Methods and apparatus for monitoring and/or collecting viewership statistics
US8819718B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 1, 2012 |
| Grant date | Aug 26, 2014 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 1, 2032 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04N21/854
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for collecting program viewership information are described. A viewership monitoring module is provided access to decrypted program content allowing program information to be recovered without having to capture output program content using a microphone or camera. The monitoring module is loaded onto a secure device, e.g., a home network device, such as a router used to deliver content to a secure playback device. Alternatively the secure device which performs the monitoring maybe the secure playback device. Since a user of the secure device or a company implementing the viewership monitoring process loads the monitoring module onto the secure device, the network used to deliver the secure content need not be informed of which network customers are contributing to the viewership information which is being collected.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.