Read the final two days of Amanda's Diary.
The MediaVillage.com Buzz has been featuring a running day-by-day commentary kept by a Nielsen diary-keeper at the same time she was providing data on her viewing patterns to Nielsen. Our Nielsen diary householder, we'll call her
Amanda, is in the 25-34 demographic with household income between $50,000 and $75,000. She has no children, one television in her home and has 240 channels. Her one-week diary process began last week. With a one-week delay, The MediaVillage Buzz (www.mediavillage.com) is featuring her comments, observations, and how she complied and played with her Nielsen diary. Her dramatic and controversial admissions are the talk of the television and research communities, which point out her actions are not necessarily reflective
of all Nielsen. diary-keepers and the publication of her comments could negatively influence the diary process. We believe this open disclosure is a service to the industry and reality should never be buried in the name of safety.
Tuesday and Wednesday Day 6 & 7
Well, no wonder the Nielsens don't have people keep their diaries for more than a week. It gets old, really quick, especially with the lousy state of television these days. For the first half of my diary-keeping week, I behaved very politely. I watched programs in their entirety and avoided channel surfing. By the last two days, I channeled surfed more than I usually did and did not record it in my diary.
To be fair, the diary instructs that I only log the programs I watch for more than five minutes. Because I had no intention of logging any of the crap that was on, I tried very hard not to land on anything for more than five minutes.
At times, I was so bored that I tried to watch to obscure digital cable channels - just to keep things interesting. If you are blessed with digital cable, you know the ones I mean. History Channel International, Fine Living, Discovery Times and The Science Channel are just a few of these.
Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - Day 6
6:30pm — I channel surf for about a half an hour. Truthfully, I doubt I stopped on anything for more than two minutes let alone five. I spent lots of time up in the obscure digital 100s.
7pm — When it first aired, I defended American Idol, but the camp novelty has worn off. It's a god-awful train wreck that inspires me to "what's the matter with kids today type thoughts" -- which is more irritating than the show itself. I make sure to log that I watched the first ten minutes, then switched channels. They really need to know their program is actively annoying. Not that I am anywhere near its demographic range, but still I wanted to make a statement. To further make my point, I turn to a BBC America antiques show called Cash in the Attic. And yes, seeing if a British pensioner can sell stuff from her attic for six thousand pounds is more interesting than the Fox hit. And more soothing.
8pm — I turn back to Fox for House. I realize that the cranky-doctor show is about as realistic as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but once you've gotten in touch with your suspension of disbelief, it's watchable. I just wish that once in a while one of their critically ill patients would actually die. The show is kind of Perry Masonish in that way. I do some channel surfing, but I don't log any of it.
9pm — Speaking of cranky, I want the Bill Maher to know he has at least one fan in the Deep South. I watch Real Time, and I am thrilled to see Madeline Albright getting all tough with the Bush administration.
10pm — The Daily Show, again. I actually stay up almost to the end.
Wednesday, May 11, 2005 - Day 7
5pm — I'm grading papers. Sometimes, I like soothing background noise for grading papers. I choose a boring show about Vienna Hotels on History Channel-International for this purpose. Mind you, Vienna itself is not boring, just the show. I log it anyway, just to amuse myself.
6pm — I watch The Daily Show again and get the jokes I was too sleepy to get the night before.
7:30pm — There's nothing on worth watching. I try and try to find something to land on, but I just flip through the obscure digital channels for a half hour. I don't think I would ever watch it, but I'm somehow grateful The Science Channel exists.
8pm — PBS, I kid you not, I finally manage to land on PBS because of an American Masters on James Dean. I thought everything that could ever be said about James Dean had already been said, but this piece interviews a few old, cranky Texans who knew Dean during the filming of Giant. I once visited Marfa, where the filming took place, so I was interested in all that footage. It's one of the few programs I've watched all week, that I would characterize as excellent.
9pm — From high-brow to intelligent low-brow, I turn to South Park because it's a rerun of the famous Paris Hilton evisceration. Mean though it is, I find it hilarious.
