I just did a little research and it looks like the Nielson boxes can tell you are watching the 'DVR channel' but not what you are watching.

The whole article makes me wonder why we even use the Nielson rating system because it's horribly flawed.

 

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It is horribly flawed! That's exactly what David Blue was saying. DVR ratings don't count at all and that's how most people watch TV these days.

 

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Even if you disregard the people who are watching shows online it's still horribly flawed. They only put the boxes in like 25,000 households and expect it to be an accurate view of what people are watching throughout the country. That's just plain stupidity right there.

 

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You would think with today's technology that they could pull numbers from each cable/satellite provider and have more accurate numbers that represent EVERYONE watching and what everyone is DVRing.

 

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There is more to the ratings than just the boxes. They send out viewing journals for families to fill out. Twice now, they've sent us journals. Basically you just write down what you watch for a week and mail it in to them. It's not as immediate as the boxes, but it gives a wider picture.

 

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Until you show me something saying otherwise I'm going to assume the amount of these journals sent out is equivalent to the number of boxes being used. Even if it's 10x the number of boxes it's still a horribly flawed system.

 

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I disagree - you really don't need more than a few tens of thousand boxes in the homes. And yes, while the cable/satellite companies could easily track what your watching - do you really want them to do that?

 

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So you really think the viewing habits of 15,000 households is enough to represent 300 million people?

Also, there is absolutely no harm that could come from them knowing what people watch on TV. I would welcome a more accurate accounting of the viewership in America so that they will stop canceling shows off of flawed information.

 

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All you have to know about FOX is they are the greediest network out there.

They finally came to a deal with Comcast for some their "hit shows" for on demand. House being one of them. But their terms are for all FOX shows for on demand:

1) Fast Forward is disabled and the show must be played in full including commercials.

2) FOX reserves the right on when to release the show to on demand (some are 1 day most are 7) (all other networks release within 48 hours besides FOX)

I'm at the point where I just wait for A&E to play House 1 week later so I don't even tune into FOX or there on demand.


Sad to see Chicago Code go... I just started watching the episodes on, on demand, as I have a lot of free time off work atm. Was starting to get good.

 

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