Talk:Nielsen ratings

Number of Nielsen households (sample size); general media "scanning" and how the devices work
The article seems to be missing information on the number of households (and total individuals) participating, and on the change in these number over time. I saw an article recently about a doubling of the number of households, for example.

I'm also not seeing any info on how the (current, portable) meters work. They pick up subsonic signals that identify the source and the content. I think it's the same mechanism by which "smart" TVs and even car stereos can tell you what's playing and what the station is. The current devices are geared to ID at least TV shows and songs on the radio, as well as large-scale advertising campaigns, and apparently are also picking up on some Internet-only "broadcasts". The devices don't really do much without the sound coming from an external speaker, so one can exclude content being counted by wearing headphones, or turning the sound off. They're apparently sensitive devices, and can even ID an "exposure" to a song or ad playing from a loud car stereo that passes you on the street. The devices do not have GPS, though they know when the wearer is home versus away because at home you're within range of the base station, a custom WiFi box. A household typically gets two of those, for complete coverage, and one wearable per household member who lives there "full time" (at least 4 days per week, I think). There have been various privacy-conscious suspicions about the devices, but they don't track position, don't lead to any sales/trading of personally identifiable information, and do not record general audio (in at least one court case they were subpoenaed in hopes of recovering incriminating conversations, and there was nothing). Anyway, the devices are the size of pagers, and charge via USB like a cell phone. A 4-hour charging is good for about 3 days, but they apparently advise charging it every night.

This is just details I've picked up here and there, not source research I've done, but they're points worth researching for those who want to work on this article. — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  01:27, 22 November 2019 (UTC)


 * This is great information you provided. I know someone who uses a meter and I always wonder about privacy. If it can detect commercial information, makes me wonder what else is it detecting. 2603:8000:3A3B:BE5F:D8A4:2486:9F75:268D (talk) 07:56, 11 June 2022 (UTC)

Radio ratings
Nielsen also does radio ratings. Should this be included in the article? --SVTCobra 01:21, 23 December 2021 (UTC)