9:30pm — I turn back to PBS to watch a little of the late Arthur Miller talking about the making of The Misfits. I channel surf, but I log that I watched PBS the whole time.
10pm — The Daily Show's "Week in God" segment is on. It's hilarious, and I'm glad I stayed up for it.
That's the end of my log, and rather than being sorry. Yes, I'm happy it's over. I think that the Nielsen Company ought to invest more in those boxes that record your viewing and not depend on people like me to get their data. Over the course of the week, the company sent me a couple of reminder postcards and gave me a courtesy call about keeping the diary, but they never reminded me to keep it accurately.
I'm not naïve enough to think that their statisticians don't factor in human error or even manipulation into their data models, but can any statistician really factor in how weird people are? Or how the fact that record keeping will change anyone's behavior? Who knows, but I'd hate to be the TV producer who gets cancelled based on the data I logged.
Monday, May 9, 2005 - Day 5
I used to think I watched a great deal of TV. Apparently, I was wrong. I've actually had a difficult time finding things to watch and log into my TV diary. So, today proved an ideal day to take requests. I have also gotten bored with keeping the log, and my accuracy is slipping. The first few days, I resisted channel surfing. Now, I channel surf all over the place. I just don't log it into my TV diary.
2:30pm — I have this afternoon off. An old friend has emailed me, asking me to watch General Hospital, to which he is hopelessly addicted. He, who is intelligent, Ivy-League educated and completely heterosexual, has been taping the show since the Luke and Laura days. I haven't watched this or any other soap since I was in high school, but I agree to do him the favor. I am surprised to find B-movie queen and ex-remote control hostess Kari Wuhrer playing an FBI agent.
3pm — Oprah has a dog whisperer on. It's cute, and I watch a few minutes. But my own dog is entranced by all the dog footage. I surf the Internet while my dog watches, but I log it in like I watch. I suppose I should have ticked "TV on, No one watching" but the dog was watching. They should really have a "pets watching" section for the log.
6pm — I turn to Anderson Cooper 360° as a belated Mother's Day present. Mom's got something of a crush on Anderson Cooper, and so I have agreed to watch. He's doing a series on drunk driving, making the point that when you are drunk, you have poor judgment enough to get in a car and drive. This stupidity leads to many unnecessary deaths. It's hardly an original idea, but I have no objections to CNN reiterating it.
7pm — I am flipping back and forth between the NBA playoffs and Antiques Roadshow, (a favorite of an old gentleman I used to work with) which is airing a clip show featuring animal themed finds. There's even a Dr. Seuss sculpture which proves to be worth quite a bit of money. I figure the NBA playoffs don't need my help but PBS does, so I log in Antiques Roadshow as if I watched in the whole time. The Nielsen log does give you instructions to log your dial-flipping, but frankly I'm too lazy. I also don't like admitting, I don't have much of an attention span.
8pm — I try watching 24 for a few minutes, but it's just too silly. I mean really? Commandos accidentally kill the Chinese consulate? Unscrubbed FBI agents can get into an operating room? I switch to Everwood because Entertainment Weekly recently gave it a good review. In truth, I don't really watch it. I am on the phone with a friend and only occasionally glance at that TV. We again discuss how lousy TV is. I don't do any dial-flipping, though.
10pm — I'm tired, but I log in The Daily Show, as though I watched the whole thing. In truth, I go to bed.
Saturday, May 7, 2005 and Sunday, May 8, 2005 - Day 3 & 4
As the weekend winds down, I think those who make their living selling television ads must be cursing Spring. The weather was so beautiful that even I found myself pulled away from my beloved television.
Here's a quick rundown of what I watched:
11:45am — Brunch-time. I turn on the television and find very little that holds my interest. Until I see that HBO Family is running Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Do today's kids really enjoy this psychedelic, child-abusing musical? I hope so, but I suspect most of the viewers are the kids' parents. I stick with until the sappy ending. Then, I head outside.
