MXPA00000429A

MXPA00000429A - Audience measurement system for digital television

Info

Publication number: MXPA00000429A
Application number: MXPA/A/2000/000429A
Authority: MX
Inventors: Daozheng Lu; Paul C Kempter; William A Feininger
Original assignee: Nielsen Media Research Inc
Priority date: 1998-05-12
Filing date: 2000-01-11
Publication date: 2001-05-17

Abstract

A television audience measurement system measures viewing of a television program viewed on digital television located in a statistically selected site by (i) retrieving an audience measurement data packet from a television set in order to identify the television program, (ii) detecting an audio code embedded in the television program in order to identify thetelevision program, (iii) extracting an audio signature from the television program in order to identify the television program, (iv) identifying the television program through use of a software agent, and (v) selecting at least one of the retrieving means, the detecting means, the extracting means, and the software agent in order to identify the television program.

Description

AUDIO MEASUREMENT SYSTEM FOR DIGITAL TELEVISION TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the measurement of audiences of digitally transmitted television programming and to the measurement of use of other information services provided to the audience. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Of the many approaches to measuring the use of electronic entertainment equipment (commonly referred to as "tuning" data), one approach involves the addition of an identification code to a radio or television program, the distribution of the identification with the program throughout the relevant transmission system, and the detection and interpretation of the identification code when the transmission signal is being viewed or heard at a statistically selected monitoring site. An example of such a system that implements this type of measurement approach can be found in the following patents: United States of America number 5,481,294 for Thomas et al, who describes, among others, identification codes added to the vertical blank interval of a * NTSC television broadcast; U.S. Patent No. 5,629,739 to Dougherty, who is particularly concerned with the addition of an identification code to a low-energy portion of the audio spectrum of an NTSC signal; and U.S. Patent No. 5,404,377 to Moses, which shows an audio coding arrangement that uses a signal masking to decrease the perception capability of the identification code. The disclosures of U.S. Patent Nos. 5,481,294, U.S. Patent No. 5,629,739, and U.S. Patent No. 5,404,377 are incorporated herein by reference. Another approach to measuring the use of electronic entertainment equipment involves the extraction of a characteristic aspect tuning (or set of characteristic aspect tunings) of the selected programming to watch, and the storage of a time-stamped tuning (or set of synths). ) in a memory for subsequent transmission to a central data collection office where the tuning (or set of tunings) is compared with corresponding reference syntheses collected by the central office from known transmission sources. This approach is shown by Lert and Lu in U.S. Patent No. 4,677,466. The teachings of U.S. Patent No. 4,677,466 are incorporated herein by reference.

