US 5,057,915 · Granted 1991-10-15

System and method for attracting shoppers to sales outlets

A system and method for evaluating responses to broadcast programs, such as televison programs, includes an instructional signal modulated onto a signal transmitted concurrently with the television program, or time-multiplexed with a television. At each of a plurality of remote receiving stations, one or more members of a remote audience has the opportunity to respond to a situation presented in the television program by entering a response on a keyboard. The system includes, at each remote receiving station, a memory responsive to the instructional signal for storing acceptable responses, and a comparison circuit for comparing responses entered at the keyboard with those stored in the memory. Also provided is electronic circuitry for scoring the responses in accordance with commands from the instructional signal, and a recording device for providing a permanent record of the audience score at each of the remote receiving stations. Scoring is performed at differing levels of difficulty, set by a host or by a contestant, with credit being given also for the length of time required for response. The mode of response includes the use of a key word or phrase. Alternatively, the program may be presented by a prerecorded message accessible by telephone from a remote station with regulation from a central station. A prize-winning respondent can select a product from a listing and apply the value of a prize to the purchase price of the selected product.

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