Rentrak said it has been granted U.S. Patent No. 8,863,166 for a method and system that measures the status of return path TVs – or in simpler terms: it knows when the TV is off but the set-top is on.
According to Rentrak, because it often happens that a set-top box is left on when the television is turned off, this process is crucial to the measurement of viewing based on return-path TVs. Rentrak’s approach includes more than 10,000 statistical models to identify specific viewing situations.
“This is great news for Rentrak and the video industry,” said Rentrak’s Vice Chairman and CEO Bill Livek in a statement. “This patent recognizes the fact that only Rentrak has the intellectual property and years of experience to precisely measure TV viewing everywhere. This technology is an integral part of providing massive and passive television measurement for our clients.”
