Universities Weblog

Finally, someone realized that college students are a hugely untapped source of expertise:

Nielsen Media Research has added college campus viewing to its national Sampling of U.S. television fare.

The move to campus viewing represents the New York-based research giant's first effort to collect ratings outside the home, Variety said. Until introduction of campus sampling, college students' viewing habits counted only when they were home.

College students account for an estimated 50 percent of all television viewing not measured by Nielsen, with smaller portions attributed to bars, businesses, hotels and gyms, a researcher said. Under the new system, introduced Monday, Nielsen will follow college students within Nielsen families to campus, install meters on televisions in dorm rooms and include the data in the national sample.

Now when you watch television, you're not just having fun…you're shaping the entertainment industry.

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