Myers Research Suggests Nielsen Households Watch More TV, Have More Channels, and Skip Fewer Commercials on DVR
How representative of the TV viewing public is the Nielsen meter sample? The subject of intense
debate for years, there is new evidence that the thousands of metered households used by Nielsen for its ratings and audience viewing reports does not provide accurate and representative insights into the American viewing public.
A new study conducted among 4,000 adults 18 to 64 by Jack Myers Media Business Report identified 68 respondents who claim to have a Nielsen ratings meter installed in their
televisions by Nielsen. Comparisons of this sub-set of respondents to Myers' non-Nielsen household respondents uncovers dramatic differences in their television viewing patterns, adoption and use of new media technologies, and demographic patterns. There is no way to
determine if the 68 respondents identified in the Myers study are representative of the full Nielsen meter sample, but early indications suggest they may, in fact, reflect the average Nielsen meter household.
As Nielsen begins reporting time-delayed TV viewing, and as advertisers demand more information on actual viewing to commercials in DVR homes, this study suggests far more information will be required on how accurately Nielsen reflects typical viewing behavior among DVR users.
Last week, Nielsen Media Research reported the average American watched television 4 hours and 32 minutes each day during the past TV season, the highest level in 15 years. This is
almost precisely consistent with the reported viewing of the 68 Nielsen respondents in the Myers survey, who reported an average of 4 hours and 24 minutes of time spent viewing television per day over the preceding 30-day period. However, this group of 68 is not
representative of the full Myers sample of 4,000 adult TV viewers, who reported average viewing of only 3 hours and 42 minutes of viewing per day.
Throughout the report, titled The Myers Survey Defining the Emotional Connections of Media to Their Audiences, there is additional evidence the Nielsen meter sample
does not accurately reflect the habits and patterns of the average viewing public. For example, the 68 reported Nielsen-meter respondents have 122 TV channels available on their primary TV set, compared to 96 channels for the average respondent.
Other discrepancies between the 68 Nielsen households reported in the Myers survey and Myers' average U.S. TV
viewer include:
Nielsen HHs claim 3.7 working TVs in their home compared to 3.0 in the average home;
14.8% of reported Nielsen meter households say they used a TiVo or cable/satellite DVR in the past week compared to 12.5% of the full respondent database;
28.6% of the Nielsen households report viewing high definition television in the past week, vs. only 9.4% of average TV viewers;
26% of Nielsen respondents say they used video-on-demand in the past week compared to only 9% of the average TV viewers.
Of great concern to advertisers, agencies and networks is the disparate patterns of digital video recorder usage
between Myers' Nielsen meter sample and the average TV viewer.
Seventy-five percent of average viewers with DVR in their home say they skip all or most commercials, compared to only 47% of viewers with a Nielsen meter.
Thirty-seven percent of the Nielsen viewers say they skip very few or no commercials, compared to a meager 8.5% of typical TV viewers.
As Nielsen begins reporting time-delayed TV viewing, and as advertisers demand more information on actual viewing to commercials in DVR homes, this study suggests far more information will be required on how accurately Nielsen reflects typical viewing behavior among DVR users.
There are several other inconsistencies reported in the Myers survey between the viewers with Nielsen meters and typical TV viewers.
83% percent of the
reported Nielsen households say they have a computer and television in the same room of their home, compared to 73% of average American homes;
19% of Nielsen homes say they frequently visit websites of TV networks and shows they watch vs. 8% of average viewers.
70% of the viewers
with Nielsen meter-equipped TVs say they visit the websites of TV shows while they are watching the shows, compared to 55% of average viewers who visit websites of TV shows while they are watching those shows.
This is consistent with data in the new Myers report suggesting Nielsen-meter households are significantly more influenced by Internet-promotion for TV shows. If the Myers data on Nielsen
meter households is accurate, which will be further assessed in future studies, TV viewers with Nielsen meters are also far more likely to refer to a variety of sources for their viewing information. A far
greater percentage of the Nielsen respondents report referring to TV Guide Magazine, TV Guide Channel, daily newspaper TV listings, TV Guide Online, E!Online, and other Internet sites for TV viewing information.
The published report on The Myers Survey Defining the Emotional Connections of Media to Their Audiences, provides detailed data on media consumption patterns for more than 100 adult
audience segments, defined by age, gender, ethnic composition, geographic locale, income, children in the home, marital status, use of media technologies, and other parameters. A separate Myers report on the media consumption patterns of teens is being released this week. During the next several weeks, subscribing networks and agencies will receive detailed
data on the perceptions of various viewing groups, including the 68 reported Nielsen-meter households, toward 100 individual TV networks and 450 TV programs. Seven qualitative attributes of "emotional connectivity" are measured in the study, focusing on viewer attentiveness, value of program and network environment for commercials, and how comfortable audiences are watching with family and friends.
The Myers Survey Defining the Emotional Connections of Media to Their Audiences was conducted online by OTX Research, and was carefully subjected to numerous qualitative and
quantitative analyses to assure the database accurately represents the American TV viewing public. The study will be repeated at least twice annually and, in the future, will incorporate both selected websites and magazines for multi-media comparisons.
More information on methodology and selected results are available by contacting Jack Myers at Jack@mediavillage.com.
