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Courtesy of AOL~
New Nielsen viewer-counting system creates static
By Tim McLaughlin and Doug Young
BOSTON/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A battle over how to measure television audiences is creating static in Boston, with major stations vowing to resist a new Nielsen Media Research system that has yielded lower viewing figures.
At the heart of the standoff are Nielsen's "people meters," which have been used since the 1990s to measure national audiences but are only now being tested for local viewing.
The meters use a box on the television to record what is being shown, with viewers required to log into and out of the system as they enter and leave the room.
The system will replace the "set meters" now in use, which use a similar box to record what is on television. But rather than requiring viewers to sign on and off electronically, the old system requires people to keep detailed diaries of what they watched and when they were watching.
The new system has been tested in Boston since May of last year, yielding lower household viewing numbers overall than its older counterpart, said Nielsen spokeswoman Karen Kratz.
Most stations use those numbers to set advertising rates, so the lower numbers could erode their bargaining position with advertisers, analysts said.
"We expected to see the people meter slightly lower than the set meter," Kratz said. "When you have your television on, sometimes you may leave the room but keep it on. With the set meter, we keep capturing that information."
The new system is set to take over full-time in May for the Boston market, but Kratz acknowledged that only a few local cable outlets and none of the local TV stations have signed up so far.
TOO EXPENSIVE, NOT ACCURATE, STATIONS SAY
Officials at Boston's three major television stations said they will not subscribe to the system, saying the technology is too expensive and underestimates their audiences by as much as 25 percent.
The new system will cost stations between $54,000 and nearly $70,000, versus $41,000 to $60,000 for the old system, according to the Boston Globe.
"We're already struggling through an advertising recession and this unproven technology is undercounting our audience,"
said Paul La Camera, general manager of Boston ABC affiliate WCVB Channel 5.
Ro Dooley, spokeswoman for NBC affiliate WHDH, said her station also does not favor the people meters.
"It also puts us out of whack with the rest of the country because we'll be the only ones getting the data in this form," Dooley said. "There is a concern that because this is an active technology, the viewers might not use it properly."
Boston is the sixth largest television market in the United States with 2.3 million television-viewing households.
Ed Goldman, general manager of CBS affiliate WBZ-TV Channel 4, said the new system changes the perception of Boston's market value.
"The whole market appears to be unilaterally devalued," Goldman said. "I'm happy Nielsen is trying to improve its accuracy by expanding its sample size. The system has some flaws. Is it possibly better than the old system? Possibly."
La Camera of WCVB was more positive about another new system being tested in Philadelphia by Arbitron Inc. in partnership with Nielsen.
Unlike the people meters, the Arbitron system is completely passive, requiring people to wear pager-like devices that use inaudible sound signals to automatically sense what TV shows and radio programs they watch and listen to.
Despite misgivings about the people meter in Boston, Kratz said Nielsen Media is determined to go ahead with its planned roll-out schedule.
"We're very confident this is the right thing to do for the market," she said. "This is an advanced measurement service giving us increased reliability in the numbers and increased accuracy. It's something our clients have been coming to us for for quite some time."
Reuters/Variety
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None of the images work on it. Hmmm... anyway, I always thought they just sent them out at random, but I honestly do not know how it works. Tony, any hints to whom they do send them to? 