Before the internet, streaming, and advanced cable technology, collecting data for TV ratings was quite different from today. In the era of over-the-air broadcasting and antenna TVs, I'm curious about how companies tracked viewership. Nowadays, streaming services and satellite technology can easily monitor what we're watching, but back in the day, when tracking methods were less precise, how did organizations manage to gather data to develop TV ratings? What methods were in place before these modern technologies?
4 Answers
Nielsen used a method involving an Audimeter, which they started using in 1950. This device was attached to TVs and recorded the channels being viewed onto a 16mm film cartridge sent back to headquarters weekly. Random 'Nielsen families' were convinced to participate by offering free TV repairs, which was pretty useful at that time.
Back then, Nielsen had what were called 'Nielsen families.' These families kept journals of what they watched and sent them in weekly. They had thousands of homes participating to create a decent sample size. As for payment, I'm unsure how much they got, but it wasn't a lot!
Didn’t they also call people occasionally to ask questions about what they watched? I seem to recall something like that happening.
I remember being a Nielsen Family in the 80s! They installed a box on my TV that read the frequency of what we were watching and sent that data back home through a landline modem. Very different from how they track viewership today!
They actually received about $2 for a week of logging their shows. Each family member got their own journal too, so it added up!