Who has a Nielsen box?
 

In recent years, when great TV shows got canceled for ratings reasons while heaps of unbridled crap survived, it got me thinking about who exactly has the Nielsen boxes. I think about this often. These people effectively control what we see on TV, and they're not doing a very good job of it. And, we never really hear anything about them. Who are these people?

I don't know anyone, nor do I know anyone who knows anyone, nor have I ever met anyone, or even HEARD of anyone, ever, who had a Nielsen box. Have you?

Are the people who have them contractually obligated to keep quiet?

If the kinds of people I am connected to, associate with, and/or hear about don't have Nielsen boxes, it makes me think my segment of the population is not being sufficiently represented in the ratings.

In 2000, my roommate and I got randomly chosen to have a Nielsen-box-equivalent for our internet surfing. (Yes, there really is such a thing, done by the same company.) We turned it down. As far as I know, it's just random dialing until someone agrees to participate.

I should think they would be looking for a demographic that would do a lot of TV watching. A family with kids perhaps.

For good statistics the amount of TV the household watches should not be considered. It should be random.

My mum has one of those boxes... single person household, moderate TV consumption.

It seems like if they dial randomly until someone accepts, that's already not a random sampling.

The young roommates declined and the single empty-nester accepts? No offense to your mother, ZenGum. But doesn't that sound sort of typical? The types of people who would accept wouldn't appear to constitute randomness.

I was an Arbitron family, back in the early 80s. We had to keep logbooks for each TV. No box, though.

I harbor a suspicion that my fancy digital cable box(es) report back on my viewing habits.

You're quite right, Equazicon. Truly random sampling would have to be compulsory.
... and welcome back, you long-time absentee!

I was a Nielson family for two weeks about 15 years ago. Had to fill out a book. Randomly chosen. I forget how, but I remember the packet came in the mail. It must have been sweeps week or something.

It'd be really funny if we ended up with one. Most weeks it would be empty.

We see our TV programs years later and on DVD. :D

I recently did a Nielsen thing. They had me keep track on a special form of what I watched for a couple of weeks (no box). I sent it in, but never heard back from them.

I wonder if it's because I rarely watch most "popular" network shows.