% of Channel Watched

[davidgr]

I have a question, that I don't know I have ever seen or heard.

Does E* have a way of tracking the percentage of time a subscriber is tuned into any given channel? Per Tuner/per channel? I was wondering for my own use, how much time, do I really watch any certian channels? I have 2 ViP 622's hooked to 4 tv's. If they do, does anyone think that is information a subscriber could obtain?

 

[Hall]

Dish no doubt collects that sort of information but it's not (supposed to be) tied to "you".

 

[rcdallas]

It makes me wonder what kind of tabs they are keeping on someone and reporting back with the advent of ethernet/telephoney connection...

 

[Tyralak]

It makes me wonder what kind of tabs they are keeping on someone and reporting back with the advent of ethernet/telephoney connection...

That's a huge part of why they want you connected to a phone line.

 

[Cold Irons]

....pulling out my tin-foil hat from the anxiety closet....

 

[nmoulton]

I'm glad E* tracks my usage, because it means I, in a small way, have a voice in which shows continue and which are canceled. But I hope E* takes into account that many times at my house the TV gets shut off, but the E* box stays on till the wee hours when it automatically gets shut off.

 

[Tyralak]

....pulling out my tin-foil hat from the anxiety closet....

It's not quite that bad. I understand that Dish is paid by ratings companies for aggregate data on viewership, not personal information.

 

[Hall]

I'm glad E* tracks my usage, because it means I, in a small way, have a voice in which shows continue and which are canceled.

That's determined by Nielsen, not Dish (or DirecTV or cablecos).

But I hope E* takes into account that many times at my house the TV gets shut off, but the E* box stays on till the wee hours when it automatically gets shut off.

Doubt they do... Technically, when a box is auto-shutoff, they could delete the previous "x" minutes of data and presume it wasn't being watched. Then again, presume the auto-shutoff is 30 minutes and I sit down at 8:00pm and watch a half-hour show and do NOT touch the remote. At 8:30pm, it will shut off. How does it know if someone was watching or not ?

 

[Hall]

I understand that Dish is paid by ratings companies for aggregate data on viewership, not personal information.

Hence why everything they collect is supposed to be anonymous (I believe there are federal laws regarding this too).

 

[navychop]

I don't think it's ever been established that Dish is doing this. It seems they only recently started setting up to be able to do this. TIVO certainly does this in a big way.

 

[Hall]

Data collection like this is *big*. Rest assured, Dish does it, DirecTV does it, and it's possible that the local cablecos do it too (with digital customers). TiVo really made it obvious when they told the world how many people rewound during the Janet Jackson-Super Bowl "flash". So far, the others have kept absolute silence about it.

By the way, Dish's terms of service says they "have the right" to collect this. If they're saying that, they're either already doing it or plan to in the future. My money says they already do.

 

[reallyniceguy]

Dish collects data with customer concent.. they track if you skip commercials and what and when you watch it. Its sent off to google.. remember they partnenred with google now?


Now If you feel that this data should not be collected.. its simple.. you call and ask a rep that you want this data not collected.. Its called opt out market something... they have it available in their dish promo application. I saw it tons of times but customers never once called me to remove it... odd.


I didnt opt out. I dont mind them knowing that i watch channel 498 everynight at 11 pm hah..


Its good because they can eventually tell the networks how to create better appealing ads that are not boring, shows thata re not boring , how to bring more money for them to use in the services they provide. I dont think its bad.


Also your isp collects data fyi