JP2002077436A - Television program rating examination system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce examination cost and labor and time in an on-line TV program rating system, and reduce the load of a monitor household and realize data collection at arbitrary times. SOLUTION: TV control remote commanders 11-1 to 11-n, into which a data transmission and reception system of PHS is incorporated are lent out to respective households 1-1 to 1-n as a monitor or each person of its family member. The respective remote commanders 11-1 to 11-n record its operation history data in a built-in RAM, and the PHS system transmits it to a mail box 43 in a network at a prescribed period. A data accumulation center 4 accesses the mail box 43 by each fixed period or at arbitrary times, the operation history data is fetched into a data server, and the data is analyzed, thereby obtaining a household program rating or program rating of individuals.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a television audience rating survey system, and relates to a PHS (personal handy-phone system).
m) Utilizing the telephone system or mobile phone system network and the e-mail system on the Internet,
The present invention relates to a method of collecting audience rating data simply and at low cost.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A television (TV) audience rating is used as an index for realizing an advertising effect of a commercial by a TV broadcast as an information medium, and as reference data for a TV broadcast station to confirm the evaluation of a produced program. It is used as a valuable resource when an advertiser or an advertising company and a broadcasting station conduct transactions related to advertisements, or when the broadcasting station itself produces or organizes a program. In addition, TV is an information medium that is incomparable from the viewpoint of the number of households owned, and therefore has an important significance as a material for knowing the degree and tendency of social interest.

Conventionally, as a TV audience rating survey system, there are a diary-type questionnaire system and an online system using a dedicated communication device. The former questionnaire method is a survey method in which a diary-style questionnaire is distributed to a predetermined number of TV-owned households to be monitored, and they are asked to enter their viewing behavior at regular intervals. In recent years, online methods have often been implemented because
Various proposals have been made on how to obtain rational and accurate audience rating information (for example, JP-A-2000-068956,
JP-A-11-275607, JP-A-8-046588, JP-A-7-023012
No.).

[0004] Here, a typical on-line system currently implemented is as shown in FIG. In the figure, 101-1 to 101-n (n is the number of monitors) are households, and each of the households 101-1 to 101-101 requested as a monitor.
-n TV receivers 102-1 to 102-n have a viewing program collector 103-1
To 103-n, for example, TV receivers 102-1 to 10-10
The local oscillation frequency leaking from 2-n is detected, and the reception time and the local oscillation frequency are recorded. In addition, the viewing program collector 103-
Wireless transceivers 104-1 to 104-n are connected to 1 to 103-n, and wireless transceivers 106 connected to telephones 105-1 to 105-n of each household 101-1 to 101-n. It can communicate with -1 to 106-n. Therefore, for each household 101-1 to 101-n, the viewing program collector 10 is located near the TV receivers 102-1 to 102-n.
3-1 to 103-n and wireless transceivers 104-1 to 104-n are connected to telephone 105-
It is only required to install the wireless transceivers 106-1 to 106-n in the vicinity of 1 to 105-n, and there is no need to provide wiring in the home. Even when the households 101-1 to 101-n have a plurality of TV receivers, the number of the wireless transceivers 106-1 to 106-n on the telephones 105-1 to 105-n side is one. Is enough.

In this system, a viewing program collector 103-1
103-n record the viewing status (time data and selected channel data) of the TV receivers 102-1 to 102-n in the internal memory in units of seconds, and the data totaling center 107 automatically stores the data via the telephone network 108. Dial each household 101-1 to 101-n early in the morning by dial. On the telephone 105-1 to 105-n side of each household 101-1 to 101-n that has been accessed, the attached wireless transceiver
106-1 to 106-n communicate with the radio transceivers 104-1 to 104-n on the side of the TV receivers 102-1 to 102-n to view and collect program viewing programs 103-1 to 103-n.
Then, the time data and the selected channel data stored in the telephone are taken into the internal memory, and the data is transmitted from the modems of the telephones 105-1 to 105-n to the data totaling center 107 together with the device identification data through the telephone network 108. The data collection center 107 processes and analyzes the data obtained from each of the households 101-1 to 101-n, and based on the audience rating per minute with the minimum unit being one minute, the program average audience rating and time division. The information is compiled into statistical information such as audience rating and provided to TV broadcasting stations, advertising companies, and advertisers.

