# US 12,423,717 B2 · Methods and apparatus to apply household-level weights to household-member level audience measurement data

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- Number: US 12,423,717 B2
- Document ID: US12423717B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 18/187,068
- Filed: 2023-03-21
- Published: 2023-07-20
- Granted: 2025-09-23
- Earliest claimed: 2015-09-25
- Assignees: The Nielsen Company (US), LLC
- Applicants: The Nielsen Company (US), LLC
- Inventors: Michael Sheppard; Jonathan Sullivan; Peter Lipa; Alejandro Terrazas
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12423717B2

## CPC

- G06Q 30/0201: Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
- G06Q 30/0204: Market segmentation
- H04N 21/258: Client or end-user data management, e.g. managing client capabilities, user preferences or demographics, processing of multiple end-users preferences to derive collaborative data {(arrangements for services using the result on the distributing side of broadcast systems H04H60/66; profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/30)}
- H04N 21/25883: {being end-user demographical data, e.g. age, family status or address (arrangements for identifying locations of users in broadcast systems H04H60/52)}
- H04N 21/42684: {Client identification by a unique number or address, e.g. serial number, MAC address, socket ID (network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming H04L61/00)}
- H04N 21/44213: {Monitoring of end-user related data (arrangements for monitoring the users' behaviour or opinions in broadcast systems H04H60/33)}
- H04N 21/44222: {Analytics of user selections, e.g. selection of programmes or purchase activity (monitoring of user selections in data processing systems G06F11/34; arrangements for monitoring the user's behaviour or opinions in broadcast systems H04H60/33)}
- 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
- H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION

## Abstract

Methods and apparatus to apply household-level weights to audience measurement data at a household-member level are disclosed. An example method to determine demographics of populations to measure media audiences of populations includes determining demographics for members of a first household of a sub-population. First demographics of a first member of the first household are different than second demographics of a second member of the first household. The example method includes calculating a first household-level weight for the first household based on a demographics distribution of the sub-population and aggregate demographics of a population. The example method includes applying the first household-level weight to the first demographics of the first member, applying the first household-level weight to the second demographics of the second member, and estimating a demographics distribution of the population to measure a media audience of the population based on the weighted first demographics and the weighted second demographics.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A computing system for estimating audience measurements by applying household-level weights to household-member-level demographics, the computing system configured to perform a set of acts comprising:
obtaining household-member-level demographics data for respective members of a first household, wherein the respective members of the first household include at least a first member and a second member, and wherein the household-member-level demographics data for the first member and the household-member-level demographics data for the second member indicate the first member and the second member belong to different demographic constraints;
obtaining household-member-level demographics data for respective members of a second household;
obtaining aggregate demographics data of a population;
determining a first household-level weight for the first household and a second household-level weight for the second household based on the household-member-level demographics data for the respective members of the first household, the household-member-level demographics data for the respective members of the second household, and the aggregate demographics data of the population;
obtaining tuning data indicating that a media presentation device of the first household was tuned to a media event; and
estimating an audience measurement of the population for the media event based at least in part on applying the same household-level weight to all of the respective members of the first household, wherein applying the same household-level weight to all of the respective members of the first household comprises scaling up, by the first household-level weight, the household-member-level demographics data for the first member of the respective members of the first household and scaling up, by the first household-level weight, the household-member-level demographics data for the second member of the respective members of the first household.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The computing system of claim 1, wherein the tuning data does not indicate which of the respective members of the first household were exposed to media presented during the media event.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The computing system of claim 2, wherein the media presentation device is a set-top box or a television.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The computing system of claim 3, wherein:
the first member of the first household belongs to a first demographic constraint, and
estimating the audience measurement of the population for the media event includes estimating a quantity of audience members of the population belonging to the first demographic constraint by adding the first household-level weight scaled according to a quantity of the respective members of the first household that belong to the first demographic constraint together with household-level weights of other households scaled according to respective quantities of members of the other households that belong to the first demographic constraint, wherein the other households both (i) include at least one member of the first demographic constraint, and (ii) include a media presentation device that the tuning data indicates was tuned to the media event.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The computing system of claim 4, wherein:
the set of acts further comprises generating, using the household-member-level demographics data for the respective members of the first household and the household-member-level demographics data for the respective members of the second household, a data structure storing data indicative of which of multiple demographic constraints the respective members of the first household belong to and which of the multiple demographic constraints the respective members of the second household belong to, and
determining the first household-level weight and the second household-level weight includes determining the first household-level weight and the second household-level weight using the data structure.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The computing system of claim 5, wherein the data structure is a matrix that stores data indicative of respective quantities of the respective members of the first household that belong to respective demographic constraints of the multiple demographic constraints and respective quantities of the respective members of the second household that belong to the respective demographic constraints.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The computing system of claim 1, wherein the population includes the first household, the second household, and additional households, wherein the first household, the second household and the additional households are collectively representative of a television viewing audience, wherein the additional households include a first subset of households that are represented amongst the tuning data and a second subset of households that are not represented amongst the tuning data.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The computing system of claim 1, wherein the first household-level weight represents the first household relative to the population and the second household-level weight represents the second household relative to the population.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The computing system of claim 1, wherein the set of acts further comprises:
producing ratings for the media event based on the estimated audience measurement of the population; and
outputting an indication of the produced ratings for the media event.

