Abstract: A video monitoring system for identifying television broadcast program material such as commercials by extracting characters present in the closed captioned portion of the video signal at line 21, field 1 and comparing the extracted characters to stored characters and recording the occurrence of a match between the extracted characters and the stored characters indicating the presence of specific program material such as a commercial in the broadcast signal. In an alternative embodiment, comparison may be made between a compressed character string formed from extracted characters and a stored compressed character string.

Abstract: A system for remotely displaying screen data on televisions or the like transmits screen data over a plurality of commercial radio band carrier transmitters. A plurality of devices are provided, each being for use with a corresponding television in a home. Each device includes a band receiver and a decoder for receiving and decoding screen data. A display signal is then generated for viewing on the television or the like. Each device can include means for receiving responses from a user, for example responses to a program viewed. The device can also include a storage for storing both screen data and response data. This enables response data to be transmitted at a later time, and it can be collected by polling from a central computer. Similarly, screen data can be received and stored, for later viewing.