[0006] In the above-mentioned case, the audience rating for the households 101-1 to 101-n is obtained. In many cases, a personal audience rating for "Is it?" For this reason, the viewing program collectors 103-1 to 103-n are provided with individual identification buttons, and each of the TV receivers 102-1 to 102-n is operated after operating the corresponding button in the home. A method of operating the remote commanders 109-1 to 109-n, or renting a dedicated remote commander in which buttons for personal identification are assigned to the remote commanders 109-1 to 109-n in advance, and the buttons and necessary operation buttons There is also a method of pressing.

[0007]

By the way, in the online system according to the conventional audience rating survey, each household 101-1 to 101-n
Is a data collection method using the telephone line 108 to which the telephones 105-1 to 105-n are connected.
A viewing program collector 10 that is a dedicated survey device for each 101-1 to 101-n
3-1 to 103-n and wireless transceivers 104-1 to 104-n, 106-1 to 106-n
Installation, adjustment, and withdrawal require cost, time, and effort. In addition, a space for installing the above-mentioned dedicated survey equipment is required in the home to be monitored, and the existing telephone line in the home to be monitored is used, so that the data transmission time zone and the number of times are limited. There is also. Furthermore, in the personal audience rating survey system, since the operation of the button for specifying the individual is involved, it is necessary to have the monitored person learn the operation procedure, but if the user is not familiar with the operation of the electronic device, May not provide accurate audience rating data.

On the other hand, recently, PHS (personal handy-p
hone system) The spread of phones and mobile phones is remarkable,
The network is also expanding beyond the traditional home telephone. In particular, services that can exchange e-mail with the Internet using these telephones as terminals have been provided at relatively low communication costs,
With a PHS telephone, high-speed communication utilizing a communication band of 32 (kbps) is possible by PIAFS (PHS internet Access Forum Standard) which is a standard for data communication, and PIAFS prepared by an Internet provider or the like is available.
Data communication connected to the corresponding access point is also possible. On the other hand, regarding remote commanders of TV receivers, control command codes are originally set for each TV receiver manufacturer, but recently remote commanders that can standardize them have been available. It can be used for general purpose by performing initial setting by corresponding button operation.

In view of the problems of the conventional TV audience rating survey method, the present invention provides a remote commander with the functions of a PHS telephone or a portable telephone, thereby reducing costs and greatly reducing time and labor. It was created with the aim of providing a survey method that can be used to collect accurate audience rating data.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a remote commander for controlling a TV receiver includes a time measuring means, a storage means, a power ON / OFF operation of the TV receiver, and a power ON / OFF operation. When there is a channel selection operation, the time data of the time measuring means at each operation time point for the on / off operation, and the operation time data and the selected channel data for the channel selection operation,
Data storage means for storing the data in the storage means,
Data transmission means in an HS telephone or a mobile telephone;
Each time the time measuring means measures a predetermined time, terminal identification data given in advance and data stored in the storage means are prepared by the data transmitting means in a mail server on a PHS telephone or mobile phone network. Transmission control means for transmitting the remote commander to a predetermined number of TV-owned households to be monitored, and the data collection center side periodically or at a desired time. The present invention relates to a TV audience rating survey method characterized in that a TV household rating is obtained by accessing a mailbox of an email address and collecting and processing data.

According to the present invention, the remote commander, together with its normal main function unit, is provided with storage means, time measuring means, and PH.
An S telephone or a mobile telephone data transmission system (data transmission means and transmission control means) is provided. The remote commander is lent to each TV-owned household that is to be a monitor.
Is set corresponding to. Then, when the TV is controlled by the remote commander in each household, the time data of the time measuring means at the time of each operation is selected for the power on / off operation, and the operation time data for the channel selection operation is selected. The channel data is sequentially recorded in the storage means, and each time the transmission control means measures the predetermined time by the time measurement means, the data transmission means is activated to store the stored data in the storage means together with the terminal identification data of the own device on the network. Automatically send to the e-mail address of the aggregation center. The TV operation data of each household is stored in the mailbox of this mail address in a form in which the terminal identification data is added. The data collection center accesses the mailbox and retrieves the data at an arbitrary timing. If the collected data is processed for each terminal identification data, the household audience rating can be obtained.
According to the present invention, it is not necessary to install a dedicated surveying device only by having each household use a remote commander prepared in advance in place of the remote commander attached to the TV. There is no restriction on data collection time because no line is used.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a remote commander applied to the first aspect of the invention is lent to a predetermined number of individuals serving as monitors, and the data totaling center periodically or at a desired time sends the mailbox of the mail address to the mailbox. And collects and processes data to obtain a TV personal rating.

