In the computer age, finding out what people are watching on TV is shockingly archaic. I know this isnt a technical problem so I suspect that they dont want to fix it because they dont want to show how god-awfully inaccurate they have been all these years. 3 cheers for monopolies...
New TV Ratings Will Produce Ad-Price Fight
December 22, 2005
For nearly two decades, Nielsen Media Research measured national television ratings one way: It estimated how many people sat in front of their TVs when the networks broadcast a show. Now, as more viewers record programs, Nielsen on Monday plans to start tracking them, as well -- setting up a fight between advertisers and networks over the price of commercials.
Until recently, the daily Nielsen reports gave the TV industry a relatively clear picture of who was watching what the night before, and the industry based advertising rates accordingly.
But the widespread adoption of digital video recorders, or DVRs, and video-on-demand services -- along with the delivery of shows via computer, cellphone or iPod -- is rendering Nielsen's tracking method obsolete.
Now the company, the sole provider of national TV ratings data in the U.S., is rolling out the technology to keep up: It will measure DVR viewing daily.
