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Can the TV networks, or Neilsen, or the cable companies -- tell if you're watching a given show -- IF YOU DON"T HAVE a Nielsen box (or whatever they're using these days.
I made a comment to a co-worker that a network I watch wouldn't get ratings credit for a "guilty pleasure" show I watch because I don't have a Nielsen box.
And she said the networks still know when you watch the show. I DO NOT use on demand. And I am certainly not a "Neilsen household."
She said even if you just have the basic tuner box -- they companies can extrapolate ratings from that. Basically she thought, even if they don't track what you watch in real time...that they can go back and track they can trace what channel your box was tuned to at any given time.
Is that true? You don't need to be part of a ratings household, for them to ratings info on your viewing?
First, Nielsen only knows what the sample group watches. They have no idea what you watch. Ratings are based on the concept that the Nielsen viewers are representative of Americans as a whole. Ratings are based on a few thousand people extrapolated to be all of us. Not sure I believe it, but that's how it works.
However, cable companies do know what channel their equipment is tuned to. So if you watch Guilty Pleasures, their cable box (or DVR) tells them. However, as I understand it, they are not allowed to use that info individually. They can use aggregate data for their own purposes, such as selling local ads, but they are not allowed to tell (or sell) the fact that you watched GP on Saturday night at 1am. Further, that info is not given to Nielsen either. Whether it is used by any cable networks (eg, HBO, AMC, etc), I do not know.
I have read this before, but don't have any links. Good question, and I'm off to do some research...
I'm starting to suspect something is up. I own a Subaru. I plan to buy a new Subaru soon. It seems like no matter what channel I watch, original airing or On Demand, cable or broadcast, news or drama, I keep seeing assorted Subaru commercials...constantly and I mean, constantly. Unless Subaru has some REALLY major advertising campaign going on, I, well I don't know what to think. I'm not even in the typical group of people that own a Subaru (the ones they usually market to), so why are they advertising during all of the shows that I watch? Plus, I have Comcast for both TV and Internet. Are they amassing data from my searches for target marketing efforts on TV? Like the Internet and target marketing based on your website activity, maybe during the local commercial break time, they can direct ads, too, if that's possible.
Also, I watch a lot of TV shows On Demand that I have already seen. For example, I'll watch Justified when it airs and then I'll watch the same episode again, before the next episode airs. I may even re-watch it twice On Demand. You can't surf away from On Demand shows during commercial breaks like you can when they originally air.
Tonight, I'm, going to write down all of the advertisements I see based on the shows I watch. Then tomorrow, I'll rewatch them On Demand and see if I see the same ads.
Since the purpose of ratings is to determine what they can charge for advertising, maybe some of the advertisers aren't totally relying on ratings anymore to figure out where to place advertising. Maybe they are tracking what you watch (and where you go on the Internet) and the heck with Neilsen.
Ha, I've noticed quite a few Subaru ads during programs I watch too. I live in Idaho and am told that it's a popular car here, so maybe that's why. I wouldn't call it a major campaign tho. I'll be interested to see what your experiment discovers.
Thanks astro....I thought so .... if I’m not a sample group person – they don’t know what I’m watching.
And if it’s like before, you had to agree to be in a Neilsen sample group.....It just can’t decide person XYZ is in the sample group and track your viewing for the sample group without your express permission.
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