Nielsen said it will expand use of People Meters.
The headline didn't supplant larger ones about TV sensations Michael Jackson or "Joe Millionaire." But this week's welcome announcement from Nielsen Media Research could help blunt the absurd tyranny of sweeps.
The company said it will start providing overnight ratings in the nation's top 10 TV markets via electronic "people meters." That effort will award greater ad revenue and leverage to local cable companies. More significantly, though, it could make the Nielsen numbers more accurately reflect who is watching what.
Currently, the details advertisers want -- namely, the age and gender of viewers -- are made available only after sweeps periods in February, May and November. The results are derived from notoriously unreliable pencil-and-paper diaries used by Nielsen homes.
That shot-in-the-dark scenario encourages blatant audience bait ranging from celebrity "gets" in prime time to strip-club "exposes" on local news outlets. It is no accident that Jackson became a cottage industry this month.
Thanks to network naysayers, the old ratings system has remained for decades, with advertisers trying to target their $30 billion in yearly spending while partially blindfolded. Home runs like "Joe Millionaire" make up for misses like "The Music Man." The whole game makes the prodigal movie biz look efficient by comparison.
James Surowiecki of the New Yorker recently compared the nets' reluctance to mess with Nielsen to neighbors' unwillingness to help build a backyard fence. "The television will not be revolutionized," he concluded.
But maybe there's hope yet. If the creators of TV content get a clearer picture of what audiences want, then the quality of product could improve, even just a little. At least the menu on "Fear Factor" could then be cooked instead of raw.
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