JP2005167907A - Television audience rating survey system, viewing status data collection method, and computer program therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

An audience rating information transmitter capable of collecting television audience ratings in real time is provided. A television audience rating information transmitter 1 includes a signal receiver 1a, a signal analyzer 1b, a viewing status data generator 1c, and a viewing status data transmitter 1d. The signal receiving unit 1a receives all the signals transmitted from the remote controller 2. Each time signal information is transmitted from the signal receiver 1a, the signal analyzer 1b receives and analyzes the information. The viewing situation data generation unit 1c receives the information whose information has been analyzed by the signal analysis unit 1b, and generates viewing situation data. The viewing status data transmission unit 1d receives the viewing status data generated by the viewing status data generation unit 1c and transmits it to the communication device 3. The communication device 3 transmits viewing status data to the server via the network.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a television audience rating survey system, a viewing status data collection method, and a computer program therefor.

In the conventional online audience rating survey system, as shown in Non-Patent Literature 1, audience rating meters installed in each home collect and accumulate viewing status data, and call once a day to connect to a server. In this method, the server collects audience rating data.
Video Research Co., Ltd., “Three Survey Methods for Audience Ratings”, [online], [searched on November 20, 2003], Internet <URL: http://www.videor.co.jp/rating/wh/ 02.htm>

  Therefore, in the prior art, there is a problem that it is necessary to wait until the next day to know the audience rating of the broadcast program. In addition, since the audience rating meter of the prior art is a method of regularly obtaining viewing status data every minute, even if it is intended to examine the detailed comparison between the program contents and the audience rating, a temporal resolution of less than 1 minute can be obtained. There is no problem.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a television audience rating survey system that collects audience rating data in real time and can refer to the collected data in accordance with a program broadcast. It is to provide.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a television (for example, the television 4 according to the embodiment) from which a viewer receives a broadcast and a remote control (for example, the remote control 2 according to the embodiment) that transmits a signal for operating the television are provided. ), A television viewing information transmitter for creating the television viewing status data, and the viewing status data transmitted from the television viewing information transmitter (for example, the television viewing information transmitter 1 of the embodiment). A television audience rating survey comprising a communication device (for example, the communication device 3 and broadband router 3a of the embodiment) that transmits the viewing status data to a server via a network (for example, the Internet 6 of the embodiment). In the system,
The television viewing information transmitter transmits a signal receiving unit (for example, the signal receiving unit 1a of the embodiment) that receives all the signals transmitted from the remote controller, and the signal information is transmitted from the signal receiving unit. Each time, the signal analysis unit (for example, the signal analysis unit 1b of the embodiment) that receives and analyzes the information and the information that is analyzed by the signal analysis unit are received to generate viewing state data. Viewing status data generated by the viewing status data generation unit (for example, the viewing status data generation unit 1c of the embodiment) and the viewing status data generated by the viewing status data generation unit and transmitted to the communication device A television audience rating survey system comprising: a transmission unit (for example, the viewing status data transmission unit 1d of the embodiment).

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the network is a communication network that performs communication using an Internet protocol, the television viewing information transmitter is an IP (Internet Protocol) terminal, and the communication The apparatus is a broadband router that can always be connected to the network, and is provided with means for assigning an IP address to the television viewing information transmitter.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, when the television viewing information transmitter generates the viewing state data, a time stamp and a reference to the server are included in a header of the viewing state data. Information and identification information of the television viewing information transmitter are provided.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the server (for example, the front-end server 7 and the application server 8 and the audience rating chart real-time distribution server 10 of the embodiment) is connected to the communication device. Means for receiving the viewing status data via the network; means for storing the received viewing status data in a database (for example, the database server 11 of the embodiment); and the viewing status data stored in the database. Means for processing the read viewing status data to create audience rating chart information, and distributing the audience rating chart information via the network.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, means for receiving the audience rating chart information distributed from the server and displaying on the screen based on the received audience rating chart information. And an audience rating chart display device (for example, the audience rating chart display personal computer 12 of the embodiment).

