Are you really watching what Neilsen thinks you are?

February 25, 2009 — Abigail Hamilton

nielsen-logo11Neilsen’s latest research indicates that The average American watches an all-time high of 5 hours of TV per day.

The thing Neilsen numbers are missing is the impact of nearly a third of TV watchers surfing the Internet at the same time as they are watching TV. (Let’s not even discuss the missing correction for election-year TV watching.)

I do it, and I can’t say the television wins over the laptop that is closer to my eyeballs and demands more participation. I’ll often mute the ads on TV, then become absorbed and forget to unmute the show until I am done with a more absorbing task on the computer (email, etc.).

How about you? How have your TV habits changed lately?

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Posted in Cable TV, Television traditions, internet tv. Tags: , . Comments
  • ivi Tester
    Full disclosure, I'm a beta tester for ivi. Now onto my Nielsen story... I got a Nielsen recruitment pamphlet dangling on my door handle a few weeks back. I am one who canceled cable at my previous home and removed satellite before moving into my current home. I am either an air watcher, ivi tester, or online viewer. I read the Nielsen pamphlet, then filed it into the recycling bin. A few weeks later I got a knock on my door in the evening, I answered, a lady stood there with a clipboard. She said "Hello I'm with Nielsen" and I said "okay." "We're trying to get some information about this neighborhood. Do you have cable or satellite?" she asked. "Neither." I replied. "No cable or satellite at all?" She asked again. Then I said "Neither, I watch ivi." She looked at me puzzled, then asked "Do you have kids?" and I ended by saying "Yep, two." And she thanked me and walked off. It was quite satisfying plugging ivi to a door-to-door Nielsen census.
  • I've always wondered about that 5 hour figure. I mean, who are these people? I've never met anyone with that much free time.

    It seems that, more often than not, the tv has taken the place of the fireplace. It's just something that's part of the background.
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