Methods and apparatus to improve media monitoring by adjusting for co-viewing

A method to monitor media, the method comprising:

• accessing, with a media device, media from a media provider, the media device associated with a first panelist of a panel, the access based on first credentials associated with the first panelist, the panel including panelists of a plurality of households that are selected by and monitored by an audience measurement entity;
• launching a user interface on a first meter on the media device, the user interface to prompt the first panelist exposed to the media to identify one or more persons exposed to the media with the first panelist, the user interface including a first identifier corresponding to the first panelist and a second identifier corresponding to a first person of the one or more persons, the first identifier and the second identifier associated with respective demographics of the first panelist and the first person;
• after a login to the user interface based on second credentials associated with the first panelist, capturing, with the first meter, first panelist identification information including the first identifier and the second identifier;
• capturing, with the first meter, first exposure information based on first time quantities that the media is exposed to the first panelist and the first person, the first exposure information including a media genre associated with content of the media;
• aggregating second panelist identification information and second exposure information from a plurality of second meters associated with a plurality of panelists, the second panelist identification information including the first panelist identification information, the second exposure information including the first exposure information, the plurality of the second meters including the first meter, the plurality of the panelists including the first panelist, the second exposure information including the media genre associated with the media;
• obtaining census exposure information based on second time quantities that the media is exposed to census viewers while the census viewers are accessing a service hosted by a demographic provider, the census exposure information different from the second exposure information, the census exposure information different from the first exposure information, the census exposure information corresponding to at least one user not included in the panel, the census exposure information obtained from a server different from the first meter, the census exposure information including the media genre associated with the media;
• calculating, by executing an instruction with a processor, a co-viewing factor corresponding to the media genre and a demographic of the plurality of the panelists based on the second exposure information and the second panelist identification information;
• calculating, by executing an instruction with the processor, a number of census co-viewer exposure minutes using a dot product calculation on the census exposure information and the co-viewing factor corresponding to the media genre;
• determining, by executing an instruction with the processor, an aggregate exposure time total, wherein the aggregate exposure time total is a sum of the calculated number of census co-viewer exposure minutes and exposure minutes corresponding to the second time quantities of the census exposure information;
• and
• generating, by executing an instruction with the processor, a report including the aggregate exposure time total, the media genre, the demographic, and a total number of impressions associated with the demographic, the report to indicate crediting ones of the plurality of the panelists in the demographic with presentation of the media.

At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed, cause at least one processor to at least:

• launch, in response to accessing media from a media provider on a first media device, a user interface to prompt a first panelist of a panelist to identify one or more persons exposed to media with the first panelist, the access based on first credentials associated with the first panelist, the user interface including a first identifier corresponding to the first panelist and a second identifier corresponding to a first person of the one or more persons, the first identifier and the second identifier associated with respective demographics of the first panelist and the first person;
• after a login to the user interface based on second credentials associated with the first panelist, capture, using a first meter associated with the media device, first panelist identification information including the first identifier and the second identifier;
• and
• capture first exposure information based on first time quantities that the media is exposed to the first panelist and the first person, the first exposure information including a media genre associated with content of the media;
• aggregate second panelist identification information and second exposure information from a plurality of second meters, the plurality of the second meters associated with a plurality of panelists, the second panelist identification information including the first panelist identification information, the second exposure information including the first exposure information, the plurality of the second meters including the first meter, the plurality of the panelists including the first panelist, the second exposure information including the media genre associated with the media;
• obtain census exposure information based on second time quantities that the media is exposed to census viewers while the census viewers are accessing a service hosted by a demographic provider, the census exposure information different from the second exposure information, the census exposure information different from the first exposure information, the census exposure information obtained from a server different from the first meter, the census exposure information including the media genre associated with the media;
• calculate a co-viewing factor corresponding to the media genre and a demographic of the plurality of the panelists based on the second exposure information and the second panelist identification information;
• calculate a number of census co-viewer exposure minutes using a dot product calculation on the census exposure information and the co-viewing factor corresponding to the media genre;
• determine an aggregate exposure time total, wherein the aggregate exposure time total is a sum of the calculated number of census co-viewer exposure minutes and exposure minutes corresponding to the second time quantities of the census exposure information;
• and
• generate a report including the aggregate exposure time total, the media genre, the demographic, and a total number of impressions associated with the demographic, the report to indicate crediting ones of the plurality of the panelists in the demographic with presentation of the media.