  The invention according to claim 6 is the invention according to claim 1, comprising means for reading audience rating data from the database of the server, and means for creating and storing an audience rating report from the read audience rating data. It further includes an audience rating data file management device (for example, an audience rating data file management server 9 according to the embodiment).

  The invention according to claim 7 is a process of receiving all the signals from a remote controller that transmits a signal for operating a television, a process of analyzing the information every time information of the signal is received, and the information A process of generating viewing status data from the analyzed information each time the information is analyzed, and a server that collects the viewing status data via a communication device each time the viewing status data is generated A viewing state data collecting method characterized by comprising the steps of:

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, the signal transmitted from the remote control to a computer of a television viewing information transmitter that receives the signal from a remote control that transmits a signal for operating a television and creates viewing status data. A procedure for obtaining all the information, a procedure for analyzing the information every time the signal information is received, a procedure for generating viewing status data from the analyzed information each time the information is analyzed, and the viewing status data A computer program that executes a procedure of transmitting the viewing status data to a server that collects the viewing status data via a communication device each time it is generated.

  As described above, according to the present invention, all the signals of the remote controller are received, the signals are analyzed, the viewing status data is generated, and the processing is transmitted to the server that collects the viewing status data via the communication device. Is effective for collecting viewing status data with a small delay during program broadcasting, and because all remote control operations of the viewer are acquired as data, This has the effect of increasing the temporal resolution in the analysis.

  Further, according to the present invention, the server receives the viewing status data via the network, creates an audience rating chart, and distributes it via the network to the terminal of the viewer of the rating data such as a broadcaster. Thus, the audience rating chart data can be provided to the viewer of the audience rating data with a small delay after receiving the viewing status data. Combined with the transmitter, it is possible to refer to the change in the audience rating in parallel with the program broadcast.

Hereinafter, a television rating survey system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing a configuration of a television viewing information transmitter according to an embodiment of the present invention. The TV viewing information transmitter 1 includes a signal receiving unit 1a that receives a remote control signal from a remote control 2 that operates the television, a signal analysis unit 1b that analyzes a remote control signal received by the signal receiving unit 1a, and a remote control signal that has been analyzed. A viewing status data generation unit 1c that generates viewing status data and a viewing status data transmission unit 1d that transmits viewing status data to the communication device 3 are configured. The remote control signal transmitted from the remote controller 2 is specifically power ON / OFF and channel information. By receiving all of this signal by the signal receiving unit 1a, the current reception state of the television is grasped. Become. The signal analysis unit 1b analyzes the signal received by the signal reception unit 1a and converts the signal into information that can be processed by the viewing situation data generation unit 1c. The viewing situation data generation unit 1c converts the information acquired from the signal analysis unit 1b into a viewing situation data format. When viewing status data is generated, the viewing status data generation unit 1c includes a time stamp, a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) that is a reference status of the server, and identification information (specifically, the main body of the TV viewing information transmitter 1). Cookie) and transfer to the viewing status data transmission unit 1d. The viewing status data transmission unit 1d transmits the viewing status data to the communication device 3, and transmits the viewing status data to the server from which the communication device 3 collects the viewing status data.
As described above, the television viewing information transmitter 1 continuously performs a series of processes from receiving all signals from the remote controller 2 to transmitting viewing status data to the communication device 3 without accumulating data on the way. It is the feature to process.