This invention is different from the first invention in that the remote commander is lent by the household unit, but is lent by the individual unit. The remote commander adds individual terminal identification data to TV operation data. If the terminal identification data is made to correspond to the individual for transmission, the data totaling center can obtain the individual audience rating. In this case, the number of remote commanders is increased in order to lend the remote commander to all individuals who will be monitors, but there is an advantage that a complicated operation for identifying the individual is not required.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a remote commander for controlling a TV receiver is provided with a personal confirmation mode button, a personal correspondence button is provided, or an existing operation button is assigned as a personal correspondence button, and a time measuring means is provided. When the personal identification button is turned on after the personal confirmation mode button is turned on, a personal code associated with the personalization button is stored in the storage means; Power on / off operation and channel selection operation between the on / off operation,
Data storage means for storing the time data of the time measuring means at the time of each operation for the on / off operation, and the operation time data and the selected channel data for the channel selection operation in the storage means; A data transmission unit in a PHS telephone or a mobile phone, and each time the time measurement unit measures a predetermined time, terminal identification data provided in advance and data stored in the storage unit are transmitted by the data transmission unit to the PHS telephone or Transmission control means for transmitting the data to an e-mail address of a data collection center prepared in a mail server on a mobile phone network, and lending the remote commander to a predetermined number of TV-owned households serving as monitors, The center sends the above email address periodically or at the desired time. By accessing the box collecting and processing data, according to the TV audience survey scheme and obtains the demographic of the TV.

[0015] The present invention, in the survey of personal audience rating,
In contrast to the second invention in which the remote commander must be lent on an individual basis, a remote commander is lent on a household basis and the audience rating of each individual in the household is investigated. Reduce the number of.
A personal confirmation mode button is provided on the remote commander, and a personal correspondence button is provided or an existing operation button is assigned as a personal correspondence button, and these buttons are operated continuously before the actual TV control operation.
The personal code is stored in the storage means. The number of pre-operations will increase, but starting with a special personal verification mode button,
Since it can be executed in the same manner as a general remote commander operation, learning the procedure is relatively easy.

In a fourth aspect based on the third aspect, the remote commander is provided with alarm means, and when the individual confirmation mode button is turned on, the individual corresponding button is turned on and the power of the TV receiver is turned on. The present invention relates to a TV audience rating survey method in which an alarm unit continues to generate an alarm unless an on / off operation or a channel selection operation between on / off operations is performed.

The present invention is intended to more reliably execute the operation of the remote commander according to the third invention, and has a function of generating an alarm and notifying when an operation is not executed in a regular procedure. I have. Here, as the alarm generating means, blinking of an LED, output of a buzzer sound, or the like can be employed. It should be noted that operation of the volume control button and TV /
Operations not related to the TV rating, such as video switching operations, are excluded.

In a fifth aspect based on the first to fourth aspects, the data transmission means of the remote commander is data transmission / reception means, and the data totaling center changes or adds a control condition of the remote commander as necessary. The remote commander sends the data or the update program to the mail address, and the remote commander receives the command data or the update program stored in the mail address when the data transmission / reception means sends the data stored in the storage means to the mail address. The present invention also relates to a TV audience rating survey method in which control conditions of the own device are automatically changed or added based on the received command data or update program.

According to the present invention, bidirectional communication is enabled by using the data transmission means of the remote commander according to the first to fourth aspects as the data transmission / reception means, and the control conditions of the remote commander can be changed or added from the data totaling center side. It was done. The remote commander is connected to the mailbox on the data aggregation center when sending data.By enabling bidirectional communication, the command data and update data that the data aggregation center previously sent to the mailbox are The program can be received, and the control conditions of the remote commander can be freely set as needed from the data aggregation center. For example, in the second to fourth inventions, it is possible to change an important item in the audience rating survey, such as switching between the individual audience rating survey and the household audience rating survey, or changing the data transmission time. .

