Nielsen Now Collecting Data from Some TiVo Users
CNET News.com reports that Nielsen Media Research and TiVo have developed software to collect usage information that may be used to assess the impact of digital video recorders (DVRs) on commercial television in the United States. According to the article:
For now, Nielsen is excluding data from households with DVRs from its industry reports, but it is trying to piece together a sample that will reveal "the impact of TiVo...upon established viewing patterns."
With the proliferation of DVR devices and the impending rollout of true video-on-demand by major cable systems, Nielsen must develop ways to measure consumer use of these services, otherwise the value of their market research will be reduced. The work they have done with TiVo over the past two years is just the beginning of the attempt to adapt to the explosion of digital technology.