FIG. 2 shows a television audience rating survey system according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a general viewer home 20 in which a device for collecting television viewing status is installed and information on viewing status are collected from the general viewer home 20. The audience rating survey company 21 in which the server to be installed is installed, and a customer, for example, a broadcaster, of the audience rating survey company 21 receives a distribution of audience rating data from the audience rating survey company 21 and refers to the terminal. The client 22 is configured. In addition, the devices installed at the three locations are connected to each other via the Internet 6.
When the viewer operates the remote controller 2 to change the channel of the television 4 or the like, a signal from the remote controller 2 is first received by the television viewing information transmitter 1. When receiving the signal, the television viewing information transmitter 1 relays the signal to the television 4 while analyzing the signal to generate viewing status data. The broadband router 3a is installed in a state where environmental information such as an IP address is set in advance by the personal computer 5 and can be always connected to the Internet 6. The TV audience rating information transmitter 1 is a device that can communicate with the Internet protocol, obtains an IP address from the broadband router 3a at the time of startup, and generates generated viewing status data via the broadband router 3a and the Internet 6 by IP communication. Thus, transmission of viewing status data to the server of the audience rating research company 21 is started.

When the front end server 7 of the audience rating research company 21 receives a request for starting a communication session from the television viewing information transmitter 1 of the general viewer's house 20 before transmitting the viewing status data, the front end server 7 includes the IP address of the application server 8. The message is returned to the TV viewing information transmitter 1. Then, the television viewing information transmitter 1 sets a communication session between the application servers 8, and transmits viewing status data to the application server 8 via the broadband router 3 a, the Internet 6, and the front-end server 7. The application server 8 that has received the viewing status data stores the data in a database server (hereinafter referred to as DB server) 11.
The audience rating data file management server 9 is a server that periodically reads audience status data from the DB server 11 and creates an audience rating report. Audience rating reports include daily reports, weekly reports, monthly reports, quarterly reports, annual reports, and personal viewing information reports.
The audience rating chart real-time distribution server 10 reads the viewing status data accumulated according to the program broadcast from the DB server 11, processes the viewing status data into the audience rating chart data, and displays the audience rating chart personal computer of the client 22 in real time. 12 is a server that distributes audience rating chart data.
The audience rating chart display personal computer 12 of the client 22 is installed with software that receives the audience rating chart data distributed from the audience rating chart real-time distribution server 10 and displays it on the screen. The software receives the audience rating chart data distributed at predetermined intervals, and updates the screen. Thereby, the client 22 can refer to the change in the audience rating.

FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram illustrating a process of distributing data of an audience rating chart. The audience rating chart browsing personal computer 12 transmits a data delivery request for the audience rating chart to the front-end server 7 (step S1). The front-end server 7 that has received the request returns a data distribution response and returns a data distribution response including the IP address of the audience rating chart real-time distribution server 10 (step S2). The audience rating chart browsing personal computer 12 that has received the response message acquires the IP address of the audience rating chart real-time distribution server 10 from the received message, and makes a request to distribute audience rating chart data by socket communication. 10 (step 3). Upon receiving the audience rating chart data delivery request, the audience rating chart real-time delivery server 10 establishes a communication session with the audience rating chart viewing personal computer 12 (step S4).
Next, the audience rating chart browsing personal computer 12 transmits the user ID and the password to the front end server 7 (step S5). If there is no problem with the user ID and password, the front-end server 7 sends an authentication response (step S6). The authenticated audience rating chart browsing personal computer 12 transmits a program channel list request to the front-end server 7 (step 7). The front-end server 7 that has received the program channel list request transmits a program channel list (step S8). ). Upon receiving the program channel list, the audience rating chart viewing personal computer 12 displays the program channel list on the screen, and when a link corresponding to the program to be referred to is selected, the chart display software is activated (step 9). After the software is started, the audience rating chart viewing personal computer 12 transmits an audience rating chart data distribution request including information of the program to be referred to the audience rating chart real-time distribution server 10 (step S10). Upon receiving the audience rating chart data delivery request, the audience rating chart real-time delivery server 10 delivers audience rating chart data of the program corresponding to the program information included in the received message (step S11). Upon receiving the audience rating chart data, the audience rating chart browsing personal computer 12 displays the audience rating chart on the screen (step S12). Thereafter, the audience rating chart browsing personal computer 12 requests audience rating chart data distribution at a predetermined interval. Is transmitted to the audience rating chart real-time distribution server 10 (step S13), and the audience rating chart real-time distribution server 10 distributes the latest audience rating chart data (step S14). Upon receiving the latest audience rating chart data, the audience rating chart browsing personal computer 12 updates the audience rating chart on the screen (step S15). The processes in steps S14 and S15 are continued until the viewing of the audience rating chart data is completed.