Still another approach to measuring the use of electronic entertainment equipment has been to compare the observed signal (or some component or device thereof) with all the signals available for a home sampled at the time of measurement. A review of the apparatuses and methods useful for this measurement approach are found in the teachings of Thomas et al., U.S. Patent No. 5,629,739 and Lu et al., In the U.S. Patent Number 5,594,934. The teachings of U.S. Patent No. 5,594,934 and U.S. Patent No. 5,629,739 are incorporated herein by reference. Wheeler, et al., In U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 08 / 786,270, filed January 22, 1997, shows a video signal source detection arrangement that determines the source of a signal of video and / or audio that is being displayed by a television receiver. The array implements a variety of tuning measurement approaches. For example, it can be used to read an auxiliary identification code transmitted with television programming, to obtain tunings of characteristic aspects of television programming or to obtain a signal that is matched with a contemporary reference signal obtained by means of a television tuner controlled by measuring equipment. The aforementioned description of the aforementioned United States Patent Application Serial No. 08 / 786,270 is incorporated herein by reference. Chan, in the United States of America Patent Application Serial No. 08 / 654,309, filed May 28, 1996, shows a sensor arrangement for non-intrusively obtaining a representation of video signals and synchronization of a television receiver. The description of the aforementioned US Patent Application Serial No. 08 / 654,309 is hereby incorporated by reference. Changes are required in the methods of measuring the reception of a television or radio program due to a planned relay of analogue to digital transmission. In the United States, the relief was scheduled to take place in 2006, as documented in the Mass Media File of the Federal Communications Commission 87-268, with particular reference to the Fifth Report and Order, FCC 97-116 , April 3, 1997 and the Sixth Report and Order, FCC 97-115 of April 3, 1997. Some of the changes, and their respective impacts on the approaches used to measure analog transmissions, include the following: (1) digital transmission techniques do not use a vertical blanking interval and, therefore, the tracking and program identification codes that are written in the vertical blank range of the analogue transmission signals will not be transmitted, - (2) multiple signal formats and associated multiple visual display formats that have, among other aspects, different height-to-width ratios and different resolutions are allowed, so that the methods Two correlations of existing video signals used with analog transmissions can be essentially disabled because these methods depend on making the same image appearance appear in corresponding places in the measured and reference visual displays.; (3) a transmitter can transmit as many as six programs (accommodated as a sequence of data packets, where each data packet is labeled as if the program data were carried therein) within a frequency band of six megahertz assigned by managing the image resolution for an increase in the number of programs so that (i) the digital signal compression methods used to decrease the spectrum space required by a program destroy the program identification codes integrated into a master program , high resolution, original, and (ii) determining which channel has been tuned by a receiver does not univocally identify a program that is being viewed if more than one program is being broadcast on that channel; and, (4) data other than television transmission may be co-transmitted on the same channel and, in some cases, it is expected that the other data will be related in some way to the co-transmitted program so that a viewer can interact with the programming television (for example, to obtain a program guide or detailed information about an advertised product, to automatically switch to a desired program, or to take part in an audience participation program). It will be noted that, although the methods of compressing and transmitting projected digital signals destroy the types of video codes used in, and suggested for, the analog transmission approaches of the previous generation, it is expected that less change will be found with respect to the audio codes. That is, because the audio component of a television transmission comprises much less information than the video has, much less is gained by applying signal compression methods in the audio. However, it is expected that several audio compression methods will be employed. These methods include those defined by the Dolby AC-3 or the European MUSICAN standards, or those defined by some standard to be defined operable within the relatively open and flexible MPEG array. Although the coding approaches shown in the aforementioned US Pat. No. 5,404,377 are known to survive the Dolby AC-3 and MUSICAN compression methods, other compression methods than the Dolby AC-3 and MUSICAN can destroy these codes. . Moreover, although the change in technology may obviate the use of any of the codes, such as those described above, other codes (for example, digital data packet codes that tell a reception site which of several interleaved programs will be used). associated with a given data packet) is expected to be transmitted both with television programming and with data transmitted that are related to, and intended to be used in conjunction with, one or more of the programs. In addition to changes in equipment and transmission signals, considerable changes are expected in the reception equipment. Notable among these are both the use of upper-box signal converters (generally known as upper boxes) allowing a digital transmission to be viewed on an analog receiver, as well as a projected convergence of television receivers and computers. In the short term, for example, it is expected that digital receivers, configured as plug-in boards for personal computers, will be used to allow the display of digital television signals on computers. Another traditional measurement reflected in the television audience report has been the determination of who really sees the program that was received by the team that is being monitored at a statistically selected monitoring site. A related measure of interest is the identification of users in online services, such as the online services provided over the Internet. Also, it is clear that measuring members of an audience at a statistically selected monitoring site that is interactively using a television and / or access to the Internet, and the information management apparatus used to deliver the information to the members will continue to be important. By far the most commonly used approach to making these measurements is that of interrogation, where the viewer and / or Internet user is asked to identify himself as a member of a television audience and / or as an Internet user. In relation to television observation, this inquiry is usually used by means of an electronic prompting device and data entry (commonly known as a "Peoplemeter" meter) associated with a receiver monitored at a statistically selected monitoring site. Member identification may also include age, sex, and other demographic information. It is common to store both the demographic data and the tuning data associated with each receiver monitored at the statistically selected monitoring site on the store and send equipment located within the monitoring site and to subsequently send this data to a central office computer via a computer. direct call over the public switched telephone network, or via the Internet, daily. Of particular interest in this area is the teaching of an auditory interrogation arrangement described by McKenna et al. In U.S. Patent No. 4,816,904. According to this arrangement, an incitement message is displayed on the television screen superimposed on the selected program of the spectator by mixing the incitement message with the video signal that is being sent to the visual display. However, McKenna et al. Do not teach a "twinkling" arrangement where the incitement message is displayed on a portion of the visual display separated from the portion of the visual display dedicated to the television image. Many arrangements have been proposed in the technique of computing to reliably identify a user so that only selected individuals can ensure access to any of the data in a computer or a computer system. The most common of these arrangements is the one that requires the user to enter both their claimed identity along with a password. Other arrangements have included the use of various biometric techniques, such as image or speech recognition devices. Additionally, it is well known in auditory measurement techniques to use computer-based image recognition in order to identify members of an audience of viewers. Notable among these teachings in this area is Lu in U.S. Patent No. 4,858,000. The teaching of this patent is incorporated herein by reference. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a television auditorium measurement system identifies a television program selected by a viewer from a plurality of television programs transmitted simultaneously on a television channel. The television auditorium measurement system comprises a channel detector and a comparator. The channel detector detects the transmitted channel in which the plurality of television programs is being transmitted. The comparator sequentially compares an audio component of the plurality of television programs transmitted on the detected transmission channel with an audio signal of the television program selected by the viewer so as to identify the television program selected by the viewer. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a television auditorium measuring system for digital television equipment that is arranged in a statistically selected location. The television auditorium measurement system comprises a software agent and an interface and communication apparatus. The software agent is adapted to read, from a data packet contained in the digital television programming, a data identifying a television program, and the software agent is stored in the memory associated with the digital television equipment . The interface and the communication device is adapted to transmit the identification data to a central office located remotely. In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, a television auditorium measurement system identifies a television program selected by a viewer from a plurality of television programs transmitted as a multiplexed time division sequence of data packets in a transmission channel. The television program selected by the viewer is displayed in a visual television display in a statistically selected place. The television auditorium measurement system comprises a reception element, element of acquisition, element of recovery, and element of comparison. The receiving element receives the time division multiplexed sequence of data packets in the transmission channel. The acquisition element acquires an audio portion of the television program selected by the viewer. The recovery element recovers the audio components respectively corresponding to the television programs contained in the sequence of data packets. The comparison element compares the audio components with the audio portion in order to determine the television program selected by the viewer. According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a television auditorium measuring system measures the observation of a television program viewed on digital television located at a statistically selected site and comprises a detection element, an extraction element, a software agent and a selection element. The detection element detects an audio code incorporated in the television program in order to identify the television program. The extraction element extracts an audio tuning from the television program in order to identify the television program. The software agent is arranged to identify the television program. The selection element selects at least one of the detection elements, extraction elements, and the software agent in order to identify the television program. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for identifying a television program selected by a viewer from a set of television programs transmitted as multiplexed data packets in a transmission channel selected by the viewer. The television program selected by the viewer is displayed in a portion of the visual display of an apparatus tuned to the transmission channel selected by the viewer. The method includes the following steps: a) determine the transmission channel selected by the viewer; b) acquire an audio portion of the television program selected by the viewer; c) selecting an audio component associated with one of a set of television programs transmitted on the transmission channel selected by the viewer; d) comparing the audio portion with the audio component in order to determine whether the audio portion and the audio component match; e) if the audio portion and the audio component match, store a tuning register of at least one of the audio portion and the audio component; and, f) if the audio portion and the audio component do not match, select a different one from the television programs of the television set and repeat steps c) through f) until a match is found or exhaust the set of television programs. In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for identifying a television program selected by a viewer from a plurality of overlapping television programs transmitted on a transmission channel selected by the viewer. The television program selected by the viewer is displayed in a first window of a multi-window visual television display. A data file, logically related to the television program selected by the viewer, is also transmitted on the channel selected by the viewer so that it overlaps in time with the television program selected by the viewer. The television program selected by the viewer and the data file contain respective labels indicating the logical relationship. Data from the data file is displayed in a second window of the multi-window display. The method comprises the following steps: a) reading, from the data file, the label of the respective data file and an identification data; b) finding, from the logical relationship, the television program label associated with the label of the respective data file; and, c) storing a stamped record in the time comprising the identified data. According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a software agent is stored in the memory associated with the digital television equipment. The software agent is configured to acquire television auditorium measurement data related to the digital television equipment. The software agent comprises a first, second and third registration elements. The first registration element records a television program identification data that identifies a television program selected to be viewed on the digital television equipment. The second registration element records a co-transmitted identification data associated with data transmitted with the selected television program to be viewed on the digital television equipment. The third record element records an Internet identification data associated with an Internet task of the digital television equipment. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from a detailed consideration of the invention when taken in conjunction with the drawings in which; Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram representing a typical digital television transmission and reception equipment; Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram representing an audio-based tuning measurement system that is usable with either digital or analog transmission and which is in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram representing a tuning measurement system employing a software agent resident in any of the monitored receiving equipment and which is in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 is a schematic block diagram representing the use of digital source detection according to a third embodiment of the present invention; Figure 5 is a schematic block diagram representing the use of a digital source detection according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention; Figure 6 is a schematic block diagram representing the use of data ports in various television observation equipment for the purpose of measuring television related data according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention; and, Figure 7 is a block diagram representing the operation of a software agent of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A typical digital television transmission environment, which is planned during a transition period in which both digital and analogue programs are transmitted, may comprise some combination of the elements depicted in Figure 1. Programming of the network, and other non-local programming, is provided to a local television station 10 from a transmission station on a communication medium 12, such as a satellite, or digital terrestrial transmission lines, or the like. Local programming is also provided to the local television station 10 of some mix of high definition television (HDTV) 14 cameras (which can employ a variety of formats), standard definition 16 digital video cameras (which can employ a variety of resolutions and aspect ratios), and analog sources that comprise both analog video cameras 18 (for example, those compatible with the previous generation of the NTSC transmission standard), and sources of film films that historically have become NTSC standard by means of well-known telecine 22. The signals of the analog video cameras 18 and the film film sources 20 are input to an analog to digital A / D converter 24 having a suitable digital output. The outputs of the analog-to-digital converter 24, from the communication medium 12, from the high definition television (HDTV) cameras 14, and / or the standard definition digital video cameras 16 are provided to an apparatus of switching and routing 26. The switching and routing apparatus 26 passes the selected signals provided to it through the digital compression equipment 28 before being transmitted from the transmitter of the station 30. The transmitter of the station 30 may also include a antenna, a satellite dish, a cable modem, or similar. In addition, the forward end of the cable 31 (which is shown as a single cable supplier but can represent a plurality of cable suppliers) receives signals over the air, satellite distribution, or the like, and distributes the signals (with or without reformation) by regular cables, optical fibers, microwaves, or the like. The digital transmission of the television station and / or the front end of the cable 31 can be directly received and displayed at a statistically selected monitoring site 32 by a digital television set 34. The digital transmission can also be directly received and converted by a digital converter 36 (commonly configured as a top box or STB) in an analog output (for example, in the NTSC format) to be used by an analog television set 38 purchased by a viewer before relay to digital programming. The digital transmission can also be directly received and displayed by a personal computer 40 having a digital receiver 42 that provides a baseband video output signal that the personal computer 40 can display in one of the windows 44 defined in its unit of visual display 46. The digital receiver 42, for example, could be a plug on the board of the personal computer 40 or integrated into the motherboard. The personal computer may also have speakers 47, a keyboard 48, and a mouse 50 or other pointing device known in the art. Moreover, the digital transmission can be received directly and converted by a digital converter 52 to a form usable by a digital television device 54. For example, the digital converter 52 can be used for pay-per-view television programming, programming of demand video television, satellite programs, and / or other services provided to the statistically selected monitoring site 32. The digital transmission may also be received and converted directly by a digital converter 56 to a form usable by a simple monitor 58. In Either of these two cases, the observation of digital television can be measured by means of measurement technologies similar to the upper case and an analogue television configuration described below. In addition to the direct reception of digital transmission by the device dedicated solely to that purpose (for example, the digital television device 34 and / or the personal computer 40), it is expected that several electronic devices will be configured yet to be defined by the consumer that incorporate at least some of the characteristics of both the digital or analog television receiver like from a home computer. A first embodiment 60 of the present invention, which measures the tuning to digital television programming received at a statistically selected monitoring site 62, is schematically depicted in Figure 2. The first mode 60 measures this tuning by detecting program identification codes. and / or extracting tunings from the audio portion of the television signal to which a receiver is tuned. This portion of audio is detected by a detector 64 in the case of a digital television set 66, and by a detector 68 in the case of an analogue television set 70. The detector 64 can detect the audio portion of a program at which digital television set 66 is tuned to non-intrusively detecting the sound provided by the speaker 72 of the digital television set 66 (in which case the detector 64 may be a microphone) or intrusively detecting the audio signal from of a direct connection to a loudspeaker, the audio output terminals, or the audio processing circuit of the digital television set 66. Similarly, the detector 68 can detect the audio portion of a program to which the analog television set 70 is tuned by non-intrusively detecting the sound provided by a loudspeaker 74 of the digital television set 66 or intrusively detecting the audio signal from a direct connection to a loudspeaker, the audio output terminals, or the audio processing circuit of the analog television set 70. The analog television receiver 70 is provided with a digital converter 76, which may be similar to the digital converter 36 of Figure 1. The audio portion of the television program may also be detected by a detector 78 when the television program is played by a personal computer 80 on a monitor 82 and the speakers 84 The detector 78 can detect the audio portion of a program to which the personal computer 80 is tuned and non-intrusively detecting the sound provided by the speakers 84 or intrusively detecting the audio signal from a direct connection to the loudspeaker, the audio output terminals, or the audio processing circuit of the personal computer 80. As has been shown by Thomas et al., in U.S. Patent No. 5,629,739, a representation of the portion of audio collected by the detector 64 by a unit of site (SU) 86 and / or a home unit (HU) 88 (which can be provided with a data storage capacity and sending unit) within the statistically selected monitoring site 62 in order to determine whether the audio portion of the apparatus Digital television 66 contains identification codes of television programs. Alternatively, the representation of the audio portion collected by the detector 64 can be analyzed in a central data collection office located at a distance 90 in order to determine whether the audio portion of the digital television apparatus 66 contains such codes of identification of television programs. The centralized remote data collection office 90 is schematically represented as a central computer-based data collection office that exchanges data with a home unit 88 over a communication network 92, such as a public switched telephone network, the Internet , or similar. Likewise, an audio portion representation collected by the detector 68 may be analyzed by a site unit 94 and / or the home unit 88 in order to determine whether the audio portion of the analog television apparatus 70 contains codes of identification of television programs, and a representation of the portion of audio collected by the detector 78 can be analyzed by a site unit 96 and / or the home unit 88 in order to determine whether the audio portion of the personal computer 80 contains identification codes of television programs. Alternatively, the representation of the audio portions collected by the detectors 68 and 78 can be analyzed at the remote data collection central office 90 for the purpose of determining whether the audio portions of the analog television set 70 and the computer personal 80 contain identification codes of television programs. Moreover, a person identifier 98 can be provided in order to identify the people who watch the television programming on the digital television set 66. The person identifier 98 can be a video camera, an infrared camera, or Similary. When this equipment is available at the statistically selected monitoring site 62, the site unit 86 may employ known front location and face recognition software (for example, as shown by Lu in U.S. Patent No. 4,858,000) for the identification of the spectators and for the collection of other demographic data. Similarly, identifiers of persons can be provided in order to identify persons who watch television programming on the analog television set 70 and the personal computer 80. Instead of analyzing the representations of the audio portions collected by the detectors 64, 68, and 78 in order to determine whether the audio portions of the corresponding digital television apparatus 66, the analog television set 70, and the personal computer 80 contain identification codes of television programs, can be to extract characteristic syntheses of these representations for the subsequent comparison, either in the statistically selected monitoring site 62 or in the central office 90, with reference tunes collected previously in order to identify the television programs to which the television set digital 66, the analog television set 70, and the computer eg Rsonal 80 are tuned. The programs played by videocassette recorders on the digital television set 66, on the analogue television set 70, and on the personal computer 80 can be identified using either the code or the tuning technique. In this way, if the programs that are being reproduced carry program identification codes that are preserved through the recording and reproduction process in the case of an out of phase view in time, or that are recorded in the programs stored in tapes that are going to be rented or sold, the codes of program identification can be detected at the moment in which the programs are reproduced so that the audiences of the programs can be measured. However, if the programs being reproduced are non-encrypted programs, or if the program identification codes are lost (eg, during the recording process), then the embodiments of the present invention described herein may determine the programs that are being watched, when the tapes are reproduced, extracting the characteristic synths of these programs and matching the extracted synths with reference tunes stored in the reference tuning database. In this case, the search can be optimized by the use of key calculation techniques. Although the present invention can use either the code technique or the tuning technique in order to measure audiences of the programs reproduced in digital television equipment, the present invention can use both of these techniques so that one of the techniques reinforces to the other in case a technique can not identify a television program selected by the viewer. For example, tuning is extracted and paired in order to identify a television program selected by the viewer only if identification codes can not be detected. As another alternative, the present invention can use these two techniques simultaneously. Demographic data may also be collected in connection with the present invention. It can be noted that although the first mode 60 measures the vast majority of the global auditorium, it is not configured to measure interactive features (e.g., details of co-transmitted announcements) that are expected to be part of the digital broadcasting environment. Therefore, an important characteristic of the following modality is that it measures interactive features. In accordance with the foregoing, a second embodiment 100 of the present invention is provided as shown in Figure 3. The second mode 100 measures the tuning to digital television programming in relation to the statistically selected monitoring site 102. As will be apparent from the discussion below, this second embodiment 100 may include some or all of the features of the first embodiment 60, as well as the new features described below in relation to the second embodiment 100. According to this second embodiment 100, the data of tuning, and possibly demographic data, are collected from the digital television reception equipment that includes processing equipment that preferably has available non-volatile or battery-backed memory so that an algorithm, hereinafter referred to as a software agent , it can be stored in it. The digital television reception equipment of the second mode 100 may include (i) a personal computer 104 which may be similar to the personal computer 40 of Figure 1, (ii) a digital converter 106 which may be similar to the digital converter 36 of Figure 1, (iii) an analog television set 108 operating in response to the digital converter 106, and (v) a digital television set 110. One or more software agents of the second mode 100, as described in FIG. Further detail hereinafter, they monitor the operation tasks in order to create stamped time records containing tuning and / or other data with respect to the operation of particular pieces of equipment in which the software agents are resident. . These monitored operation tasks can be, for example, messages passed from a remote control or another operated by a user to a tuner or other program selector in order to select a television program that is being transmitted on a channel, past messages from a processing equipment controller to a tuner in order to select a television program that is being transmitted on a channel, or the like. Although software agents are expected to effectively be able to illegally listen to data traffic passing through their central computer data ports, the use of software agents would not fully measure the tuning in observation sites unless each The television team's article on those sites has a respective software agent within it so that a full set of operation tasks can be captured.

