Yesterday when I got home from work, there was a postcard in the mail from the Nielsen TV ratings company. It said that they valued my opinion when it comes to TV viewing and were writing to inform me that one of their representatives would be contacting me shortly.
I know they must have taken a lot of time to pick me from thousands of folks in the area, I know this because the postcard was sent to Household, not resident, not occupant, but Household that's a new one.
I can't wait to offer my opinion of what currently passes for TV, but I do not think they are going to like it, as I have discovered a wonderful new machine called a DVR. It allows me to select all of the shows that I want to watch, and once I enter the info, the DVR does its thing and just records them. It allows me to be very selective, choosing not to record any re-runs or any shows not shown in HDTV. So when I finally sit down to watch TV and discover that there is absolute crap on live TV, I simply switch to what I've recorded.
Another really good feature of this DVR is when I record the show the night it is on, and if I intend to watch it that night, I make sure that the program has been on the air for a half hour or so. This way, I fast forward through all of the commercials, and if I time it right, it takes me about 35-40 minutes to watch an hour show. Enjoyable !
Another feature that I thought I could live without and never use is the pause button. Yes you can actually pause live TV. Just in case the kids call or perhaps mother nature, I just hit the pause button and return, press play and pick up live TV where you left off. I really like that feature.
So I'm thinking, that the Nielsen folks are not going to be able to tell from me when I watch what. Something that broadcasts on a Monday, I may not get around to watching til the weekend. I don't think their little big brother boxes will be able to figure out just exactly what we are doing. And we probably are not the normal TV watching family as there is no TV in our bedroom, or our kitchen - we only watch TV in the family room. If one of us does not like what is on, we usually just sleep through it. No biggy.
I'm wondering how advertisers are going to use TV for their latest and greatest products if we all start DVR-ing the programs so we can fast forward through the commercials. If advertisers start pulling their ads, I'm betting that we are going to get more of the dreaded reality shows that have flooded all networks for the past few years.
So, all in all I am looking forward to speaking with the Nielsen folks, 'cause I'm thinking the way they judge the TV viewing public is going to have to change, or they're going to be out of business pretty soon.
Maybe I'll just tell them that we only watch Law and Order, I think I noted that they have come out with a gabillion different versions and rerun them on every conceivable channel, and if they don't buy that, I have an ace up my sleeve, I'll tell them we just watch CSI, now I know that that program seems to be on every night, whether it is in Vegas, Miami or NY, it never goes off the air.
By airing these 2 shows globally, the world must think that the USA is nothing but a homicidal, serial killing, nut job of a country! Bring back the cowboys, better image for us globally !
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