In industry parlance, it's known as the meter system, an audience measurement device that is considered by many in the television industry to be a better tool for determining the all-important ratings for all TV programs. It will be a major step forward for Buffalo, the nation's 42nd ranked market and one of the last in the top 50 to sign on with Nielsen Media Research for the service. Until its implementation next year, Buffalo television ratings will continue to be solely measured through the use of diaries, a system that requires members of households to write down what programs are tuned in and how often by all people in a particular household. Many television executives say the diary system, which will still be used even after meters are introduced, is by itself antiquated primarily because it is based on viewer recall. Currently, in the diary system, people are asked to keep a written diary of what they watched for a week and there is a lot of inaccuracy.
People tend to overstate viewing of some things and understate viewing of other things.
What diaries provide that meters do not is the demographic breakdown of who is watching what programs. WGRZ, the NBC affiliate and last among the three stations providing local newscasts, may stand to gain the most with the addition of metered households. It has taken Nielsen Media Research several years to get enough stations to agree to lead the change from diaries to meters. Still, not all stations are jumping on the meter bandwagon. The thing with meters that people forget I think is, meters just tell you what station is on.