Part 2: There's one of two things going on here. The girl who signed me up was new with the company. She could have accidentally given me false info. Or... the company didn't like my viewing habits and purposely underpaid me so I'd drop out of the program. The 2nd seems far fetched, but I have to wonder. Could it be that the company is taking bribes from broadcasters to skew their results? Getting rid of test subjects that aren't watching the programs they want them to would skew things just so.
Part 1: My house was picked to be a Neilsen family house to do TV ratings. They hooked up a ton of monitoring equipment to two of my TVs and my laptop computer and told me I would get $500 every six months and that I could participate in the program for up to two years. I just got my first 6-months check. It was for only $75! I called the local rep who basically said that I must have misunderstood something and that they don't pay that much. I didn't misunderstand anything....
Niesen ratings are flawed in my opinion. A large group of us used to watch Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles before it was canceled due to "low ratings". But at times there were about 7-8 of us watching 1 television. How can the ratings accurately gather that?
@MarkFaust It's also another common complaint that there's no way that Nielsen can count multiple viewers for the same TV. To be fair, my suggested method wouldn't be able to do so either, and I can't quite think of a system that would be able to do that. Can you think of any?
I have only known one family that has participated in the written form. Granted, I was very young when I witnessed this process, but I remember thinking how easy it would be to mess up or skew these results. Write down something incorrectly or write in something you didn't watch and you skew the results.
At the same time I understand not wanting to put a digital recorder on every tv in America. It really comes down to a matter of privacy. All data collection needs to be voluntary and willing.
@kericanfly The privacy argument was one that I thought about a lot before filming this video. I can completely understand the concern of wanting to keep one's viewing habits personal. Perhaps a public system could be optional...one that you can choose to turn on or off on your cable/satellite box.
I definitely agree with widening the sample. If Gallup can predict the outcome of a presidential election within a 5% margin of error, then it is possible for Neilson to have a more accurate system as well. The reason Gallup works is because of its random sample, variation in the sample, and sample size. Gallup has been doing this for decades...if this is basic statistics, then why can't Neilson follow suit?
@drewandcheryl My thoughts, as well. It's mind boggling to me that the system is so completely archaic, especially in the technology-driven day that we live in. Would you suggest a system similar to Gallup, or something more widespread and public?
Part 2: There's one of two things going on here. The girl who signed me up was new with the company. She could have accidentally given me false info. Or... the company didn't like my viewing habits and purposely underpaid me so I'd drop out of the program. The 2nd seems far fetched, but I have to wonder. Could it be that the company is taking bribes from broadcasters to skew their results? Getting rid of test subjects that aren't watching the programs they want them to would skew things just so.
gmdinformation 5 months ago
Part 1: My house was picked to be a Neilsen family house to do TV ratings. They hooked up a ton of monitoring equipment to two of my TVs and my laptop computer and told me I would get $500 every six months and that I could participate in the program for up to two years. I just got my first 6-months check. It was for only $75! I called the local rep who basically said that I must have misunderstood something and that they don't pay that much. I didn't misunderstand anything....
gmdinformation 5 months ago
Niesen ratings are flawed in my opinion. A large group of us used to watch Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles before it was canceled due to "low ratings". But at times there were about 7-8 of us watching 1 television. How can the ratings accurately gather that?
MarkFaust 1 year ago
@MarkFaust It's also another common complaint that there's no way that Nielsen can count multiple viewers for the same TV. To be fair, my suggested method wouldn't be able to do so either, and I can't quite think of a system that would be able to do that. Can you think of any?
austinmcconnell 1 year ago
@austinmcconnell Not without invading people's privacy with a camera filming the people watching. Maybe in China it would work?
MarkFaust 1 year ago
@MarkFaust Ha. Simulcast might be a good invention after all!
austinmcconnell 1 year ago
I have only known one family that has participated in the written form. Granted, I was very young when I witnessed this process, but I remember thinking how easy it would be to mess up or skew these results. Write down something incorrectly or write in something you didn't watch and you skew the results.
At the same time I understand not wanting to put a digital recorder on every tv in America. It really comes down to a matter of privacy. All data collection needs to be voluntary and willing.
kericanfly 1 year ago
@kericanfly The privacy argument was one that I thought about a lot before filming this video. I can completely understand the concern of wanting to keep one's viewing habits personal. Perhaps a public system could be optional...one that you can choose to turn on or off on your cable/satellite box.
austinmcconnell 1 year ago
I definitely agree with widening the sample. If Gallup can predict the outcome of a presidential election within a 5% margin of error, then it is possible for Neilson to have a more accurate system as well. The reason Gallup works is because of its random sample, variation in the sample, and sample size. Gallup has been doing this for decades...if this is basic statistics, then why can't Neilson follow suit?
drewandcheryl 1 year ago
@drewandcheryl My thoughts, as well. It's mind boggling to me that the system is so completely archaic, especially in the technology-driven day that we live in. Would you suggest a system similar to Gallup, or something more widespread and public?
austinmcconnell 1 year ago