# Nielsen ratings boxes **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 23, 2003, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nielsen-ratings-boxes/220707 "2003-12-23T20:00:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Demigorgon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bc79bd/32.png) [@Demigorgon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demigorgon)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2003, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nielsen-ratings-boxes/220707/1 "2003-12-23T20:00:41Z")
Are these an urban legend? I’ve heard they track ratings with them, but I’ve never actually known anyone, or anyone who’s know anyone that has had or has one. How do you go about getting one? ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2003, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nielsen-ratings-boxes/220707/2 "2003-12-23T22:55:40Z")
The Neilson ratings are definately not urban legends. This link to How Stuff Works gives a good overview and provides links to Neilson’s home page: > **[How Do Television Ratings Work?](https://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/question433.htm)** > > A show that has several million viewers may seem popular to us, but a network may need millions more watching that program to make it a financial success. How do they figure out how many people are watching a show? ---
**Author:** ![\_possum\_stalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/b77776/32.png) [@\_possum\_stalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_possum_stalker)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2003, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nielsen-ratings-boxes/220707/3 "2003-12-23T23:54:52Z")
We had a Nielsen box for a while. You can’t call Nielson. They find you. You have a little remote and you punch your number into the “People Meter” when you watch. They do a house for two years, then switch. After they removed the ‘unit’ it felt really weird when I was watching TV. It definitely impacts how you watch when you know your habits are being recorded, however anonymously. ---
**Author:** ![buckgully](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb9ed0/32.png) [@buckgully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buckgully)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2003, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nielsen-ratings-boxes/220707/4 "2003-12-24T01:04:44Z")
They also do (or used to) less intensive checking of some households, where each occupant gets a logbook where they keep track of the shows they’ve watched for a month. We did this several years ago. They called us, and my roommate said yes becuase they gave him a dollar. At the end we all got crisp brand new dollar bills. Whoo. However, I’m not sure if they use that method for TV raitings directly, or if it’s just a check to make sure the statistics from the boxes are accurate. There’s also another company, Arbitron, that does similar things to track radio ratings. ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_Samaritan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bad\_Samaritan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_Samaritan)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2003, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nielsen-ratings-boxes/220707/5 "2003-12-24T04:05:37Z")
I had a Nielson box for two years in the mid 90’s. You learn to be diligent about registering the programs you watch, and you can expect to receive a call from them if you repeatedly fail to comply. For all this, you could expect a couple bucks a month for each TV & VCR in your house that is connected to a box, as well as your choice of a (ridiculously) cheap quality free gift from a quarterly catalog. Not to mention the envy & admiration of all your neighbors because yours is a “Nielsen family”. ---
**Author:** ![flat\_pitch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/90ced4/32.png) [@flat\_pitch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flat_pitch)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2003, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nielsen-ratings-boxes/220707/6 "2003-12-24T06:56:57Z")
We have a Nielson box and you don’t have to do anything. We were told it will record what you watch whenever you stop on a particular channel for more than 4 minutes. They also send us a check for $50 (wear and tear I think ) every 6 months. Flatt…