Nielsen TV ratings, door to door agent

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MoneyJohn

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Yesterday, a lady stopped by claiming to be Nielsen agent, with a big bag of 'gifts'. She claimed that she had sent letters to our household. I didn't know any of it and I was in the middle of something important so asked her to come tomorrow, until I talk to DW. I wasn't comfortable accepting 'gifts' when I didn't know what this stuff is. So I asked her to bring it tomorrow (i.e. today). DW noticed the letters but she didn't follow up because we do not have cable. We watch only 2 channels rarely through OTA antenna. Most of the times, none of those channels work but I still kept it as an information source during an inclement weather and internet is out. I called up that lady in the morning and explained her. I thought she wouldn't be interested that we don't have cable and we really do not watch TV as such to provide any ratings. Still, she insisted that she will stop by to explain. It is a study, there is no requirement of having a cable. I am seriously wondering what kind of study this is that accepts a participant that cannot contribute any data to the study. Anyone knows what this stuff is? Is it safe for that lady to let in to discuss? Its cold and rainy out, hence asking. Usually, we do not let anyone in but with today's weather.. I am actually very uncomfortable. I am googling and trying to read some older posts on this stuff but if anyone has experience, would love to hear.
 
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Why even answer the door? I stopped answering the door 10 years ago. It ain't the millionaire knocking to give me money. I was part of a ratings survey a couple years ago. It was all through the mail. They give you a device that you put in your pocket that "spies" on you and reports back to them TV and radio.
 
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If you're trying to determine how many people watch, your sample needs to include people that don't watch.
 
There are a few accounts online that tell similar stories about what turned out to be real Nielsen people...I guess they can be extremely persistent. Certainly can't trust everything you read online, but I'm guessing it's the real deal if they sent you letters in advance.
 
As Wolf mentioned, they are persistent with you because they want to maintain the integrity of their statistical sampling... assuming she truly represents Nielsen. Apparently they study more than which channels are watched by whom. Our family participated back in 1979, when we had to document our TV use manually in 15 minute increments.
 
Guy in the business here. Yes, Nielsen is very interested in Over-The-Air HHs, as the number of pay-tv (cable, satellite, etc) households decline. Over the Air viewing HHs are really important to gather data on viewing for digital subchannels such as 7.2 etc and also your viewership of over the top services like netflix and amazon. I always joke with my new hires that TV is a lot like being stuck in 1992. Neilsen door to door sales in 2018 doesn't seem so weird thinking of it that way. PS - Neilsen ratings drive about $70Billion worth of TV advertising and multiples more based on programming decisions. There are only about 40,000 Nielsen panel Households in the US.
 
I did this a couple years and everything was done through the mail. We got paid monthly and a couple freebies up front. They did tell me that even not watching is important to the ratings. Sounds a little funny though.
 
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Unless she's hot or it's Ed McMahon with PCH check in hand,don't answer the door.
If I check the camera and see Ed McMahon at the door, something is seriously wrong.
 
Originally Posted By: Bud
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Unless she's hot or it's Ed McMahon with PCH check in hand,don't answer the door.
If I check the camera and see Ed McMahon at the door, something is seriously wrong.
Yeah, Ed McMahon visiting would be a really bad sign...
 
Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
Originally Posted By: Bud
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Unless she's hot or it's Ed McMahon with PCH check in hand,don't answer the door.
If I check the camera and see Ed McMahon at the door, something is seriously wrong.
Yeah, Ed McMahon visiting would be a really bad sign...
Yeah, that'd be a sign that the zombie apocalypse is upon us.
 
The lady is legit, no doubt abt that. It looks interesting but what concerns me is the device that they leave in the house. At some places, I read that it is soldered to the TV. Plus, at some places I read that its more like they are tracking the audio in the house. I don't mind sharing TV viewership but with audio monitoring what else they are monitoring? Do they also monitor internet connection without you knowing? These are the questions I do not get answers to. Hence, I am little hesitant. @NYSteve, any idea about these questions? We don't have privacy as such but whatever is left, would like to preserve it.
 
The device plugs into the audio out jack on your TV, that is the only sound it monitors. If the TV doesn't have audio out jacks, they clip into the leads for the speaker.
 
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