Nielsen Media Research uses a mixture of methods to estimate television viewing. Here's a snapshot of its current and future methods:
By JEFF HARRINGTON
Published August 4, 2003
-- As it has for decades, Nielsen mails diaries to selected households that agree to write down the names of the shows they view each day. Households in all 210 TV markets receive the diaries four times a year - the so-called "sweeps" months of February, May, July and November. The 2-million households are paid a nominal sum (usually up to $5 for a one-week diary, but up to $10 a week to certain ethnic groups that Nielsen has a tougher time convincing to participate).
About 760 Nielsen employees in Venice, Fla., edit the diaries, deciphering and entering data into Nielsen's information trove.
-- About 24,000 homes in 55 local markets have meters attached to their TVs to gather information on viewing electronically. Most of the larger markets, including Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, are metered. Many small markets rely exclusively on the diary method.
Metered homes relay data over phone lines to Nielsen starting at about 3 a.m. every morning. Over the next four hours, about 37,500 calls stream into the company's "nerve center" in Dunedin (which is being relocated to Oldsmar).
-- More advanced "People Meters" gradually are being rolled out in the Top 10 TV markets by 2006. Boston was the first market equipped with the new meters. They give detailed information about who is watching each show, providing a trove of demographic data that advertisers love. However, it requires viewers in each home to press their individual preset button when they start watching a show. Visitors are supposed to enter information about their sex and age into the People Meter box when they start watching.
- In addition to the limited local market samples, about 5,100 homes across the country have People Meters installed. That data is used for national estimates.
-- Starting in 2004, Nielsen will begin installing equipment to track viewing on new digital TV systems. It eventually plans to roll out "active-passive" meters that can detect programs viewed (even if they were recorded and viewed later) because the programs are coded when they are broadcast.
[Last modified August 4, 2003, 07:49:01]
