Received notification about a TV survey...

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Jason S

Ordinary Average Guy...
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Aug 9, 2014
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North Central Texas
This might be interesting. Apparently, someone actually wants my opinion... :eek
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I'm now curious about the blue and white envelope and what they might inquire.
 
My mother got one of those cards in the mail also. A few weeks back I forgot to ask if she got the big blue letter.
 
Years ago they called me on the phone for a survey.I thought it would never end...finally told them I had to go.The person tried to brow-beat me into finishing the survey...wouldn't take no for an answer.I had to shout over her to say:" Don't call this number any more" and hung up. At least you can step away from a paper survey.
 
I'm looking forward to what comes in the mail (primarily for packages from Far West-Western NC, Kentucky and Minnesota).

I had to chuckle thinking of the survey asking 'What programs do you watch and from which stations? ' "Well 125W mostly, but on 30W there's... and then 107W on certain days... And if I'm needing Space, then 105W..."

Until (and if) it actually arrives, I guess I'll wait and see.
 
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The problem is if any of us filled it out and turned it in, they would not know how to interpret what they were reading
and THEY would probably just throw it out.
 
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I was part of a "Nielson family" way - way back when -
The TV picture was black and white. and the cabinet was Oak (real, not plastic)
You had to wait for the tubes to really warm up so the picture filled the screen.
There was NO CABLE. Only 3 channels available on the 'boob tube'.
and when it didn't work at all, you took the back off and put all the tubes in a paper bag and tested them 'in town'. Found the bad one and replaced it. Put 'em back in 'the set' and turned it on. "here's Johnny!"
any way -
The booklet to fill out with what anyone watched was a month of pages.
Think the only reoccurring entries were:
MoO's Wild Kingdom, Hee Haw, (That 'really big shoe') Ed Sullivan , news and
(Here's) Johnny (Carson). Maybe mom got a few DoOL or AtWT, while we were at school, also.
 
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I'll go out on a limb with regard to (TV) ratings, citing only the side I know quite well, the RADIO side of Nielsen, which bought the radio ratings business known as Arbitron. There have to be many similarities in the business model, especially considering the purchase/merger of the two.

Posts thus far have, in my opinion, NAILED the flaws that exists in TV and in RADIO ratings! Now, from the "other" side of the MASS media, here's how SLANTED ratings really are in radio.

In RADIO, you could be a regular listener to us at WION on the web, or over the air.

First of all, there may be, say, ONE thousand diaries sent out for the area including my county. 8 HUNDRED go into the Grand Rapids metro area, (which we don't reach very strongly except online.) TWO hundred may get to 4 other surrounding counties, at 50 per county. FIVE might make it to Ionia City, and ONE gets filled-out but not in Ionia, but by a listener who drives OUT of our area to go to work each day, nearer to Lansing or a county to our North or South. As you can see, the farther from the larger metro area, the less accurate the sample where small market RADIO is concerned.

THEN....if my station doesn't BUY the results, literally paying around 3 thousand dollars, we don't get to SEE the results, cannot USE the results publicly without being sued (even if leaked to us by agencies who would then buy)....AND...if we don't BUY the ratings, online listenership is thrown out of the mix! You could listen 24/7 to us locally or at any distance, but unless we're subscribing, online listenership is not counted, and we're not allowed to report to Nielsen (who bought Aribitron's system) that we simulcast 24/7 on the web which now IS a factor in daily listening habits! Basically, it's a racket. "Pay to play"....and with horribly skewed distribution of potential samples, let alone the unreliable return of samples (surveys.)

That having been said, if you like a local TV station, especially if you have a remaining independent one, (there's few like that left now) and assuming the same general conditions apply on the TV side of ratings (to which I cannot speak with any credibility) it's important that you DO turn in the survey. Granted, it's a pain...but, short of electronically tracking your viewing (which, to a degree, would have people screaming "privacy invasion") it's the second of two ways to support local terrestrial broadcasting. The FIRST of course, in TV and in my medium of radio is to shop with advertisers, and tell them you KNOW they're on the local TV or Radio station.

In the end it's an interpretation "game'....and one has to remember the old phrase, "Figures Lie, and Liars (can) Figure!"

PS...in smaller (radio) markets, most advertising clients don't ask "What are your ratings"...they simply get RESULTS from well done advertising and KNOW that radio works, and when it does, they renew contracts and stay "on the air" with their chosen local stations. Again, TV is probably similar. If I'm wrong and we have some TV execs reading, please chime in....but the COMPANY doing the surveys is now the same, and I know from 11 years of ownership how the radio side works. There have to be SOME similarities. And....many shortcomings.

By the way, in 11 years here, NO TV ratings packets have come to me at this address, nor my former home for more than 20 years! (both are small towns.) If one came, I'd find it VERY interesting!
 
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I remember back when I had my repair shops in the 90's, Neilson installed a box in some TVs, rather than having people do the survey. Most times the install on them looked like real crap, I never really understood why the people with nice sets would let them install the things.

If I remember right, the units connected to the phone line and transmitted whatever information was gathered. The people that I saw with those boxes installed in/on their TVs always seemed to be above average as far as financially, which made me tend to believe their ratings weren't the best because they seemed to cater to only select, wealthy people.
 
The blue and white envelope arrived yesterday...
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I was a bit surprised going through the envelope contents. Sometimes it actually pays to open unsolicited mail...
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Here is the survey mostly asks basic questions about quality of TV programming, type of TV programs, language spoken in the household (specifically Spanish) and if we have a landline telephone.
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Yep, they gave me a $1 bills from Nelson rating system in Albuquerque's TV market over the years but lately they haven't showing up since then.:)
 
Nothing illegal about mailing cash, just if it gets lost in the mail, there's no recourse like with a check or money order to recover it.
 
from the USPS site

Q: Can I mail cash?

A: You may send cash through the mailing system. However, we recommend using personal checks or money orders when transmitting funds for any reason. If you prefer to send cash you should take advantage of our registry service, which provides maximum security and indemnity against loss.
 
I got my Nielson packet about a week ago and sent it off. I got one last spring but didn't even open it until right before the new one came and it had $5 in it all that time. The new one had $2 or $3 in it. I always fill them out and hear back from them about every ten years except last spring. I had a lot going on then and didn't have time for it. I filled one out for my ex a few years ago when one was mailed out at her house.

I had a Customer that had Primestar and they said that in order for me to switch them to Dish Network it had to work with the Neilson box I told them there is no reason why it shouldn't. Nielson ended up swapping my equipment for a different model Dish Network satellite receiver and caused me a chargeback. I disputed it and got my commissions (incentives) back. Do they use those boxes anymore?
 
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