[opendtv] Re: News: Nielsen Reports U.S. TV Viewership at Record High
- From: Richard Hollandsworth <holl_ands@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 4 Oct 2005 08:56:32 -0700 (PDT)
Note that the average PER HOUSEHOLD adds together all the watching time for ALL
members in the household. So it's higher than the INDIVIDUAL watching average.
All monitored viewers wear a Nielsen Interactive Television Watching Interest
Telemetry (NITWIT) helmet. This allows Nielsen to monitor both eye movements
and brain activity.
This information is then combined with the manually operated Nielsen People
Meter:
How the Data Are Collected
National Measurement
The heart of the Nielsen Media Research national ratings service in the United
States is an electronic measurement system called the Nielsen People Meter.
These meters are placed in a sample of 5,100 households in the U.S., randomly
selected and recruited by Nielsen Media Research. The People Meter is placed on
each TV set in the sample household. The meter measures two things - what
program or channel is being tuned and who is watching. The People Meter is used
to collect audience estimates for broadcast and cable networks, nationally
distributed syndicated programs and satellite distributors.
Which TV source (broadcast, cable, etc.) is being watched in the sample homes
is continually recorded by one part of the meter which has been calibrated to
identify which station, network or satellite is carried on each channel in the
home. Channel changes are electronically monitored by the meter. Nielsen Media
Research gathers and maintains a database of information about source and time
of telecast for TV programs, and when this information is combined with source
tuning data from our sample homes, we can credit audience to specific TV
programs.
Who is watching is measured by another portion of the Nielsen People Meter
which uses an electronic "box" at each TV set in the home and accompanying
remote control units. Each family member in the sample household is assigned a
personal viewing button (identified by name or symbol) on the People Meter. The
Nielsen Media Research representative who recruits the household links the
assigned button to the age and sex of each person in the household. Whenever
the television set is turned on a red light flashes from time to time on the
meter, reminding viewers to press their assigned button to indicate if they are
watching television. Additional buttons on the meter enable guests in a sample
home to report when they watch TV by entering their age and sex and pushing a
visitor button.
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dgrimes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
"Nielsen uses technology and surveys to measure what individuals and
their families, or households, watch." --Steve Gorman
Does anyone know if the Neilson research determines whether the TV is being
watched or if the TV is just on in the background? What is the limit to
the research (in other words, what can they scientifically determine, and
what are just statistics)? My wife loves to have the noise in the
background, but rarely watches (at least when I am at home). While
possible, I would find it hard to believe that the average WATCHED time is
8 hours, 11 minutes per household. But then I probably don't run with the
average crowd.
Dan Grimes
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