Rentrak Receives New Patent for STB Viewing 'Drops'

US-based audience measurement specialist Rentrak has been granted another patent for a solution which detects and corrects TV viewership levels caused by missing or 'dropped' set-top box viewing information.

The new patent adds to several others Rentrak received recently, including in December for its process for showing which TV shows have the most engaged viewers; two in November - the first for its Exact Commercial Ratings solution, and the second for a system that compensates for problems with return path TV data storage; and one in October for a method which identifies when TV sets are off, but the set-top box is on.

Rentrak says the latest solution was developed to help identify data drops and minimize the impact of 'outages' on cable, telco and satellite operators. CEO Bill Livek (pictured) comments: 'This patent, along with others, should give our clients continued confidence in our commitment to the best television measurement from massive and passive databases.'

Web site: www.rentrak.com .