I was curious if Dish Network is able to track how popular the HD channels are. It would be interesting to see some ratings.....especially for the Voom channels...does anyone know if this is even possible?
Ratings for Dish HD channels?
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Of course Dish can track what channels people watch. Will they ever publish this data ?? Likely not.... When Dish does cancel or drop a particular channel though and you hear nothing about a dispute over cost to renew, you can assume it's dropped because of low ratings.
Well the technology is certainly there. A DVR "could" save the user's viewing habits and it "could" upload them periodically via the phone line connection.
Whether or not they have actually done anything is another question.
Whether or not they have actually done anything is another question.
This has nothing to do with DVR functionality. I'll guarantee anyone, there's a HUGE database that is logging every channel watched by customers. They may not record (currently) who it is or what account it's on, but they have to keep track of this information.Pepper said:
I certainly don't mean this in any "put on your tinfoil hat" way either.
As I mentioned before, if Dish sees a channel's number of viewers decreasing and decreasing quarterly, you can be sure that they provide this information to that network and use it to their advantage or they simply drop the channel.
Granted, all I was implying that since they have a hard drive and filesystem, a DVR could have pretty sophisticated tracking, moreso than a non-DVR receiver.hall said:
hall said:I certainly don't mean this in any "put on your tinfoil hat" way either.
you can be 100% sure you are incorrect. put on your tin foil hat.
Tracking usage obviously requires a two-way interface. Dish has the phone line connection, but that's low bandwidth.
The real answer to viewership is provided by Nielson. Any data that Dish or whoever else collects themselves is interesting, but doesn't factor into ratings that advertisers use to make $$$ decisions.
The real answer to viewership is provided by Nielson. Any data that Dish or whoever else collects themselves is interesting, but doesn't factor into ratings that advertisers use to make $$$ decisions.
It would be very risky for Dish to do this in secret. If you are monitoring the viewing habits of private individuals without their permission, you risk a huge lawsuit.
hall said:
There is no way for DBS to track which channel you watch. Possibly with the DVR unit, but as those do not even have to be connected to a phone line - and they call in for literally 5 seconds every month, no they cannot.
Also as Tom pointed out, you risk severe ire (not to mention legal remedies) if doing so without knowledge. TIVO was very upfront about their tracking and give you an opt out.
From DirecTV website, quote
Viewing Data Collection
DIRECTV collects anonymous information about viewing choices from all customers unless they request that we block their receivers. You may change your viewing data collection preference below. Please allow two weeks for the change to take effect.
Anonymous Data Collection
Your receivers collect information about viewing habits, but the information is not tied to your account. Allow Data Collection
Your receivers collect personally identifiable information about viewing habits. Do Not Allow Data Collection
Your receivers do not collect information about viewing habits.
This can be found at https://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/mydirectv/account/myAccountUpdatePreferences.jsp
So DBS can and does track this, that's one of the reasons for phone lines.
Viewing Data Collection
DIRECTV collects anonymous information about viewing choices from all customers unless they request that we block their receivers. You may change your viewing data collection preference below. Please allow two weeks for the change to take effect.
Anonymous Data Collection
Your receivers collect information about viewing habits, but the information is not tied to your account. Allow Data Collection
Your receivers collect personally identifiable information about viewing habits. Do Not Allow Data Collection
Your receivers do not collect information about viewing habits.
This can be found at https://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/mydirectv/account/myAccountUpdatePreferences.jsp
So DBS can and does track this, that's one of the reasons for phone lines.
Again, thats a DVR - and that's Directv - care to find the same for Dish?
I know people (including myself) that have never connected a Directv STB to a phone in 5 years and the boxes are not 2 way.
DVRs (just like TIVO) are the ones that store viewing data - you need to write that information until transmission TO A HARD DRIVE.
Considering Dish STBs hardly have the memory to hold several hours of a program guide - holding data for transmission in memory is ridiculous to even think about (not to mention the amount of time they connect to E* during their monthly "I'm alive" check. If you monitor the call you will find that the non-DVRs hardly have enough time for the modems to sync before disconnecting.
I know people (including myself) that have never connected a Directv STB to a phone in 5 years and the boxes are not 2 way.
DVRs (just like TIVO) are the ones that store viewing data - you need to write that information until transmission TO A HARD DRIVE.
Considering Dish STBs hardly have the memory to hold several hours of a program guide - holding data for transmission in memory is ridiculous to even think about (not to mention the amount of time they connect to E* during their monthly "I'm alive" check. If you monitor the call you will find that the non-DVRs hardly have enough time for the modems to sync before disconnecting.
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Dish collects and stores a lot of information and disclose it all here, http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/aboutus/privacy_notice/index.shtml. I can't access the link posted for DirecTV, but can someone post what it says ?? What was copy-and-pasted mentions nothing about DVRs.HDTVFanAtic said:
That's odd because I have what, 9 days of guide data ?? Even the 311 stores two days of guide data. You're just full of accurate information....
How long do you think it takes to upload a small text file ?? 10 seconds, 60 seconds ??
Personally, I hope they DO track what I watch.
For one thing, I want them to know that I watch Firefly, Futurama, Dead Like Me, and other "unpopular" shows that the morons at Fox and other networks cancelled.
Do you really trust the Neilson Rating to determine what shows/networks get renewed and cancelled, or would you rather see accurate real time collection of data from a complete subscriber pool?
Let's see - a random google search of Nielson ratings accuracy brings up lots of stuff like this:
http://medialit.med.sc.edu/accuracy.htm
Personally, I'd love it if dish collected a little database of all the stuff I watched and uploaded it periodically via my phone line.
Maybe they do, and that's why Futurama is now back in production (lol)!
Anyone got a better way to get REAL ratings data?
For one thing, I want them to know that I watch Firefly, Futurama, Dead Like Me, and other "unpopular" shows that the morons at Fox and other networks cancelled.
Do you really trust the Neilson Rating to determine what shows/networks get renewed and cancelled, or would you rather see accurate real time collection of data from a complete subscriber pool?
Let's see - a random google search of Nielson ratings accuracy brings up lots of stuff like this:
http://medialit.med.sc.edu/accuracy.htm
Personally, I'd love it if dish collected a little database of all the stuff I watched and uploaded it periodically via my phone line.
Maybe they do, and that's why Futurama is now back in production (lol)!
Anyone got a better way to get REAL ratings data?
HDTVFanAtic said:
Unless the meaning from the direcTV website construes the words "all customers" as only meaning customers with DVRs I believe you're mistaken.
Digital Dude said:
Again, it says they have the right. It does not say they do it. They only do it with DVRs and PPVs. There is not enough memory to hold the info in the other STBs.
hall said:
Again, I have NEVER had a Directv STB connected to a phone line in my life.
The units I have are lucky to get a days worth of EPG....must less store a month's worth of watching - or even worse - years.
And I wonder what happens when the power goes out - you think its stored in non-volataile RAM, lol.
