I could have been a Neilsen family......
Oct. 3rd, 2011 09:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poltr1Last week, I received a postcard in the mail, advising me that I would be getting a call from the A.C. Nielsen Company. I checked my caller ID and sure enough, they called. Several times. (And didn't bother to leave a message.)
Sunday afterenoon, they called again, and I happened to be around to pick up. The caaller was very nice and polite, and had a pleasant voice. She had some questions for me, which I happily answered. She also mentioned that they'd be sending me a postcard that I could fill out and send back. Then came the question: "How many working TVs do you have at home?" I answered, "Um.....zero." at that point, it was pretty cutmuch "Oh. Have a nice day" and she hung up.
I rarely watch TV these days. About the only things I watch are the Weather Channel, the occasional sporting event, and maybe the local news. Nothing else interests me anymore, and hasn't for a few years. Sitcoms? Not funny. anymore. Drama? Nah. Cop or medical shows? Nope. I might turn the tube on and use it for background noise.
And I have no delusions about TV. To a television network, I'm not a customer -- I'm the product. The customers are the ones who buy advertising. And the product they're delivering are the number of pairs of eyeballs watching the commercials. It's not "a program with commercials in it", it's "commercials with a program around them".
Last December, I cut back on cable TV to absolute basic service to save money. Other than the Weather Channel, I don't miss the other channels I was getting. I often remark that cable companies should offer a la carte packages so we can pick and choose what channels we get.
And I still think there should be more Nielsen families like me. People who don't bother to watch television. But that would probably skew their expected results.
Sunday afterenoon, they called again, and I happened to be around to pick up. The caaller was very nice and polite, and had a pleasant voice. She had some questions for me, which I happily answered. She also mentioned that they'd be sending me a postcard that I could fill out and send back. Then came the question: "How many working TVs do you have at home?" I answered, "Um.....zero." at that point, it was pretty cutmuch "Oh. Have a nice day" and she hung up.
I rarely watch TV these days. About the only things I watch are the Weather Channel, the occasional sporting event, and maybe the local news. Nothing else interests me anymore, and hasn't for a few years. Sitcoms? Not funny. anymore. Drama? Nah. Cop or medical shows? Nope. I might turn the tube on and use it for background noise.
And I have no delusions about TV. To a television network, I'm not a customer -- I'm the product. The customers are the ones who buy advertising. And the product they're delivering are the number of pairs of eyeballs watching the commercials. It's not "a program with commercials in it", it's "commercials with a program around them".
Last December, I cut back on cable TV to absolute basic service to save money. Other than the Weather Channel, I don't miss the other channels I was getting. I often remark that cable companies should offer a la carte packages so we can pick and choose what channels we get.
And I still think there should be more Nielsen families like me. People who don't bother to watch television. But that would probably skew their expected results.
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no subject
Date: 2011-10-05 03:22 am (UTC)It doesn't make sense for them to include families who don't bother to watch television. The whole thing is about recording what you watch during a week period. The data is used by advertisers to determine where to place their commercials and networks to decide which shows are getting the most viewers (hence, what to continue and what to drop). If you don't watch television you don't give them any usable data, and it would not be worth their time to include you in the survey.