Email
Print
Nielson expands Charlotte-area TV monitoring
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: September 18, 2009
Nielsen Co. will increase by half the number of electronically monitored households in the Charlotte area when the company switches to "personal people meter" devices next year.
Currently, Nielsen has about 400 households in the 22-county Charlotte television market hooked up to sensors that record TV usage and provide daily ratings information. That information is supplemented by diaries kept by other individual viewers, helping provide demographic profiles on the kinds of audiences that certain shows attract.
In January, 600 households in the region will be sampled with the new people meters, said Frank Palumbo, Nielsen's vice president of client services, after a luncheon presentation Thursday to the American Advertising Federation/Charlotte, formerly the Charlotte Ad Club, at Blackfinn's in the Epicenter.
With the new technology, viewers log in on a remote control before watching a show. By knowing the demographic background of each viewer in the household, Nielsen can compute overnight which programs attract certain types of viewers, by race, age, gender, income -- even whether the viewing is in a home that only uses cell phones.
Previously, that information was only gathered during the four television "sweeps" periods annually. For TV advertising buyers, the new metering means quicker feedback on what shows are attracting which viewers. By enlarging the sample of homes, the demographic information is stronger.
Already, 24 television markets in the nation are monitored by personal people meters. Palumbo, who helped in the transition to the technology in Miami, Baltimore and St. Louis, said subtle changes become obvious in viewing habits with people meters.
Viewers who keep diaries, for example, often forget to write down some shows they watch, so ratings improve after meters on some channels, particularly on cable.
"Each market is unique and different," he said.
Email
Print
ADVERTISEMENT
Advertisement