### Claim 10

A computing system to estimate an audience measurement for demographic marginals of a population, the computing system configured to perform a set of acts comprising:
obtaining household-member-level demographics data for respective household members for each of a plurality of weighted households, wherein the plurality of weighted households are included in a subpopulation of the population, wherein the subpopulation is represented amongst tuning data;
obtaining aggregate demographics data of the population;
determining respective household-level weights for each of the plurality of weighted households based on the household-member-level demographics data for the subpopulation including the plurality of weighted households and the aggregate demographics data of the population, wherein the household-member-level demographics data indicates that first and second members of a first household of the plurality of weighted households belong to different demographic marginals;
obtaining the tuning data, wherein the tuning data indicates that media presentation devices of a tuned-in subset of the plurality of weighted households were tuned to a media event, wherein the tuned-in subset includes the first household;
selecting, based on the household-member-level demographics data, first ones of the tuned-in subset of the plurality of weighted households including one or more household members that belong to a first given demographic marginal of the population, wherein the selected first ones of the tuned-in subset includes the first household based on the household-member-level demographics data indicating that the first member of the first household belongs to the first given demographic marginal;
estimating an audience measurement of the media event for the first given demographic marginal of the population based at least in part on scaling up, for each of the selected first ones of the tuned-in subset of the plurality of weighted households, a quantity of the one or more household members that belong to the first given demographic marginal by the household-level weight of the selected first one of the tuned-in subset of the plurality of weighted households;
selecting, based on the household-member-level demographics data, second ones of the tuned-in subset of the plurality of weighted households including one or more household members that belong to a second given demographic marginal of the population, wherein the selected second ones of the tuned-in subset includes the first household based on the household-member-level demographics data indicating that the second member of the first household belongs to the second given demographic marginal; and
estimating an audience measurement of the media event for the second given demographic marginal of the population based at least in part on scaling up, for each of the selected second ones of the tuned-in subset of the plurality of weighted households, a quantity of the one or more household members that belong to the second given demographic marginal by the household-level weight of the selected second one of the tuned-in subset of the plurality of weighted households.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The computing system of claim 10, wherein the tuning data does not indicate which of the respective household members of the tuned-in subset of the plurality of weighted households were exposed to media presented during the media event.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The computing system of claim 11, wherein the media presentation device is a set-top box or a television.

### Claim 13 (depends on 10)

The computing system of claim 10, wherein the set of acts further comprises determining updated household-level weights for each of the plurality of weighted households based on the household-level weights, the household-member-level demographics data for the plurality of weighted households, and the aggregate demographics data of the population.

### Claim 14 (depends on 10)

The computing system of claim 10, wherein the set of acts further comprises:
obtaining household-member-level demographics data for respective household members of an additional weighted household; and
determining updated household-level weights for the additional weighted household as well as each of the plurality of weighted households based on the household-level weights, the household-member-level demographics data for the plurality of weighted households, the household-member-level demographics data for the additional weighted household, and the aggregate demographics data of the population.

### Claim 15 (depends on 10)

The computing system of claim 10, wherein the tuning data of the subpopulation represents television viewing of the population by weighting the tuning data of each of the plurality of weighted households by the household-level weight of the weighted household.

### Claim 16 (depends on 10)

The computing system of claim 10, wherein the set of acts further comprises:
producing ratings for the media event based on the estimated audience measurement of the media event for the first given demographic marginal of the population and based on the estimated audience measurement of the media event for the second given demographic marginal of the population; and
outputting an indication of the produced ratings for the media event.

