http://www.arbitron.com/portable_people_meters/home.htm

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=81644

The Arbitron PPM has already been deployed and commercialized in some markets.

McPherson said: So again, that was an actress who was trying to talk about something in a manner that would serve her and not the reality.
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Melissa George said this: “It was my choice. I love the show so much. I’ve made some beautiful friends. I love T.R. Knight. I love Patrick Dempsey, Justin Chambers … I adore Ellen Pompeo. I think she’s a strong, incredible woman. And Katherine Heigl is the most beautiful creature on Earth.”

As for ratings, DirecTV has already begun using their own ratings service in conjunction with TNS Corp. The “DirecTView” service has 100,000 opt-in customers, whose viewing habits are monitored by a set-top-box (STB) data collection agent. A few advertising bigwigs, such as Starcom, have bought into the DirecTView system. It’s only a matter of time, IMHO, before more advertisers choose to purchase the information they need from non-Nielsen sources such as this one. Nielsen is playing the role of “fast follower” here, trying to launch more STB style data collection mechanisms such as the Local People Meter. It may be a while before Nielsen reaches that 100,000 people mark. They rely pretty heavily on repeating their mantra of “we’re statistically accurate the way we are, and the math is too complicated for you to understand so we don’t need to prove our accuracy to you.” The execs are well aware that if you repeat something enough times, people accept it as fact.

I have not read the Eddie Izzard comments you mentioned, but I intend to search for that interview. He has a point, in that Britain has a system entirely different from ours. The BBC “broadcast” equivalents are there, and satellite is popular I think. As far as ratings, I think WPP corp. is the frontrunner in ratings gathering in Britain? I am uncertain how they conduct their data collection.

Nielsen’s days are not numbered. Nielsen itself does need to make changes, which it has been working on. Nielsen and Arbitron (the Nielsen of TV) have both been trying to find a solution to certain problems like watching TV out of the home. Arbitron came up with a beeper sort of thing which you wear at all times, and it picks up any radio signals you are tuned to in the car, or hear in a restaurant, etc. It’s been in the development stage for a while. No idea if they will ever actually use it. But Nielsen and Arbitron are both trying here, and aren’t about to be replaced even in the next 10 years.

As for DVR and internet, Nielsen does track DVR viewing, though it doesn’t count for too much since you and everyone else who uses a DVR skip the commercials. The networks themselves have all the information on how many people are watching legally via the internet, and don’t need Nielsen to track that. If it actually made any difference in terms of profit, you’d hear about it.

“Moonlighting” ended in ’89 I believe. Blame Cybil Sheppard for the pregnancy story line which killed that show.