US pay-TV giant DirecTV has been awarded a US Patent (No. 8,099,749) that covers the use of ratings data captured from subscriber’s set-top boxes, and allows broadcasters to access the data in real time.

The broadcaster, which uses NDS-developed ‘smartcards’ says the system depends on data that’s stored on the smartcard.

DirecTV said: “A need exists in the art for an inexpensive, accurate system and method for automatically monitoring the viewing habits of viewers of direct broadcast satellite television programming,”

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