In accordance with the foregoing, a software agent 112 is included in the digital converter 106. The software agent 112 monitors the operation tasks in order to create stamped time records containing tuning and / or other data with respect to the operation of the digital converter 106 in which the software agent 112 is resident. In this way, the software agent 112 detects, for example, a message related to the selection of a television program that is being transmitted on a selected channel. From this detected message, the identity of the selected television program can be determined. The software agent 112 is also arranged to illegally listen to the data traffic passing through its input / output data port of the central computer 114, and communicate over the input / output data port 114. In accordance with the above, the programs to which the analogue television set 108 is tuned can be detected by the use of the software agent 112. The software agent 112 can be copied over a communication means 116 to the digital converter 106 by using the input / output data port 114. Alternatively, the software agent 112 can be plugged in, resident in a floppy disk, or the like. Likewise, a software agent 118 is included in the digital television set 110. The software agent 118 monitors the operating tasks associated with the digital television set 110 in order to create stamped time records containing tuning. and / or other data with respect to the operation of the digital television set in which the software agent 118 is resident. The software agent 118 is also accommodated to cooperate with its guest input / output data port 120. A software agent 122 is included in the personal computer 104. The software agent 122 monitors operating tasks associated with the personal computer. 104 for the purpose of creating stamped time records containing tuning and / or other data with respect to the operation of the personal computer 104 in which the software agent 122 is resident. The software agent 122 is also configured to cooperate with its input / output data port of the central computer 124. Moreover, a person identifier 126 can be provided in order to identify the people who watch television programming on the personal computer 104. As in the case of the person identifier 98, the person identifier 126 may be a video camera, an infrared camera, or the like, and may be provided with any rte or all the observation equipment shown in Figure 4. The software agents 112, 118, and 122 can be telecommunication enabled so that the television auditor data from all observation sites in the monitoring site statistically selected 102 a public telephone system, or the like, can be communicated via the Internet, with a locally located or remotely located intermediate data collector 128 and then with a central office located remotely 130 through a communication channel 170. The data collector intermediary 128 can be located flexibly either in the same statistically selected monitoring site 102, or in a remotely located site 166, or in the central office 130. For this purpose, the input / output data ports 114, 120, and 124 can be serial ports, parallel ports, universal serial bus bars (USB), thermosensitive wires (according to IEEE 139 4), or similar. The data transfer can, for example, be structured as a background task and take the form of a sequence of data packets, each of which is sent by e-mail or otherwise communicated to the remotely located intermediary data collector. during breaks in the user's online sessions or at any other time. The intermediary data collector 128For example, it can be a computerized data collector or an Internet service provider. Alternatively, the intermediate data collector 128 may be in a home unit, in which case, the intermediate data collector 128 may be located within the statistically selected monitoring site 102 and may itself be configured to communicate the tuning and demographic data via mail. electronic or other communication with the head office 130. The software agent 122 can additionally monitor the personal computer 104 for interactive uses such as Internet use (for example, through the registration of universal resource locators, URL), use of application software, and television observation supported by the personal computer 104. Similarly, to the extent that the digital converter 106 and the digital television apparatus 110 are enabled by the network, the software agents 114 and 118 may monitor interactive uses such as Internet use (for example, through registration of universal resource locators) and the use of application software, as well as the observation of television. Because not all the equipment that is found by a research company doing television auditorium research, at least during the initial part of the era of digital television transmission, will be compatible with the software agent approach discussed above, the second mode 100 of the measurement system of the present invention can be configured to include many or all of the features found in the first mode 60. As described above, the first mode 60 measures the vast majority of the global audience by detecting the programs in which the receivers are tuned by detecting the program identification codes incorporated in the programs, and / or extracting synths from the programs that are being watched and comparing the extracted synths with reference tunings. Moreover, the second 100 mode measures not only the global audience, but also the interactive features provided with the programming. The modalities described below are specifically configured to measure, in an efficient manner, the digital television observation data where multiple television programs are present in a common digital transmission channel (eg, six megahertz), particularly when a digital television device does not have an accessible operating system with which the software agent can reside. The first mode 60 is also useful where there is no input / output interface in the television set so that there is no easy way to read data from the television set. Figure 4 depicts a third embodiment 200 of the invention in which a statistically selected monitoring site 202, during the transition period when both the analog transmission and the digital transmission is presented, includes, for example, a first observation site 204 , a second observation site 206, and a third observation site 208. The first observation site 204 includes a digital converter 210 connected to an analog television set 212. The audio portion of a program to which the television set is tuned. Analog television 212 is detected by a detector 214. The detector 214 can detect this portion of audio by non-intrusively detecting the sound provided by a loudspeaker 216 of the analog television set 212 or by intrusively detecting the audio signal from a direct connection to the analog television set 212. A probe 218 is provided to detect the signal of intermediate frequency of the digital converter 210. A signal processor 220 demodulates the detected intermediate frequency signal to the bitstream of the baseband contained in the intermediate frequency signal detected, and then demultiplex the bitstream of the baseband to recover the audio portion of the baseband bit stream. A comparator 222 may be configured to first determine if there is a program identification code in the audio detected by the detector 214. If there is an identification code in the audio detected by the detector 214, this program identification code identifies the program to which the analogue television set 212 is tuned and is therefore registered. If there is no program identification code in the audio detected by the detector 214, the comparator 222 then scans the audio portion of the baseband bit stream provided by the signal processor 220 in order to detect the audio in a first program contained in the intermediate frequency signal detected by the probe 218. The comparator 222 compares this audio with the audio data of the detector 214. If there is a match, the program to which the digital converter 210 is tuned is known from the information provided by the signal processor 220. If there is no match, the comparator 222 then scans the audio portion of the baseband bitstream provided by the signal processor 220 in order to detect the audio in the second program contained in the intermediate frequency signal detected by the probe 218, and so on until the comparator 222 detects a match. As soon as a match is found, the major and minor channel numbers of the matching channel are known, and the corresponding program identification auxiliary code can be read from the corresponding data packet. The second observation site 206 includes a digital television apparatus 224. The audio portion of a program to which the digital television apparatus 224 is tuned is detected by a detector 226. The detector 226 detects this portion of audio by detecting non-detectable intruding the sound provided by a loudspeaker 228 of the digital television set 224 or intrusively detecting the audio signal from a direct connection to the digital television set 224. A probe 230 is provided to detect the intermediate frequency signal of the television set digital 224. A signal processor 232 operates in a manner similar to the signal processor 220 in order to provide the audio portion of the baseband bitstream in the intermediate frequency signal detected by the probe 230. A comparator 234 operates similarly to the comparator 222 in order to first determine if there is a program identification code ma in the audio detected by the detector 226 and, if not present, scanning the audio portion of the baseband bit stream provided by the signal processor 232 until a match is found. The third observation site 208 includes a personal computer 236. The audio portion of a program to which the personal computer 236 is tuned is detected by a detector 238. The detector 238 detects this portion of audio by non-intrusively detecting the sound provided by the 240 speakers of the personal computer 236 or intrusively detecting the audio signal from a direct connection to the personal computer 236.

