Foo - T.V question............. kinda

I have been thinking about this or the longest time, and fnally desided to pursue some answers/ideas.

How do TV networks know how many viewers are watching a certain program?
do they just call up people and ask if they are watching american idol now?
Could be something to due within cable boxes, even though not every t.v is equipped with one?
anybody know?

Also, how do the factor in channel surfers, those who might view a channel or a minute or two, but change the channel?

I thought about this a ton too. :D

Nielson sends out questionairres (sp?). they use that as a sample to extrapolate how many homes are watching a show.

I've heard that they use cable boxes that the subscriber has signed up for and agreed to let them monitor their shows. But Im not sure if it's actually real.

Big brother IS wathcing you.

Actually, they've perfected the art of hypnosis. They send out signals instructing you to dial a 800 number between shows to report on your last 30 minutes of TV watching: what shows you watched, how many times you changed channels, whether you stayed on one channel while watching a particular block, what products you want to buy, etc. Then you sit back down and watch some more, repeating this every half hour and never remembering a thing.

Pretty sure they can monitor it on the spot.

It's dumb to rely on questionairres since people never fill them out, at least my family doesn't.

The results and stats seem to show up quickly, so yeah, there must be a way they know.

They are actually families selected by Neilsen that have boxes connected to their sets that record what and when they watch TV. They use the numbers from these units to statistically calculate viewer percentages or "share ratings." These families are paid a nominal amount for this.

Wouldn't be too hard to monitor your usage 100% with a cable or satellite box.
As for broadcast... they can easily have the TV send out a huge burst of RF to the local Big Brother receiving tower every couple of hours with your viewing patterns on it.

Why have the TV send out the signal when they can just download it from your brain every time you go through the RFID receivers at your local supermarket?

Those fillings in your teeth are actually sending out radio signals to the television satalite companies.

Wouldn't be too hard to monitor your usage 100% with a cable or satellite box.
As for broadcast... they can easily have the TV send out a huge burst of RF to the local Big Brother receiving tower every couple of hours with your viewing patterns on it.


Huh? TV's are recievers, not transmitters. How could that be easily done?

Really, its all just magic... Kind of like when a magician pulls a rabbit out of a hat... But without the rabbit... and the hat...

aliens.

Following the miserable defeat of the US forces in 1812 because of an old lady and the burning of the original seat of government because of those all round generally fantastic Brits the US government decided that no one could be trusted ever again.

Now at least one person in every single house is an employee of the NSA and the report on a wide variety of things from what you watch on TV to who your ************ fantasies are. If you live alone this person is you, but hypnotised by special microwave transmitters in your light bulbs. Ever wondered why all them hippy scum like candles so much, now you know.

The terminal that the agent in your house is hidden in your toilet, so go home right now, rip out the toilet from your bathroom and throw it out of the bedroom window.

The NSA agent in my house is my girlfriend but she's hot and she puts out like all the time so I forgive her.

These families are paid a nominal amount for this.

We participated in filling out Nielsen questionnaires one week. They sent us a dollar bill. Seriously.

My parents did a survey for radio, got two bucks (cash money) in the mail for it.