System and method for providing real time targeted rating to enable content placement for video audiences

Abstract

A system and method is provided for providing real time targeted rating to enable content placement for video audiences. The method includes determining if at least one set top box, located within a network having at least one set top box, is on or off, wherein being on is defined as a set top box having a zapping event occur within a predefined time period; determining what one or more viewer profiles are currently consuming content provided by a set top box within the network, wherein currently consuming refers to consuming within the predefined period; and determining targeted rating per a viewer profile that had been identified as currently consuming content via at least one of the set top boxes within the network.

1 . A method of providing real time targeted rating to enable content placement for video audiences, comprising the steps of:
 determining if at least one set top box, located within a network having at least one set top box, is on or off, wherein being on is defined as a set top box having a zapping event occur within a predefined time period;   determining what one or more viewer profiles are currently consuming content provided by a set top box within the network, wherein currently consuming refers to consuming within the predefined period; and   determining targeted rating per a viewer profile that had been identified as currently consuming content via at least one of the set top boxes within the network.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of determining if at least one set top box is on or off further comprises the steps of:
 receiving a broadcast schedule for a set top box, wherein the broadcast schedule contains a timetable of content to be provided by the set top box;   determining when content currently being provided by the set top box is complete; and   determining if a zapping event has occurred between the completion of content currently being provided by the set top box and the ending of a predefined period.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of determining if at least one set top box is on or off further comprises the step of determining if a zapping event has occurred before a predefined time period has elapsed. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the step of determining when content currently being provided by the set top box is complete is performed by processing the received broadcast schedule. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of determining what one or more viewer profiles are currently consuming content provided by a set top box within the network, further comprises the step of determining if a supervised or an unsupervised learning process was performed to derive a list of one or more viewer profiles that are associated with which set top boxes. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein if a supervised learning process is performed, the following steps are performed to determine what one or more viewer profiles are currently consuming content provided by a set top box within the network, wherein currently consuming refers to consuming within a predefined period:
 receiving data providing an association of consumer profiles and set top boxes to households within a network;   recording zapping events created by consumers, also referred to as zapping patterns of the consumers;   associating the zapping patterns of the consumers with households.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the data is provided by performing the steps of providing questionnaires to the consumers and receiving at least some of the questionnaires filled out by consumers. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  6 , wherein the step of associating the zapping patterns of the consumers with households further comprises the steps of:
 converting zapping logs into different data models that can be used to provide set top box signatures;   providing the set top box signatures;   using the set top box signatures with a list of set top boxes and profiles to provide an association rule; and   applying the association rule to the set top box signatures to determine a list of profiles of the consumer profiles associated with a specific set top box of the set top boxes.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein if an unsupervised learning process is performed, the following steps are performed to determine what one or more viewer profiles are currently consuming content provided by a set top box within the network, wherein currently consuming refers to consuming within a predefined period:
 receiving a zapping log and a broadcast schedule, wherein the zapping log includes records of set top box zapping signatures for at least a portion of the set top boxes of the network;   deriving set top box signatures from the zapping log and broadcast schedule;   clustering viewer profiles into groups of viewer profiles using the set top box signatures; and   associating at least one set top box within the network with at least one viewer profile.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of determining what one or more viewer profiles are currently consuming content provided by a set top box within the network, further comprising the steps of:
 obtaining a first input set containing data of at least one set top box signature, wherein the data of the at least one set top box signature further comprises a processed zapping log containing information summarizing viewing habits of at least one set top box within the network;   obtaining a second input set, wherein the second input set contains data showing which of one or more viewer profiles are associated with which one or more set top boxes within the network; and   processing the first input set and the second input set by performing at least one operation on the at least one set top box signature and the association of one or more viewer profile to one or more set top box, wherein the operation performs the steps of:
 using set top boxes that are consistent to both the first input set and the second input set, wherein these set top boxes are referred to as consistent set top boxes; and 
 performing calculations to identify which of the profiles associated with each of the consistent set top boxes consumed each content that is included in the set top box signatures of the first set that are associated with the consistent set top boxes. 
   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein if a supervised learning process was performed to derive a list of one or more viewer profiles that are associated with which set top boxes, a select set top box of the set top boxes is chosen and one or more viewer profiles of the list of one or more viewer profiles associated with the select set top box is applied to a newly obtained set top box signature for the select set top box. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein if an unsupervised learning process was performed to derive a list of one or more viewer profiles that are associated with which set top boxes a select set top box of the set top boxes is chosen and one or more viewer profiles of the list of one or more viewer profiles associated with the select set top box is applied to a newly obtained set top box signature for the select set top box. 
     
