US 11,917,243 B1
Optimizing inventory based on predicted viewership
Colleen Moraghan, Cold Spring Harbor, NY (US); and Nandhita Karunanithi, West Windsor, NJ (US)
Assigned to CSC Holdings, LLC, Bethpage, NY (US)
Filed by CSC Holdings, LLC, Bethpage, NY (US)
Filed on Jul. 6, 2020, as Appl. No. 16/921,259.
Application 16/921,259 is a continuation of application No. 13/833,293, filed on Mar. 15, 2013, granted, now 10,708,654.
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. H04N 21/442 (2011.01); G06Q 30/0241 (2023.01); G06Q 30/0251 (2023.01); G06Q 30/0242 (2023.01)
CPC H04N 21/44222 (2013.01) [G06Q 30/0241 (2013.01); G06Q 30/0244 (2013.01); G06Q 30/0264 (2013.01); G06Q 30/0277 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A computer implemented method, comprising:
receiving viewership data for a periodic event for a market segment from one or more of a plurality of set-top boxes in response to configuration files being transmitted to the one or more of the plurality of set-top boxes to configure the one or more of the plurality of set-top boxes to collect the viewership data for the periodic event, the periodic event being indicated as a repetitive event in a programming event calendar;
determining, from the viewership data, a tendency of the market segment to view the periodic event;
predicting viewership for a future occurrence of the periodic event based on the tendency of the market segment to view the periodic event;
evaluating past viewership data for one or more past occurrences of the periodic event to determine historical viewership for the periodic event;
comparing the predicted viewership for the future occurrence of the periodic event and the historical viewership for the periodic event to generate a confidence metric for the predicted viewership for the future occurrence of the periodic event;
identifying a time slot from among a plurality of time slots for which the predicted viewership for the future occurrence of the periodic event exceeds an advertising value threshold, the advertising value threshold being defined in terms of the predicted viewership for the future occurrence of the periodic event and the confidence metric; and
offering the time slot to an advertiser positioned to target the market segment.