How inaccurate are the Nielsen ratings now days

[Will and Grace Fanatic]

Honestly most of my friends watch shows on DVR not live. I don't believe Nielsen even counts people who watch shows on HULU or online (for example CBS.com) If we counted all these viewers I'm sure the ratings would be much higher.

[Regulus]

From what I've seen the "official" means are something called "Live +Seven", which is programming that is either watched "live" or within seven days of being aired (Of course those who "Time-Shift" are less likely to watch commercials (Considering how awful most commercials are these days I don't blame those who choose to "zip" (Fast-Forward) through them). : Last year Nielson reported that more than 50% of viewers now pre-record a program (Time-Shift) to watch later than watch it "live" The programs that now have the highest advertising costs are Awards Shows and Sporting Events, since these are not likely to be recorded (and thus skipping commercials is less likely).

Live+Seven (Days)? With me some of the shows I watch these days are "Live+Ninety" (Years)!

[factsoflife]

The truth is that Nielsen ratings are still important, but they aren't counted in the same way anymore.

Many networks now don't even bother considering the numbers that a program gets from only its live viewing, instead preferring to wait for the "Live+7" ratings. The Live+7 factors in both the average of the viewers who watched the show live plus those who watched on a Tivo or DVR within 7 days.

There are a number of shows whose popularity (and thus ratings) skyrocket when you factor in those viewers who watched on a DVR or Tivo within the first 7 days after it aired.

When deciding about renewals these Live+7 numbers are very important, and can help a show stay on the air. Especially shows whose numbers increase significantly to the point of proving to the network that they have an audience. If a show is cancelled its most likely because they were getting low numbers to start with and didn't increase much at all when DVR numbers were added in.

[Patty Duke]

There is no way they can be or ever were absolutely accurate unless they had a box in every home in America.

[Frenky]

Originally Posted by Will and Grace Fanatic

Honestly most of my friends watch shows on DVR not live. I don't believe Nielsen even counts people who watch shows on HULU or online (for example CBS.com) If we counted all these viewers I'm sure the ratings would be much higher.

I don't think Nielsen counts viewers from those sources, broadcast shows usually get 2-3 million streams, still even if you add DVR and Hulu, New Girl and Mindy would still be flops compared to TBBT and NCIS.

[factsoflife]

Originally Posted by Patty Duke

There is no way they can be or ever were absolutely accurate unless they had a box in every home in America.

Not true. It is based on an average. each Neilsen box represents a specific number of households. Also, now they get a lot of information from cable companies who track viewer habits as well.

[Patty Duke]

My husband and I and our siblings are good examples. According to the demographics we should be watching all the shows we hate. I'll go watch grass grow or count cars going by before I watch that crap.

[Patty Duke]

http://splitsider.com/2011/01/why-ni...stay-that-way/

Nielsen ratings are collected in one of two ways: diaries, which requires participants to write down what programs they watch and report them to Nielsen every so often and meters, a box attached to the television that collects that data. Diary collecting is problematic because self-reported data is rife with flaws. Meter reading is problematic because we live in a world with Roku, where people watch television on cell phones. A surprising 30% of Nielsen's data still comes from diary entries, and the large percentage of people that fill them out look how you might think they would: white, middle-aged or older, with higher education levels. They watch basic channels: ABC, FOX, CBS, NBC. They have a landline. They are not actually what America looks like. They're what the GOP thinks America looks like.

The people who are being underrepresented in this data collecting, in both diary and meter readings, are what America does look like. They're black and hispanic, they're younger, they rent their apartments, they have more kids, they use cell phones. They watch television online, channels like BET, MTV or HBO. They watch TV in groups.

This data divide is problematic because it means that Nielsen is essentially not reporting data about a percentage of the population that accounts for a big portion of where the money is, that important 18-49 year old young, hip bracket. Advertisers pay more to advertise during shows that do well in this age range, so if those people are being underrepresented, that means that the shows they do watch, the ones that are likely a better representation of what they look like, don't make as much ad money and have a higher chance of being cancelled.

