Nielsen to measure TiVo usage

ny_cable_guy writes "The following letter went out to all of Nielsen's clients this morning: 'Working together, Nielsen Media Research and TiVo have developed software that will enable the extraction of tuning, recording and playback information from TiVo's PVR system. TiVo has downloaded this new software as part of a normal system upgrade via phone lines to existing TiVo subscribers across the country. This software would be used only by Nielsen Media Research to retrieve data from sample households, and only with permission from the household, as is the case with all homes in our samples. It is otherwise inactive in non-Nielsen homes.' The full letter has been reprinted here on netWert."

Comments

Well They're asking us....

[wo1verin3]

.... thats a good thing. I don't see the problem with this, and since they are asking why is this a /. article?

Re:Well They're asking us....

[geekoid]

1)it involves TiVO.
2)it is nice to see that some companyies can be have in a professional manner when regarding there customers.

Excellent! More accurate demographics helps!

[Marx_Mrvelous]

I'm glad to finally see this. One of the big benefits of TiVo and the like is that they can so much more closely moniter what demographics are watching which shows with more accuracy.

What this means for TV viewers is that the shows that people actually watch will more frequently stay on the air, and the commercials they show will be better suited. It's about time!

Well done

[wilburdg]

It seems to me that in this age of exploiting customer information, Nielsen has always gone out of their way to respect private information, through opt-in programs, and anonymizing data. As a marketing information company this is very unnusual, and should Nielsen should be commended for this.

Good application of the TiVO

[levik]

I think this is actually not bad at all. Nielsen has shown itself to be a good citizen when it comes to collecting viewing habits across the nation. And the fact that this is an opt-in feature rather than an opt-out one seems to go with that reputation.

Making these TiVOs useful to the corporate world is good, since they are getting a cheap and easy way to get to their data, and in return their interest is now vested with this machine that the MPAA isn't too comfy with. Hopefully, TiVO just got itself a supporter in the media camp.

Now perhaps if the money from Nielsen can be used to subsidise driving the subscription cost of TiVO down, I may finally get one :)

How do I sign up?

[minus23]

I have a TiVo ... I'd love for my habits to be known. -- Errr I mean that really. -- When I change the channel because a show I don't like it comming on... I want that to count as a vote against that show. -- Vice-versa for good shows. As it is right now... no one knows what *I* think is good, except me.

Market Research Society

[barnaclebarnes]

Of course that is because the research is being run by a market research company who is bound by certain ethical standards.

this prevents them from passing on identifiable data unless the respondent specifically says yes.

In most instances (99.9%) companies belonging to the MRA do follow this code. I used to work for a market research company who once tried to pass on data without permission but our group (Data processors) refused. we won as they had no moral right to make us do that.

Nielsen continues to measure the wrong thing

[ebusinessmedia1]

Why do we have a content preference measuring system that only measures preference about what broadcasters are currently 'throwing at the wall'?

Why don't they measure what consumers want *before* the fact?

Largely, mediocre content is continually thrust into the broadcast arena, and Neilsen tells us which of the mediocre broadcasts are the best ones. Does that really improve the quality of broadcasting/programming, or give consumers what they really want?

It would be refreshing to see someone come up with a way to poll users (with appropriate rewards for their time) on what broadcast consumers *want* to see, instead of telling us which bad content is the best bad content.

btw, I'm not talking about the lame broadcast "focus groups" here; they simply have consumers watching still more drek that has been modeled after broadcast content created with Neilsen ratings in mind - that's part of the problem!)

In a way, Neilsen ratings - used as broadcast and ad marketing decision tools - are the antithesis of good marketing, because they don't get at consumer preferences *before* the 'product' is created. In the current scheme of things, Neilesn ratings serve primarily producers and advertisers of content, not the consumer - and this is one very good reason why content producers and advertisers are having so much trouble surviving.

Re:Nielsen continues to measure the wrong thing

[edhall]

It's been tried. The problem was that people would ask for more Masterpiece Theatre, but watch Baywatch anyway.

Face it, TV is a guilty habit for a lot of folks. What you posted would have been more the case in the days when the Big Three networks were all you had (assuming you could even receive them all). But with hundreds of channels on cable or satellite, people have a pretty good chance of getting some of the stuff they say they want, at least occasionally. But guess what? They don't watch it.

Everything from government subsidy to "public access" channels has been tried to "improve" the quality and breadth of TV programming. And it hasn't worked.

-Ed

This is probably a good thing

[Dark-One]

The more I think about this, I would want to opt in with my tivo. Far too often I have watched some of my favorite shows go off the air. Perhaps if a large enough demographic of TiVo users do this, some of the more "geek" (for a lack of a better word) shows like futurama will stay on the air. I would be willing to bet that that audiance is largly the audiance that have TiVos.

I hope that the broadcast industry realizes...

[NanoGator]

... that Tivo (or variants) is the best method I have to watch their programming. I'm sorry, but my life is not based around time-slots. If they want me to watch their commercials, they need to find a way to make that compelling to me.

If they use this data to say "people are filtering out commercials", the proper response is NOT to disable the commercial filtering technology. If commercials are so obnoxious that people will spend $400 for a gadget that filters them, then the problem is definitely not that people are thieves. The problem is that they're not catering to their audience. If I am willing to spend that much money to filter commercials, then removing my ability to do that will result in removing my interest in watching TV.

If they're smart, they'll use the data gathered here to say "Maybe we should cut commericals down from 2 minutes to one minute, and have fewer breaks. That way, people won't be bothered to use the 30-second skip." Heck, if AOL can learn this lesson, why not the TV Industry?
Funny thing is, I can see this approach resulting in people watching TV for longer. My attention span is short enough as it is. A commercial can kill my interest in a show. That's not good.

Why would you own a TiVo?

[Deven]

TiVo viewers (along with ReplayTV viewers) DON'T WATCH COMMERCIALS. Why else would you own one of these machines?

You obviously don't own a TiVo.

Yes, most TiVo owners tend to fast-forward through commercials, though they can't skip them entirely or automatically (unlike ReplayTV). However, as the existence of primetime "best commercials" programs indicates, people will watch commercials if they're good. (Many people watch the Super Bowl for the commercials because advertisers tend to work harder on making those commercials better than the usual tripe.) While I routinely fast-forward through commercials on my TiVo, I also regularly rewind to watch one which catches my eye. The moral? If advertisers want people to watch commercials without needing to coerce them into doing it, they should make better commercials that are worth watching.

While skipping commercials may be popular (since we're all sick of being bombarded with commercial messages), timeshifting is the real killer feature of the TiVo, not commercial skipping. Until you "get it", the TiVo just sounds like a glorified VCR, but that's really an inadequate description. While a VCR is useful for timeshifting "must see" programs, it's enough of a hassle that it's only used when necessary. With a TiVo, most users soon find they're recording everything of interest (usually automatically), and watching programs when convenient. You stop scheduling your life around TV schedules, and there's always something you like available to watch no matter when you sit down at the TV. If you're interrupted by a ringing phone, you pause the TV. If you want to see something again, you rewind it. You can pause and rewind on live TV as well as prerecorded shows. (My 2-year-old daughter gets upset when we can't rewind the TV in the bedroom on demand!)

To the uninitiated, the TiVo's features seem more like parlor tricks -- neat tricks, but not really important, and not worth paying for when you have a VCR already. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of what PVR's are really about. It's not just an enhanced VCR. It fundamentally changes the way you watch TV, and once you get used to it, you'd never go back to the plain old VCR. Just ask any TiVo owner.

Better yet, go buy one from a retailer with a 30-day return privilege and see for yourself. I doubt you'll end up returning it!