Patent ID: 8910199

Claim:
A system for displaying targeted content on a television at a television viewing location, comprising: means for receiving; a plurality of sets of primary content at the television viewing location, each of the plurality of sets of primary content having at least one targeted content display opportunity, and each of the plurality of sets of primary content comprising a subset of a category of content; a plurality of sets of targeted content at the television viewing location, each of the plurality of sets of targeted content adapted for display on the television during a targeted content display opportunity, individual sets of targeted content associated with at least one of a plurality of content providers, and each of the plurality of sets of targeted content specifying: (a) a demographic characteristic associated with a desired viewer of a set of targeted content, and (b) a value of the set of targeted content to individual content providers that varies in accordance with the demographic characteristic; means for ascertaining the identity and/or a characteristic of a television viewer watching the television at, or just prior to, the time of the targeted content display opportunity, wherein the identity and/or characteristic includes at least one of an age, a gender, an income, a facial characteristic, or a vocal characteristic, and wherein the means for ascertaining the identity and/or a characteristic of the television viewer include: means for monitoring the display of at least one set of primary content by the television; means for associating demographic probability information with the displayed at least one set of primary content; and means for determining a probable demographic of the television viewer, wherein the determination is based at least in part on the demographic probability information associated with the displayed at least one set of primary content; and means for processing instructions and/or data for selecting one of the received plurality of sets of targeted content for display to the television viewer during the targeted content display opportunity in accordance with a criterion based on: the identity and/or the characteristic of the television viewer, the demographic characteristic associated with the desired viewer of the set of targeted content, and the value of the set of targeted content.