US-12621523-B2 - Methods and apparatus to classify all other tuning data

Abstract

An example apparatus includes a record updater to initialize a variable to be equal to a first time of a first record classified as AOT data or to be equal to a last time of a last record classified as AOT data, an operating state identifier to access a first channel of the first record and last channel of the last record, a comparator to compare the first channel with a second channel or a third channel with the last channel, the second channel corresponds to a previously classified record of the first record and the third channel corresponds to a previously classified record of the last record, and a duplicator to, in response to the first channel matching the second channel, or the last channel matching the third channel, create a replica of the second channel or the third channel to store in place of the AOT data.

Inventors

• Charles C. Conklin
• Michael Lombardi

Assignees

• THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20240221

Claims (20)

1. 1 . A computing system comprising: a meter in communication with a media presentation device and configured to monitor the media presentation device using one or more sensors, the meter comprising: a processor; and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon program instructions that, upon execution by the processor, cause performance of a set of operations comprising: receiving multimedia data associated with a first media content presented by the media presentation device at a first time; identifying, using the multimedia data, media identification data associated with the first media content; storing, in a database, the media identification data in association with the first time; determining that a second media content presented by the media presentation device at a second time is unidentifiable; determining that the first time is consecutive with the second time; and storing, based on at least the determining that the second media content is unidentifiable and the determining that the first time is consecutive with the second time, the media identification data in association with the second time.
2. 2 . The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the first media content and the second media content are portions of television programming presented on a same channel; and wherein the meter is operably coupled to the media presentation device.
3. 3 . The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the determining that the second media content presented by the media presentation device at the second time is unidentifiable comprises determining that data associated with at least one of: an audio signal from the media presentation device, a video of a screen associated with the media presentation device, or an image of the screen of the media presentation device is not received by the computing system.
4. 4 . The computing system of claim 1 , the set of operations further comprising: determining that the media presentation device was powered ON when the second media content was presented at the second time; classifying, based on the determining that the second media content presented by the media presentation device is unidentifiable and based on the determining that the media presentation device was powered ON, the multimedia data as all-other tuning data; and storing, based on the classifying, the all-other tuning data in the database.
5. 5 . The computing system of claim 1 , the set of operations further comprising: classifying, based on the determining that the second media content is unidentifiable, data associated with the second media content as all-other tuning data; and flagging, based on the classifying, the all-other tuning data in the database.
6. 6 . The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the multimedia data is at least one of: data associated with an audio signal from the media presentation device, data associated with an image of a screen associated with the media presentation device, or data associated with a video of the screen associated with the media presentation device.
7. 7 . The computing system of claim 1 , the set of operations further comprising: classifying, based on the determining that the second media content is unidentifiable, data associated with the second media content as all-other tuning data; storing the all-other tuning data in association with the second time; and wherein the storing, based on at least the determining that the second media content is unidentifiable and the determining that the first time is consecutive with the second time, the media identification data in association with the second time comprises replacing the all-other tuning data with the media identification data.
8. 8 . The computing system of claim 7 , wherein the replacing the all-other tuning data occurs based on an operating state characteristic associated with the media presentation device at the first time matching an operating state associated with the media presentation device at the second time, and wherein the operating state characteristic associated with the media presentation device at the first time and the operating state characteristic associated with the media presentation device at the second time is an ON state of the media presentation device.
9. 9 . A method comprising: receiving, at a meter in communication with a media presentation device, multimedia data associated with a first media content presented by the media presentation device at a first time, wherein the meter is configured to monitor the media presentation device using one or more sensors; identifying, using the multimedia data at the meter, media identification data associated with the first media content; storing, in a database, the media identification data in association with the first time; determining, at the meter, that a second media content presented by the media presentation device at a second time is unidentifiable; determining, at the meter, that the first time is consecutive with the second time; and storing, based on at least the determining that the second media content is unidentifiable and the determining that the first time is consecutive with the second time, the media identification data in association with the second time in the database.
10. 10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the first media content and the second media content are portions of television programming presented on a same channel.
11. 11 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the determining that the second media content presented by the media presentation device at the second time is unidentifiable comprises determining that data associated with at least one of: an audio signal from the media presentation device, a video of a screen associated with the media presentation device, or an image of the screen of the media presentation device is not received by a meter, wherein the meter is in communication with the media presentation device.
12. 12 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising: determining that the media presentation device was powered ON when the second media content was presented at the second time; classifying, based on the determining that the second media content presented by the media presentation device is unidentifiable and based on the determining that the media presentation device was powered ON, the multimedia data as all-other tuning data; and storing, based on the classifying, the all-other tuning data in the database.
13. 13 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising: classifying, based on the determining that the second media content is unidentifiable, data associated with the second media content as all-other tuning data; and flagging, based on the classifying, the all-other tuning data in the database.
14. 14 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the multimedia data is at least one of: data associated with an audio signal from the media presentation device, data associated with an image of a screen associated with the media presentation device, or data associated with a video of the screen associated with the media presentation device.
15. 15 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising: classifying, based on the determining that the second media content is unidentifiable, data associated with the second media content as all-other tuning data; storing the all-other tuning data in association with the second time; and wherein the storing, based on at least the determining that the second media content is unidentifiable and the determining that the first time is consecutive with the second time, the media identification data in association with the second time comprises replacing the all-other tuning data with the media identification data in the database.
