Methods and apparatus to collect audience information associated with a media presentation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9326034-B2
Application number	US-201314047971-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 7, 2013
Priority date	Apr 22, 2002
Publication date	Apr 26, 2016
Grant date	Apr 26, 2016

Abstract

Methods and apparatus to collect audience information associated with a media presentation are described herein. An example method includes detecting, at a base meter located in proximity to a media presentation device, registration information from a portable metering device within proximity of the base meter, the registration information identifying a user associated with the portable metering device. A content identifier associated with media presented by the media presentation device is determined. A polling query is sent to the portable metering device for presentation to the user. A response to the polling query, the registration information, and the content identifier are communicated to a data collection facility.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of collecting media data, the method comprising:
detecting, with a communication interface of a base meter located in proximity to a media presentation device, registration information from a portable metering device located in proximity to the base meter, the registration information identifying a user associated with the portable metering device;
halting, with a processor of the base meter, a media monitoring operation of an audience measurement circuit of the base meter when the presence of the portable metering device is detected by the communication interface in proximity to the base meter;
accessing, with the processor of the base meter, a polling query based on a media identifier associated with media presented by the media presentation device, the media identifier received from the portable metering device while the media monitoring operation of the audience measurement circuit of the base meter is halted, the polling query including a survey question associated with the media;
sending the polling query from the base meter to the portable metering device for presentation to the user; and
after receiving a response to the polling query, communicating, with the processor of the base meter, the response to the polling query, the registration information, and the media identifier, from the base meter, to a data collection facility.

2. The method as described in claim 1 , further including alerting the user of the media presentation device to respond to the polling query.

3. The method as described in claim 2 , wherein the alerting includes presenting an audible alert.

4. The method as described in claim 2 , wherein the alerting includes presenting a visual alert.

5. The method as described in claim 2 , wherein the alerting includes presenting a vibrational alert.

6. The method as described in claim 1 , wherein the polling query is displayed to the user via the portable metering device.

7. The method as described in claim 1 , wherein the polling query is displayed to the user via the media presentation device.

8. The method as described in claim 1 , further including receiving the response from the portable metering device.

9. The method as described in claim 1 , wherein the survey question is to solicit a user opinion with respect to the media.

10. The method as described in claim 1 , wherein accessing the polling query includes retrieving the polling query from the data collection facility.

11. A machine-readable storage disk or storage device comprising instructions which cause a processor of a base meter in proximity to a media presentation device to at least:
detect, via a communication interface, registration information from a portable metering device in proximity to the processor of the base meter, the registration information identifying a user associated with the portable metering device;
halt a media monitoring operation performed by an audience measurement circuit of the base meter in response to detecting the presence of the portable metering device in proximity to the processor of the base meter;
access a polling query based on a media identifier associated with media presented by the media presentation device, the media identifier received from the portable metering device while the media monitoring operation of the audience measurement circuit of the base meter is halted, the polling query including a survey question associated with the media;
send the polling query to the portable metering device for presentation to the user; and
after receiving a response to the polling query, communicate the response to the polling query, the registration information, and the media identifier, from the base meter, to a data collection facility.

12. The machine-readable storage disk or storage device as described in claim 11 , wherein the instructions cause the processor of the base meter to send an alert to the media presentation device to request the user to respond to the polling query.

13. The machine-readable storage disk or storage device as described in claim 12 , wherein the alert is an audible alert.

14. The machine-readable storage disk or storage device as described in claim 12 , wherein the alert is a visual alert.

15. The machine-readable storage disk or storage device as described in claim 12 , wherein the alert is a vibrational alert.

16. The machine-readable storage disk or storage device as described in claim 11 , wherein the instructions cause the processor of the base meter to transmit the polling query to the portable metering device using the communication interface.

17. The machine-readable storage disk or storage device as described in claim 11 , wherein the polling query is displayed to the user via the media presentation device.

18. The machine-readable storage disk or storage device as described in claim 11 , wherein the instructions cause the processor of the base meter to receive the response from the portable metering device.

19. A base meter to collect media exposure data, the base meter comprising:
a first communication interface to detect registration information from a portable metering device within proximity of a media presentation device;
audience measurement circuitry to determine a media identifier associated with media presented by the media presentation device, the audience measurement circuitry to halt the determination of the media identifier when the registration information from the portable metering device is detected within a threshold distance of the base meter;
a processor to access a polling query based on the media identifier, the media identifier received from the portable metering device while the determination of the media identifier is halted, the polling query including a survey question associated with the media presented by the media presentation device;
a second communication interface to transmit the polling query to the portable metering device, the second communication interface to receive a response to the polling query from the portable metering device; and
a third communication interface to communicate the response from the portable metering device, the registration information, and the media identifier to a data collection facility.

20. The base meter as described in claim 19 , further including a user interface to alert a user of the media presentation device to respond to the polling query.

21. The base meter as described in claim 20 , wherein the user interface is a visual user interface.

22. The base meter as described in claim 20 , wherein the user interface is to display the polling query to a user associated with the portable metering device.

23. The base meter as described in claim 19 , further including a user interface to alert a user of the media presentation device to respond to the polling query.

24. The base meter as described in claim 23 , wherein the user interface is a visual user interface.

25. The base meter as described in claim 23 , wherein the user interface is to display the polling query to a user associated with the portable metering device.

26. A base meter to collect media exposure data, the base meter comprising:
a communication interface to detect registration information from a portable metering device within proximity of a media presentation device;
audience measurement circuitry to determine a media identifier associated with media presented by the media pr

Assignees

• Nielsen Co Us Llc

Inventors

• Mears Paul M
• Ramaswamy Arun
• Srinivasan Venugopal
• Nelson Dan
• Deng Kevin K
• Peiffer John

Classifications

• H04N21/442

  Monitoring of processes or resources, e.g. detecting the failure of a recording device, monitoring the downstream bandwidth, the number of times a movie has been viewed, the storage space available from the internal hard disk {(arrangements for monitoring broadcast services or broadcast-related services H04H60/29; arrangements for identifying or recognising characteristics with a direct linkage to broadcast information H04H60/35; monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; monitoring in wireless networks H04W24/00)} · CPC title

• H04H60/33

  Arrangements for monitoring the users' behaviour or opinions · CPC title

• H04N21/4758 Primary

  for providing answers, e.g. voting · CPC title

• H04H60/56

  Arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition covered by groups H04H60/29-H04H60/54 · CPC title

• H04H60/31 Primary

  Arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services · CPC title