Are you a Nielson Family? Have you ever met one?

POSTED BY: dyairvatree
UPDATED: Monday, March 29, 2004 23:27
VIEWED: 10333
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TOOMANYMEMORIES

Monday, March 15, 2004 7:21 AM

Quote:
Now how does a family with a wife and three kids get to make choices for single males, or even younger married ones like myself?

I agree, I think it's a screwed up system. The only way it would work is if everyone had one. Since that's never gonna happen, there's no way for it to be accurate.

SHADOWVESSEL

Monday, March 15, 2004 7:30 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by toomanymemories:
Quote:
Now how does a family with a wife and three kids get to make choices for single males, or even younger married ones like myself?

I agree, I think it's a screwed up system. The only way it would work is if everyone had one. Since that's never gonna happen, there's no way for it to be accurate.

Hell yeah.

"I'll be in my bunk."

BROWNCOAT1

Monday, March 15, 2004 3:32 PM

Don't have a Nielson box, never did, never been asked. I don't know anyone who has one, and no one I know, know anyone that has one.

I do not think this Nielson system can be used w/ any true degree of accuracy as they do not poll a sufficient percentage of the population. Secondly, w/ cable and now DVD players, people have a multitude of choices for viewing. I don't think that any network can accurately say what the rating of any one show might be at any given time.

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

MAUGWAI

Monday, March 15, 2004 3:37 PM

I think they need to use Tivo and DVR ratings more than neilson. For one thing, neilson always focuses on families. But so many people who are single watch Sci-Fi. If they checked Tivo instead of Neilson boxes, sci-fi shows' ratings would go through the roof, because those are the kind of people who watch sci-fi. That would certainly save Angel.

"Dear diary, today I was pompous and my sister was crazy."

MILORADELL

Monday, March 15, 2004 3:50 PM

OK - let's see, this was a looong time ago. My Mom did surveys, etc. for some polling group, and once we had to keep a log of our TV watching for a month.

At the time, it was my Mom and Dad and me and my brother - then both in our teens. We had cable, and 4 tv's. Soooo - I lied. I would write down all the SciFi shows I liked, even if I didn't actually watch them. I figured - they were all re-runs, so I HAD seen them at one time. I know my brother didn't put anything on the log. And my parents watched the news.

So much for accuracy .

BROWNCOAT1

Monday, March 15, 2004 4:29 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by maugwai:
I think they need to use Tivo and DVR ratings more than neilson. For one thing, neilson always focuses on families. But so many people who are single watch Sci-Fi. If they checked Tivo instead of Neilson boxes, sci-fi shows' ratings would go through the roof, because those are the kind of people who watch sci-fi. That would certainly save Angel.

Using Tivo or DVR would most likely yield far more accurate data than Nielson boxes.

I wonder though......sponsors normally gear more towards the family, so that might be why they use the Nielson ratings to determine viewer numbers. They may not care about the individual so much.

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

PYROPHORUS

Monday, March 15, 2004 4:48 PM

Actually with new technologies, Digital TV offers the ability to log and poll everything anyones watching. Thats in hopes that this will replace crappy Neilson. You would actually have to consent, which is more in favour of Sci-Fi, most peole watching Sci-Fi would be more likelly to accept being polled, except the paranoid people.

It would also be more accurate, as in the consent form, it would ask you for your age, relationship status, etc. And then advertisements can be even better geared towards individuals.

OKKAY

Monday, March 15, 2004 4:51 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by BrownCoat1:
Quote:
Originally posted by maugwai:
I think they need to use Tivo and DVR ratings more than neilson. For one thing, neilson always focuses on families. But so many people who are single watch Sci-Fi. If they checked Tivo instead of Neilson boxes, sci-fi shows' ratings would go through the roof, because those are the kind of people who watch sci-fi. That would certainly save Angel.

Using Tivo or DVR would most likely yield far more accurate data than Nielson boxes.

I wonder though......sponsors normally gear more towards the family, so that might be why they use the Nielson ratings to determine viewer numbers. They may not care about the individual so much.

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

Also don't forget that Tivo viewers like to skip the commercials. So the sponsors would only be interested in those people who are actually sitting down and watching the show as it's being broadcast. They don't care about people who tape/Tivo the show because those people won't watch the commercials.

BROWNCOAT1

Monday, March 15, 2004 5:07 PM

Okkay wrote:

Quote:
Also don't forget that Tivo viewers like to skip the commercials. So the sponsors would only be interested in those people who are actually sitting down and watching the show as it's being broadcast. They don't care about people who tape/Tivo the show because those people won't watch the commercials.

Very good point.

I guess this is a case of your viewing preferences do not count as you don't watch our bloody commercials.

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

FORRESTWOLF

Monday, March 15, 2004 5:30 PM

Well, my wife and I participated in a survey when we were newly married - that was...urk...8 years ago. The company (not sure who it was) sent the forms to us, and we agreed. It was paper-only, no Nielson box, and we participated for one period (don't remember how long that was - a week or a month, perhaps?). Totally the honor system.

We probably marked down a fair number of sci-fi shows (what would that have been? DS9? B5?).

I haven't seen such a survey since.

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