A probe 242 is provided to detect the intermediate frequency signal of the personal computer 236. The signal processor 244 operates similarly to the signal processor 220 in order to provide the audio portion of the baseband bitstream in the intermediate frequency signal detected by the probe 242. The comparator 246 operates in a manner similar to the comparator 222 in order to first determine whether there is already a program identification code in the audio detected by the detector 238, and, if there is no , scanning the audio portion of the baseband bitstream provided by the signal processor 244 until a match is found. The comparators 222, 234, and 246 provide their program identification codes from audio or from the data packet, and / or pair information with a home unit 248, which may be provided with storage capacity and shipping unit, within of the statistically selected monitoring site 202. A remotely located central data collection office 250 is schematically represented as a central data collection office based on a computer that exchanges data with the home unit 248 over a communications network 252, such as a public switched telephone network, the Internet, or similar. Moreover, a person identifier 254 can be provided in order to identify people who watch television programming on the digital television device 224. As in the case of the person identifier 98, the person identifier 254 can be a video camera, an infrared camera, or the like, and may be provided with any part or all of the observation equipment shown in Figure 4. Alternatively, instead of using intermediate frequency probes for the probes 218, 230, and 242, local oscillator probes can be used. The local oscillator probe can be used to initially identify the channel tuned by its associated television receiver, which offers a significant speed advantage in the measurement. That is, because the channel detection apparatus normally operates much faster than the audio signal comparison apparatus does, the process of determining the program can be carried out in a hierarchical manner in which the The transmitted channel is first determined from the local oscillator signal by the signal processors 220, 232, and 244 (assuming that a program identification code is not first detected). Then, the comparators 232, 234, and 246 sequentially tune to the programs co-transmitted in the detected transmission channel and compare the audio portion of the tuned program with the audio data of the detectors 214, 226, and 238 in order to identify the program in the transmission channel. In this way, comparators 222, 234, and 246 are not required to be sequentially tuned through all the programs on all available channels in order to determine the tuned program. Still another alternative is provided in a fourth mode 300 of the invention shown in Figure 5. The fourth mode 300 is used in a statistically selected monitoring site 302 having a first observation site 304, a second observation site 306, and a third observation site 308. The first observation site 304 includes a digital converter 310 connected to an analog television apparatus 312. The audio portion of a program to which the television set 312 is tuned is detected by a detector 314. The detector 314 can detect this audio portion by non-intrusively detecting the sound provided by a loudspeaker 316 of the analog television set 312 or by intrusively detecting the audio signal from a direct connection to the audio processing circuit of the analog television set 312 A scan receiver 318 is adapted to sequentially tune to each of the progr masters carried on each transmission channel to which the digital converter 310 can be tuned, and providing an audio portion of each of these programs to a comparator 320. The comparator 320 may be adapted to first determine if there is a program identification code in the audio detected by the detector 314. If there is an identification code of program in the audio detected by the detector 314, this program identification code is recorded because it identifies the program to which the analog television set 312 is tuned. If there is no program identification code in the audio detected by the detector 314, the comparator 320 then compares the audio portion of a first program provided by the scanning receiver 318 with the audio data of the detector 314. If there is a match, the program to which the digital converter 310 is tuned is known to from the information provided by the scan receiver 318. As soon as a match is found, the major and minor channel numbers r of the paired channel are known, and the auxiliary identification code of the program can be read from the corresponding data packet. If there is no match, the comparator 320 compares the audio portion of a second program provided by the scan receiver 318 with the audio data of the detector 314, and so on until the comparator 320 detects a match. The demographic input 322 may be used to provide demographic data to the comparator 320 which couples this demographic data, and time, to the program to which the digital converter 310 is tuned as a tuning register. The 322 demographic entry, for example, may be the well-known people meter with which people normally identify themselves manually when they are watching a program shown on a television set. The second observation site 306 includes a digital television apparatus 324. The audio portion of a program to which the digital television apparatus 324 is tuned is detected by a detector 326. The detector 326 detects this portion of audio by detecting non-detectable intruding the sound provided by a loudspeaker 328 of the digital television set 324 or intrusively detecting the audio signal from a direct connection to the digital television set 324. A scan receiver 330 is configured to sequentially tune to each of the programs carried on each transmission channel to which the digital television apparatus 324 can be tuned, and provide an audio portion of each of these programs to a comparator 332. The comparator 332 can be configured to first determine whether there is a code of program identification in the audio detected by the detector 326. If there is a program identification code in the audio detected by the detector 326, this program identification code is recorded because it identifies the program to which the digital television set 324 is tuned. If there is no program identification code in the audio detected by the detector 326, the comparator 332 then compares the audio portion of a first program provided by the scan receiver 330 with the audio data of the detector 326. If there is a match, the program to which the digital television set 324 is tuned is known by the information provided by the scan receiver 330. If there is no match, the comparator 332 compares the audio portion of a second program provided by the scan receiver 330 with the audio data of the detector 326, and so on until the comparator 332 detects a match Furthermore, a person identifier 334 can be provided in order to identify people who watch television programming on the digital television set 224. As in the case of the person identifier 98, the person identifier 254 can be A video camera, an infrared camera, or the like, and may be provided with any part or all of the observation equipment shown in Figure 4. The comparator 332 couples the identifications of the people who see the digital television 324, and the time, with the program to which the digital television set 324 is tuned as a tuning register. The third observation site 308 includes a personal computer 336. The audio portion of a program to which the personal computer 336 is tuned is detected by a detector 338. The detector 338 detects this portion of audio by non-intrusively detecting the sound provided by loudspeakers 340 of the personal computer 336 or by intrusively detecting the audio signal from a direct connection to the personal computer 336. A scanning receiver 342 is adapted to sequentially tune to each of the programs carried on each transmission channel to the which personal computer 336 can be tuned, and provide an audio portion of each of these programs to a comparator 344. Comparator 344 can be adapted to first determine if there is a program identification code in the audio detected by the detector 338. If there is a program identification code in the audio detected by the detector 338, it is The program identification code is recorded because it identifies the program to which the personal computer 336 is tuned. If there is no program identification code in the audio detected by the detector 338, the comparator 344 then compares the audio portion of the program. a first program provided by the scan receiver 342 with the audio data of the detector 338. If there is a match, the program to which the personal computer 336 is tuned is known from the major and minor channel numbers indicated by the coincidence . If there is no match, the comparator 344 compares the audio portion of a second program provided by the scan receiver 342 with the audio data of the detector 338, and so on until the comparator 344 detects a match. The comparator 344 couples time with the program in which the personal computer 336 is tuned as a tuning register. The comparators 222, 234, and 246 provide their tuning registers to a home unit 346, which may be provided with data storage and dispatch unit capacity, within the statistically selected monitoring site 302. A central data collection office. remotely located data 348 is schematically represented as a central computer-based data collection office that exchanges data with the home unit 346 over a communications network 350, such as a public switched telephone network, the Internet, or the like. It is likely that many, if not all, digital television sets, digital converters, and similar digital equipment will have output data ports that will provide program information selected by the viewer for use on consumer devices connected to the data ports. . In relation to digital televisions, a data port probably provides, for example, the full channel ATSC data stream and the information on virtual channels which may include identification of the selection of important analog or digital channels, selection of programs ( minor channel), physical source (TV, VCR, DVD, etc.), and the like. In relation to digital converters (ie, top boxes), a data port probably provides, for example, the full ATSC bit stream and information on virtual channels which may include analog or digital major channel selection, program selection ( minor channel), vertical blank interval data reinserted into the correct line and analog signal field, and similar. In accordance with the foregoing, a fifth mode 400 of the present invention is provided as shown in Figure 6. The fifth mode 400 measures the tuning to digital television programming in relation to the selected monitoring site 402. The fifth mode 400 may include some or all of the features of the modalities described above. The fifth mode 400 allows tuning data and possibly demographic data of the digital television reception equipment to be collected including (i) a personal computer 404, (ii) a digital converter 406, (iii) an analog television set 408 that it operates in response to the digital converter 406, and (v) a digital television apparatus 410.

