broadcast systems H04H60/59) · CPC title

• H04N21/44204

  Monitoring of content usage, e.g. the number of times a movie has been viewed, copied or the amount which has been watched (monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; protecting generic digital content where the protection is independent of the precise nature of the content G06F21/10; arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services in broadcast systems H04H60/31) · CPC title