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Forums - General - Why do people still use Nielsen Rating system when its incredibly inaccurate?

twesterm on 15 August 2012
thismeintiel said:
What they should do is ask eveyone who owns a cable box and/or sat. dish if they wish to participate in the nielsen ratings. If yes, then they allow them to collect their viewing data and maybe knock a couple bucks off of their bill.


There's a problem with that-- my DVR is always on.  It should obviously count anything I DVR but I don't DVR every show I watch.

So what do we do when I watch a show and then just leave?  Should it count all those shows on NBC or whatever because I happened to leave my DVR on that channel?

What about if I'm just watching TV?  I start watching on show on a channel and then continue on that channel?  Do those get counted or does it assume I'm away?  My wife does this all the time with channels like HGTV.  If you only counted shows that were DVR'd, that would make it much more innacurate than the Nielson rating system.

The only solution I can think of off the top of my head would be to have a button come up that you have to press and screw that.  It's not that simple of a solution.



 

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TWRoO on 15 August 2012
twesterm said:
thismeintiel said:
What they should do is ask eveyone who owns a cable box and/or sat. dish if they wish to participate in the nielsen ratings. If yes, then they allow them to collect their viewing data and maybe knock a couple bucks off of their bill.


There's a problem with that-- my DVR is always on.  It should obviously count anything I DVR but I don't DVR every show I watch.

So what do we do when I watch a show and then just leave?  Should it count all those shows on NBC or whatever because I happened to leave my DVR on that channel?

What about if I'm just watching TV?  I start watching on show on a channel and then continue on that channel?  Do those get counted or does it assume I'm away?  My wife does this all the time with channels like HGTV.  If you only counted shows that were DVR'd, that would make it much more innacurate than the Nielson rating system.

The only solution I can think of off the top of my head would be to have a button come up that you have to press and screw that.  It's not that simple of a solution.

They should just put cameras in all your TVs so they can know when you are watching.



cusman on 15 August 2012

I agree that Nielsen Ratings do not represent my consumption patterns at all. I have no idea why those 5000 people watch a ton of Reality TV, but I do not ever watch that kind of crappy tv.



non-gravity on 15 August 2012
TWRoO said:

They should just put cameras in all your TVs so they can know when you are watching.

signed George Orwell



twesterm on 15 August 2012
TWRoO said:
twesterm said:
thismeintiel said:
What they should do is ask eveyone who owns a cable box and/or sat. dish if they wish to participate in the nielsen ratings. If yes, then they allow them to collect their viewing data and maybe knock a couple bucks off of their bill.


There's a problem with that-- my DVR is always on.  It should obviously count anything I DVR but I don't DVR every show I watch.

So what do we do when I watch a show and then just leave?  Should it count all those shows on NBC or whatever because I happened to leave my DVR on that channel?

What about if I'm just watching TV?  I start watching on show on a channel and then continue on that channel?  Do those get counted or does it assume I'm away?  My wife does this all the time with channels like HGTV.  If you only counted shows that were DVR'd, that would make it much more innacurate than the Nielson rating system.

The only solution I can think of off the top of my head would be to have a button come up that you have to press and screw that.  It's not that simple of a solution.

They should just put cameras in all your TVs so they can know when you are watching.

I also watch TV sometimes while doing chores or cooking in my kitchen.  In those cases a camera wouldn't see me.  

Kinect actually does do a good job of knowing when you're in the room and when you're not.  When I'm watching something on my 360 and let it idle, the screen dims.  The moment I walk back in the room the Kinect spots and it lights back up.  Still though, doesn't solve my above problem.



 

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TWRoO on 15 August 2012
twesterm said:
TWRoO said:
twesterm said:
thismeintiel said:
What they should do is ask eveyone who owns a cable box and/or sat. dish if they wish to participate in the nielsen ratings. If yes, then they allow them to collect their viewing data and maybe knock a couple bucks off of their bill.


There's a problem with that-- my DVR is always on.  It should obviously count anything I DVR but I don't DVR every show I watch.

So what do we do when I watch a show and then just leave?  Should it count all those shows on NBC or whatever because I happened to leave my DVR on that channel?

