Nielsen Under Fire - Finally

Nielsen is finally under fire per the following link - MLive.com - NewsFlash

If you have followed my blog, you know my opinion on the system - it stinks. Even when I was a teenager, I didn't believe that their sampling system represented the viewing audience - it was skewed toward urbanites and caucasions as far as I was concerned.

Being a techie, I know that there is a much better way. I worked for a Silicone Valley startup that had the right idea before its time. Long story short, we could determine the types and quantities of visitors to a web site and not only report the statistics, but we could also adapt the website, in realtime, based on the individual and how 'like' they were to other visitors. This type of system can be implemented very easily through digital cable boxes, TiVo's, and satellite recievers. You don't HAVE to know exactly who is watching, just some basic information about the people in the household. Treat the T.V. shows as if they are websites, and, BAM! you have a new ratings system that much more accurate.

I argued that we should have taken the technology to Nielsen because we couldn't make money selling the service to .com's. Oh well, they didn't listen, the .com's all died, and eventually so did our company. I wish I could build another system like that for T.V.

"The Notebook"

My wife and I saw this chick-flick, The Notebook" this weekend.

First of all, I won't tell you the story, but, I highly recommend it for hopeless romantics and couples that are truely connected - everyone else, save your money for a group DVD rental.

If you are a student of history, or reared in the South, you'll have to turn off your "South" censor because the movie doesn't portray the southerners of the time period accurately, and some scenes appear to be shot in Maine or California.

Also, the story gets a little predictable.

The romance overshadows any problems with the movie. Mostly everyone in the movie was crying like babies!

What do you think?

Fox's "The Jury" Dismissed

It's almost official. As I predicted, "The Jury" is a flop. Unfortunately, I thought it would be cancelled after three airings - it took four. It isn't officially "cancelled," they've stopped production. See the attached article.

Boston.com / A&E / TV / For now, Fox's 'The Jury' is out