Why haven’t I ever met a "Nielsen family"?

Actually, you may have. There are hundreds of thousands of "Nielsen families", including diary and metered households. We ask our households not to reveal they are in the Nielsen Media Research panel. This protects their privacy and helps ensure the integrity of the panel. In the few cases where homes have revealed their NielsenTV status, we removed them from the metered panels or disregarded their diaries.

How many "Nielsen families" are there?

There are 5,000 households in the national People Meter sample, approximately 20,000 households in the local metered market samples, approximately 1,000 metered homes for our national and local Hispanic measurement, and nearly 1.6 million diaries are edited each year.

How do I become a "Nielsen family"?

Nielsen Media Research cannot accept volunteers for its ratings service. To be statistically accurate it is essential that our sample be the result of random selection. Every household in the United States has an equal chance of being selected, no matter where it is located. And, the random nature of the sample ensures that people of all backgrounds and all ages can be included. If Nielsen Media Research accepted volunteers, the composition of the sample might be affected. Our clients – broadcast and cable television networks, local television stations and cable systems, program producers and advertisers – use the information we provide to help make decisions about which programs will be on the air. Our customers would not be able to rely on the information to make appropriate decisions.

Since we do pick our sample on a random basis, you do have a chance to become a Nielsen Media Research household. However, it can only happen from our contacting you.