# US 11,910,069 B2 · Flexible commercial monitoring > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,910,069 B2 - Document ID: US11910069B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/745,356 - Filed: 2022-05-16 - Published: 2022-12-08 - Granted: 2024-02-20 - Earliest claimed: 2018-11-27 - Assignees: The Nielsen Company (US), LLC - Applicants: The Nielsen Company (US), LLC - Inventors: Brian Fuhrer; Marie Kramer - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11910069B2 ## CPC - H04N 21/812: {involving advertisement data (advertising per se G06Q30/02)} - H04N 21/8358: involving watermark {(protecting executable software by watermarking G06F21/16; image watermarking in general G06T1/0021; watermarks inserted in still images for transmission purposes H04N1/32144; inserting watermarks during video coding H04N19/467)} - G06Q 30/0242: Determining effectiveness of advertisements - H04H 60/31: Arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services - H04N 21/2547: Third Party Billing, e.g. billing of advertiser - H04N 21/4394: {involving operations for analysing the audio stream, e.g. detecting features or characteristics in audio streams (arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of audio in broadcast systems H04H60/58)} - H04N 21/44008: {involving operations for analysing video streams, e.g. detecting features or characteristics in the video stream (arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of video in broadcast systems H04H60/59)} - H04N 21/44204: {Monitoring of content usage, e.g. the number of times a movie has been viewed, copied or the amount which has been watched (monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; protecting generic digital content where the protection is independent of the precise nature of the content G06F21/10; arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services in broadcast systems H04H60/31)} - H04H 60/40: for identifying broadcast time - H04H 2201/50: characterised by the use of watermarks - H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION - G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR - H04H: BROADCAST COMMUNICATION (multiplex communication H04J; pictorial communication aspects of broadcast systems H04N) ## Abstract Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture (e.g., physical storage media) to implement flexible commercial monitoring for television audience measurement are disclosed. Example television audience measurement systems disclosed herein include a flexible commercial detector to detect whether a first watermark decoded from a television program broadcast signal is a bridge watermark that indicates a portion of the television broadcast signal including the bridge watermark is associated with a flexible commercial insertion event, the flexible commercial insertion event corresponding to insertion of a flexible commercial in the portion of the television broadcast signal. Disclosed example television audience measurement systems also include a commercial metric calculator to credit audience exposure associated with the portion of the television broadcast signal to a flexible commercial crediting metric in response to a determination that the first watermark is the bridge watermark. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An apparatus comprising: at least one memory; computer readable instructions; and processor circuitry to execute the computer readable instructions to at least: detect that a portion of a media broadcast signal corresponds to a flexible commercial insertion opportunity in which one or more flexible commercials are to be inserted in the portion of the media broadcast signal, the one or more flexible commercials to replace one or more existing commercials included in the portion of the media broadcast signal; insert a first flexible commercial of the one or more flexible commercials in the portion of the media broadcast signal, the first flexible commercial encoded with one or more first watermarks that identify the first flexible commercial; and encode the portion of the media broadcast signal including the first flexible commercial with one or more second watermarks that identify the portion of the media broadcast signal as corresponding to the flexible commercial insertion opportunity, the one or more second watermarks to not identify the first flexible commercial. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more first watermarks are encoded in a first watermarking layer and the one or more second watermarks are encoded in a second watermarking layer different from the first watermarking layer. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor circuitry is to: insert a second flexible commercial of the one or more flexible commercials in the portion of the media broadcast signal, the second flexible commercial encoded with one or more third watermarks that identify the second flexible commercial; and encode the portion of the media broadcast signal including the first flexible commercial and the second flexible commercial with the one or more second watermarks that identify the portion of the media broadcast signal as corresponding to the flexible commercial insertion opportunity, the one or more second watermarks to not identify either of the first flexible commercial or the second flexible commercial. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the one or more second watermarks include a plurality of the second watermarks encoded successively in the portion of the media broadcast signal including the first flexible commercial and the second flexible commercial the processor circuitry, and respective ones of the plurality of the second watermarks include a same type value to identify the portion of the media broadcast signal as corresponding to the flexible commercial insertion opportunity. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the respective ones of the plurality of the second watermarks include timestamp values, and the processor circuitry is to cause the timestamp values of the plurality of the second watermarks to increment throughout the portion of the media broadcast signal as corresponding to the flexible commercial insertion opportunity. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor circuitry is to detect that the portion of a media broadcast signal corresponds to the flexible commercial insertion opportunity in response to detection of one or more cue tones or digital codes in the media broadcast signal. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the flexible commercials include a dynamic advertisement to be broadcast to one of a plurality of regions to which the media broadcast signal is to be broadcasted. ### Claim 8 At least one non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer readable instructions that, when executed, cause at least one processor to at least: detect that a portion of a media broadcast signal corresponds to a flexible commercial insertion opportunity in which one or more flexible commercials are to be inserted in the portion of the media broadcast signal, the one or more flexible commercials to replace one or more existing commercials included in the portion of the media broadcast signal; insert a first flexible commercial of the one or more flexible commercials in the portion of the media broadcast signal, the first flexible commercial encoded with one or more first watermarks that identify the first flexible commercial; and encode the portion of the media broadcast signal including the first flexible commercial with one or more second watermarks that identify the portion of the media broadcast signal as corresponding to the flexible commercial insertion opportunity, the one or more second watermarks to not identify the first flexible commercial. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the one or more first watermarks are encoded in a first watermarking layer and the one or more second watermarks are encoded in a second watermarking layer different from the first watermarking layer. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions are to cause the at least one processor to: insert a second flexible commercial of the one or more flexible commercials in the portion of the media broadcast signal, the second flexible commercial encoded with one or more third watermarks that identify the second flexible commercial; and encode the portion of the media broadcast signal including the first flexible commercial and the second flexible commercial with the one or more second watermarks that identify the portion of the media broadcast signal as corresponding to the flexible commercial insertion opportunity, the one or more second watermarks to not identify either of the first flexible commercial or the second flexible commercial. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the one or more second watermarks include a plurality of the second watermarks encoded successively in the portion of the media broadcast signal including the first flexible commercial and the second flexible commercial the processor circuitry, and respective ones of the plurality of the second watermarks include a same type value to identify the portion of the media broadcast signal as corresponding to the flexible commercial insertion opportunity. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the respective ones of the plurality of the second watermarks include timestamp values, and the instructions are to cause the at least one processor to cause the timestamp values of the plurality of the second watermarks to increment throughout the portion of the media broadcast signal as corresponding to the flexible commercial insertion opportunity. ### Claim 13 (depends on 8) The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions are to cause the at least one processor to detect that the portion of a media broadcast signal corresponds to the flexible commercial insertion opportunity in response to detection of one or more cue tones or digital codes in the media broadcast signal. ### Claim 14 (depends on 8) The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the flexible commercials include a dynamic advertisement to be broadcast to one of a plurality of regions to which the media broadcast signal is to be broadcasted. ### Claim 15 A method comprising: detecting, by executing an instruction with at least one processor, that a portion of a media broadcast signal corresponds to a flexible commercial insertion opportunity in which one or more flexible commercials are to be inserted in the portion of the media broadcast signal, the one or more flexible commercials to replace one or more existing commercials included in the portion of the media broadcast signal; inserting a first flexible commercial of the one or more flexible commercials in the portion of the media broadcast signal, the first flexible commercial encoded with one or more first watermarks that identify the first flexible commercial; and encoding, by executing an instruction with the at least one processor, the portion of the media broadcast signal including the first flexible commercial with one or more second watermarks that identify the portion of the media broadcast signal as corresponding to the flexible commercial insertion opportunity, the one or more second watermarks to not identify the first flexible commercial. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, wherein the one or more first watermarks are encoded in a first watermarking layer and the one or more second watermarks are encoded in a second watermarking layer different from the first watermarking layer. ### Claim 17 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, further including inserting a second flexible commercial of the one or more flexible commercials in the portion of the media broadcast signal, the second flexible commercial encoded with one or more third watermarks that identify the second flexible commercial, and wherein the encoding includes encoding the portion of the media broadcast signal including the first flexible commercial and the second flexible commercial with the one or more second watermarks that identify the portion of the media broadcast signal as corresponding to the flexible commercial insertion opportunity, the one or more second watermarks to not identify either of the first flexible commercial or the second flexible commercial. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein the one or more second watermarks include a plurality of the second watermarks encoded successively in the portion of the media broadcast signal including the first flexible commercial and the second flexible commercial the processor circuitry, and respective ones of the plurality of the second watermarks include a same type value to identify the portion of the media broadcast signal as corresponding to the flexible commercial insertion opportunity. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The method of claim 18, wherein the respective ones of the plurality of the second watermarks include timestamp values, and the encoding causes the timestamp values of the plurality of the second watermarks to increment throughout the portion of the media broadcast signal as corresponding to the flexible commercial insertion opportunity. ### Claim 20 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, further including detecting that the portion of a media broadcast signal corresponds to the flexible commercial insertion opportunity in response to detection of one or more cue tones or digital codes in the media broadcast signal.