Curious: How do satellite TV carriers determine ratings?

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

I mean, it's not like your puny satellite dish is beaming back info to headquarters.

[Randomthought]

1. surveys

I've been a Nielsen survey person for years and I watch very little TV.
The survey asks if you have cable or satellite.

[onenote]

2. ratings are determined by ratings companies, not the satellite, or cable or broadcaster

I assume you didn't think that before there was cable television ratings were determined by your rooftop antenna sending a signal back somewhere?

Ratings are deternmined in a variety of means: written diaries, "people meters" installed for the purpose, etc.

[Syrinx]

3. I think they do monitor what people are watching

Because if you put directv on the "active" channel, it shows the top five programs being currently viewed.

[Baalath]

4. Directv requires a phone line also

I assume they all require that and can send info via that.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

7. no phone line needed n/t

[Silent3]

13. I had DirecTV for a long time...

...and while you could get away without a phone line (or, alternatively in later models, a network connection) for a long time, such a connection was considered contractually required. My phone connection had been accidentally disconnected for a while without me knowing it, and when I called tech support for some problem I was having, they immediately noted that my receiver wasn't properly connected and said that I'd have to make sure it was connected before they would proceed with giving me any tech help.

One reason they do this is to make sure people with multiple receivers aren't sharing the same subscription at different home addresses.

At any rate, even if some people are getting away without connecting by phone line or network connection for a time, most DirecTV customers at any given moment are connected, and I'm pretty sure DirecTV collects program viewing date from everyone who is connected, giving them an ability to gauge viewership a whole lot better than the traditional old a-few-selected-families Nielsen rating system.

[csziggy]

9. DirecTV works just fine without a phone line

Our electrician mis-wired the phone plug behind the TV. Since we never do pay to play rentals on DirecTV, it doesn't matter. That is pretty much all they need the phone line for, to verify purchases. Upgrades to the software are done directly through the dish so we haven't missed any of those by not having a phone line hooked up. It has been like this for two years now with no problems.

DISH Network is the same way - we didn't have it hooked to a phone line in the old house for years. No problems at all with our service.

[AnArmyVeteran]

12. I've made a couple of purchases of programs and I don't have a phone line connected.

[Silent3]

14. You can get away with that too, but only up to a point

You will get charged for the pay-per-view if and when you ever connect your receiver to a phone line. If you never do get connected, I'm pretty sure you'll hit a limit at some point where the receiver won't let you buy anymore without connecting first.

[csziggy]

16. Yes, there is sort of a buffer that stores your purchases

If it fills up, you can't make any more. You can lug your receiver across the house, plug it in, let it upload the record of purchases and clear the buffer.

Long, long ago, before Pay per View got jacked up in price, we did buy a few movies and did just that. What was cool was we could time the downloads so if we were short, we'd wait and upload charges when we had the money to pay the increased bill. I'd forgotten about doing that, its been so long.

[KharmaTrain]

5. Neilsen Uses People Meters...

It's a little box attached to your set...be it cable, satellite or over-the-air. They also rely on some diary recall. All participants are aware that what they're watching is being monitored. Some cable companies can and do monitor channel useage, but use that information for their own advertising but it's not part of the Neilsen system.

[NNN0LHI]

6. Do they still use those

I remember reading about them in Life magazine 20 or 30 years.

I had completely forgotten about them.

Don

[KharmaTrain]

15. The Meters? More Than Ever...

A lot different today...and easier with people having boxes attached to the TV...then off to a phone line. This is how they get their overnights.

Radio just started using PPM...picks up an encoded audio signal and follows its listeners around.

Diaries are going to be a thing of the past very soon.

:hi:

[meow mix]

8. im sorry i ever turned on one single episode of "ghost hunters"

stupidest crap ever... its ruined my channel. why do people watch that, dammit!!!!

[Statistical]

10. Little know fact. NOTING you watch is counted in terms of viewers.

Ratings come from Nelson who have about 10,000 families activities constantly recorded.
What they watch determines ratings. That is it.

Much like a poll has only 5,000 people polled and they determine national average.

[AnArmyVeteran]

11. They know everything you watch. That's why they want your phone line attached.

That's why I blocked Fox News from even appearing in my channel guide. I don't want to accidently channel surf and boost their ratings from my house.

BTW, DISH charges you $5 a month if you don't have a phone line attached. I called and demanded they remove those charges and they did. All you have to do is call them and demand that they removed that $5 a month charge. It's unneeded for service, but great for surveillance.