The digital converter 406 has a data port 412. A site unit 414 reads and stores the complete ATSC bit stream, the analog or digital major channel selection, the program selection, the vertical blank interval data, and / or similar data available in the data port 412 for the purpose of determining the selected program for viewing on the analog television set 408 as well as any other desired and available information. Furthermore, site unit 414 can be configured to collect demographic data related to viewers in the selected program auditorium to view it on an analog television set 408. For example, site unit 414 can collect demographic data from a personal identifier , a person meter, or similar, as discussed above. All this data can be copied onto a communication means 416, which can be a cable, a power line, an infrared link, a radio frequency modem, or the like. Similarly, the digital television apparatus 410 has a data port 418. A site unit 420 reads and stores the full channel major ATSC bit stream, the largest channel selection, the program selection, the source identification physical, and similar data available at the data port 418 for the purpose of determining the selected program to be viewed on the digital television set 410 as well as other desirable and available information. Moreover, the site unit 420 can be accommodated to collect demographic data related to the viewers in the selected program auditorium to view on the digital television set 408. For example, the site unit 420 can collect demographic data from an identifier of people, a person meter, or similar, as discussed above. All this data can be copied onto a communication means 421. Also, the personal computer 404 has a data port 422. A site unit 424 reads and stores the full channel major ATSC bitstream, the largest channel selection, the program selection, and similar data available in the data port 422 in order to determine the selected program for viewing on the personal computer 404 as well as any other desired and available information. Moreover, a personal identifier 426 can be provided in order to identify people who watch television programming on the personal computer 404. As in the case of the person identifier 98, the person identifier 426 can be a video camera, an infrared camera, or the like, and may be provided with any or all of the observation equipment shown in Figure 6. All programs and demographic data can be copied to a 427 communication medium.

