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."

Comments

Are your eyes open?

[Innominate Recreant]

Will this device make sure that your eyes are open during the commercials, so that you won't be accused of stealing?

Arbitron Haiku

[small_dick]

Porno flick tonight
Young couple in love
Motion sensor pegs.

Here's how it works.

[Animats]

The system works by encoding "inaudible" (or at least noise-like) digital data in audio. Arbitron has a patent on this. At the broadcast station end, there's an encoder, and the people meter has the corresponding decoder. The People Meter listens with a microphone.

As to the Big-Brother aspects of the thing, Arbitron says this to broadcasters:

• Measuring Compliance
  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.

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.

The system covers TV as well as radio. Arbitron is partnering with Neilsen on this. The details are:

• Encoding Status
  (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.

  • All 38 radio stations.
  • All 8 local TV stations
  • 17 of 25 cable networks.

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.