### Claim 17

A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a computing system, cause the computing system to be configured to:
obtain household-member-level demographics data for respective members of a first household, wherein the respective members of the first household include at least a first member and a second member, and wherein the household-member-level demographics data for the first member and the household-member-level demographics data for the second member indicate the first member and the second member belong to different demographic constraints;
obtain household-member-level demographics data for respective members of a second household;
obtain aggregate demographics data of a population;
determine a first household-level weight for the first household and a second household-level weight for the second household based on the household-member level demographics data for the respective members of the first household, the household-member level demographics data for the respective members of the second household, and the aggregate demographics data of the population;
obtain tuning data indicating that a media presentation device of the first household was tuned to a media event; and
estimate an audience measurement of the population for the media event based at least in part on applying the same household-level weight to all of the respective members of the first household, wherein applying the same household-level weight to all of the respective members of the first household comprises scaling up, by the first household-level weight, the household-member-level demographics data for the first member of the respective members of the first household and scaling up, by the first household-level weight, the household-member-level demographics data for the second member of the respective members of the first household.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the tuning data does not indicate which of the respective members of the first household were exposed to media presented during the media event.

### Claim 19 (depends on 18)

The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein:
the first member of the first household belongs to a first demographic constraint, and
estimating the audience measurement of the population for the media event includes estimating a quantity of audience members of the population belonging to the first demographic constraint by adding the first household-level weight together with household-level weights of other households that both (i) include a member of the first demographic constraint, and (ii) include a media presentation device that the tuning data indicates was tuned to the media event.

### Claim 20 (depends on 17)

The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the population includes the first household, the second household, and additional households, wherein the first household, the second household and the additional households are collectively representative of a television viewing audience, wherein the additional households include a first subset of households that are represented amongst the tuning data and a second subset of households that are not represented amongst the tuning data.

### Claim 21 (depends on 17)

The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions further cause, when executed by the computing system, the computing system to be configured to:
produce ratings for the media event based on the estimated audience measurement of the population; and
output an indication of the produced ratings for the media event.

### Claim 22

A method for estimating audience measurements by applying household-level weights to household-member-level demographics, the method comprising:
obtaining household-member-level demographics data for respective members of a first household, wherein the respective members of the first household include at least a first member and a second member, and wherein the household-member-level demographics data for the first member and the household-member-level demographics data for the second member indicate the first member and the second member belong to different demographic constraints;
obtaining household-member-level demographics data for respective members of a second household;
obtaining aggregate demographics data of a population;
determining, by a computing system, a first household-level weight for the first household and a second household-level weight for the second household based on the household-member-level demographics data for the respective members of the first household, the household-member-level demographics data for the respective members of the second household, and the aggregate demographics data of the population;
obtaining tuning data indicating that a media presentation device of the first household was tuned to a media event; and
estimating, by the computing system, an audience measurement of the population for the media event based at least in part on applying the same household-level weight to all of the respective members of the first household, wherein applying the same household-level weight to all of the respective members of the first household comprises scaling up, by the first household-level weight, the household-member-level demographics data for the first member of the respective members of the first household and scaling up, by the first household-level weight, the household-member-level demographics data for the second member of the respective members of the first household.

### Claim 23 (depends on 22)

The method of claim 22, wherein the tuning data does not indicate which of the respective members of the first household were exposed to media presented during the media event.

### Claim 24 (depends on 23)

The method of claim 23, wherein the media presentation device is a set-top box or a television.

### Claim 25 (depends on 24)

The method of claim 24, wherein:
the first member of the first household belongs to a first demographic constraint, and
estimating the audience measurement of the population for the media event includes estimating a quantity of audience members of the population belonging to the first demographic constraint by adding the first household-level weight scaled according to a quantity of the respective members of the first household that belong to the first demographic constraint together with household-level weights of other households scaled according to respective quantities of members of the other households that belong to the first demographic constraint, wherein the other households both (i) include at least one member of the first demographic constraint, and (ii) include a media presentation device that the tuning data indicates was tuned to the media event.

### Claim 26 (depends on 25)

The method of claim 25, further comprising:
generating, using the household-member-level demographics data for the respective members of the first household and the household-member-level demographics data for the respective members of the second household, a data structure storing data indicative of which of multiple demographic constraints the respective members of the first household belong to and which of the multiple demographic constraints the respective members of the second household belong to, and
wherein determining the first household-level weight and the second household-level weight includes determining the first household-level weight and the second household-level weight using the data structure.

