System and method for providing measurement of tracking events with radio broadcast materials via the internet

Claim 3

The system of claim 1 , further comprising proxy software configured to provide said tracking events to said measurement server.

Claim 4

The system of claim 1 , further comprising proxy software configured to store said tracking events in a database, such that said tracking events can be retrieved by said measurement server.

Claim 5

The system of claim 1 , wherein said measurement server is further configured to receive program data with said tracking events, said program data indicating which of a plurality of segments is being broadcast at the time.

Claim 6

The system of claim 1 , wherein said measurement server is further configured to receive time stamps with said tracking events.

Claim 7

The system of claim 1 , wherein said tracking events comprise an event indicating initiation of streaming to a user terminal and an event indicating termination of streaming to a user terminal.

Claim 8

The system of claim 1 , wherein said providing an indication is performed in real-time as users log-onto and off of said streaming server.

Claim 9

The system of claim 1 , further comprising: a collection engine configured to collect the tracking events indicative of user activities associated with receipt of the program segments a database configured to store said collected tracking events; and a user interface configured to provide reports of said user activities based on the program data to a provider of said broadcast material segments.

Claim 10

The system of claim 8 , further comprising a data engine configured to process said collected tracking events.

Claim 11

The system of claim 8 , wherein said collection engine is further configured to collect the program data that is associated with said tracking events.

Claim 12

The system of claim 8 , wherein said database is further configured to store a time stamp with said tracking events.

Claim 13

The system of claim 8 , wherein said report comprises a real-time report of users accessing said broadcast material segments.

Claim 14

The system of claim 8 , wherein said report comprises a historical report of users accessing said broadcast material segments.

Claim 15

The system of claim 8 , wherein said report comprises a report of listenership of the broadcast material segments.

Claim 16

The system of claim 8 , further comprising a means for processing said collected tracking events.

Claim 17

The system of claim 1 , further comprising: means for collecting the tracking means for storing said collected tracking events; and means for providing reports of said user activities based on the program data to a provider of said broadcast material segments.

Claim 18

The system of claim 1 , further comprising: a first graphical display component illustrating real-time listenership for at least one of a plurality of groups of users.

Claim 19

The system of claim 1 , further comprising: a graphical display component illustrating listenership for at least one of a plurality of groups of users; at least one user selection input allowing a program director to select parameters by which said graphical display is to be illustrated.

Claim 20

The system of claim 1 , wherein providing an indication comprises providing a graphic depiction of listenership.

Claim 23

The method of claim 20 , further comprising providing reports of listenership data for the broadcaster.

Claim 24

The method of claim 20 , further comprising receiving additional tracking events indicating user activities, wherein said tracking events include at least one of a user log-on, a user log-off, the ordering of supplemental materials, and a product purchase.

Claim 25

The method of claim 22 , wherein said additional tracking events are received from the broadcast material segments provider.

Claim 26

The method of claim 22 , wherein said additional tracking events are received from a user terminal.

Claim 27

The method of claim 22 , further comprising generating a real-time report of user activities and providing said report to said broadcaster.

Claim 28

The of method of claim 25 , further comprising filtering the report based on additional data.

Claim 29

The method of claim 26 , wherein said additional data comprises demographic data.

Claim 30

The method of claim 20 , further comprising collecting and storing franking events from a plurality of users.

Claim 31

The method of claim 20 , further comprising collecting demographic information from one or more users.

Claim 32

The method of claim 29 , further comprising generating reports of user listenership to broadcast material segments based on demographic information.

Claim 33

The method of claim 20 , further comprising receiving tracking information with said additional tracking events, to enable correlation of said tracking events with the broadcast material segments.

Claim 34

The method of claim 20 , further comprising receiving time stamps with said additional tracking events, to enable correlation of said tracking events with the broadcast material segments.

Claim 35

A computer program product for use with a computer system, said computer program product comprising: a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied in said medium for causing the computer system collect listenership information, said computer readable program code means comprising: computer readable program code means for transmitting to an Internet broadcasting system, from a radio station system, broadcast materials divided into a plurality of program segments, the program segments being accompanied by program data, the program data comprising a code identifying the accompanied segment; computer readable program code means for receiving the program segments and program data at the Internet broadcasting system and broadcasting the received broadcast materials and program data to a plurality of media players over the Internet; computer readable program code means for receiving at a media player the broadcast material and program data from said Internet broadcast system; computer readable program code means for transmitting at least one tracking event for the media player based on the program data and providing an indication based on the program data to the radio broadcast system of the media players receiving the broadcast materials at a period of time; computer readable program code means for receiving said at least one tracking event for the media player; computer readable program code means for storing said at least one tracking event in a database; and computer readable program code means for providing to a broadcaster the indication based on the program data that said user is receiving said broadcast material from said radio station system.

Claim 36

A computer program product for use with a computer system, said computer program product comprising: a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied in said medium for causing the computer system collect listenership information, said computer readable program code means comprising: computer readable program code means for transmitting to an Internet broadcasting system, from a radio station system, broadcast materials divided into a plurality of program segments, the program segments being accompanied by program data, the program data comprising a code identifying the accompanied segment; computer readable program code means for receiving the program segments and program data at the Internet broadcasting system and broadcasting the received broadcast materials and program data to a plurality of media players over the Internet; computer readable program code means for receiving at a media player the broadcast material and program data from said Internet broadcast system; computer readable program code means for transmitting at least one tracking event for the media player based on the program data and providing an indication based on the program data to the radio broadcast system of the media players receiving the broadcast materials at a period of time; computer readable program code means for receiving said at least one tracking event for the media player; computer readable program code means for storing said at least one tracking event in a database; and computer readable program code means for providing to a broadcaster the indication based on the program data that said user is receiving said broadcast material from said radio station system.

Claim 37

A program storage device, readable by one or more machines, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machines to perform method steps for audience measurement of broadcast materials, said method steps comprising the steps of: transmitting to an Internet broadcasting system, from a radio station system, broadcast materials divided into a plurality of program segments, the program segments being accompanied by program data, the program data comprising a code identifying the accompanied segment; receiving the program segments and program data at the Internet broadcasting system and broadcasting the received broadcast materials and program data to a plurality of media players over the Internet; receiving at a media player the broadcast material and program data from said Internet broadcast system; transmitting at least one tracking event for the media player based on the program data and providing an indication based on the program data to the radio broadcast system of the media players receiving the broadcast materials at a period of time; receiving said at least one tracking event for the media player; storing said at least one tracking event in a database; and providing to a broadcaster the indication based on the program data that said user is receiving said broadcast material from said radio station system.

Claim 38

A program storage device, readable by one or more machines, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machines to perform method steps for audience measurement of broadcast materials, said method steps comprising the steps of: transmitting to an Internet broadcasting system, from a radio station system, broadcast materials divided into a plurality of program segments, the program segments being accompanied by program data, the program data comprising a code identifying the accompanied segment; receiving the program segments and program data at the Internet broadcasting system and broadcasting the received broadcast materials and program data to a plurality of media players over the Internet; receiving at a media player the broadcast material and program data from said Internet broadcast system; transmitting at least one tracking event for the media player based on the program data and providing an indication based on the program data to the radio broadcast system of the media players receiving the broadcast materials at a period of time; receiving said at least one tracking event for the media player; storing said at least one tracking event in a database; and providing to a broadcaster the indication based on the program data that said user is receiving said broadcast material from said radio station system.