US 5,774,170 · Granted 1998-06-30

The 1998 Patent That Imagined Personalized TV Ads Before the Internet

Before streaming, before the internet could track you, this patent imagined a way to send different TV commercials to different houses on the same broadcast. Instead of everyone in a city seeing the same ads, your neighborhood might see a pizza shop commercial while the next town over sees a car dealership—all on the same channel at the same time.

Curated and verified by the IsItPatented Editorial team

The plain-English version

What it protects

The patent covers a system that intercepts broadcast or cable television signals and selectively displays advertisements to specific households or display devices while blocking those same ads from appearing elsewhere. What's protected here is the technical method of targeting and delivering commercials to predetermined homes via over-the-air or wired delivery systems, ensuring a given commercial reaches only its intended audience on a single channel.

Why it matters

This patent arrived at a moment when cable and satellite TV were becoming household infrastructure. It anticipated the eventual shift toward personalized advertising—a core feature of today's streaming and digital platforms. While the technology described here uses 1990s broadcast mechanics rather than internet data, it's an early conceptual blueprint for the kind of targeted ad delivery that now powers billions in revenue across YouTube, Netflix, and cable operators.

Real-world use

When you watched cable TV in the late 1990s and early 2000s, local car dealers and regional retailers sometimes appeared in ads on the same network program as national brands—this patent's targeting framework made that possible.

Original USPTO abstract

This invention enhances television (and radio) advertising by targeting, delivering and displaying electronic advertising messages (commercials) within specified programming in one or more pre-determined households (or on specific display devices) while simultaneously preventing a commercial from being displayed in other households or on other displays for which it is not intended. Commercials can be delivered to specified homes or displays via either over-the-air or wired delivery systems.

Patent details

Publication number: US 5,774,170
Filing date: 1994-12-13
Grant date: 1998-06-30
Assignee: Hite; Kenneth C. / Ciciora; Walter S. / Alison; Tom / Beauregard; Robert G.
Inventor(s): HITE; KENNETH C., CICIORA; WALTER S., ALISON; TOM, BEAUREGARD; ROBERT G.
CPC class: G06Q30/02

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