4:00pm — The Kentucky Derby. It's nice to see fabulously wealthy people break through their ennui and get emotionally invested in something although I don't think I would ever go. Apparently those ridiculous hats are required of women. Still, the whole spectacle keeps my interest, though I'm fixing an early dinner and talking on the phone while I watch. My dad jokingly suggests betting $1000 on the 50-1 long shot.
5:15pm — Holy mother of God! I wish Dad had a bookie. Giacomo, the 50-1 long shot, wins the Kentucky Derby. Everyone around the horse is choked up. He's a very good horse, obviously. I hope this gets him a Smarty-Jones kind of retirement, once he's failed to get the triple crown. (I do want him to get the Triple Crown, I just don't want to get my hopes up.)
5:30pm — I was so riveted by the long shot win, I turn to the post-show on ESPN. It's not all that interesting, except everyone still seems to be in shock. I turn the TV off by 6pm.
7pm — I'm getting ready to go out for drinks. It is Saturday, after all. I do something that I have never done. I keep the TV on while I'm getting dressed. There's a rerun of Deadwood. The Nielsen log says that if you aren't in the room, but the TV is on, mark that. I'm going in and out, so I just mark it as if I was watching the whole time. I think I just might eschew Desperate Housewives for Deadwood tomorrow because I am much more interested in the fate of little William Bullock than in any of those spoiled, over-publicized women.
8pm — I've got some time before going out. I don't want to get emotionally invested in a program, so I flip to the Animal Planet. There's a documentary on Killer Elephants. Apparently, elephants need older male role models or they get very cranky and kill rhinos. Who knew? But I need to get out of the house, so I don't get to hear about the resolution. However, I mark my log as if I watched the whole thing because I don't want people to think I got bored with elephants.
Sunday
8am — Normally, I watch the Sunday morning news shows, but this morning is so beautiful, I sit outside and eat breakfast. I wonder if I would have had the TV on had a not been required to keep a record. I, mean, one should enjoy a beautiful spring morning and having a record of me not enjoying it feels, well, wrong. I assumed that logging my TV viewing would cause me to watch more, but I now realize it's causing me to watch less. I only want to log that which is worthy, and there is very little that is worthy.
4pm — I watch a little of the NBA playoffs. I don't follow much basketball, but I would be embarrassed to not watch any. Basketball is something of a national obsession, plus my Dad asked me to watch.
6pm — I really want to watch 60 Minutes. I usually watch 60 Minutes, but darn it, I don't like the stories they are running. There's one about West Point graduates heading off to Iraq, which is terribly depressing because I don't like to see such talented young people getting in harm's way. After that, they are going to do a celebrity interview. I figure if I'm going to watch celebrity interviews, I'll do it right. I switch over to True Hollywood Story where they are running a lovely, gossipy documentary on I Love Lucy.
7pm — The Simpsons is on. It is a pale shadow of its former self. The American Idol cross promotion is irritating, and haven't there been a half dozen better episodes where Homer and Lisa bond? Like when he gets the crayon pulled out of his nose? Or when they break into the museum? Or even when she wants to be a tap dancer?
7:30pm — Note to programmers: I would have watched Arrested Development had it been on. I think the show is hilarious and brilliant, but another Simpsons is on. It's better than the first, with Homer getting all apocalyptic and predicting the date of The Rapture. It appears as though South Park is influencing The Simpsons as the episode gets completely blasphemous. I love it, and I am once again glad The Simpsons is still on the air.
8pm — Up until now, I have been watching Desperate Housewives with the rest of America's female population. But Desperate Housewives has been boring me lately. I predict it will pull a Twin Peaks and tank after the mystery of Mary Alice is solved. I don't want to give it my vote. I turn to Deadwood, a far better show. Turns out little William Bullock actually dies, which makes the episode beyond sad. Brilliant, but three kleenex-box sad. And, even better, there's more blasphemy, with Richardson worshipping antlers. You must watch to understand, but know that Richardson is TV's greatest, mentally challenged bit player since The Simpsons's Ralph Wiggum.