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the "TV audience rating survey system" of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS. [Embodiment 1] First, FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a relationship between each household, a network, and a data aggregation center.
Is a household, 2 is a PIAFS-compliant network related to PHS, 3 is the Internet, and 4 is a data aggregation center. Each household 1-1 to 1-n has a data aggregation center 4
The remote commanders 11-1 to 11-n are rented from the sides, and each household 1-1 to 1-n uses it to control their home TV.
Controls 12-1 to 12-n. Each remote commander 11-1 ~
The 11-n TV control code is set in advance for each household 1-1 to 1-n TV12.
Initially set to those corresponding to -1 to 12-n.

FIG. 2 shows an external view of each of the remote commanders 11-1 to 11-n. At first glance, the remote commanders 11-1 to 11-n are similar to ordinary remote commanders, but are provided with an antenna 13 applied to a PHS telephone. It is characterized in that a special P button 14 and an alarm LED 15 are provided on the operation panel surface. Next, FIG. 3 shows the remote commander.
11 is a system block circuit diagram of 11-1 to 11-n. The remote control system unit includes an operation unit 21 (including the P button 14), an operation unit I / F 22, and a remote control system control unit 23.
And an LED 24 for outputting a modulated infrared ray for TV control;
It comprises a driver 25 and a battery (or a battery) 26. This embodiment is characterized in that a PHS system unit is incorporated together with them. That is, an R / F modulator 26 connected to the antenna 13 and a digital signal processor (DPS) 27 for executing processing of transmission / reception data.
, A PHS system control unit 28 and a timer 29 are incorporated together with the remote control system unit in a connection relationship as shown in the figure. Further, in this embodiment, a ROM 30 for storing a program and a RAM 31 for storing update data are built in so that each system unit shares the same. The ROM 30 includes a remote control system control unit 23 and a PHS system control unit 28. The program to be executed is written.
Note that the remote control system section has the alarm LED 15
Is also provided.

Returning to FIG. 1, each remote commander 11-1
The relationship between 11-n and PIAFS-compatible network 2 will be described. In the figure, reference numerals 41-1 to 41-m denote base stations having a service area of each household 1-1 to 1-n, and are provided on a PIAFS original network that supervises the base stations 41-1 to 41-m. Is provided with a mail server 42, and a mail box 43 of the data totaling center 4 is registered in the mail server 42 in advance. Then, the data collection center 4 can access the mailbox 43 via the Internet 3 and the data collection center 4 can retrieve the data stored in the mailbox 43 at any timing by the access. It has become.

In the above system and network configuration, first, the operation procedure of the remote commanders 11-1 to 11-n when performing the household audience rating survey will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. However, if only household ratings are to be surveyed, the remote commander 11-1 ~
P-button 14 and LED 15 for alarm provided on 11-n
The driver 32 is not necessary, and the above-described elements may be omitted when the remote commander is used exclusively for household rating.

The remote commanders 11-1 to 11-n use the TV 12-1 to
When the power ON operation is performed on 12-n, the remote control system control unit 23 activates the LED 24 by the driver 25,
The modulated infrared light corresponding to the same operation is emitted to the TV 12-1 to 12-n side to turn on the power of the TV 12-1 to 12-n, but at the same time, the remote control system control unit 23 measures the timer 29 at that time. The time is read, and the operation type code and the time data of the power ON operation are written to the RAM 31 (S1, S2).

Operations performed by the remote commanders 11-1 to 11-n after the power of the TVs 12-1 to 12-n are turned on are channel selection operations or power OFF operations. Here, when the channel selection operation is performed, the remote control system control unit
23 activates the LED 24 by the driver 25, emits modulated infrared rays corresponding to the same operation to the TVs 12-1 to 12-n, and
In addition to setting the channels -1 to 12-n as the selected channel, the operation type code of the channel operation, the measured time data of the timer 29 at that time and the channel data are written to the RAM 31, and if the power supply OFF operation, Similarly to the case of the ON operation, the modulated infrared rays corresponding to the OFF operation are emitted to the TVs 12-1 to 12-n to turn off the power of the TVs 12-1 to 12-n, and to operate the power OFF operation. Write the type code and its time data to the RAM 31 (S2 to S
6).

When the above operations are repeated (S1 to S6 → S1), data representing the operation history in a time-series manner is recorded and stored in the RAM 31 as shown in FIG. . Note that the terminal ID in FIG. 5 is terminal identification data such as a telephone number or a device number of the PHS system unit, but it is not necessarily stored in the RAM 31 because it is fixed data. You may leave.