Diary responders tend to:
• Include more whites than non-responders
• Be over 50 years old
• Be better educated
• Have no children at home
• Own their homes for more than 10 years
• Have a landline and one cell phone
• Watch networks like NBC, FOX, ABC and CBS
• Have cable TV at home

Non-responders are inclined to:
• Have larger household sizes with children at home
• Be renters
• Be younger
• Include higher numbers of Blacks and Hispanics
• Lack a landline phone but have at least one cell phone at home
• Have several electronic devices like computers, MP3 players and gaming consoles
• Watch networks like Univision, BET, MTV, Cartoon Network and HBO and less CBS and NBC than responders
• Have high-speed Internet at home and watch TV shows on the Internet
• Watch TV in groups, often at a friend’s house, or in restaurants and bars

How the different groups affect the numbers

Non-responders, who include the fastest growing population groups in the U.S., watch less TV than responders, whether during early viewing hours, prime time or overall. Further, the diaries don’t reflect homes that don’t have TV sets because these are excluded from the sample.

All of these factors increase the likelihood of ratings errors and raise the suspicion that the diaries are resulting in inaccurate ratings.

[factsoflife]

Originally Posted by Patty Duke

http://splitsider.com/2011/01/why-ni...stay-that-way/

Nielsen ratings are collected in one of two ways: diaries, which requires participants to write down what programs they watch and report them to Nielsen every so often and meters, a box attached to the television that collects that data. Diary collecting is problematic because self-reported data is rife with flaws. Meter reading is problematic because we live in a world with Roku, where people watch television on cell phones. A surprising 30% of Nielsen's data still comes from diary entries, and the large percentage of people that fill them out look how you might think they would: white, middle-aged or older, with higher education levels. They watch basic channels: ABC, FOX, CBS, NBC. They have a landline. They are not actually what America looks like. They're what the GOP thinks America looks like.

The people who are being underrepresented in this data collecting, in both diary and meter readings, are what America does look like. They're black and hispanic, they're younger, they rent their apartments, they have more kids, they use cell phones. They watch television online, channels like BET, MTV or HBO. They watch TV in groups.

This data divide is problematic because it means that Nielsen is essentially not reporting data about a percentage of the population that accounts for a big portion of where the money is, that important 18-49 year old young, hip bracket. Advertisers pay more to advertise during shows that do well in this age range, so if those people are being underrepresented, that means that the shows they do watch, the ones that are likely a better representation of what they look like, don't make as much ad money and have a higher chance of being cancelled.

Diary responders tend to:
• Include more whites than non-responders
• Be over 50 years old
• Be better educated
• Have no children at home
• Own their homes for more than 10 years
• Have a landline and one cell phone
• Watch networks like NBC, FOX, ABC and CBS
• Have cable TV at home

Non-responders are inclined to:
• Have larger household sizes with children at home
• Be renters
• Be younger
• Include higher numbers of Blacks and Hispanics
• Lack a landline phone but have at least one cell phone at home
• Have several electronic devices like computers, MP3 players and gaming consoles
• Watch networks like Univision, BET, MTV, Cartoon Network and HBO and less CBS and NBC than responders
• Have high-speed Internet at home and watch TV shows on the Internet
• Watch TV in groups, often at a friend’s house, or in restaurants and bars

How the different groups affect the numbers

Non-responders, who include the fastest growing population groups in the U.S., watch less TV than responders, whether during early viewing hours, prime time or overall. Further, the diaries don’t reflect homes that don’t have TV sets because these are excluded from the sample.

All of these factors increase the likelihood of ratings errors and raise the suspicion that the diaries are resulting in inaccurate ratings.

This is a rather outdated reference. From what I understand they don't really use the diaries much anymore, those have been phased out and I believe most households are monitored automatically with only the box on the TV and information from the cable companies.