PR Training

Visual Search of TV Broadcasts – Detecting Logos and Other Objects of Interest

*This article was provided by TVEyes,  a PRSA partner.

Innovation is a constant at TVEyes, and unlike some of our competitors, we’re focused solely on advancing the state-of-the-art in broadcast search and monitoring. Recent patents granted for contextual advertising and social media tag recognition are good evidence of the deep thinking that goes on here, every day, about improving the strategic value and unique insights to be gained through use of our comprehensive broadcast media database and index.

Search for broadcast video has been limited historically to the metadata about that content; that is, the tags, short descriptions or, in the case of US TV, closed caption text, and for international content, speech-to-text transcriptions (created on our systems via TVEyes Language Technologies). Text-based search for TV is enormously valuable to those who are able to seek information about content that’s aired by keyword or phrases being spoken; if your needs are related to searching or analyzing the visual content of broadcast, you’ve been out of luck – until now.

The Dawn of Visual Search for Broadcast TV and Over-the-Top Streaming Channels

Advances in pattern and object recognition combined with reduced cost for cloud computing and storage have made it possible for us to build visual search for broadcast. TVEyes has been working for some time to create a new service that meets the needs of national brands to know more about the appearance on television of their logos, products and people. Over the same time, we’ve seen rapid growth in broadcasters and property owners creating web content that is identical to, a subset of, or superset of what is broadcast, providing brands with greater access to younger audiences who increasingly are cord-cutting yet still watching content online and via smartphone apps.

The specific areas we’re developing solutions for include:

  • facial, logo and object tracking across broadcast television
  • facial, logo and object tracking across over-the-top web streaming channels
  • Earned media impression measurement and analysis

Marketing Applications for Visual Search of Broadcast Television

National brands are on television all the time. They buy advertising, sponsorships and product placements. And they’re in the news via their public relations programs or due to issues with their products. To make the value of logo detection a little clearer, let’s take a deeper look a specific use case for visual search: Sports sponsorship.

Logo detection is a boon to brands that purchase sponsorships, their agencies and the leagues and event owners as well. It’s been relatively possible (though not easy, cheap or completely accurate) for event owners like the US Open and sports leagues like Major League Baseball to advise brands of the value of logo placement within official broadcasts. It’s been difficult and expensive to report the secondary broadcasts and value of these logo placements as the process is for the most part manual (adding inaccuracy and inconsistency in reporting to the mix).

With logo detection covering broadcasts in all 210 US DMAs for all major networks and cable stations, TVEyes (or agencies, event owners and professional sports leagues who subscribe to our services) can provide sponsors with highly accurate reports that shows where their logo appeared, for how long and the earned media value of that appearance (also indicating prominence, duration of appearance and even confidence in the detection itself). For those applications that are time-sensitive, we can provide alerts within moments after a logo appears, anywhere it is broadcast, along with the ability to play the segment and highlight the logo.

What’s Available Now in Visual Search from TVEyes

We’re actively developing our end-user product for logo detection, and are seeking a few brands to work with to put the finishing touches on the user interface and the capabilities we’ll bring to market. Participants in this early stage will have the opportunity to help shape the direction of the product and secure the best pricing we’ll offer once the product is formally launched.

TVEyes also has the capability to ingest and perform logo detection and reporting for TV content that’s already aired, provided to us in bulk by broadcasters or the property owners. Our automated detection is far more efficient and effective than current methods, meaning faster turnaround, lower cost and greater accuracy.

Schedule a Demonstration of TVEyes Visual Search

If you’d like a demonstration or more information, please click here to arrange a demo and briefing on TVEyes Broadcast Logo Detection.


David J. Ives is CEO, TVEyes

*This article was provided by TVEyes,  a PRSA partner.

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David J. Ives

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