9pm — I call my mother for the second time. It is, after all, Mother's Day. She asks me about my TV viewing. I tell her I'm frustrated and don't find all that much worth watching. She makes the following observation: "It's sweeps so they should be putting on good shows. But I haven't found anything good. I didn't even like the Elvis movie. It was boring."
Ah mothers, they are so wise.
Friday, May 6, 2005 - Day 2
Friday has to be the worst television day of the week. Really, has there ever been anything good on Friday since Hugh Downs left 20/20? Or the X-Files moved?
In any case, it was a slow day. I tried to find interesting things to watch, but I failed over and over again.
3:00pm — I had to watch a work-related video, but I got sucked into an Oprah Winfrey episode on Hoarders. I don't usually watch Oprah, but this subject proved a good sweeps-week choice because I sat through a half hour of Hoarding-related psycho-babble before turning on the video.
4pm — I tried to find something, anything interesting to watch. I do love logging stuff in my TV Diary, but there's nothing but Judge Shows, Game Shows and lousy sitcom reruns. I turn off the TV.
6pm — I decided to turn on the TV while I ate dinner. I watched the first 15 minutes of The Daily Show, which I had seen the previous night. There was lots of amusing jokes at Paula Abdul's expense. But I clicked off when the interview segment came on.
6:15 — Again, it's a wasteland of sitcoms, news programming and other filler. (I generally read the newspaper to get my news, by the way, so I'm not seeking out the cable news channels, which I find annoying.) I do find that HBO is running an episode of Real Sports, which keeps me entertained. If I hadn't been keeping the diary, I might have clicked it off, but again, I feel that would be rude.
7pm — I'm getting ready to go out with friends. (It is Friday night after all.) But HBO is airing a few reruns of Deadwood. I think it's the best show on TV right now, so I watch a couple of the reruns before joining real life. I keep watching until Charlie Utter gives his speech before Wild Bill's grave in an episode called "Childish Things." The acting and writing is so good, it's worth being a little late to meet friends.
That's all the TV I watched, all day. Oddly enough, I usually think I watch a great deal more than that. Perhaps I just perceive it as more. Or perhaps I just resist watching TV because I would be embarrassed at some of my usual choices or the diary makes watching something feel like more of a commitment. Either way, I hope tomorrow proves more fruitful.
Thursday, May 6, 2005 - Day 1
Today marked the first real day of TV power, as my Nielsen log began this morning. I already knew it would change my viewing habits. I had, after all, planned for it to do so. But I did not anticipate how much it would change my habits.
For example, I do a great deal of working from home. This requires discipline enough to keep the TV off in the mornings when I need to get stuff done. Not this morning. This morning the Nielsen log sat on my coffee table calling to me. "Watch something! Watch something! It's your chance to be counted."
I resisted to about 11:15 am, but then broke down. Because I am totally unaware of what is on TV in the mornings – I looked up the schedule online. After some careful consideration, I decided to give the Ellen Degeneres Show a look-see. I had seen it once or twice and liked it, and she makes me laugh. So, I turned to her show and carefully made my first log entry.
She was in the middle of interviewing Brendan Fraser, which was okay. He's a charming guy, and I love the way she flirts with handsome guys. When flirting is just for fun, everyone can relax. All of this was fine, then Carmen Electra came on to instruct Ellen and the audience strip tease aerobics. I realize it was a joke segment, but I was not amused. Not in a "Oh will somebody please protect the children way" but rather in a "I don't like watching Baywatch babes jiggle way." I really wanted to flip to something else.
Thing is, I didn't flip channels. Somehow, I felt it would be rude to Ellen, whom I like, to turn off her show just because Carmen Electra irritates me. Darn it all, if I didn't sit through the entire insipid segment - just to be polite.
When that show ended, I checked the schedule again. I noticed that Animal Planet was showing Growing Up Cheetah. On general principle, I believe that whomever decided that a channel should exist primarily to show cute animals is a genius. I had not seen any previews of Growing Up Cheetah, but I once watched Growing Up Elephant as was nearly moved to tears. I decided to grade papers while watching the baby cheetahs.
