Methods and systems to monitor a media device via a usb port

A meter for monitoring media exposure via a television to audience members of a household, the meter comprising:

• a network interface;
• at least one processor;
• and
• a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to perform a set of operations comprising:
• monitoring, via a cable connected to a port of the television, whether an operating state of the television is an on-state or an off-state at a given time;
• timestamping operating state data indicating the monitored operating state to generate a record indicative of whether the television is in the on-state or the off-state at the given time;
• obtaining audience measurement data representing one or more media signals communicated to the television;
• and
• transmitting, via the network interface, over a network, and to a central facility located remotely from the meter, the timestamped operating state data and the audience measurement data.

A method performed by a meter comprising at least one processor and a memory, the method comprising:

• monitoring, via a cable connected to a port of a media presentation device located within a monitored environment, an operating state of the media presentation device;
• based on the monitoring, determining that the media presentation device is powered on;
• based on the determination that the media presentation device is powered on, triggering collection of media-identifying data from one or more media signals output by the media presentation device, the media-identifying data useable for identifying one or more of a source of the one or more media signals or content carried by the one or more media signals, and the collecting comprising one or more of (i) extracting a code embedded in the one or more media signals or (ii) generating a signature based on the one or more media signals;
• storing the collected media-identifying data in the memory;
• and
• transmitting the collected media-identifying data via a network interface, over a network, and to a central facility that is separate and remote from the meter.