On the other hand, the PH of the remote commanders 11-1 to 11-n
The S system unit executes a periodic operation as shown in the flowchart of FIG. Timer 29 is a predetermined time: ΔT
When s (for example, 15 minutes) is measured, PHS is automatically
The system is started up and the remote control system control unit 23
It is confirmed whether data is being written to M31, and if not, the terminal ID and the data stored and stored in RAM 31 at that time are transmitted to mailbox 43 on PIAFS network 2 (S21, S22). → S24). If the remote control system control unit 23 is writing to the RAM 31, the terminal ID and all the data after the writing are transmitted to the mailbox 43 in the same manner as described above after the writing is completed after waiting temporarily ( S22-S24). Then, the transmitted data in the RAM 31 is cleared (S25), and the history of the subsequent operation is recorded and stored again by the remote control system unit.

Therefore, by the above-described operation in the remote commanders 11-1 to 11-n of the respective households 1-1 to 1-n, the respective mailboxes 1 as shown in FIG. The operation history data of -1 to 1-n is sequentially accumulated. On the other hand, the data aggregation center 4 side
The data collection operation shown in the flowchart of FIG. That is, every time a predetermined time: ΔTr (for example, 30 minutes) elapses, the mailbox 43 on the PIAFS network 2 is accessed via the Internet 3 and the mailbox 43 is accessed.
Data aggregation center for all data stored in 43
The data is downloaded and stored in the database server of step 4 (S31 to S33). In this embodiment, the data collection is performed periodically at every time ΔTr, but it is also possible to collect the data at an arbitrary timing as needed.

As a result, the database server of the data totaling center 4 records the TV operation history data of each of the households 1-1 to 1-n that have been monitored.
Since D is associated with each of the households 1-1 to 1-n, if the TV operation history data relating to the same terminal ID data is arranged in time series, each of the households 1-1 to 1-n TV rating can be obtained. For example, from the operation history data of FIG.
From 9:12:33 to 09:20:55, there are channels at the time of the previous power OFF, from 09:20:55 to 09:23:09, 6 channels, and from 09:23:09 to 10:03:44. Up to 10 channels, 1
One channel from 0:03:44 to 11:57:15, but 18:02:11
From 18:30:49 to 19: 4
Until 5:26, it is possible to obtain household audience rating data indicating that 8 channels,.

[Embodiment 2] In Embodiment 1 described above, each household
Although one remote commander 11-1 to 11-n is lent to 1-1 to 1-n to obtain household audience rating data, it is not possible to specify who in the household performed each operation, You can't investigate personal ratings. However, since terminal IDs are given to the remote commanders 11-1 to 11-n in the first embodiment, one remote commander 11 is lent to each family member of the household, and each of the remote commanders 11-1 to 11-n is previously assigned to each member. And terminal I
By associating D, it is possible to investigate the individual audience rating.

In this case, since a plurality of remote commanders 11 are lent to the households 1-1 to 1-n, the number of prepared remote commanders 11 is much larger than that of the first embodiment. The operations and functions of each remote commander 11 are the same, and the data storage function on the network side and the data collection function on the data totaling center 4 side are also the same.

However, the operation history data of each remote commander 11 obtained by the data totaling center 4 accessing the mailbox 43 on the PIAFS network 2 is, as shown in FIG. 5, [power ON → (select each channel)]. → Power supply OF
F] or [Power ON → Power OFF] is not repeated.
The operation procedures are listed in a manner that does not match in chronological order. That is, each operation type having no connection is obtained together with the time data. However, for example, terminal IDs are assigned to family members A, B, and C, respectively, as IDa, IDb, and I, respectively.
When the remote commanders 11a, 11b, and 11c set to Dc are lent, the terminal ID is set to IDa,
When the operation history data of IDb and IDc are integrated in chronological order, the remote commanders 11a, 11b,
Since 11c is for one TV, the overall operation history data is the same as that shown in FIG.

What is important in this embodiment is that each terminal ID is associated with each member of the family, and those IDs can be directly confirmed at the data totaling center 4 in connection with each operation. . Therefore, according to this embodiment, the personal audience rating can be obtained by combining the comprehensive operation history data and each terminal ID. Also, at the stage of lending the remote commander 11 to each family member, if detailed attributes (gender, age, preferences, etc.) of each member are heard and confirmed, the audience rating can be obtained for each attribute. .

