Profiling and identification of television viewers

A computer-implemented method of profiling one or more viewers for targeted advertising, the one or more viewers interacting with a video receiver, the method comprising:

• starting a first viewing session;
• receiving one or more programming streams including one or more video programs;
• storing, at regular time intervals, program data, the program data including identification data describing the one or more video programs and a corresponding time interval;
• monitoring and storing a plurality of interactions with video controls of the particular viewer during the first viewing session;
• ending the first viewing session;
• aggregating at least a portion of the plurality of the interactions and the program data in a new session profile that represents the particular viewer's short-term viewing habits;
• accessing one or more existing signature profiles, each signature profile having signature categories that represent the long-term viewing habits of a respective viewer;
• and
• matching the new session profile with one of the one or more existing signature profiles to deliver a particular viewer a targeted advertisement.