Nuts To Nielsen

Interesting reports are out about Nielsen's latest flub. Seems they've had to admit they have understated household coverage estimates, and overstated the coverage area for about 20 local TV stations which they won't name. Naturally.
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Thank you, NorsU, for this information.


Nuts To Nielsen


Send them here:

Shipping to:
The Nielsen Company
770 Broadway
New York, NY 10003-9595
United States
phone: +1 646 654 5000

IR Contact
David Berger: +1 646 654 5057
david.berger@nielsen.com


Tell them:

HEY NIELSEN, COUNT THIS!

Jericho: Nielsen Again ?

"Jericho, Nielsen, and You"

5 part series on everything you need to know about how Nielsen ratings work.


Rich of Copywrite Ink says:

"The rating system has been a hotly debated topic by consumers since last May, when fans of the Jericho television show (which aired its first episode of the second season last night) criticized questioned its accuracy and dismissal of online DVR viewership, which some estimates put at 58 to 70 percent of all cable households. Eventually, Jericho voices were joined by the fans of virtually every cancelled show.

While Nielsen has made changes since last May, including some semblance of DVR counts and video-on-demand (VOD) analytics, it continues to draw fire from, well, everyone. Enough so that Nielsen apologized for the “systemic problems in the delivery of its national ratings data” since the beginning of the 2007-08 TV season. Enough so that CBS and TiVo have an arrangement. Enough so that everyone is looking for alternative metrics while reporters mention that the rating system is less than perfect."



"Although "Jericho" placed third in total viewers behind ABC's "Boston Legal" and NBC's slot leading "Law & Order: SVU" repeat, it nearly matched NBC for the lead in the 18-49 demo.

Now for some positive spin. The "Jericho" renewal campaign was driven by the show's loyal online fan base -- something uncommon for CBS. And whether the network liked it or not, the first several episodes of the new season have been available on the Web as unsanctioned downloads for weeks now. It's safe to say that "Jericho" fans are also savvy enough to know they can catch the show in a variety of other ways, including TiVo and CBS' own website.

The strike can also be viewed as a mixed blessing for "Jericho," providing what seemed like a clear path against heavyweight scripted competition, but significantly lowering CBS' season averages and giving the network a smaller audience to promote fresh episodes to. Even Sunday's Grammys were down considerably."

Jericho: Hey Nielsen

I had high hopes for Hey Nielsen when it first arrived on the scene. It was fun and I thought it could only help Jericho. Unfortunately, my opinion has changed.

In September Rich at Copywrite Ink posted,"How can you accurately gauge fan buzz on the Internet if you are dangling “fame” in front of the people scoring the system? It adds the same kind of superficial buzz measures that are overshadowing Web metrics."

"I've been meaning to follow up with the progress being made by Hey!Nielsen since I first wrote about them in Sept.," says Rich. "And I keep putting it off because something tells me that there isn't any."

I would ask how you can accurately gauge anything when you have people abusing the system? How does Hey Nielsen rate anything accurately when some users create multiple identities and converge on one topic with the express purpose of voting down someone or some show they don't like?

There will always be people who abuse any system and it seems to be no different at Hey Nielsen. What are they doing about it and how do they adjust rankings to reflect the fact that some opinions are made by the obviously mentally challenged among us?

At this point in time I no longer use Hey Nielsen as the rankings show me nothing. It is being used by some to gain revenge or to discredit a person or show. I cannot see that it will have any usefulness to Jericho fans. I hope changes are made so abusive users can be removed quickly before their rantings are allowed to influence others and spread dissension further.

In the meantime I no longer consider this vehicle as any promotional tool I want to use. I'd rather promote where there's actually a chance of success.

Monster Fan of The Week

This week's Fan of The Week is a hard worker who is an asset to Jericho fandom. She comments on articles, diggs, and posts about Jericho.

What has really captured my attention is her focus on HeyNielsen. Not only has she established her presence there;she continues to encourage others to visit and promote Jericho. When we forget she's always there to remind us how important HeyNielsen is for Jericho.

The Monster Fan of The Week is Artzylady.

Congratulations and thanks for all you do to promote Jericho.

Veronica Mars: Power of Fans II

**I have been blogging Jericho for 7 days a week since May.
It's time to take a break and I've chosen Sundays as my day off.
Thank you all for understanding. Be back Monday.


"Whether or not you watched Veronica Mars while it was on television, you should know that this was one series that was full of surprises and mystery.

One of the many surprises lies in the fact that this was actually a very smart and engaging series."