[Embodiment 3] In this embodiment, the same number of the remote commander 11 as in the household audience rating survey of the first embodiment is used, and the same personal audience rating survey as in the second embodiment is carried out. About the method. In the case of Embodiment 2,
In order to lend the remote commander 11 to an individual, it is necessary to prepare the remote commander 11 by the number of monitors as a matter of course. If the number of monitors is set to a general value of 400 to 600, the manufacturing cost and the communication cost are reduced. It will be a considerable amount.
In this embodiment, the purpose is to enable an individual audience rating survey with at least half or less of the remote commanders 11, depending on the number of family members of the household to be monitored.

The relationship between each household, the network and the data aggregation center in this embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG. 1, and one remote commander 11 is provided for each household 1-1 to 1-n.
-1 to 11-n are loaned. The configuration of each of the remote commanders 11-1 to 11-n used is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and the P button 14 and the alarm LED 15 are unnecessary in the first embodiment. In this embodiment, they have effective functions.

The following items are premised on conducting the personal audience rating survey in this embodiment, and the data aggregation center 4 sends the remote commander 1 to each of the households 1-1 to 1-n.
Ask them to adhere to them when lending 1-1 to 11-n. Power ON / O for remote commanders 11-1 to 11-n
When performing the FF operation or the channel selection operation, execute the ON operation of the P button 14 prior to the operation. After the P button 14 is turned on, a preset operator-corresponding button is turned on, and then the required operation is executed. Here, the operator corresponding button is a button individually assigned to each family member serving as a monitor in this case. For example, the (1, 3, 4, 6, 6, 810, 1)
2) If you ’re targeting channel ratings, the mother will have a 2 channel button, the eldest daughter will have a 5 channel button,
Assign a 7-channel button to the eldest son, a 9-channel button to the grandfather, an 11-channel button to the father, and so on. This assignment does not necessarily have to be a channel button excluding each channel of the Tokyo Key Station as described above, but if the assignment is made different from the actual selection operation channel, the number of errors will be reduced, so that the above setting is made. If the number of family members is more than that, each channel of the Tokyo key station may be assigned. In this embodiment, the existing channel buttons are used. However, it is also possible to increase the plane area of the operation unit 21 and provide a dedicated operator button.

The operation procedure of the remote control system in this embodiment will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. As is clear from the comparison between the flowchart of FIG. 4 and the flowchart of FIG. 4, the operation type and the operation time are stored in the RAM 31 for the power ON / OFF operation, and when there is a channel selection operation, the operation type and the operation time are stored. Storing the selected channel number in the RAM 31 is the same as in the first embodiment (S45, S46, S52, S53, S55, S56).

The feature of this embodiment is that, before these operations, the above operation is executed and the operator code becomes R
It is recorded on the AM 31 and alarm control is performed so that an error does not occur in those procedures (S41 to S44, S41
47, S48 to S51, S54, S57). Specifically, power ON / OF
Regarding the F operation and the channel selection operation, the following operation procedure is executed. First, if there is no ON operation of the P button 14, subsequent operations are invalid.
The operator record flag of the AM 31 is turned on, and the remote control system control unit 23 uses the driver 32 to
The blinking of ED15 is started (S41, S42, S48, S49,). As the next operation, when the operator corresponding button is turned on, the operator code corresponding to the button is recorded in the RAM 31 (S43, S44, S50, S51,). At this stage, the blinking of the alarm LED 15 continues. However, when the power ON / OFF operation or the channel selection operation is performed as the next operation, and the data relating to the operation is stored in the RAM 31, the alarm LED 15 is operated. Is turned off (S45, S46, S53, S54, S5
6, S57).

Therefore, prior to the desired control operation,
Unless the above-mentioned predetermined operation is performed, the LED 15 for alarm continues to blink, so that an appropriate operation of the operator is encouraged. It is possible to effectively prevent the user from forgetting to press the button according to the ON operation.

Also in this embodiment, the transmission operation of the PHS system unit of the remote commanders 11-1 to 11-n and the data collection operation via the Internet of the data totaling center 4 are the same as those described in the first embodiment (FIG. 6 and FIG. 7). As a result, the operation history data as shown in FIG. 9 is recorded in the database server on the data totaling center 4 side. As apparent from a comparison between FIG. 4 and FIG. 9, the recorded data in this embodiment is recorded. Contains operation type data
An operator code is added in addition to the selected channel data / time data.

