Ratings Grabber
Warren Cowan’s company, Rogers and Cowan, represents “more TV programming than any other PR firm in the business,†as he calculates it. So how did he get to be a real-life Nielsen family, contributing to TV ratings research?
“When they called me from Florida and asked if I would be interested in becoming a member of the Nielsen family for one week, I first thought it was a gag,†Cowan told us, laughing.
But it was no joke: Cowan was selected at random to be one of the 3,600 L.A. households to receive a “Personal Nielsen TV Viewing Diary.†Did the research company know what he did for a living? “They never asked.â€
Nielsen spokesman Larry Frerk pooh-poohed the idea that Cowan should have been disqualified--or that his diary could be used to favor his clients’ shows.
“Nielsen families reflect people from all walks of life,†Frerk said. “Obviously, he is on a fringe area. But in Hollywood it’s difficult to screen everybody because so many people have some type of connection with TV.â€
Unlike People Meters, which determine national ratings, diary households are merely for “local market measurement,†Frerk added.
Cowan said his household--which that week included ex-wife Barbara Rush and daughter, Claudia--watched their usual movies, sports and interviews.
Now he has to figure out how to spend the dollar Nielsen paid him for his trouble.
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