Abstract: Methods and systems for determining what channel a user is viewing through a TV receiver are described. At the TV receiver, a plurality of TV signals is received. A channel selection is received. The TV receiver tunes to the selected channel from among the plurality of TV signals. A watermark is inserted into a component of the tuned TV signal to form a modified TV signal, and the modified TV signal is output from the TV receiver. The watermark encodes meta-information associated with the tuned TV signal. In some implementations, the modified TV signal is received by a computer system. The watermark from the modified TV signal is processed to decode the meta-information, and the meta-information is provided to an application running on the computer system.

Abstract: An audience measurement service may monitor broadcasts in a region, ingesting closed captioning data, metadata, displayed text or logos, performing facial recognition on people, and/or generating audio/video fingerprints of broadcast content to create a database of content and associated keywords, along with times at which the content was broadcast. The audience measurement service may receive user search queries from a search provider and detect “spiking” queries. The audience measurement service may determine whether the spiking queries are related, contextually and temporally, to an item of content identified in the database, and infer that users generating the queries likely viewed the item of content. In some implementations, the audience measurement service may also infer that the users likely viewed other items of content (e.g. advertisements) displayed during the prior or subsequent few minutes on the same broadcast channel as the query-triggering item.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and media for presenting mobile content corresponding to media content are provided. In some implementations, a method for providing information relating to media content is provided, the method comprising: determining a channel that is providing the television program; causing images relating to the television program to be presented, wherein the images are selected based on the channel and a time parameter; receiving a user selection of an image; identifying an entity within the selected image using one or more image recognition techniques; generating a search query based at least in part on the identified entity; obtaining search results responsive to the generated search query; and causing at least one of the search results to be presented to the mobile device in response to receiving the user selection of the image.

Abstract: Systems and methods for bookmarking prospective media content on computer network. In some implementations, a method includes: at a server system, obtaining, from a electronic device, information corresponding to a media content item; identifying the media content item, from among a plurality of media content items, in accordance with the information; creating a provisional bookmark corresponding to a first URL where the media content item is not yet available but is likely to be available within a predefined time period; and transmitting the provisional bookmark to the electronic device. The method optionally includes: after creating the provisional bookmark, in accordance with a determination that the media content item has become available at the first URL, before the predefined time period: converting the provisional bookmark into a non-provisional bookmark.

Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for providing correlated programming information for broadcast media content and streaming media content. In one implementation, a processing device receives first programming information, the first programming information including scheduling information for media content originating at a first source. The processing device generates, based on media content originating at a second source, second programming information, the second programming information including scheduling information for the media content originating at the second source. The processing device correlates the second programming information with the first programming information. The processing device provides, at an interface, (a) the first programming information and (b) the second programming information as correlated with the first programming information.

Abstract: In accordance with some implementations of the disclosed subject matter, mechanisms for determining channel information are provided. In some implementations, a method for providing media guidance is provided, the method comprising: associating with a local area network; detecting at least one media device on the local area network; determining device information associated with the at least one media device on the local area network; determining, without user intervention, television provider information based on the device information; determining location information of the at least one media device; determining channel information based on the determined television provider information and the determined location information; and causing media guidance information to be presented that includes at least a portion of the determined channel information.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and media for presenting mobile content corresponding to media content are provided. In some implementations, a method for providing information relating to media content is provided, the method comprising: determining a channel that is providing the television program; causing images relating to the television program to be presented, wherein the images are selected based on the channel and a time parameter; receiving a user selection of an image; identifying an entity within the selected image using one or more image recognition techniques; generating a search query based at least in part on the identified entity; obtaining search results responsive to the generated search query; and causing at least one of the search results to be presented to the mobile device in response to receiving the user selection of the image.

Abstract: An electronic device includes a touch-sensitive component and a display that presents a sequence of content item. A user may scroll through the sequence by applying a touch input that continuously moves across at least two thresholds. So long as the input stroke remains uninterrupted, the display will advance through the sequence each time the stroke crosses one of the two thresholds.

Abstract: A method at a server includes identifying a media content item currently being presented in proximity to a first user; identifying, in an entities repository, one or more first quotations associated with the media content item, where the first quotations are determined to be popular in accordance with one or more popularity criteria; sending, to a client device associated with the first user, the first quotations and one or more affordances associated with the first quotations; receiving selection of a first affordance of the affordances, the first affordance associated with a respective quotation of the first quotations; and in accordance with the selection of the first affordance, performing an operation associated with the respective quotation.

Abstract: A method at a server system includes: detecting presentation of a media content item, identifying the media content item and one or more entities related to the media content item, determining respective levels of interest in the identified entities based on one or more signals, selecting a subset of the entities based on the determined levels of interest, and sending to a client device of a user, for presenting at the client device, the selected subset of the entities.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method includes: detecting whether a user is watching media content; after detecting that the user is watching media, presenting on a user device a first affordance providing a first user-selectable election to receive information on entities relevant to the media content; in response to user selection of the election: sampling at the user device program information from the media content including one or more of audio signals and subtitles, and sending the program information to a server, which identifies the media content and generates one or more second user-selectable user elections for the identified media content and sends to the user device one or more second affordances providing the second user-selectable elections; displaying the second affordances on the user device; and in response to user selection of one of the second affordances, displaying on the user device information on a respective entity relevant to the media content.