The site units 414, 420, and 424 can be enabled for telecommunication so that the television auditor data from the observation sites in the statistically selected monitoring site 402 can communicate, via the Internet, a system of public telephone, or the like, to a locally and remotely located intermediary data collector 428 and then to a remotely located central office 430 through a communication channel 470. The intermediary data collector 428 can be located flexibly either in the same site of monitoring selected statistically 402, or in a remotely located site 466, or in the central office 430. For this purpose, site units 414, 420, and 424 can be provided with serial ports, parallel ports, universal serial busbars (USB), thermosensitive wires (in accordance with IEEE 1394), or similar. The intermediary data collector 428, for example, may be a computerized data collector or an Internet service provider.

Alternatively, the intermediary data collector 428 can be a home unit, in which case, the intermediate data collector 428 can be located within the statistically selected monitoring site 402 and can be configured to communicate tuning and demographic data via email or another type of communication to the central office 430.

The software agent 500 is shown in Figure 7. The software agent 500 can be used for any of the software agents 112, 118, and 122. As shown in block 502 of the software agent 500, the agent of Software 500 copies the current operation task. If the current operation task uses a television programming package as determined in block 504, software agent 500 in block 506 determines whether the data packet has a decodable packet label that includes a program identification code. decodable, name, or other indicator. This program identification data packet is expected to be a feature of digital television programming, particularly if multiple programs are packaged simultaneously as minor channels in a transmission channel in a digital broadcast environment, and it is expected to identify the tuned program by the monitored television. If the data packet does not have a decodable packet tag, the software agent 500 in block 508 causes the ON status of the monitoring observation equipment to be registered, provided that this ON state is a new status for the monitored spectator team and that the monitored spectator team is ON. The balance of the measurement system (e.g., the audio signal methods employed by any of the other modes 60, 200 and 300 described above) depends on the order to identify the tuning. The program flow then returns to block 502 to wait for the new operation task. On the other hand, if the data packet does have a decodable packet tag, the software agent 500 determines in block 510 whether the package label of the data packet of the current operation task is the same as the package label. previously determined by software agent 500. If so, there is no need to store the package label unless it is merely indicative of a continued observation of a previously identified television program. In accordance with the above, the program flow returns to block 502 to wait for the next operation task. However, if the package label of the data packet of the current operation system task is not the same as the package label previously determined in block 506, the software agent 500 in block 512 registers the identification of the program television as content on the program's label and also records the time. The program flow then returns to block 502 to wait for the next operation task. If the current operation task does not use a television programming package as determined in block 504, software agent 500 in block 514 determines whether the current operation task is a command to another monitored equipment (for example, a command to digital television receiver 110 to tune to a different channel and to select one in particular from the N programs that are being transmitted on that channel). If the operation task is a command to another monitoring equipment, the software agent 500 in block 516 records as many details as are available (for example, the same command, the identity of the issuer of the order, and the identity of the receiver of the command) in the memory, and the program flow returns to block 502. If the operation task is not a command to another monitored equipment, the software agent 500 in a block 518 determines whether the transmitted data (i.e. data that is related to one of the television programs that is being broadcast on a channel that is transmitted during the same time interval as the program) has been selected by a viewer. The co-transmitted data may include a guide for other available television programming, details similar to catalogs on products that are being announced in the co-transmitted program, and similar. Some of the proposed uses of the co-transmitted data will be configured so that one can infer which program is being viewed from a universal resource locator or other label that logically links the data transmitted with the television program. In accordance with the foregoing, the software agent 500 in block 520 searches for the portion of the header of a task for that universal resource locator or other tag, and registers this universal resource locator or other tag that is found. After this, the program flow returns to block 502. If the co-transmitted data has not been selected by a viewer, the software agent 500 in block 522 determines whether the user of the equipment has directed its search engine, or other communication software. , to have access to an Internet page (assuming that the observation equipment that is being monitored is configured in such a way that it has access to the Internet or any other online service). If the user of the equipment has directed its browser, or other communication software, to access an Internet page, the software agent 500 in block 524 searches for a universal resource locator or other tag, and registers that resource locator universal or other label that is found. After that, the program flow returns to block 502. If the user of the equipment has not directed its search engine, or other communication software, to access the Internet page, the program flow returns to block 502. As a example of the use of a software agent as described above, consider the case of a person in a statistically selected monitoring site who is watching a digital television program and who sees that an interesting product is being advertised. It is expected that the person will have the ability to request more information about that product by means of a simple mouse oppression operation. These data, for example, will be a subset of the data provided by the ad displayed, or will be subsequently transmitted on the television program signal that the person has selected to watch. This data will be displayed in a separate window in the multi-window display that is being used to watch television. An additional set of data could be obtained by making another oppression on the mouse in the hypertext link element of an information initially displayed. This action would result in a copy of the desired additional data on the Internet. A software agent installed on this observation equipment could not only record what program is being viewed, but also provide additional market research information on the consumer's use of an advertisement in the program. In addition to providing a device for monitoring the tuning activity, the software agent of the present invention can be used to collect demographic data related to the monitored observation. In a manual approach to collecting demographic data, the software agent could generate a status and incitement display in an observation team window that requires a viewer or user to enter the appropriate demographic data. This status and incitement display window might have an appearance similar to that provided by the people meter hardware widely used in contemporary auditory measurements that displays a reminder status light for each occupant of a statistically selected monitoring site. However, in the comparable window display array, the name of each occupant could be displayed along with a status indicator. If the software agent is used with a personal computer that can receive digital television programming, a variety of more quasi-automatic and less intrusive approaches (from the perspective of the television viewer) could be used to collect personal data and update a status display. in mosaic. For example, it is well known to identify an individual user of a manual input device (such as a keyboard or a mouse) of a computer by the characteristic speeds of the data entry and the pauses between the data inputs. In a television auditorium measurement, in which the occupant population to be monitored is very small, measurements of this kind can be expected to be very accurate. Furthermore, an increasing number of personal computers have video cameras associated with them, so that the user of the computer can engage in video conferences over the telephone. When this equipment is available in a statistically selected monitoring site, a software agent comprising a known header location and face recognition software may be employed (eg, as taught by Lu in the United States Patent. number 4,858,000) to identify people and the collection of demographic data. Certain modifications of the present invention have been discussed above. Other modifications will occur to those practicing the technique of the present invention. For example, software agents 112, 118, and 122, as described above, monitor operation tasks. The operation tasks can be operation system events of the operating systems used by the equipment in which the software agent is a resident. Undoubtedly, software agents 112, 118, and 122 can monitor any function of the monitored equipment as long as the desired data is collected. Also, a monitoring site selected statistically according to each of the embodiments of the invention, as described above, includes certain display equipment as well as certain monitoring equipment.

