Do the satellite providers (Dish and Direct) provide information on what TV programs their subscribers are watching to the ratings companies? For instance, if Hannity had 3 million viewers last Thursday, are Dish and Direct subscribers included and if so how is the information collected?
TV Ratings
- Thread starter Pete Ratowski
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Neilsen and other ratings companies do include satellite customers in their samples but I do not believe that they get data directly from the providers.
Remember that thee are based on SAMPLES not surveying the whole population. A few years ago I was part of the Neilsen sample for a month. they collected the data directly from my family----we were asked to complete a "bible" showing what was watched by whom and when. I think this is the same way they collect data on cable and OTA viewers.
Remember that thee are based on SAMPLES not surveying the whole population. A few years ago I was part of the Neilsen sample for a month. they collected the data directly from my family----we were asked to complete a "bible" showing what was watched by whom and when. I think this is the same way they collect data on cable and OTA viewers.
In the past, I have received the packet from Nielson whereby I recorded what we watched and mailed it in after a week. That was a long time ago. But I can be watching "Imus in the Morning" now and they will discuss their ratings from earlier in the week or just a few days ago. The NY Times has a listing of all the top shows from the previous week ever week. They do it by network tv, cable channels, age group, etc. I just wondered how they could do it so quick if they were waiting on all those packets to come back. To me, the data would not be available until it was tabulated and not appear as quickly as it appears to be from what I read and see and hear on the tv. I always heard the term "Over Night Ratings" for the Super Bowl, Oscars, etc. Just wondering how its done.
After reading this post I was curious too. Found this link which helped me hope it helps you. Nielsen Ratings
My family was a neilsen family back on the late 80s. Also my great aunt used to work for them in FL in the early 90s. She used to work with the diaries. However in the late 80s they did have the boxes that hooked up to the back of the tv. From what I understand from her different parts of the country used different methods some had diaries some used the box. Back in the 80s they also had a grocery program, we got a hand held barcode scanner to scan what we bought. After you returned it to the cradle it transmitted back to neilsen every night
imho Nielsen ratings are very flawed at best,yet they are the be all end all when it comes to determining which shows will be back and which shows won't.
One would think it would be fairly easy with today's technology,there would be a better way to determine ratings.
One would think it would be fairly easy with today's technology,there would be a better way to determine ratings.
A short time ago on one of the TV forums where I lurk at we were wondering if the show we were attached to was to be canceled. We were told that it made a difference whether we watched the actual show or a DVR copy. The implication was that since at any given time the direct provider, i.e. Dish, Direct TV, Comcast, etc has instantaneous viewer results. Evidently they also can tell when the show has been DVR'd (spl). Of course this only gave a "watched" count, not a demographic split which is what the subscription services give. They also indicated that a "real-time" watched program carries more weight, perhaps because of the assumption that the DVR copy is fast-forwarded. This indicated that the networks use the providers for quick viewer info. Let's see if anyone could expand on this.
