Patent ID: 8887188

Claim:
A computer implemented method for analyzing viewing data to characterize viewership of media, the method comprising: retrieving data representing the viewing behavior of a plurality of viewers, the data reflecting viewing behavior on multiple different channels that are used to distribute media, the multiple different channels comprising at least: a channel providing live channel viewing data; a channel providing recorded transmission viewing data; and a channel providing on-demand viewing data; normalizing the live channel viewing data, the recorded transmission viewing data, and the on-demand viewing data to adjust for timestamp variations; normalizing at least one of the live channel viewing data, the recorded transmission viewing data, and the on-demand viewing data to adjust for a local broadcast; retaining at least a portion of the live channel viewing data, the recorded transmission viewing data, and the on-demand viewing data as metadata; retrieving a presentation schedule including displaying periods associated with media; normalizing the presentation schedule to adjust for timestamp variations; determining an average number of viewers of the media based on an overlap between at least a portion of the live channel viewing data, at least a portion of the recorded transmission viewing data, at least a portion of the on-demand viewing data, and at least a portion of the presentation schedule; and generating a graphic comprising a plurality of intervals, each interval depicting the average number of viewers for at least two of the channel providing live channel viewing data, the channel providing recorded transmission viewing data, and the channel providing on-demand viewing data.