Once the cheetahs lived happily ever after, I turned off the set and got back to real work. Until a friend stopped by my house. The purpose of her visit was to have me look over a project of hers, but I couldn't help but show her my Nielsen log.
"Can we watch something?" she asked, and I said sure. She suggested a rerun of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Polite hostess that I am, I said fine. We drank tea and discussed how lovely it was to send the message that educated women prefer reruns of Jean-Luc Picard over IQ-challenged soap hunks.
After that, I had to run to my office and the TV remained off until primetime when another unexpected thing happened. I was flipping through the channels trying to find CSI and stopped, on of all things, the BBC election night coverage on CSPAN2. Now, I might be an educated woman, but I'm no wonk and certainly not an Anglophile. Still, I got sucked in by the whole British-ness of the process. The anchors were predicting that places like Berwick-upon-Tweed would go Liberal-Democrat and clucking over Tony Blair's losses. I watched the coverage for a full half hour before becoming bored, and I seriously doubt I've ever watched CSPAN2 in my life. Frankly, I'm somewhat embarrassed to be admitting it now.
After that, my activities got boring. I watched a movie on HBO. Then, I turned on the Daily Show as I had planned. I was even grateful that the Nielsen log had given me motive to stay up for it.
Initial Comments
"Someone wise once said, "The act of observation changes that which is being observed." The theory was proved to me recently, when I was asked by the Nielsen Group to log my TV viewing for one week this May sweeps. You see, I'm a very powerless person. I possess a blue-state mindset in a hard-core, Southern red state, so my vote in the 2004 election was virtually meaningless. I also teach college English to a student body, who for the most part, view my class as a hassle imposed on them between frat parties and football games. In short, I'm a thinking person whose voice is rarely heard.
And powerless people love nothing better than gaining a small measure of power. When I was told that I had been chosen by the mysterious Nielsen company to be one of the few people to log their viewing habits, I was at first thrilled, then giddy with my own potential influence. I mean really, how often does one's opinion really matter?
Then, the "observation changing the observed" thing really kicked in.
I immediately began writing down a list of shows for which, I would essentially be voting. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart would be a must all week. Now, I usually catch the show during its early evening reruns a few times a week. But I resolved to make sure to watch each night at its original airtime. Deadwood is another show I usually catch when it is rerun the next day, but I resolved to reject Desperate Housewives in favor of its far-superior HBO rival. The fact that I am the exact demographic that is expected to watch those Housewives combined with the idea that I will be subverting those expectations gave me a pure adrenaline rush.
My next step was to begin reading Entertainment Weekly, looking for sweeps-month shows that I should watch. Or, as I had briefly decided to call it, bestow my blessing upon. This was all happening the week of the papal conclave, so I was clearly absorbing language from CNN, and although I'm never going to get a vote in a papal conclave, I seriously doubt any Cardinals will get to vote for Veronica Mars. I never have watched Veronica Mars, by the way, but Entertainment Weekly calls it the greatest girl-power show since Buffy, so I figure I'll give it a vote.
After compiling my lists, I started bragging to my various friends and family members about my little power trip. I offered to watch their favorite shows, as a personal favor. One friend asked me to make sure that I watched the TNT reruns of Charmed. "I start my day with them," she said of her guilty pleasure, "And I don't want to lose my charmed ones." I asked if she would like me to watch a new episode on Sunday, and she said no. The show apparently hasn't been good in awhile. I wouldn't know, of course, because I've never watched it. My mother reminded me to watch The Simpsons, which while not as good as it was, is still good and worth saving. Another friend pleaded with me to watch Carnivale if HBO aired any reruns, which I would gladly do because I liked that show and hope it comes back.
I also made a mental list of things I would enjoy not watching. These included anything featuring Bill O'Reilly, any show that portrays angels helping humans with their problems and any sitcom about a clod married to a gorgeous woman. I also thought I might get Dada about the whole thing and watch a few channels at random.
In other words, I totally want to mess with the system. Wouldn't you do the same? So, come along with me this week as I will be keeping a diary of not only what I watch, but how I come to choose what I watch."