However, it should be understood that a monitoring site selected statistically in accordance with the present invention may include any combination of equipment incorporated in the embodiments described above, as well as other and / or different equipment. Furthermore, the software agent 500 described above can be generic so that it can be used with any piece of equipment with which it is compatible, or it can be specialized for each particular apparatus in which it is used. Also, the software agent 500 can be arranged to detect all window activities carried out by an audience. Further, although not shown in Figures 2-5, the digital television reception equipment of the embodiments shown herein may also include auxiliary digital television equipment such as a video cassette recorder, a digital video disc player, a video game, or other entertainment systems. Additionally, as described above, the program identification codes are detected in order to identify television programs. However, television programs can be identified by any indication such as the names of the programs. Moreover, a website can be identified by its address or by an identification code or name or label or, in the case of an advertisement on the Internet, by its heading. Therefore, any indication from which a television program or content associated with a television program can be identified is generically referred to herein as an identification data. Moreover, the home units 248 and / or 346 may be referred to herein as intermediary data collectors. In accordance with the foregoing, the description of the present invention will be considered illustrative only and is for the purpose of showing those skilled in the art the best way to carry out the invention. The details may vary substantially without departing from the spirit of the invention, and exclusive use is reserved for all modifications which are within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A television auditorium measuring system for identifying a television program selected by a viewer from a plurality of television programs simultaneously transmissible in a transmission channel, the television auditorium measuring system comprises: a channel detector that detects the transmission channel in which the plurality of television programs is transmitted; and, a comparator that sequentially compares an audio component of the plurality of television programs transmitted on the detected transmission channel with an audio signal of the television program selected by the viewer so as to identify the television program selected by the viewer. .

2. The television auditorium measuring system of claim 1 wherein the audio signal is detected by a microphone arranged adjacent to a television display.

3. The television auditorium measuring system of claim 1 wherein the audio signal is detected by an intrusive connection in the equipment related to the television display.

4. The television auditorium measuring system of claim 1 further comprising a program identification data detector which detects, from the television program selected by the viewer, a program identification data indicative of a program identity of television selected by the viewer.

The television auditorium measurement system of claim 4 wherein the program identification data detector comprises a software agent resident in the equipment related to television observation.

6. The television auditorium measurement system of claim 5 wherein the software agent is configured to look up the program identification data.

7. The television auditorium measurement system of claim 4 wherein the audio signal is detected by a microphone arranged adjacent to a television display.

8. The television auditorium measurement system of claim 4 wherein the audio signal is detected by an intrusive connection in the equipment related to the television display.

The television auditorium measurement system of claim 4 wherein the comparator is configured to sequentially compare the audio component of the plurality of television programs transmitted on the detected transmission channel with the audio signal of the television program selected by the viewer so as to identify the television program selected by the viewer if the program identification data detector is unable to detect a program identification data indicative of an identity of the television program selected by the viewer.

10. The television auditorium measuring system of claim 1 further comprising a software agent configured to detect, from the television program selected by the viewer, a data element indicative of an identity of the television program selected by the viewer.

The television auditorium measurement system of claim 10 wherein the software agent is configured to search for a program identification data indicative of an identity of the television program selected by the viewer.

The television auditorium measurement system of claim 4 wherein the comparator is configured to sequentially compare the audio component of the plurality of television programs transmitted on the detected transmission channel with the audio signal of the television program selected by the viewer to identify the television program selected by the viewer if the program identification data detector is unable to detect an identification data of the program indicating an identity of the television program selected by the viewer.

13. A television auditorium measurement system for digital television equipment, where the digital television equipment is arranged in a statistically selected place, comprising the auditorium measurement system: a software agent adapted to read, from a data package contained in the digital television programming, a data that identifies a television program, where the software agent is stored in the memory associated with the digital television equipment; an interface and communication device adapted to transmit the identification data to a central office located remotely.

The television auditorium measurement system of claim 13 wherein the digital television equipment comprises a receiver having a tuner, a microprocessor, memory, an operating system, and a video display unit.

15. The television auditorium measurement system of claim 13 wherein the digital television equipment is a top box that provides an analog television signal to an analog receiver.

16. The television auditorium measuring system of claim 13 wherein the digital television equipment comprises a top box that provides a digital television signal to a digital receiver.

17. The television auditorium measurement system of claim 13 wherein the digital television equipment comprises a top box and a monitor.

18. The television auditorium measurement system of claim 13 wherein the digital television equipment comprises a personal computer provided with a television receiver.

19. The television auditorium measuring system of claim 13 wherein the digital television equipment includes a video cassette recorder.

20. The television auditorium measuring system of claim 13 wherein the digital television equipment includes a versatile digital disc player.

21. The television auditorium measurement system of claim 13 further comprising a person identification apparatus.

22. The television auditorium measurement system of claim 13 wherein the identification data is a program identification code of a television program.

23. The television auditorium measurement system of claim 13 wherein the identification data comprises a program name.

24. The television auditorium measurement system of claim 13 wherein the identification data comprises an address of an Internet page.

25. The television auditorium measurement system of claim 13 wherein the identification data comprises an identification code of an Internet page.

26. The television auditorium measurement system of claim 13 wherein the identification data comprises a header of the material displayed by an audience.

27. The television auditorium measurement system of claim 13 wherein the identification data comprises a tuning taken from a television program viewed on the digital television equipment.

28. The television auditorium measurement system of claim 13 wherein the software agent is configured to detect window activities carried out by an audience.

29. The television auditorium measuring system of claim 13 wherein the interface and communication apparatus includes a serial port.

30. The television auditorium measurement system of claim 13 wherein the interface and communication apparatus includes a parallel port.

31. The television auditorium measuring system of claim 13 wherein the interface and communication apparatus includes a universal serial busbar.

32. The television auditorium measuring system of claim 13 wherein the interface and communication apparatus includes a thermosensitive wire.

33. The television auditorium measurement system of claim 13 wherein the interface and the communication apparatus is arranged to send the identification data to an Internet service provider via the Internet.

34. The television auditorium measuring system of claim 13 wherein the interface and communication apparatus includes an intermediate data collector.

