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On Why Nielsen Ratings Are Inaccurate, and Why They'll Stay That Way
And the FCC ruled what, a year or two ago that you could get ala-cart TV, only choosing the channels you wanted. I still like the idea, but if you didn't have a bundle, think of how many networks would go out of business (not that it's a bad thing). So you can get it, but the cable companies won't allow it. They want $50 a month from you, not $12.
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On Why Nielsen Ratings Are Inaccurate, and Why They'll Stay That Way
My point was more of, what's the point? Say you had 100% accurate data from every cable provider, besides the cost, and time it took to collect, you would have to prove without a doubt that it was more accurate than Nielsen, AND you would have to give a reason for the entire industry (or majority of it) to switch to you instead of Nielsen. It isn't just that it's difficult to do, but that there's no 'win' for the networks. You aren't going to come up with staggeringly different results, since other companies have already been comparing and judging Nielsen's data. It's that Nielsen is still the standard, and it would take a lot to persuade all the networks to switch. Google is #1 because they set the standard, Yahoo!, Microsoft, and all the other search engines are trying to get a piece of the pie. It's similar with ratings, but a much smaller group to sell the information to. Also, you still aren't capturing all the people that still receive over the air television. They don't have a cable box to report back, and no way to tell who has how many TV's. I think the number is still high, upwards of 20% of all TV households.
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On Why Nielsen Ratings Are Inaccurate, and Why They'll Stay That Way
You aren't really paying for the premium product, you're just paying for access to it. HBO for instance. Most cable providers charge what, $10 a month for access? They don't have commercials. They do however get the majority of that $10, where Comcast gets very little. ESPN? They get like $2.50 from each subscriber. But these are the big boys. Lets look at Animal Planet. They're more like .14 cents from each subscriber. They can't 'live' as a network off that, they need the advertisements especially with the cost to produce shows today. Even PBS has advertisements since they lost federal funding. The BBC doesn't show ads in the UK, but they also have a huge TV tax on top of cable fees. Imagine paying your Comcast bill, then paying it again to the US Government to pay for PBS.
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On Why Nielsen Ratings Are Inaccurate, and Why They'll Stay That Way
I don't see why it's such a surprise shows that are watched post-live are canceled. The shows aren't there for our enjoyment, they are there to get us to watch the advertisements. If the ads weren't there, sure, we would watch it, but who would pay for it? Our cable fee's don't pay for it. Ads pay for it. If we skip the ads and watch the show, does the network care? No, they didn't make money off of us. If they make a show that's so good people watch live, then they can make money. Why is that so hard for some to grasp? Nielsen tracks same day, next day, 5 day, and 10 day views of a show, but the advertisers don't care – they know the ads were most likely skipped in these segments. If it's not watched live, even though it's tracked, it doesn't 'really' get counted. It's not Nielsen's fault, it's our own fault as TV viewers. We want to watch our shows without the ads, then we're shocked when the show is canceled because we didn't pay for it. Are you surprised when your power is cut off because you didn't pay the bill? I didn't think so. I would encourage everyone asked to be a Nielsen home to do it. Yes, it's a hassle. No, you aren't paid nearly enough for it. Yes, it's obtrusive and it invades your privacy. BUT, you help influence TV, no matter how small, it's still the most used media in the world and influences so many across our country. The Nielsen families have the real power over what is on TV. Where else can you represent 20,000-60,000 other people.
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On Why Nielsen Ratings Are Inaccurate, and Why They'll Stay That Way
Comcast does, and they do sell it. Comcast however can only deliver information on their customers, so it's a little one sided. You aren't getting their competitor information, like DirecTV, Dish Network, Charter, Cox, Verizon, etc. Plus, you don't count those with over the air TV. Also, with Comcast, you don't know how many people are watching (you do with Nielsen's people meter.) As for why do they have a monopoly? Think about it, 50,000 homes, statistically accurate, all over the country, reporting in every single day what was watched the night before. It's not cheap, and you're looking at years of research, equipment, personnel, etc. All in HOPES that the networks will switch. Good luck with that, not a gamble I'm willing to take no matter how wealthy I was. Nielsen has been at this for over 50 years, they've grown with television, it's how they can afford to do this since they are already the standard.
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On Why Nielsen Ratings Are Inaccurate, and Why They'll Stay That Way
It probably wasn't the switch from the diary to people meter, but probably the switch from a non-people meter meter, to the people meter meter. Makes sense? hehe...They had a system that didn't measure how many people were watching or who was watching, it was a box that you didn't have to 'log into' but it still recorded what you were watching. They made the switch a few years ago to people meters in most of the markets, and some stations saw a huge decline in viewers. It was the way they were counted, one was passive and didn't know who was actually watching. So you could leave the room for hours with the TV on. The other (people meter) requires people to log in, and push a button every half hour. You can't just leave the TV on and walk away anymore. I doubt the diaries were ever very accurate. I remember seeing one that was supposed to last 2 weeks. It was filled out for two weeks. It started on like October 10th through the 24th, but was postmarked the 13th. How can you fill out what you watched if it hasn't aired yet? People just put in the shows they liked, without necessarily watching them. Besides, who the hell would actually write down that they liked Jerry Springer?!