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View Full Version : Nielsen, TiVo, reach usage info agreement

CrazyChick
02-04-2004, 03:44 PM
Couldn't see this posted anywhere, but if it's old news... sorry.
As I'm from the UK I'm clueless about US ratings, but I'm assuming this could be positive against the unfair way US ratings are gathered?

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds13316.html
vhsiv
02-04-2004, 05:01 PM
This could be good, and it could be bad...

At one time it seemed as though Tivo - with their little Linux boxes installed on millions of cable boxes theought the country - might become a viable alternative to measuring viewing audiences, especially niche-cable viewers, who are generally UNDER the radar, as the average Nielsen household shouldn't have cable television.

It's rather late in the game for our concerns, but I hope this new alliance doesn't soil the data pool.
CrazyChick
02-04-2004, 05:07 PM
Again, sorry for being clueless, but won't this be good for the mini-series? Perhaps the numbers watching will be better represented in the ratings?
akimbo
02-04-2004, 05:38 PM
It may have impact, but I fear they won't have it in place quickly. Wheels grinding slowly from signing contracts to getting format changes to integrating it into existing models to.... :shrug:

If its ready by the end of the year when the mini airs, you could be right though.
MediaSavant
02-05-2004, 04:27 AM
This deal is confusing. Tivo already is monitoring and issuing reports on the viewing habits of a random anonymous selection of their households, as they did with their Breast Bowl report this week.

All this seems to do is give Nielsen some sort of access to data. Perhaps they'll explain it better to their customers.

Again, sorry for being clueless, but won't this be good for the mini-series? Perhaps the numbers watching will be better represented in the ratings?

As an aside, Nielsen's sample expansion plans started being executed last October. Gradually, over the next few years, the sample will get larger and larger. It's already larger than it was last year at this time.

So, for those wishing for a bigger sample size--thinking that might make a significant difference in Farscape's ratings--they will have one by the time the mini airs.