The Nielsen People-Meter controversy

[choosybeggar]

Fascinating news, isn’t it. Find an article from today’s NYT here

So the controversy is about whether Nielsen’s new ratings technology undercounts minorities. The anti-Nielsens say:

Nielsen’s critics claim that its sample audience under the people meter system undercounts black and Hispanic viewers. As a result, they said, the new system will discourage networks from developing and showing programs aimed at those viewers and will discourage marketers from advertising on existing programs geared to them.

while the Nielsen company states:

Nielsen executives said the problem was not that people meters underestimate audiences for the programs in question, but that the diaries had long overestimated the audiences for these programs and others that air on broadcast television networks.

So which is it? Is the new technology more accurate with the data bucking the status quo or are critics correct in calling the new plan discriminatory? How will we ever find out?

[World_Eater]

I’ve been following this for a little while, and my conclusion is that the people meters will simply show that no one watches those shows, which of course is bad for the networks. Nielson is right though, the new system will make it more difficult for the networks to skew the data, instead forcing them to face cold hard reality.

[Reeder]

It will show what people are actually watching as opposed to what they say they watch.

[choosybeggar]

So the people meters passively record and transmit people’s viewing habits?

Is there any basis to the minority media’s and Murdock’s contention that the people meters are less accurate?

[choosybeggar]

BTW, this is frightneningly reminiscent of the debate over whether the census bureau should incorporate sampling methods to improve the accuracy of the census.

[Dugrik]

How does the People-meter and Nielsen’s statisticians deal with the typical itchy-trigger-finger-remote-control-using male viewer? If my fellow viewers and I are flipping through all 200 channels in a minute or perhaps switching continuously between two or three shows, how is that behaviour interpreted?