Technique for collecting data relating to activity of a user receiving entertainment programs through a communications network

A method for collecting data in a communications system including a first server and a second server, the method comprising:

• providing by a first server programming content;
• providing at least one data stream containing the programming content over a communications network to terminals coupled to the network, the at least one data stream being identified by a respective identifier;
• communicating the respective identifier to requesting terminals for obtaining the programming content in the respective data streams;
• receiving by a second server from respective terminals viewer entered commands relating to a presentation of the programming content currently being provided to the respective terminals;
• compiling data from at least certain of the received commands by the second server in association with identifications of the respective terminals providing the respective commands and time information relating to the respective commands;
• forwarding the received viewer entered commands by the second server to the first server to present the programming content currently being provided to the respective terminals, in accordance with the forwarded commands;
• storing the compiled data for the plurality of terminals, by the second server;
• and
• totaling a number of terminals issuing a selected command with respect to a selected programming content during a selected time period, by the second server.

A communications system, comprising:

• a server for providing programming content;
• a device for providing at least one data stream containing the programming content over a communications network, the data stream being identified by an identifier;
• a controller for communicating the identifier to requesting terminals for receiving the data stream;
• a router for routing to the server viewer entered commands received from respective terminals over the communications network to cause presentation of programming content currently being provided to respective terminals in accordance with the viewer entered commands;
• and
• a processing unit for reading at least a subset of the commands from the router while the commands are being routed through the router to the server to present programming content in accordance with the viewer entered commands, for compiling data from the read commands in association with an identification of the respective terminals providing the respective commands and time information relating to the respective commands, and for totaling a number of terminals issuing a selected command with respect to a selected program during a selected time period.

A method for collecting data in a communications system including a server, a router and a processing unit, the method comprising:

• providing programming content by the server;
• providing at least one data stream containing the programming content over the communications network to terminals coupled to the network, the at least one data stream being identified by an identifier;
• communicating the identifier to requesting terminals for receiving the data stream;
• routing by a router to the server viewer entered commands received from the terminals over the communications network, to cause presentation of programming content currently being provided to the respective terminals in accordance with the viewer entered commands;
• allowing at least a subset of the commands to be read by the processing unit while the commands are being routed through the router;
• compiling data concerning at least certain of the read commands in association with an identification of the respective terminals providing the respective commands and time information related to the respective command;
• storing the compiled data for the plurality of terminals;
• and
• totaling a number of terminals issuing a selected command with respect to a selected programming content during a selected time period.

A communications system, comprising:

• a database;
• at least one processor configured to:
• provide programming content;
• provide at least one data stream containing programming content over a communications network, the at least one data stream being identified by a respective identifier;
• communicate the identifier to at least one of the terminals for receiving the data stream;
• receive from the terminals over the communications network viewer entered commands relating to a presentation of the programming content;
• present the programming content to respective terminals in accordance with the respective commands;
• compile data concerning the commands received from the plurality of terminals;
• store the compiled data in the database;
• total a number of terminals selecting particular programming content during a selected time period based, at least in part, on the stored data;
• determine a number of terminals displaying the selected program content in its entirety, based, at least in part, on the stored data;
• determine a number of terminals displaying the selected program content only partially, based, at least in part, on the stored data;
• and
• for the terminals partially viewing the selected program content, determine a percentage of time that each partially viewed program content was viewed, based, at least in part, on the stored data;
• the system further comprising at least one interface coupled to a network and to the at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor provides the programming content to terminals via the at least one interface and the network, and the at least one processor receives the viewer entered commands via the at least one interface and the network.