Veronica Mars' fans would certainly agree. Here's the final installment of my interview with four of them.



6. What do Veronica Mars fans want now? A movie?

"Every Veronica Mars fan still desperately wants a 4th season", says Sarah V. "Most however, have accepted that won't happen; and so we are hoping for a movie. A movie would be the next best thing! Although I think generally vm fans feel, that it will either happen, or it won't; but that their getting involved won't help -- which isn't true! Fans also want syndication, and some think Comic books are cool. We basically just want Veronica Mars to continue on in ANY way! But I think for the most part VM Fans just want to be heard. We're not satisfied with how the show was dealt with, we think it was too good to have ended; and we want the world to know just how much we love and miss it!"

Tami says, "We want to be treated with respect, not the way the CW treated us. We want a movie, preferably a trilogy of movies, we want syndication and we are also aiming for complete re-instatement."

"Absolutely! The movie is our goal, but also a fourth season, even if it it unlikely", says Sara P.

Rachel says,"I would love the show back or a direct to dvd season. But I don't see that as possible since cast and crew all have new jobs. So the next best thing would be a movie."



7. What happened with the Mars Bars campaign?

"We didn't think that they were really going to cancel VM, so we got started late. we were not able to stick with only "mars bars" since they are no long made in the states and are not readily available. we bought most of the available ones in the states",says Rachel

Sara P. says,"Apparently, we were late... The bars and marshmellow shipment was huge...but late. But it was great, even Rob mentioned our shipment."

"The Mars Bars Campaign was not as successful as it should have been, we started too late due to the fact the Cw did not give us a clear answer on whether Veronica mars was cancelled. No -one was around to film the delivery unlike the Jericho "nuts" campaign which appeared on you tube. We managed to raise an awfull lot of money for Candy Bars in a week. If we could of started earlier and had longer for our campaign, The Truckload of Candy may have made a difference to the outcome, due to the physical evidence of Veronicas Overwhelming Loyal Fan Base and the realisation we do not give up without one hell of a fight, as we are still proving with our continuing efforts",says Tami.



8. What are your feelings about Nielsen ratings?

"I'm not an expert on how the Neilsen Rating work; but I can tell you I think they should definitely find a better way to calculate ratings!! From what I've heard it seems they're are a lot of problems with their ratings system, and changes should be made to make it more accurate!",says Sarah V.

Tami says,"Not a reliable source for ratings. Who gets these nielson boxes? There isn't that many around. What if the new viewers that we get on board don't have nielson boxes? They won't be counted of course. Hardly Fair, especially in this day of fancy high tech wizardry. How do you count all the people at a Veronica Mars Viewing party? If there is 10 people in that room and they don't have a box? They don't count. Nielson is outdated."



9. Do you think HeyNielsen and the new Nielsen iFamily will help TV viewers?

"I think it will only be accurate when it is part of your tv and can take readings from "everybody"!!!!",says Rachel.



10. What's next for Veronica Mars fans?

Sarah V.:

"Veronica Mars fans will always continue to support there beloved show, that's for sure! We are in this for the long haul! Considering how long it could take before a movie ever happens; we will remain dedicated and in support of the show we love, for as long as it takes! You can't forget a show as unforgettable as Veronica Mars, so we could never give up; and we could never forget!"

Tami:

"We will continue to grow our campaign, getting more fans to sign on to the forums and participate in the campaigns we run. We will strive for a movie, syndication and re-instatement. we will also support the cast in any other ventures they embark on. We will continue to have fun and make friends and strive for Victory. Veronica Mars fans never give up , after all Veronica wouldn't."

Sara P.:

"We'll support the cast and crew letting them know we'll do everything to have more Mars but also supporting them in their new projects."

Rachel:

"Hopefully enjoying VM in movie form. We just keep plugging away at our campaigns."

A Monster Nielsen Interview: Steve Ciabattoni

Steve Ciabattoni is Sr. Content Mgr. for Hey Nielsen. He's the person who writes the blog and answers emails so quickly. I'm sure he does much more than that but I'm not privy to his job description.

I continue to see questions about Hey!Nielsen so I asked Steve if he could answer them and he graciously agreed.




1.What makes Hey! Nielsen different from online polls?

We want to know more from members than Yes/No or Like/Dislike. That's why we also include the ability to comment (by video or text), link up with other members, agree/disagree with opinions, and then reflect all that in a score that captures the sentiment of the community. Also, as a hub of information for the media industry, Nielsen provides a unique platform and access to its members, many of whom feel their voices aren’t being heard.


