Among those I was heartbroken to see get the boot were Invasion, Threshold, Kitchen Confidential, and Love Monkey.
No matter that I watched the shows every week. They were gone.
Not only did my watching or not watching shows have no impact on what made it and what didn’t, but also the Nielsen gadgetry became larger and larger, until at one point our two TVs had so many boxes and wires hanging off of them that they resembled a fifth grader’s technology project, with boxes literally duct-taped to the backs of the TV sets. (Oh, and the technicians had to buy us two new VHS recorders when they managed to drop each of ours within hours of each other.)
The last straw was when Nielsen called and said they would have to come by my house to install some new equipment (for the third time in six months) and it would probably take two days minimum.
There was no telling how much crap they would be taping to my TVs this time around.
So I told them to take all their stuff, because I was through.
And ever since, just as many shows I watch have been canceled, so it seems I didn’t really count anyway.
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Article comments
1 - Lisa McKay
Congratulations! This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net, which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States.
2 - Kathy
Hi. I just read your horror story. I'm so glad I didn't agree to become a Nielsen Family. You may be interested to read my posts about how hard it was to say no to them. It is having an experience like yours that made me afraid to sign up with them.
Be sure to read to the end of the article. There is an UPDATE link at the bottom:
3 - fossey
[personal attack deleted] do you think that because your presidential choice didn't win that your vote didn't count, or that democracy's dead? shows will stay on if a lot of people watch them. that means a lot of people like you.
4 - TVMaven
You really didn't understand what the ratings are all about. Your ONE house would not effect the ratings to keep a show on the air. It is a cumulative ratings sample based on thousands of homes.