US Patent 7343417 System and method for rating media information

A system for obtaining a rating stream of information concerning a media presentation is described. The client unit provides a media player. In a preferred embodiment, the client unit also provides a rating indication display. The rating can be adjusted by the user. The rating information, along with time stamp information recorded when the rating changes, is provided from the client unit to a data collection unit. The analysis unit requests data from the data collection unit, and combines the ratings information from multiple users. In a preferred embodiment, the analysis unit combines the rating information according to demographic groups based on the demographic profiles of the users.