Therefore, in the data totaling center 4, based on the recorded data, the remote commander 11-1
It is possible to confirm which of the family members of the households 1-1 to 1-n who lent the 〜11-n have performed the power ON / OFF operation and the channel selection operation, and based on that, the individual audience rating can be estimated. The estimated audience rating for each personal attribute can be calculated.

[Fourth Embodiment] The PHS system units of the remote commanders 11-1 to 11-n used in the first to fourth embodiments use only the transmission function. However, the PHS system inherently allows two-way data communication, and the PHS of the remote commanders 11-1 to 11-n
It is easy for the system unit to have a data transmission / reception function. By providing the transmission / reception function, the remote commander 11-1 to 11-n
It is possible to change or add various control conditions of the remote control system unit and the PHS system unit. Such a change of the control condition, for example, as described above, switching between the case where only the household audience rating is sufficient and the case where the personal audience rating is obtained, or changing the data transmission interval of the remote commanders 11-1 to 11-n This is effective when the terminal ID needs to be rewritten, or when various checks need to be performed in the case where there is a possibility of failure.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a remote commander operation in which the PHS system has a data transmission / reception function.
The procedure for changing or adding control conditions 11-1 to 11-n will be described. First, when necessary, the data totaling center 4 transmits an update program and a control command for the remote control system unit and / or the PHS system unit from the Internet 3 to the mailbox 43 on the PIAFS network 2 (S61). .

On the other hand, the remote commanders 11-1 to 11-n periodically transmit the operation history data to the mailbox 43 on the PIAFS network 2 as shown in S21 to S25 in FIG. At this time, if the update program or the control command transmitted from the data totaling center 4 is present in the mailbox 43, it is received and temporarily stored in the RAM 31 (S71, S72). If the received data needs to be decompressed, decompress it (S73, S74),
The program in the ROM 30 is automatically rewritten and the setting state is switched, and the system is reset (S75, S7
6).

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the functions of the remote commanders 11-1 to 11-n can be freely changed and added from the data totaling center 4 side, and flexible for various audience rating surveys can be performed in a very simple procedure. Response is possible.

[Others] As described above, in each embodiment, the case where the PHS system is incorporated in the remote commanders 11-1 to 11-n has been described. However, the data communication and the e-mail function are already implemented in the mobile phone system. Has been
A mobile phone system may be applied instead of the PHS system. In each of the above embodiments, the operation type is also a part of the recorded data. However, since the power ON / OFF operation can be confirmed from the time series of the data, the operation type is not necessarily essential.

[0047]

The TV audience rating survey system of the present invention has the following effects due to the above configuration. According to the first aspect of the present invention, a remote commander for controlling a TV, which is combined with a transmission function of a PHS telephone system or a mobile telephone system, is lent to each household, and the data collection center side transmits the TV via a mailbox on the network to the TV.
Operation history data can be recorded, enabling extremely efficient data collection compared to conventional online methods, etc., and enabling household cost ratings to be reduced at low cost and time and labor significantly reduced I do. In addition, there is no need to request the installation space of the equipment for the household to be the monitor, and there is no time restriction because the telephone of each household is not used, and the remote commander of the present invention operates in the same manner as the general one. There is also the advantage that no special proficiency is required to be satisfied. According to the second aspect of the present invention, by lending the remote commander for each individual, it is possible to investigate the personal audience rating online while obtaining the same effect as the first aspect of the present invention. According to a third aspect of the present invention, the remote commander is provided with a personal confirmation mode button and a personal correspondence button (including assignment to an existing operation button), so that the number of remote commander loans can be reduced by half compared to the case of the second aspect. Achieve an online personal audience rating survey by: According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the erroneous operation of the remote commander is prevented by the alarm means according to the third aspect of the present invention,
Prompt proper operation and enable accurate data collection. According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the control function of each remote commander can be changed and added from the data totaling center side, and simple and flexible response to various investigation conditions is realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a relationship between each household, a network, and a data aggregation center.

FIG. 2 is an external view of each remote commander.

