Patent ID: 8863166

Claim:
A computing system for analyzing video playback device viewing data, comprising: a memory for storing programmed instructions; a processor configured to execute the programmed instructions to perform operations including: maintaining multiple survival models, each survival model associated with a portion of a day, of a plurality of portions of the day, and comprising a plurality of probabilities in the open interval between 0 and 1 that a video playback device associated with a set top box is powered off as a function of time following a tuning event, each survival model generated from tune data from a plurality of set top boxes, the tune data associated with the corresponding portion of the day; receiving tune data indicative of content tuned to by a plurality of set top boxes, the tune data including a plurality of tuning events, each tuning event including a time of the tuning event and a corresponding content identifier that was tuned at the tuning event; and analyzing the tune data from the plurality of set top boxes to estimate video viewership, the analysis including, for each set top box of the plurality of set top boxes: selecting a survival model from the multiple survival models, the selected survival model corresponding to a same portion of the day as reflected by at least one of the tuning events from the set top box; selecting a probability that the video playback device associated with the set top box was powered off; determining a time corresponding to the probability using the selected survival model; and excluding, from the analysis to estimate video viewership, tuning data from the set top box that occurs after the determined time.