35. The television auditorium measuring system of claim 34 wherein the intermediate data collector includes a storage and shipping device, and wherein the storage and shipping device is accommodated to send the identification data to the office central via the telephone line.

36. The television auditorium measurement system of claim 34 wherein the intermediary data collector is an Internet service provider.

37. The television auditorium measuring system of claim 34 wherein the intermediate data collector is a collection facility located at the central office.

38. The television auditorium measurement system of claim 13 wherein the software agent is a software agent copied to the memory associated with the digital television equipment.

39. The television auditorium measuring system of claim 13 wherein the software agent is a plug in the software agent of the digital television equipment.

40. The television auditorium measurement system of claim 13 wherein the software agent is a flexible disk software agent of the digital television equipment.

41. A television auditorium measurement system for identifying a television program selected by a viewer from a plurality of television programs transmitted as a time-division multiplexed sequence of data packets in a transmission channel, the television program selected by the viewer is displayed in a television display in a statistically selected location, the television auditorium measuring system comprises: a receiving element for receiving the time division multiplexed sequence of data packets in the transmission channel; an acquisition element for acquiring an audio portion of the television program selected by the viewer; a recovery element for recovering audio components respectively corresponding to the television programs contained in the sequence of data packets; and, comparison means for comparing the audio components with the audio portion in order to determine the television program selected by the viewer.

42. The television auditorium measuring system of claim 41 wherein the acquisition element comprises a sensor configured to acquire a representation of a loudspeaker signal from a loudspeaker associated with the television display.

43. The television auditorium measuring system of claim 41 wherein the acquisition element comprises a connection to audio processing circuits associated with the visual television display.

44. The television auditorium measuring system of claim 41 wherein the receiving element comprises: an intermediate frequency probe configured to acquire an intermediate frequency signal from a viewer controlled tuner associated with the television display; and, demodulation elements for demodulating the intermediate frequency signal in order to receive the data packets.

45. The television auditorium measuring system of claim 41 wherein the receiving element comprises: a local oscillator frequency probe adapted to pick up a local oscillator frequency signal for television display; elements to identify the transmission channel from the local oscillator signal; wherein the recovery element retrieves the audio components from television programs contained in the identified transmission channel; and, wherein the comparison element compares the audio components with the representation of the speaker signal in order to determine the television program selected by the viewer.

46. The television auditorium measuring system of claim 41 wherein the receiving element comprises a scan receiver configured to scan each of a plurality of transmission channels and receive a corresponding plurality of multiplexed television programs with division of time from each of the plurality of transmission channels.

47. The television auditorium measurement system of claim 41 further comprising identification elements for identifying persons in an audience of the television program selected by the viewer.

48. A television auditorium measurement system for measuring the observation of a television program viewed on digital television located at a statistically selected site comprising: detection elements for detecting an audio code incorporated in the television program for the purpose of to identify the television program; extraction elements to extract an audio tuning from the television program in order to identify the television program; a software agent configured to identify the television program; and, selection elements to select at least one of the detection elements, extraction elements, and the software agent in order to identify the television program.

49. The television auditorium measuring system of claim 48 further comprising recovery means for recovering an auditory measurement data packet from a television set in order to identify the television program wherein the item The selection tool selects at least one of the recovery elements, the detection elements, the extraction elements, and the software agent in order to identify the television program.

50. A method for identifying a television program selected by a viewer from a set of television programs transmitted as multiplexed data packets in a transmission channel selected by the viewer, the television program selected by the viewer being displayed in a deployment portion of an apparatus tuned to a transmission channel selected by the viewer, the method comprising the steps of: a) determining the transmission channel selected by the viewer; b) acquire an audio portion of the television program selected by the viewer; c) selecting an audio component associated with one of a set of television programs transmitted on the transmission channel selected by the viewer; d) comparing the audio portion with the audio component in order to determine whether the audio portion and the audio component match; e) if the audio portion and the audio component match, store a tuning register of at least one of the audio portion and the audio component; and, f) if the audio portion and the audio component do not match, repeat steps (c) through (f) until either a match or the set of television programs is exhausted.

51. The method of claim 50 wherein step (a) comprises the step of determining the transmission channel selected by the viewer through the use of a channel detector associated with the apparatus.

52. The method of claim 51 wherein step (b) comprises the step of acquiring the audio portion of the television program selected by the viewer through the use of an audio probe adjacent to the apparatus.

53. The method of claim 52 wherein step (c) comprises the step of selecting the audio component by using a digital tuner that is not a portion of the apparatus.

54. The method of claim 50 wherein step (b) comprises the step of acquiring the audio portion of the television program selected by the viewer through the use of an audio probe adjacent to the apparatus.

55. The method of claim 54 wherein step (c) comprises the step of selecting the audio component by using a digital tuner that is not a portion of the apparatus.

56. The method of claim 50 wherein step (c) comprises the step of selecting the audio component by using a digital tuner that is not a portion of the apparatus.

57. A method for identifying a television program selected by the viewer from a plurality of television programs overlapped in time transmitted on a transmission channel selected by the viewer, wherein the television program selected by the viewer is displayed in a first window of a multi-window television display, wherein a file is also transmitted on the channel selected by the viewer so that it overlaps in time with the television program selected by the viewer, where the television program selected by the viewer and the data file contains respective labels, where the material of the file is displayed in a second window of the display of multiple windows, and where the method it includes the steps of: a) reading, from the file, the label of the respective file and an identification data; b) find the label of the television program associated with the respective file label; and, c) storing the stamped record in the time comprising the identification data.

58. The method of claim 57 wherein the file is a data file.

59. The method of claim 57 wherein the file is an image file.

60. The method of claim 57 wherein the file is logically related to the television program selected by the viewer, wherein the television program label and the file label are indicators of the logical relationship, and wherein the step it comprises the step of finding, of the logical relationship, the television program label associated with the label of the respective data file.

61. A software agent stored in memory associated with digital television equipment, wherein the software agent is configured to acquire television auditorium measurement data related to the digital television equipment, the software agent comprising: a first registration element for recording a television program identification data identifying a television program selected to be displayed on a digital television equipment; a second registration element for recording an identification data associated with data corresponding to the selected television program to be displayed on the digital television equipment; and, a third registration element for recording an Internet identification data associated with an Internet task of the digital television equipment.

62. An apparatus for identifying a television program selected by a viewer from a plurality of overlapping television programs transmitted on a transmission channel selected by the viewer and received by the digital television program reception equipment, wherein the reception equipment of digital television programs has a data port, the apparatus comprising: a reading element connected to the data port for reading program identification data between the data provided in the data port; and, storage means for storing the identification data of the program.

63. The apparatus of claim 62 wherein the digital television program reception equipment is a digital converter.

64. The apparatus of claim 62 wherein the reception equipment of the digital television program is a personal computer.

65. The apparatus of claim 62 wherein the receiving equipment of the digital television program is a digital television apparatus.

66. An apparatus for identifying a television program selected by a viewer from a plurality of time-lapse television programs transmitted on a transmission channel selected by the viewer and received by a reception equipment of digital television programs, wherein the digital television program receiving equipment has a data port, the apparatus comprising: a reading element connected to the data port to read program identification data between data provided in the data port, - and, communication elements to communicate the identification data of the program to a remote point.

67. The apparatus of claim 66 wherein the reception equipment of digital television programs is a digital converter.

68. The apparatus of claim 66 wherein the reception equipment of the digital television program is a personal computer.

69. The apparatus of claim 66 wherein the reception equipment of the digital television program is a digital television apparatus.