YTTV vs. Disney - what a PITA!

Data today is much better than the days of Neilsen ratings from back in the day.

 

Well one thing you can be sure of with business. If they reported that they lost 1.5 it was probably worse than that for a brief period.

 

It is a pain in the ass. I dropped Hulu due to it being glitchy and not user friendly when bouncing back and forth between PA and FL. YoutubeTV has worked flawlessly in that regard for the same price, and I was happy with it right up until their pissing match with Disney. I'll be dropping them and looking for an alternative if they don't get the ABC/ESPN deal resolved.

 

Never went back, never will. Hell with the exception of the last 3 innings of the world series when the cubs won, havent watch MBL since the 94 strike. NBA, wellnever watched it in the 1st place. NHL may as well be the NFL. Only ball sport I will watch is Australian Rules Football.

 

Co-worker uses this and likes it.

https://uzzu.tv/

 

Run a ad blocker, I don't get any ads.

 

I'm gonna pull this number out of my ass but I'm sure that for every one of you, there are 50 who went back.

 

They still do this.

 

Over the Air audience measurement is still very much alive for AM, FM and TV.

Inaudible to humans, signal codes are embedded into the audio at the studio, and decoded by devices (now phone apps) carried by the persons who are part of the sample. A properly randomized set of sample households (or persons) can provide pretty accurate survey results with a relatively small sample - say a thousand devices in a metro of 1 million. This is how ratings for shows were done pre-internet. They also used to use paper diaries for sample members to record their watching/listening during a specific week or two period. Those ratings drove the cost of ads on/near a particular show, which air personalities kept/lost their jobs, which shows were renewed/canceled, etc. The ratings still do that, but the technology for data collection has changed greatly.

With connected cars and TV's, and monitoring apps on the phones of those in the sample, its all done in real time today, unless you are in a very small market, where paper diaries are still in use along with the newer technology. Your connected TV and car pay attention to what you listen to, and report it to the companies who compile ratings. They now have data to the second including what, where & when and how long you watch/listen. The data aggregators also sell that data to marketing folks so you get "targeted" ads. We've all become test subjects.

When I worked at a "big three" network, we received reports each morning telling us which affiliates ran/didn't run what specific promo for a network show/event (and when) the day before, for each of the >200 affiliates across the country. We used those reports for affiliate contract compliance. - all based on embedded inaudible data in the audio.

 

That’s some cool info Beac…I can’t imagine the high tech stuff now…. Years ago I was watching Sean Ryan and his guest explained “old tech” that used things like that to pinpoint the exact location of any conversation had anywhere in the world… decades ago…

 

Because the masses are weak

 

Yeah, there are options like that, but Nielson still uses a log book that you fill out by hand. I have one beside me 'cause they keep sending me them despite no TV viewing in this house for years...

 

The fact you don't watch TV is an important data point - "Homes Using Television" at any given 15 minute segment of the day.

Yes, Nielsen and Eastlan (Aribitron closed in the 1990's) still use diaries to validate all the electronic data. Diaries have a 100+ year history, and are still the "gold standard" for OTA audience measurement. All the electronic stuff is much faster, but can skew the data to higher economic demographics which can afford the latest connected cars (and their Internet subscription) and the latest cable boxes (which come with higher tiers and costs) and smart TV's. To capture data from the rest of the audience, they still use all the old techniques - diaries, people meters, etc. as well.

 

I cancelled yesterday and got a full refund for the month (they took it out oct.24). I did sit in chat for about 2 hours before getting an 'agent'.

My OTA antenna arrives tomorrow, and I'll be pairing it with a HDHomeRun or Tablo (haven't decided yet). I'll have my own streaming 'in house' for free.

We decided on Peacock Premium Plus for streaming, for now. Has everything my wife wants and streams our local NBC station too! (WXIA) Its only $17/mo.

So in the end, I will have ABC, FOX, CBS + a crap load of other junk channels for free from OTA that I'll be able to watch anywhere I have internet. This covers Sunday football and most college games too.

Peacock gets me ALL NBC and associated channels broadcasting, some live, some on-demand.

The only thing I'm losing are the ESPN channels, which I have other methods I will utilize. If something is coming up that I need ESPN, I will get a $4.99 weekend pass on Sling.

WTG Disney, I'm saving $65+/mo!

 

That’ll teach ‘em

 

One and only perk of my job is I do not have to pay for TV at all and haven't for over a decade. Of course, because of the job I don't watch much at all anymore.

 

haha, just sharing my plans in case someone else has a similar dilemma at home.

I also discovered this morning that ATL Fox5 and WSB are streaming free on the Roku Channel.