# Can't cable companies tell what I'm watching? How is Nielsen still relevant? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 24, 2014, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-cable-companies-tell-what-im-watching-how-is-nielsen-still-relevant/684409 "2014-03-24T02:07:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![lalaith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@lalaith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lalaith)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2015, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-cable-companies-tell-what-im-watching-how-is-nielsen-still-relevant/684409/41 "2015-07-06T03:08:26Z")
> [@randomplanck](#): > > I’ve never met a Nielsen family in my life. According to Cecil’s answer about Nielsen ratings, there are only about 25,000 Nielsen families in the entire country. The channel I’m tuned to on my cable box channel MUST be available to the cable company. Why aren’t the ratings collected that way? Is it a privacy issue? I’ve also heard there’s a subtle difference in power consumption when the TV is on rather than off. If this is true, why don’t cable companies do the Nielsen ratings? DirecTV apparently knows what’s being watched on its system. There’s a feature where you can find out what are currently the top watched programs at that moment, nationally and regionally. It’s the “What’s Hot - The most popular shows on DirecTV” information. If you’ve got DirecTV, it’s on channel 9999. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2015, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-cable-companies-tell-what-im-watching-how-is-nielsen-still-relevant/684409/42 "2015-07-06T10:53:42Z")
> [@JoelCT](#): > > Time Warner Cable Admits They Do It I’d be more surprised if you could find me a cable company that _doesn’t_ admit to doing it. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2015, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-cable-companies-tell-what-im-watching-how-is-nielsen-still-relevant/684409/43 "2015-07-07T12:35:32Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Your set-top box might not be able to know whether your TV is in use, but your TV certainly does, and [some TVs can and do compile a log of what you’re watching and automatically send it to the manufacturer](http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/11/lg-smart-tv-snooping-extends-to-home-networks-second-blogger-says/) We can now add VIZIO to the list of [TV manufacturers that spy on their customers’ viewing habits](http://boingboing.net/2015/04/30/telescreen-watch-vizio-adds-s.html%5B/url). According to VIZIO’s privacy policy, > [@VIZIO](#): > > Smart Interactivity is a new feature on your VIZIO Smart TV that can intelligently recognize linear television and other content shown on the screen and in the future may display accompanying interactive features such as bonus features related to the content you are viewing, the ability to vote in polls, or advertisements that match your interests. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2015, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-cable-companies-tell-what-im-watching-how-is-nielsen-still-relevant/684409/44 "2015-07-07T12:53:25Z")
I sincerely hope that cable companies are able to detect when I pause a program specifically to create a buffer so that I can fast forward through the commercials. I would really like them to know that I’m not watching them. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2015, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-cable-companies-tell-what-im-watching-how-is-nielsen-still-relevant/684409/45 "2015-07-07T13:22:31Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > I sincerely hope that cable companies are able to detect when I pause a program specifically to create a buffer so that I can fast forward through the commercials. I would really like them to know that I’m not watching them. I wouldn’t. If it becomes common knowledge/wisdom among networks that people aren’t watching commercials, they will simple find a different way to force them upon us. Ever notice those times when the entire bottom half of the TV picture gets blocked out by an obnoxious promo for some other show that’s going to be airing in a few days, and been infuriated by it? Currently that practice is limited to promos for other shows. In principle there’s no reason they couldn’t use the same technique to advertise the newest erection pill, and good luck fast-forwarding through it if you want to watch the show you actually tuned in for. If they become seriously convinced that traditional commercials aren’t doing the job anymore, that (or something like it) is exactly what will happen. In my more cynical moments, I believe that networks would show nothing but commercials 24-7 if they could, and that the only reason they bother to produce programming is to lure people in for the commercials. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2015, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-cable-companies-tell-what-im-watching-how-is-nielsen-still-relevant/684409/46 "2015-07-07T13:27:09Z")
I think they have some idea how much TV I watch (actually how long I have the TV on and record stuff and change channels, I’m only actually watching a part of the time). Why? Because Arbitron sends me two crisp $5 bills every month plus offers a free gift card if I just fill out their questionnaire and take a phone survey. I don’t do it because I think they’ll stop sending the money, but they must think my viewing habits are worth something or they would have given up by now. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2015, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-cable-companies-tell-what-im-watching-how-is-nielsen-still-relevant/684409/47 "2015-07-07T13:40:54Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > I wouldn’t. If it becomes common knowledge/wisdom among networks that people aren’t watching commercials, they will simple find a different way to force them upon us. Yep, this. Some websites already detect whether you’re using an ad blocker and then either nag you to turn it off, attempt to circumvent it and show ads anyway, or refuse to let you view the site altogether. The World Wide Web is redundant and decentralized enough that it’s easy to avoid sites which do this. The problem would be harder to solve with cable TV, where you have only a small number of providers to choose from and switching between them can be inconvenient and expensive. