Ntl Viewing Habit Monitoring

[uno]

Does anybody know how much Ntl monitor what we watch on tv ? As i would assume they to provide the channels with figures on how many people watch the programmes i would imagine this is fairly easy has has permeanent return path. I would also think that with the VOD things they could see from the server logs on what you watch and your habits. I saw a report yesterday which stated the red button was pressed more than a million times during November on the NTL/Telewest network.
I know Sky do quite a bit of client monitoring as friend works for an ad agency who did an interactive advert for a well known lager company and after the campaign Sky gave them a 15 page report showing hoe people had watch the ad and then who had interacted and how long they viewed it for.

[Tristan]

NTL could, theoretically, monitor what channels you're watching. However, this data would be fairly useless, as the box has no way of knowing how many people are sat in front of the TV at the time, or even whether the TV is switched on.

VOD content is another matter however. It's very easy for them to note what was watched and at what time of day and so on. They can also, as you've seen, keep records of how many people "press red" when prompted to do so.

Mind you, the same goes for Sky as well. The report your friend saw was most likely written from the view data of people who have specifically agreed to have their viewing habits monitored.

[uno]

Thanks for that Tristan I had a feeling thats how it worked with NTL. I have spoken to my friend again this morning he said the reports he gets are for any sky customers as he gets a demographic report and for example where i am in Leicestershire he could tell during the month campaign that 22,000 people viewed the advert. Im told it is in Sky contract they can monitor what adverts and interactive pages you view but do need your permission to record data about programmes watched.