16. 16 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon program instructions that, upon execution by a processor, cause performance of a set of operations comprising: receiving, at a meter in communication with a media presentation device, multimedia data associated with a first media content presented by the media presentation device at a first time, wherein the meter is configured to monitor the media presentation device using one or more sensors; identifying, using the multimedia data at the meter, media identification data associated with the first media content; storing, in a database, the media identification data in association with the first time; determining, at the meter, that a second media content presented by the media presentation device at a second time is unidentifiable; determining, at the meter, that the first time is consecutive with the second time; and storing, based on at least the determining that the second media content is unidentifiable and the determining that the first time is consecutive with the second time, the media identification data in association with the second time.
17. 17 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the first media content and the second media content are portions of television programming presented on a same channel.
18. 18 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 , the set of operations further comprising: determining that the media presentation device was powered ON when the second media content was presented at the second time; classifying, based on the determining that the second media content presented by the media presentation device is unidentifiable and based on the determining that the media presentation device was powered ON, the multimedia data as all-other tuning data; and storing, based on the classifying, the all-other tuning data.
19. 19 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 , the set of operations further comprising: classifying, based on the determining that the second media content is unidentifiable, data associated with the second media content as all-other tuning data; storing the all-other tuning data in association with the second time; and wherein the storing, based on at least the determining that the second media content is unidentifiable and the determining that the first time is consecutive with the second time, the media identification data in association with the second time comprises replacing the all-other tuning data with the media identification data.
20. 20 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19 , wherein the replacing the all-other tuning data occurs based on an operating state characteristic associated with the media presentation device at the first time matching an operating state associated with the media presentation device at the second time, and wherein the operating state characteristic associated with the media presentation device at the first time and the operating state characteristic associated with the media presentation device at the second time is an ON state of the media presentation device.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This disclosure arises from a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/896,779 (now U.S. Pat. No. 11,949,951), which was filed on Aug. 26, 2022, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/528,156 (now U.S. Pat. No. 11,432,042), which was filed on Jul. 31, 2019. U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 16/528,156 and 17/896,779 are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Priority to U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 16/528,156 and 17/896,779 are hereby claimed. FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE This disclosure relates generally to media monitoring, and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus to classify all other tuning data. BACKGROUND Monitoring companies desire knowledge on how users interact with media devices, such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, smart televisions, etc. To facilitate such monitoring, monitoring companies enlist panelists and install meters at the media presentation locations of those panelists. The meters monitor media presentations and transmit media monitoring information to a central facility of the monitoring company. Such media monitoring information enables the media monitoring companies to, among other things, monitor exposure to advertisements, determine advertisement effectiveness, determine user behavior, identify purchasing behavior associated with various demographics, etc. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example system constructed in accordance with the teachings of this disclosure for classifying all other tuning (AOT) data. FIG. 2A is a block diagram of the example meter of FIG. 1 to collect media data. FIG. 2B is a block diagram of the example media presentation device of FIG. 1 to provide operating state characteristics to the example meter of FIG. 1. FIG. 2C is a block diagram of the example media measurement data controller of FIG. 2A to perform media classification operations on collected media data. FIG. 3A is a table illustration of the example media presentation device activity. FIG. 3B is a table illustration of the example data store of FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the example central facility of FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is a flowchart representative of machine readable instructions which may be executed to implement the example meter of FIG. 1 to collect media data and classify the all-other-tuning data. FIG. 6 is a flowchart representative of machine readable instructions which may be executed to implement the example meter and the example media presentation device of FIG. 1 to identify media data. FIG. 7 is a flowchart representative of machine readable instructions which may be executed to implement an example media measurement data controller of FIGS. 2A and 2C to perform a forward pass operation on unidentified media data. FIG. 8 is a flowchart representative of machine readable instructions which may be executed to implement the example media measurement data controller of FIGS. 2A and 2C to perform a backward pass operation on unidentified media data. FIG. 9 is a flowchart representative of machine readable instructions which may be executed to implement the example central facility of FIG. 1 to generate a media ratings report. FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an example processing platform structured to execute the instructions of FIGS. 5, 6, 7, and/or 8 to implement the example meter and/or the example media presentation device of FIG. 1. FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an example processing platform structured to execute the instructions of FIGS. 7, 8, and/or 9 to implement the example central facility of FIG. 1. The figures are not to scale. In general, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawing(s) and accompanying written description to refer to the same or like parts. As used in this patent, stating that any part (e.g., a layer, film, area, region, or plate) is in any way on (e.g., positioned on, located on, disposed on, or formed on, etc.) another part, indicates that the referenced part is either in contact with the other part, or that the referenced part is above the other part with one or more intermediate part(s) located therebetween. Stating that any part is in contact with another part means that there is no intermediate part between the two parts. Although the figures show layers and regions with clean lines and boundaries, some or all of these lines and/or boundaries may be idealized. In reality, the boundaries and/or lines may be unobservable, blended, and/or irregular. Descriptors “first,” “second,” “third,” etc. are used herein when identifying multiple elements or components which may be referred to separately. Unless otherwise specified or understood based on their context of use, such descriptors are not intended to impute any meaning of priority or ordering in time but merely as labels for referring to multiple elements or components separately for ease of understanding the disclosed examples. In some exampl