So my diaries arrived last Thursday. Apparently you write down every minute the TV is on, whether anyone is watching it or not. Any persons watching must be listed, including their gender, age and hours they work a week. Of course that means just me, except for one other person (who also writes on this blog) who was a visitor one night, so she got included too.
While this is not an informative nor necessarily intelligent post for my first non-CMVofW posting in months, it's something I find amusing. I'm not sure how or why the Nielsen people picked me, but I don't think I'm helping their cause.
Here is the television I have listed as watching so far:
- The Soup (on E!)
- SpongeBob SquarePants (on Nick)
- Everybody Hates Chris (on the CW)
- My Name is Earl (on NBC)
- The Office (on NBC)
- Scrubs (on NBC)
- Grey's Anatomy (on ABC)
- Best Week Ever (on VH1)
- Sex & The City (on TBS)
- The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (on Nick. Twice.)
- SpongeBob SquarePants (yes, again)
- The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (okay, three times)
- Full House (on Family)
- The Philadelphia Story (on TCM)
- How I Met Your Mother (on CBS)
- 50 Greatest TV Icons (on TV Land)
- Heroes (on NBC)
If they were expecting According To Jim or Dancing With The Stars, they are sorely mistaken. Needless to say I doubt I'll skew their results, they'll probably just throw them away. It's almost encouraging me to watch weird things on TV, just so I can write it down.
There's also a small section for me to write in my "comments" on Television in general... Maybe I should just write down this blog's URL...and leave it at that.
5 comments:
I have participated in Nielsen Ratings twice. I love/hate them. First of all, I don't need the dollar to complete the form. But I'll take it. Second, I'm happy to report when I watch shows that I think need viewers. But sometimes I get sad when I take a good long look at not only *what* I watch, but how much I watch. I really don't watch tv often, but when someone is making me record my choices, I feel a pressure to one-up the show before. I can't just watch Full House and leave it at that. I also have to find an episode of Leave It to Beaver and then The OC, and maybe NOVA (to create the illusion that I like "thinking" shows). If I'm feeling particularly saucy, I'll make up a show that I think should be back on the air (Just the Ten of Us, anyone?). They should accept a wish list of shows to put back on the air, as well as ones that should be taken off forever (My Super Sweet 16). Damn you, Nielsen for making me feel again!
And you are sneaky, little mouse. I had no idea I was a Nielsen lab rat for you. Do I count as watching if I was covering my eyes through half of the show???
I didn't actually get the form until Saturday because of my change of address, but it was supposed to start Thursday night, so you were included! Don't worry, your name is "Visitor" ; )
And they must've raised the incentive amount, because it's now $10 per TV. I would've done it anyways, but I'll take the $20.
I must say that I am quite jealous. I've always wanted to be included in Nielson Ratings but have yet to get the call. I think the result would be the same as both of you though. I would take it seriously in that I would try to help out small-time shows I love and try to make myself seem well-rounded. What about shows from the DVR? Does the diary include that at all?
The diary asks if you have DVR, VCRs, DVD players, etc. and then on the very last page it asks you to write down any shows you recorded but didn't watch live.
I forgot to mention that one of the SpongeBob episodes I watched was the mini-movie Atlantis SquarePantis...with guest star David Bowie. How could I not?!
You should try leaving QVC on all day and writing that down. I'm sure they'd love the ratings boost. I guess you wouldn't really have to watch it. They won't know.
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