### Claim 27 (depends on 26)

The method of claim 26, wherein the data structure is a matrix that stores data indicative of respective quantities of the respective members of the first household that belong to respective demographic constraints of the multiple demographic constraints and respective quantities of the respective members of the second household that belong to the respective demographic constraints.

### Claim 28 (depends on 22)

The method of claim 22, wherein the population includes the first household, the second household, and additional households, wherein the first household, the second household and the additional households are collectively representative of a television viewing audience, wherein the additional households include a first subset of households that are represented amongst the tuning data and a second subset of households that are not represented amongst the tuning data.

### Claim 29 (depends on 22)

The method of claim 22, wherein the first household-level weight represents the first household relative to the population and the second household-level weight represents the second household relative to the population.

### Claim 30 (depends on 22)

The method of claim 22, further comprising:
producing ratings for the media event based on the estimated audience measurement of the population; and
outputting an indication of the produced ratings for the media event.

### Claim 31

A method to estimate an audience measurement for demographic marginals of a population, the method comprising:
obtaining household-member-level demographics data for respective household members for each of a plurality of weighted households, wherein the plurality of weighted households are included in a subpopulation of the population, wherein the subpopulation is represented amongst tuning data;
obtaining aggregate demographics data of the population;
determining, by a computing system, respective household-level weights for each of the plurality of weighted households based on the household-member-level demographics data for the subpopulation including the plurality of weighted households and the aggregate demographics data of the population, wherein the household-member-level demographics data indicates that first and second members of a first household of the plurality of weighted households belong to different demographic marginals;
obtaining the tuning data, wherein the tuning data indicates that media presentation devices of a tuned-in subset of the plurality of weighted households were tuned to a media event, wherein the tuned-in subset includes the first household;
selecting, based on the household-member-level demographics data, first ones of the tuned-in subset of the plurality of weighted households including one or more household members that belong to a first given demographic marginal of the population, wherein the selected first ones of the tuned-in subset includes the first household based on the household-member-level demographics data indicating that the first member of the first household belongs to the first given demographic marginal;
estimating, by the computing system, an audience measurement of the media event for the first given demographic marginal of the population based at least in part on scaling up, for each of the selected first ones of the tuned-in subset of the plurality of weighted households, a quantity of the one or more household members that belong to the first given demographic marginal by the household-level weight of the selected first one of the tuned-in subset of the plurality of weighted households;
selecting, based on the household-member-level demographics data, second ones of the tuned-in subset of the plurality of weighted households including one or more household members that belong to a second given demographic marginal of the population, wherein the selected second ones of the tuned-in subset includes the first household based on the household-member-level demographics data indicating that the second member of the first household belongs to the second given demographic marginal; and
estimating, by the computing system, an audience measurement of the media event for the second given demographic marginal of the population based at least in part on scaling up, for each of the selected second ones of the tuned-in subset of the plurality of weighted households, a quantity of the one or more household members that belong to the second given demographic marginal by the household-level weight of the selected second one of the tuned-in subset of the plurality of weighted households.

### Claim 32 (depends on 31)

The method of claim 31, wherein the tuning data does not indicate which of the respective household members of the tuned-in subset of the plurality of weighted households were exposed to media presented during the media event.

### Claim 33 (depends on 32)

The method of claim 32, wherein the media presentation device is a set-top box or a television.

### Claim 34 (depends on 31)

The method of claim 31, further comprising determining updated household-level weights for each of the plurality of weighted households based on the household-level weights, the household-member-level demographics data for the plurality of weighted households, and the aggregate demographics data of the population.

### Claim 35 (depends on 31)

The method of claim 31, further comprising:
obtaining household-member-level demographics data for respective household members of an additional weighted household; and
determining updated household-level weights for the additional weighted household as well as each of the plurality of weighted households based on the household-level weights, the household-member-level demographics data for the plurality of weighted households, the household-member-level demographics data for the additional weighted household, and the aggregate demographics data of the population.

### Claim 36 (depends on 31)

The method of claim 31, wherein the tuning data of the subpopulation represents television viewing of the population by weighting the tuning data of each of the plurality of weighted households by the household-level weight of the weighted household.

### Claim 37 (depends on 31)

The method of claim 31, further comprising:
producing ratings for the media event based on the estimated audience measurement of the media event for the first given demographic marginal of the population and based on the estimated audience measurement of the media event for the second given demographic marginal of the population; and
outputting an indication of the produced ratings for the media event.