2. Are Hey! Nielsen stats reported to the networks?

Hey! Nielsen is still in Beta, and examining the data. Right now we're concentrating on making the site meaningful for the user. When that happens, we think executives in the entertainment industry -- not just television -- will be interested in the data.


3. Was Hey! Nielsen developed to placate critics of Nielsen ratings?

The site was designed for a number of reasons. We receive so many requests to be a Nielsen TV family and we want to have a way for people to give us input. Our TV panel is chosen using strict statistical sampling techniques, which prevents us from simply saying “yes” to everyone. Hey! Nielsen is a way for us to at least welcome people interested in the process to be a part of the conversation. Also, it’s a way for us to look at all media (TV, Movies, Music, etc.) together in an interesting way.


4. Does Rank really matter? Aren't all points of view important?

The Rankings and the Hey! Nielsen Score are really just a fun index for the users. And of course, all points of view are valuable.


5. What do you think is the most misunderstood part of Hey!Nielsen?

That a high Ranking will get your favorite show back on the air. We are interested in capturing the buzz and the power of community here, but we could never promise that use of Hey! Nielsen = success for a show. If that were the case, I’d have my own show!


6. How do you manage to answer emails so quickly?

We learn a lot from reading the emails from happy members and the angry ones. Answering them quickly helps spread info about the site, and helps keep misinformation about the site to a minimum. We believe that people don’t want to “feel” like they are being heard... they actually want proof that they “are” being heard. As the site grows, it will become harder and harder to answer everyone right away, (or directly) but we know that we can answer their questions either in our blog or in a newsletter or even by messaging out to specific members, entertainment blogs, or fan sites. The back and forth with the members of the site is actually one of the most fun aspects of the job for us. No matter what business you're in, if you have poor communication with your customers, you'll fail.



7. Are there any new features coming soon?

We’ll be adding a tab on the site for Video Games. As you can see by our five existing categories, we already know that people don’t just watch TV. They watch TV and listen to music and surf the web, and play games online (sometimes at the same time!). So that’s interesting to us. We’re curious... do the people that are fans of one particular show share the same passions for games or music or websites? We’ll also be having more contests for the different genres of entertainment, and we’ll be highlighting a few members in our blog. We are also working on having some quick polls and surveys on the site, as well as some invite-only features for certain members. Also, we’ll be adding levels for members as well and some tweaks to the profile pages that will help members keep track of their conversations better.


8. Can we expect the Entertainment Calendar soon?

We're working on it, but it looks like the site's users might find other features more exciting or necessary, so we are working on those as a greater priority.


9. Is there anything you'd like to say to entertainment fans?

Well, who isn’t a fan of entertainment? We can’t thank you enough for showing up and voicing your opinions. We love to see people who come to the site to cheer for their favorite show, but then actually spend some time chiming in on their favorite movies, or band… that’s what will really keep the site interesting and complex. As the community grows and the members deepen their entertainment profiles, it will really help Nielsen offer a broader scope of insights to our clients on what’s going on out there. We think that benefits everyone. Our job is really to stay out of the way and let the community bubble up naturally and then analyze the data and refine the site to make it fun for the fans, and valuable for the folks that call the shots. So, the short answer is, thanks. Actually, thanks, and refer the site to a friend.

...
Steve Ciabattoni
The Nielsen Company

Hey Nielsen TV Blogger Winners

Thank you to all who voted, Myles at Cultural Learnings, and Hey Nielsen.

Hey Nielsen Blog Contest Winners:

FIRST PLACE
Jericho Monster

Second Place
Cultural Learnings


Honorable Mention
Televisionary (televisionary.blogspot.com)

TV Squad Blog (tvsquad.com)

TV Over Easy (tvovereasy.com)


"What's great about all of these sites is that they display an amazing passion and knowledge for their subject. It's exciting to witness the power of, what we call GCM (consumer generated media) and how it's reshaping the way the web works and the way people interact with entertainment. As our maestro of CGM Pete Blackshaw says "Blogs are the epicenter of online passion, and these TV blogs are taking passion to an entirely new level.The common thread across the winners is deep, in-depth, spirited--and sometimes controversial--rants and raves about shows, including those which got cancelled."

Not only do these shows know their stuff, they also have played a huge part of spreading the word about Hey! Nielsen (and correcting the word when necessary). We have see the community grow and learn and debate together, and it has resulted in a stronger, smarter site.

There are other sites we'll be calling out in the next few weeks as well that didn't make the top five (or the original list) because we want to get their names and voices in here as well. So thanks again to all.

Coming up tomorrow... a quick interview with Jericho Monster."