  Each device of the above-mentioned television audience rating survey system has a computer system inside. The processing steps of the signal receiving unit 1a, signal analyzing unit 1b, viewing status data generating unit 1c, and viewing status data transmitting unit 1d of the TV viewing information transmitter 1 described above are stored in a computer-readable recording medium in a program format. The above processing is performed by the computer reading and executing this program. Here, the computer-readable recording medium means a magnetic disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, a semiconductor memory, or the like. Alternatively, the computer program may be distributed to the computer via a communication line, and the computer that has received the distribution may execute the program.

It is a block diagram of the television viewing information transmitter which is one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the television audience rating survey system which is one embodiment of the present invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows the process of audience rating chart data delivery and display which are one Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Television viewing information transmitter 2 Remote control 3 Communication apparatus 1a Signal receiving part 1b Signal analysis part 1c Viewing condition data generation part 1d Viewing condition data transmission part

Claims (8)

A television from which a viewer receives a broadcast, a remote control that transmits a signal for operating the television, a television viewing information transmitter that creates viewing status data of the television, and a television viewing information transmitter In a television audience rating survey system comprising: a communication device that receives the viewing status data and transmits the viewing status data to a server via a network;
The TV viewing information transmitter is
A signal receiver for receiving all the signals transmitted from the remote control;
Each time the signal information is transmitted from the signal receiving unit, a signal analyzing unit that receives and analyzes the information;
Receiving the information analyzed by the signal analysis unit, to generate viewing status data;
Receiving the viewing status data generated by the viewing status data generating unit, and transmitting the viewing status data to the communication device;
A TV audience rating survey system characterized by comprising: The network is a communication network that performs communication using an Internet protocol,
The TV viewing information transmitter is an IP terminal,
2. The television audience rating survey system according to claim 1, wherein the communication device is a broadband router that is always connectable to the network, and includes means for assigning an IP address to the television viewing information transmitter.   The TV viewing information transmitter, when generating the viewing status data, adds a time stamp, reference information of the server, and identification information of the TV viewing information transmitter to a header of the viewing status data. The television audience rating survey system according to claim 1. The server
Means for receiving the viewing status data from the communication device via the network;
Means for storing the received viewing status data in a database;
Means for reading the viewing status data stored in the database, processing the read viewing status data to create audience rating chart information, and distributing the audience rating chart information via the network;
The television audience rating survey system according to claim 1, further comprising: Means for receiving the audience rating chart information distributed from the server;
Means for displaying on the screen based on the received audience rating chart information;
The television audience rating survey system according to claim 1, further comprising an audience rating chart display device comprising: Means for reading audience rating data from the database of the server;
Means for creating and storing an audience rating report from the read audience rating data;
The television audience rating survey system according to claim 1, further comprising an audience rating data file management device comprising: Receiving all the signals from a remote control that transmits signals for operating the television;
A process of analyzing the information each time the information of the signal is received;
Each time the information is analyzed, a process of generating viewing status data from the analyzed information;
A process of transmitting the viewing status data to a server for collecting the viewing status data via a communication device each time the viewing status data is generated;
A viewing status data collecting method comprising: To the computer of the TV viewing information transmitter that receives the signal from the remote control that transmits a signal for operating the TV and creates viewing status data,
A procedure for receiving all the signals transmitted from the remote control;
A procedure for analyzing the information each time the signal information is received;
Each time the information is analyzed, a procedure for generating viewing situation data from the analyzed information,
A procedure for transmitting the viewing status data to a server for collecting the viewing status data via a communication device each time the viewing status data is generated;
A computer program that executes

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