Abstract: A method at a server includes: receiving a user request to clarify audible verbal information associated with a media content item playing in proximity to a client device, where the user request includes an audio sample of the media content item and a user query, and the audio sample corresponds to a portion of the media content item proximate in time to issuance of the user query; in response to the user request: identifying the media content item and a first playback position in the media content corresponding to the audio sample; in accordance with the first playback position and identity of the media content item, obtaining textual information corresponding to the user query for a respective portion of the media content item; and transmitting to the client device at least a portion of the textual information.

Abstract: A process provides a user with context-aware information. The process is performed at a client device with one or more processors, a microphone, and memory. The memory stores one or more programs configured for execution by the one or more processors. The process receives audio fingerprints for a plurality of video programs and information that correlates each respective received audio fingerprint to a respective video program, and stores the received audio fingerprints and correlating information in memory. The process detects ambient sound using the microphone, and computes one or more sample audio fingerprints from the detected ambient sound. The process matches one of the sample audio fingerprints to a first stored audio fingerprint and uses the correlating information to identify a first video program corresponding to the matched sample audio fingerprint. The process then provides the user with information related to the first video program.

Abstract: A method for providing efficient and accurate estimates of TV viewership ratings through a distributed computer system that includes multiple computers is disclosed. The method includes: receiving a query from a client at the distributed computer system; dynamically selecting one or more computers according to a predefined sharding function; at each of the selected computers, determining a count of qualified event records that satisfy the query; aggregating the respective counts of qualified event records determined by the selected computers; statistically projecting the aggregated count of qualified event records into an estimated total count of qualified event records on the distributed computer system; and returning the estimated total count of qualified event records to the requesting client.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and media for presenting music items relating to media content are provided. In accordance with some implementations, methods for presenting music items relating to media content are provided, the methods comprising: detecting a plurality of music segments of the media content item that include music content; identifying a plurality of pieces of music played in the plurality of music segments; generating, using a hardware processor, a playlist including information relating to the plurality of pieces of music; causing the playlist to be presented to a user; receiving a user selection of a portion of the playlist corresponding to a piece of music played in a first music segment of the plurality of music segments; and causing information relating to a plurality music items that match the first music segment to be presented in response to receiving the user selection.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and media for generating and presenting supplemental content based on contextual information are provided. In some implementations, a method for presenting content to a user is provided, the method comprising: identifying a program based on first media data; identifying one or more keywords associated with the program; determining a popularity score associated with each of the one or more keywords; obtaining one or more properties associated with a particular keyword of the one or more keywords based on the popularity score associated with each keyword; generating supplemental content for the program based on the one or more properties; receiving a request for supplemental content and second media data from a computing device; and upon determining that the second media data corresponds to the program, causing the generated supplemental content to be presented by the computing device.

Abstract: A method at a first device coupled to a display includes: when no second device is linked with the first device, receiving a first content stream, the first content stream including a content item and one or more first advertisements, and outputting the content item and the first advertisements to the display. The method also includes: when a second device is linked with the first device, receiving a second content stream, the second content stream including the content item and not including the first advertisements, and outputting the content item to the display without the first advertisements.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method includes receiving, from a secondary computing device, a request for enhanced content for a media program, the request comprising information indicative of a communication channel through which the media program is being displayed on a primary computing device; receiving broadcast information indicative of enhanced content for a plurality of communication channels; extracting, from the broadcast information indicative of enhanced content for the plurality of communication channels, broadcast information indicative of enhanced content for the communication channel through which the media program is being displayed on the primary computing device; obtaining, based on the extracted broadcast information, a link to enhanced content for the media program; and sending, to the secondary computing device, the link to enhanced content for the media program.

Abstract: A computing system is described that determines, based on a location history, a content-viewing location associated with a user of a mobile computing device and identifies a media output device located at the content-viewing location. Responsive to determining that the mobile computing device is located at the content-viewing location and in proximity to the media output device at a current time, the computing system determines, based on a plurality of features of the media output device, various media recommendations for the user at the current time. The plurality of features include an indication of whether the media output device is operating in an on state at the current time. The computing system outputs, for transmission to the mobile computing device, an indication of the various media recommendations.

Abstract: Methods and systems for determining what channel a user is viewing through a TV receiver are described. At the TV receiver, a plurality of TV signals is received. A channel selection is received. The TV receiver tunes to the selected channel from among the plurality of TV signals. A watermark is inserted into a component of the tuned TV signal to form a modified TV signal, and the modified TV signal is output from the TV receiver. The watermark encodes meta-information associated with the tuned TV signal. In some implementations, the modified TV signal is received by a computer system. The watermark from the modified TV signal is processed to decode the meta-information, and the meta-information is provided to an application running on the computer system.