Why is my diary important?
The diaries you return will represent other TV homes in your community.  We need your assistance because only you can provide us with information that we need to produce accurate TV ratings.  The sample includes all types of TV homes across the United States and your home was selected as a representative of your local community.


I don't watch much TV.  What good is my diary?
All homes that are selected to keep a diary are important whether they watch TV just a little or a lot.  We need to have a representative sample of all types of TV viewers.  People all over the country are taking part.  Our sample will be more accurate if selected viewers like you participate.


Does the TV industry really want to know what I watch?
Yes!  The people who plan and schedule television programs need to know what the American public is watching on television.  We cannot ask every home to fill out a Nielsen diary.  But each diary home is special because it has been carefully selected to represent their community.  Nobody could possibly substitute for any one of our Nielsen homes because no two homes are alike in their television viewing.  Unlike a newspaper or a magazine, where the publisher can count how many copies are sold, there is no simple way to know how many people are watching any given program.  Nielsen estimates the audience of TV programs with the information gathered from people like you.


How/Why was my home chosen?
Your home was scientifically selected for a television viewing survey.  We cannot ask every home to keep a diary so we carefully select a sample of homes in your community to represent the entire TV audience.  We want to collect the TV programs your household watches and your comments about TV in general.