What about if I'm just watching TV?  I start watching on show on a channel and then continue on that channel?  Do those get counted or does it assume I'm away?  My wife does this all the time with channels like HGTV.  If you only counted shows that were DVR'd, that would make it much more innacurate than the Nielson rating system.

The only solution I can think of off the top of my head would be to have a button come up that you have to press and screw that.  It's not that simple of a solution.

They should just put cameras in all your TVs so they can know when you are watching.

I also watch TV sometimes while doing chores or cooking in my kitchen.  In those cases a camera wouldn't see me.  

Kinect actually does do a good job of knowing when you're in the room and when you're not.  When I'm watching something on my 360 and let it idle, the screen dims.  The moment I walk back in the room the Kinect spots and it lights back up.  Still though, doesn't solve my above problem.

How exactly are you watching TV if you are in another room?



twesterm on 15 August 2012
TWRoO said:
twesterm said:
TWRoO said:
twesterm said:
thismeintiel said:
What they should do is ask eveyone who owns a cable box and/or sat. dish if they wish to participate in the nielsen ratings. If yes, then they allow them to collect their viewing data and maybe knock a couple bucks off of their bill.


There's a problem with that-- my DVR is always on.  It should obviously count anything I DVR but I don't DVR every show I watch.

So what do we do when I watch a show and then just leave?  Should it count all those shows on NBC or whatever because I happened to leave my DVR on that channel?

What about if I'm just watching TV?  I start watching on show on a channel and then continue on that channel?  Do those get counted or does it assume I'm away?  My wife does this all the time with channels like HGTV.  If you only counted shows that were DVR'd, that would make it much more innacurate than the Nielson rating system.

The only solution I can think of off the top of my head would be to have a button come up that you have to press and screw that.  It's not that simple of a solution.

They should just put cameras in all your TVs so they can know when you are watching.

I also watch TV sometimes while doing chores or cooking in my kitchen.  In those cases a camera wouldn't see me.  

Kinect actually does do a good job of knowing when you're in the room and when you're not.  When I'm watching something on my 360 and let it idle, the screen dims.  The moment I walk back in the room the Kinect spots and it lights back up.  Still though, doesn't solve my above problem.

How exactly are you watching TV if you are in another room?

Open floor plan, yo



 

TWRoO on 15 August 2012
twesterm said:
TWRoO said:
twesterm said:
TWRoO said:

They should just put cameras in all your TVs so they can know when you are watching.

I also watch TV sometimes while doing chores or cooking in my kitchen.  In those cases a camera wouldn't see me.  

Kinect actually does do a good job of knowing when you're in the room and when you're not.  When I'm watching something on my 360 and let it idle, the screen dims.  The moment I walk back in the room the Kinect spots and it lights back up.  Still though, doesn't solve my above problem.

How exactly are you watching TV if you are in another room?

Open floor plan, yo

Then if you can see the TV why couldn't a camera view you?



twesterm on 15 August 2012
TWRoO said:
twesterm said:
TWRoO said:
twesterm said:
TWRoO said:

They should just put cameras in all your TVs so they can know when you are watching.

I also watch TV sometimes while doing chores or cooking in my kitchen.  In those cases a camera wouldn't see me.  

Kinect actually does do a good job of knowing when you're in the room and when you're not.  When I'm watching something on my 360 and let it idle, the screen dims.  The moment I walk back in the room the Kinect spots and it lights back up.  Still though, doesn't solve my above problem.

How exactly are you watching TV if you are in another room?

Open floor plan, yo

Then if you can see the TV why couldn't a camera view you?


Most cameras don't have 180 degree viewing angle and things like Kinect can't see as far as my kitchen.  



 

WiiBox3 on 15 August 2012

Well there are many reasons why Nielsen is still used. And most of the US isn't as accurate as a cable box. There are three ways that Neilsen collects data for TV usage.

1. Diary Markets - In most of the smaller areas of the US Nielsen sends diaries to people to keep track of what they watch for a month. The people will fill it out, send it back and get a small payment for doing so. In these markets only 4 months out of the year are tracked. The biggest problem with this is many people will wait until the last day of the month and fill it out based on what they think they watched. As some of these markets were switched to metered markets we have noticed shows on ABC, CBS, & NBC ratings have fallen and the ratings for FOX, CW & My TV have jumped.

Going for lunch, I will give more details later today about Nielsen.....