     
         13 . A system for providing real time targeted rating to enable content placement for video audiences, wherein the system comprises a head end having a computer and means for communicating therein, wherein the computer has a management application stored therein, and wherein the management application further comprises:
 logic configured to determine if at least one set top box, located within a network having at least one set top box, is on or off, wherein being on is defined as a set top box having a zapping event occur within a predefined time period;   logic configured to determine what one or more viewer profiles are currently consuming content provided by a set top box within the network, wherein currently consuming refers to consuming within the predefined period; and   logic configured to determine targeted rating per a viewer profile that had been identified as currently consuming content via at least one of the set top boxes within the network.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the logic configured to determine if at least one set top box is on or off further comprises:
 logic configured to receive a broadcast schedule for a set top box, wherein the broadcast schedule contains a timetable of content to be provided by the set top box;   logic configured to determine when content currently being provided by the set top box is complete; and   logic configured to determine if a zapping event has occurred between the completion of content currently being provided by the set top box and the ending of a predefined period.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein determining if at least one set top box is on or off further comprises determining if a zapping event has occurred before a predefined time period has elapsed. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein determining when content currently being provided by the set top box is complete is performed by processing the received broadcast schedule. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 13 , the logic configured to determine what one or more viewer profiles are currently consuming content provided by a set top box within the network, further performs the step of determining if a supervised or an unsupervised learning process was performed to derive a list of one or more viewer profiles that are associated with which set top boxes. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein if a supervised learning process is performed, the following steps are performed to determine what one or more viewer profiles are currently consuming content provided by a set top box within the network, wherein currently consuming refers to consuming within a predefined period:
 receiving data providing an association of consumer profiles and set top boxes to households within a network;   recording zapping events created by consumers, also referred to as zapping patterns of the consumers;   associating the zapping patterns of the consumers with households.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the data is provided by performing the steps of providing questionnaires to the consumers and receiving at least some of the questionnaires filled out by consumers. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein associating the zapping patterns of the consumers with households is performed by:
 logic configured to convert zapping logs into different data models that can be used to provide set top box signatures;   logic configured to providing the set top box signatures;   logic configured to use the set top box signatures with a list of set top boxes and profiles to provide an association rule; and   logic configured to apply the association rule to the set top box signatures to determine a list of profiles of the consumer profiles associated with a specific set top box of the set top boxes.   
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein if an unsupervised learning process is performed, the following steps are performed to determine what one or more viewer profiles are currently consuming content provided by a set top box within the network, wherein currently consuming refers to consuming within a predefined period:
 receiving a zapping log and a broadcast schedule, wherein the zapping log includes records of set top box zapping signatures for at least a portion of the set top boxes of the network;   deriving set top box signatures from the zapping log and broadcast schedule;   clustering viewer profiles into groups of viewer profiles using the set top box signatures; and   associating at least one set top box within the network with at least one viewer profile.   
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the logic configured to determine what one or more viewer profiles are currently consuming content provided by a set top box within the network, further comprises:
 logic configured to obtain a first input set containing data of at least one set top box signature, wherein the data of the at least one set top box signature further comprises a processed zapping log containing information summarizing viewing habits of at least one set top box within the network;   logic configured to obtain a second input set, wherein the second input set contains data showing which of one or more viewer profiles are associated with which one or more set top boxes within the network; and   logic configured to process the first input set and the second input set by performing at least one operation on the at least one set top box signature and the association of one or more viewer profile to one or more set top box, wherein the operation performs the steps of:
 using set top boxes that are consistent to both the first input set and the second input set, wherein these set top boxes are referred to as consistent set top boxes; and 
 performing calculations to identify which of the profiles associated with each of the consistent set top boxes consumed each content that is included in the set top box signatures of the first set that are associated with the consistent set top boxes. 
   
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein if a supervised learning process was performed to derive a list of one or more viewer profiles that are associated with which set top boxes, a select set top box of the set top boxes is chosen and one or more viewer profiles of the list of one or more viewer profiles associated with the select set top box is determined after an association rule derived from the supervised learning is applied to a newly obtained set top box signature for the select set top box. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein if an unsupervised learning process was performed to derive a list of one or more viewer profiles that are associated with which set top boxes a select set top box of the set top boxes is chosen and one or more viewer profiles of the list of one or more viewer profiles associated with the select set top box is determined after an association rule derived from the unsupervised learning is applied to a newly obtained set top box signature for the select set top box. 
     
     
         25 . A system for providing real time targeted rating to enable content placement for video audiences, wherein the system comprises a head end having a computer and means for communicating therein, wherein the computer has a first management application stored therein, and the system has a second computer having a second management application, wherein the second management application further comprises:
 logic configured to determine if at least one set top box, located within a network having at least one set top box, is on or off, wherein being on is defined as a set top box having a zapping event occur within a predefined time period;   logic configured to determine what one or more viewer profiles are currently consuming content provided by a set top box within the network, wherein currently consuming refers to consuming within the predefined period; and   logic configured to determine targeted rating per a viewer profile that had been identified as currently consuming content via at least one of the set top boxes within the network.   
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 25 , wherein determining what one or more viewer profiles are currently consuming content provided by a set top box within the network, further comprises determining if a supervised or an unsupervised learning process was performed to derive a list of what one or more viewer profiles are associated with which set top boxes. 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 26 , further comprising logic located within at least one specific set top box of set top boxes within the network, wherein the logic is configured to apply an association rule and a list of at least one viewer profile associated with the specific set top box to a newly obtained set top box signature of the specific set top box, wherein the association rule is a set of parameters derived from performing a learning process, applied to a combination of set top box signatures of set top boxes within the network, with a list of set top boxes within the network, and a list of predefined viewer profiles. 
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 25 , wherein the logic configured to determine what one or more viewer profiles are currently consuming content provided by a set top box within the network, is located within a set top box, and wherein currently is a predefined period.