FIG. 3 is a system block circuit diagram of a remote commander.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation procedure of a remote control system unit of the remote commander according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing contents of data recorded and stored in a RAM by an operation of a remote control system unit in the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of a PHS system unit.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a data collection procedure performed by the data aggregation center.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an operation procedure of a remote control system unit of the remote commander according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing contents of data recorded and stored in a RAM by an operation of a remote control system unit according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for changing or adding a control condition of a remote commander in the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a typical online audience rating survey system implemented as a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

1-1 to 1-n: Household, 2: PIAFS-compliant network for PHS, 3: Internet, 4: Data aggregation center, 11
-1 to 11-n: Remote commander, 12-1 to 12-n: TV, 13 ...
Antenna, 14… P button, 15… LED for alarm, 21…
Operation unit, 22: Operation unit I / F, 23: Remote control system control unit, 24: LED for TV control, 25: Driver, 26: R / F
Modulation unit, 27: Digital signal processing unit, 28: PHS system control unit, 29: Timer, 30: ROM, 31: RAM, 32
... Drivers, 41-1 ~ 41-m ... PHS base stations, 42 ... Mail servers, 43 ... Mailboxes, 101-1 ~ 101-n ... Households, 10
2-1 to 102-n: TV, 103-1 to 103-n: Viewing program collector, 10
4-1 to 104-n: wireless transceiver, 105-1 to 105-n: telephone, 10
6-1 to 106-n: wireless transceiver, 107: data aggregation center, 108: telephone line network.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI theme coat ゛ (reference) H04N 5/00 H04N 5/00 A 17/00 17/00 MF term (reference) 5B049 BB00 CC31 DD01 EE02 FF03 GG03 GG04 GG06 GG07 GG09 5C056 BA01 CA19 EA05 EA20 5C061 BB03 CC05 5K101 KK02 KK15 LL12 MM07 NN03 NN21 RR12

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A remote commander for controlling a television receiver includes a time measuring unit, a storage unit, a power ON / OFF operation of the television receiver, and a channel selection operation between the ON / OFF operations. Data storage means for storing the time data of the time measuring means at each operation time point for the on / off operation and the operation time data and the selected channel data for the channel selection operation in the storage means, respectively. And PHS (person
al handy-phone system) Each time the data transmission means in the telephone or the mobile phone and the time measurement means measure a predetermined time, the data transmission means transmits terminal identification data given in advance and data stored in the storage means to the data transmission means. Transmission control means for transmitting to a mail address of a data collection center prepared in a mail server on a PHS telephone or a mobile telephone network by means, and transmitting the remote commander to a predetermined number of television-owned households serving as monitors. A television, wherein the data collection center side rents the data and collects and processes the data by accessing the mailbox of the e-mail address periodically or at a desired time to obtain a television household rating. John audience rating survey method. 2. The remote commander according to claim 1 is lent to a predetermined number of individuals who are to be monitors, and the data collection center accesses the mailbox of the mail address periodically or at a desired time to collect data. A television audience rating survey method characterized in that a personal audience rating of a television is obtained by performing the above processing. 3. A remote commander for controlling a television receiver is provided with a personal confirmation mode button and a personal correspondence button, or an existing operation button is assigned as a personal correspondence button. Means, when the personal identification button is turned on after the personal identification mode button is turned on, stores a personal code associated with the personalization button in the storage means, and then supplies power to the television receiver. When there is a channel selection operation between the on / off operation and the on / off operation, the time data of the time measuring means at each operation time point is used for the on / off operation, and the operation time is used for the channel selection operation. Data storage means for storing data and selected channel data in the storage means, respectively, Every time the data transmitting means in the mobile phone and the time measuring means measure a predetermined time, the terminal transmitting data and the data stored in the storage means are given to the PHS telephone or the mobile phone by the data transmitting means. Transmission control means for transmitting the remote commander to a predetermined number of television-owned households serving as monitors. A television audience rating survey method wherein a personal television audience rating is obtained by accessing a mailbox of the mail address at regular or desired times and collecting and processing data. 4. An alarm means is provided in said remote commander, and when said personal confirmation mode button is turned on, said personal correspondence button is turned on, and the power of a television receiver is turned on / off or turned on. 4. The television audience rating survey system according to claim 3, wherein said alarm means keeps on generating an alarm unless a channel selection operation between ON / OFF is performed. 5. The data transmission means of the remote commander is a data transmission / reception means, and the data totaling center sends command data or an update program for changing or adding control conditions of the remote commander to the mail address as needed. Transmitting, the remote commander receives command data or an update program stored in the e-mail address when the data transmission / reception means transmits data stored in the storage means to the e-mail address; 5. The television audience rating survey method according to claim 1, wherein the control condition of the own device is automatically changed or added based on command data or an update program. .