Is there some information passed back from the cable box?
What about people who do not have digital cable? I just get the free cable channels from my town, and from buying internet from a company who also offers digital cable. I only pay for cable internet though.. But i do not have a cable box. my cable just goes into the TV. Or also what about people who get antenna TV?
Are people without a digital cable box not counted?
Im wondering this because i guess they canceled The OC because no one watched it... but how would they know how many people watch it?
2007-01-04 11:25:12 · 6 answers · asked by Fernesta 1 in Entertainment & Music ➔ Television
This is the most B. S. way to do it, but this is what counts.
From the Nielsen Ratings site:
We collect viewing information for both national and local programs — not only what's being viewed (tuning data), but also the composition of the audience (demographic data).
Daily household minute-by-minute viewing and tuning data, from both the national and local metered samples, is stored in the in-home metering system until it is automatically retrieved by our computers each night. Once the data is relayed via phone lines to our operations center in Oldsmar, Florida, it is processed that same night for release to the television industry the next day.
Television networks, stations, and third-party data providers give us information on program lineups, telling us what aired on each channel. This essential reference data helps us turn the raw tuning and viewing data into meaningful numbers for reporting.
To comprehend the dimension of our task, let's look at the numbers. We collect information from approximately 25,000 metered households starting at about 3 a.m. each day, process approximately 10 million viewing minutes a day, and make more than 4,000 gigabytes of data available for customer access the next day. In addition, we collect and process data from 1.6 million handwritten paper diaries from households across the country during sweep periods.
When the meter data is transmitted from the home to Nielsen, it is in raw code form. We then run a series of tests to ensure the integrity of this data.
If a problem is discovered, the system will flag the data from that household, analyze the problem, and determine the best course of action for correcting it. The solution may be as simple as calling the household to gather some information. In other instances, we may schedule a Nielsen field representative to visit the household and either repair or replace metering equipment, or re-coach the family members on usage of our equipment.
Once the data has been validated, our systems combine the transmitted and internal reference data to convert it to ratings information.
2007-01-04 11:35:42 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
They do place Nielsen rating boxes in some homes, but Nielsen also sends "tv diaries" to different households at random (I've done this) and you keep their "diary" of how many people in household between certain ages watch which programs each day for a week. You mail it back and they use this info to determine what shows are popular in what age bracket. Also shows which broadcasting systems "lead the pack" in tv viewing.
2007-01-04 11:36:27 · answer #2 · answered by Tweet 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Nielson boxes are given out to certain families that have young males in the right age group, because that's who the sponsors want to sell their products to. Makes no sense to me, 'cause I know many older women who control most or all of the spending in their households. I don't think the sponsors know what they're doing to their businesses by going after the wrong group.
Anyway, you can't ask for a box, and they ask lots of questions before finally telling people they MIGHT be chosen, then they narrow down the finalists and give them a box that's hooked up to all the TVs in their home.
I don't think it really works, though. That's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it!
2007-01-04 11:29:32 · answer #3 · answered by OhWhatCanIDo 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They use Nielsen Media Research. It's a company that randomly selects households throughout the country to do a study on what shows they watch. If you agree, they go to your home and install monitoring equipment that tracks what tv shows you watch.
2016-03-29 08:05:57 · answer #4 · answered by Sharon 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Neilson ratings. Its a box they put on the back of your tv.
2007-01-04 11:27:27 · answer #5 · answered by jrsygrl 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
they place Nielsen boxes in some homes and use those ratings I think.
2007-01-04 11:27:23 · answer #6 · answered by duvaldiva.com 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