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2015, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-cable-companies-tell-what-im-watching-how-is-nielsen-still-relevant/684409/48 "2015-07-07T15:51:52Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Yep, this. Some websites already detect whether you’re using an ad blocker and then either nag you to turn it off, attempt to circumvent it and show ads anyway, or refuse to let you view the site altogether. The World Wide Web is redundant and decentralized enough that it’s easy to avoid sites which do this. The problem would be harder to solve with cable TV, where you have only a small number of providers to choose from and switching between them can be inconvenient and expensive. No, content companies know they’re competing with Pirate Bay, et al, now. Make my $100 cable subscription useless by blocking the content I pay for with ads, and there is a free alternative just a few keystrokes away. Not only that, but monopolies in general know they don’t have a captive audience. Unless you have a monopoly on food or water or air, companies know that their customers can always just forgo whatever they’re offering. It’s not like they have to show ads. Cable used to be the ad-free alternative to network television. But they’re greedy, and sacrificed their customer’s satisfaction for a quick buck. And no one has to keep giving money to a company that is hostile towards them and their interests. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2015, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-cable-companies-tell-what-im-watching-how-is-nielsen-still-relevant/684409/49 "2015-07-07T16:17:12Z")
We were a Nielsen family when I was a kid, decades ago. My parents let me fill out the log, so I just wrote in all the shows I liked. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2015, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-cable-companies-tell-what-im-watching-how-is-nielsen-still-relevant/684409/50 "2015-07-07T20:18:20Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Are you sure the entire digital spectrum isn’t being sent, but only the current channel is being tuned/decoded locally in the home? Not everywhere (yet), but many areas are using [Switched Digital Video](http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/how-switched-digital-video-works.htm) to selectively deliver only the channel(s) requested from the node to your house. Kinda interesting how it works. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2015, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-cable-companies-tell-what-im-watching-how-is-nielsen-still-relevant/684409/51 "2015-07-07T21:21:10Z")
We did the Nielson thing for a few months last year but ended up making them come back and take it all out. What you observe, you change. Having to play with their stupid box several times an hour made me change my behavior toward the TV. Instead of leaving the TV on all the time as background noise, and turning to watch if something caught our interest, which was the normal MO of our house, we quit turning it on much because we didn’t want to putz with the box. It was way too much work for very little reward. We were glad to be rid of it. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2015, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-cable-companies-tell-what-im-watching-how-is-nielsen-still-relevant/684409/52 "2015-07-07T22:18:36Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > We were a Nielsen family when I was a kid, decades ago. My parents let me fill out the log, so I just wrote in all the shows I liked. Well, that explains the “popularity” of Gilligan’s Island… ---
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-cable-companies-tell-what-im-watching-how-is-nielsen-still-relevant/684409/53 "2015-07-08T12:04:51Z")
Can’t shed much light on Nielsen per se, but I can tell you that as a FIOS customer with Cablecards (in TIVOs), they (FIOS) definitely don’t know what I’m watching. Cablecards are (in)famously one-way, which means we don’t get on-demand or PPV (not that we really care). We also don’t seem to be missing any channels in our lineup, so AFAICT, if FIOS is using SDV, it’s only on very low-demand channels. When we had Cablevision they provided us with some Cisco devices that connected to the cable and to the TIVO via USB to request the SDV channels, but I never hooked them up and we never missed anything. On the other hand, TIVO definitely does know exactly what we’re doing, and I have no doubt that they sell this data to the networks. Remember the Janet Jackson Superbowl fiasco? TIVO knew how many people had rewound the video to watch that bit again. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-cable-companies-tell-what-im-watching-how-is-nielsen-still-relevant/684409/54 "2015-07-08T12:56:42Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > … In my more cynical moments, I believe that networks would show nothing but commercials 24-7 if they could, and that the only reason they bother to produce programming is to lure people in for the commercials. I’m amazed you ever think/thought TV works any other way for any other reason. You have never bought anything from a network. The “content” is simply the lure to get you to watch the commercials. The networks’ product is consumer eyeball-minutes. The networks’ customers are the advertisers, not you. It has been that way since commercial radio was invented in the ~1920s. Print media is a blended case, where the subscriber pays something and the advertiser pays something. Both are customers of the publisher. But especially nowadays the subscriber is like 5-10% of the revenue and the advertisers are 90-95% of the revenue. They’re the customers, you’re a small bonus. And the content is still just a teaser to get you to watch the ads. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-cable-companies-tell-what-im-watching-how-is-nielsen-still-relevant/684409/55 "2015-07-08T17:12:46Z")
I’ve been dodging the Nielson people for weeks. A bit more than a month ago I got a letter from Neilson asking me to participate and saying they would be calling me shortly. Over the next three weeks I got at least a dozen calls the Caller ID said was Neilson, even at night and on weekends. I never answered because I’m not interested. I think they’ve given up. I haven’t got any more calls in the last week or 2. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-cable-companies-tell-what-im-watching-how-is-nielsen-still-relevant/684409/56 "2015-07-08T17:30:10Z")
> [@Running\_with\_Scissors](#): > > Can’t shed much light on Nielsen per se, but I can tell you that as a FIOS customer with Cablecards (in TIVOs), they (FIOS) definitely don’t know what I’m watching. Cablecards are (in)famously one-way, which means we don’t get on-demand or PPV (not that we really care). The availability of On Demand with CableCARD DVRs is a function of the cable company and the DVR company (e.g., TiVo if separate) to get together and make it happen. On Demand was added to our CableCARD DVRs over a year ago. Note that these devices are also _networked_ so that’s the avenue for two-way communication. Read more [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CableCARD). The CableCARD is not a barrier in restricting access to On Demand services. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-cable-companies-tell-what-im-watching-how-is-nielsen-still-relevant/684409.md?page=2)