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TV People Meter: Monitoring What You Watch
bj3g2j writes "CNN has an interesting article about the People Meter that is built by Arbitron. It seems that the device is portable and picks up on signals sent from the TV (and/or radio) to determine what people are watching. This is supposed to improve the accuracy of tracking viewer habits. The best quote is that 'it includes a motion detector to verify someone is actually wearing it.' Lots of motion while sitting on the couch? Interesting concept in light of the recent ruling in California."
Will this device make sure that your eyes are open during the commercials, so that you won't be accused of stealing?
Porno flick tonight
Young couple in love
Motion sensor pegs.
Treatment, not tyranny. End the drug war and free our American POWs.
See my user info for links.
Wow. Quite literally "Spy Wear"
You need a FREE iPod Nano
Silly big brother and his vans. Well, these "television detector" vans may have to deal with computer monitors now:
is that a licensed copy of Windows he is running?
is that a DVD or a home video?
just a screensaver?
or is that a TV card?
You are being watched. Your silence is appreciated.
There was also more information on viewing and listening by young males -- a key demographic group for advertisers -- who are notoriously sloppy about recording their habits in diaries, Mocarsky said.
Maybe once this thing comes into wide use, geek-oriented shows will get the ratings they should be getting and we won't constantly have to bemoan their cancellation.
~Philly
It's very simple, I want this in my TV because I want to skew the results as easy as I can. I want the "Star Trek Marathon watching" demographic to skyrocket.
"Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons!"
Take it from a guy in commercial radio. Arbitron only deals in radio ratings and internet radio webcasts. That's it. There's no TV tracking going on with Arbitron, no matter what the story says. They've done the diary thing for years, and now they're looking at a better way to track RADIO LISTENING. Your TV watching habits are safe. This entire process also requires the stations in the TSA (Total Survey Area) to have special encoders for the stations to be picked up by the PPM. If a station doesn't have the encoder, they're not picked up. Sucks for low-budget stations, huh? Nielsen could use a PPM if it needed to, and I'm sure they're considering it. However, they'd probably be better off using set-top boxes like they've been trying out. Just remember the following equations: Arbitron = Radio Nielsen = TV.
As to the Big-Brother aspects of the thing, Arbitron says this to broadcasters:
- Measuring Compliance
So they know when you've been sleeping. They know when you're awake. They know if you've been bad or good. So get out there and consume.Compliance began with undocking the meters each day. We instructed panelists to undock their meters first thing in the morning and dock them in the recharging unit at bedtime. During November, the median undocking time on weekdays was 7:39AM, and the median docking time was just after 11PM. As expected, the undocking time was later on the weekend, around 9:00AM, as people tended to sleep later. The docking time was also later, 11:25PM, as people stayed up later (Figure 2). The PPM detects encoded media even while it is in the recharging unit, which means it picks up the clock radio in the morning and late-night TV viewing by people in bed.
The system covers TV as well as radio. Arbitron is partnering with Neilsen on this. The details are:
(As of July 18, 2001, in the Wilmington, Delaware test area)
Of the 71 media outlets invited to participate, 63 are now encoding their audio full time.
The Arbitron Portable People Meter listens to audio, has a DSP, "extensive storage", and an uplink system via its docking station. So it could potentially be used as a bugging device if reprogrammed. One more small step towards the surveillance society.
At least the current model doesn't have a GPS.
I'm afraid they'll discover me for the loser I am. I just hope none of these Spyware people read this. They might program a lockout onto the TV just for me and then I'd be pissed.
/^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
You DO understand that this sort of thing is VOULANTARY, don't you? It's just like Neilsen TV monitoring. They'll ask you if you'd like to participate. Then they either send you a diary that you fill out on what you watched, or they hook a monitoring box to your TV. It's not like they kick in your door and force you to do this, they ask you to, and I believe you are compensated for your trouble. This is the same thing, if you don't like it, tell them no if and when they ask you if you'd like to participate.
Nerd hypocrisy at its finest. "Don't you tell me what to do because I know what's best for you!"
And you wonder why nobody pays attention to the attitudes of the slashdot mind.
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