The most reliable method of television audience measurement is based upon using electronic meters to monitor the status of television sets in households. Still, this is not yet perfect since there is always a question as to what attention, if any, are people paying to what is going on the television screen and what is coming through the audio channel.
To gain insight into what goes on while the television set is on, media researchers have deployed video cameras inside homes for long periods of time. Usually people are self-conscious of the presence of the camera in the beginning, but most of them will act more naturally after a few days. The types and range of behavior that can be seen are quite surprising. We see people sleeping, eating, reading, cleaning, doing household chores, talking with each other, talking on the phone, and even making love. This really makes us wonder what is behind those audience estimates.
Yet, it is recognized that video observation can only yield qualitative information, and cannot be deployed in large numbers effectively and expeditiously. In addition, people cannot be expected to do self-reports on their concurrent activities while the television set is on because of the Heisenberg principle --- the self-observation would have effectively modified their behavior. Very often then, the user would be limited to applying some form of discount factors to audience ratings for attentional deficit.
In the Los Medios y Mercados de Latinoamérica 1998 study, we posed the following statement "I like having the television set on while I am doing other things around the house". Overall, 45% of the persons between the ages of 12 and 64 in Latin America either 'mostly agreed' or 'somewhat agreed' with that statement. The Table below shows how this number differs by various population subgroups.
| Category/Class | % Agreed Mostly/Agreed Somewhat |
| Geographical Region Argentina Brazil Chile Colombia Mexico Venezuela Balance of Central America Balance of South America |
49% 48% 30% 47% 47% 53% 47% 45% |
| Sex Male Female |
38% 52% |
| Age 12-17 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 |
48% 48% 45% 46% 44% 39% |
| Living with Aunts/uncles Grandparents Cousins Parents Children Siblings In-laws Other people |
41% 42% 52% 44% 46% 43% 52% 45% |
| Socioeconomic Level Level A Level B Level C Level D |
47% 45% 45% 44% |
| Multichannel Television (Cable/Satellite) | 46% |
(Source: Los Medios y Mercados de Latinoamérica, 1998)
This is a very interesting table, from which we can make some neat observations.
Chileans showed the lowest propensity to leave the television on while doing other things. Our survey was conducted between August and October of 1998. At that time, Chile had a unusually dry year, so that the rivers were running low and dry. In a country where hydroelectricity is the chief source of electricity, this led to periodic scheduled and unscheduled power outages throughout the country. Under that set of circumstances, wasting electricity is not acceptable behavior.
There is a significant difference in propensity between males and females. Obviously, this has a lot to do with how often people around the house. The traditional homemaker is a female who stays at home while the spouse works out of home. Television becomes a companion.
The propensity declines with age. This may be a consequence of upbringing, for the younger people grew up with television around them for their entire lives.
The presence of multichannel television service makes no apparent difference. When television is used as a background companion, whether there are 75 channels or only 8 channels is immaterial.
We will not speculate as to why people are more likely to have their television on when they live with their in-laws ...
(posted by Roland Soong on 12/31/98)
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