No, by YOUR definition a market where the buyers and sellers are both happy with how the numbers are acquired is free. “completely by the mutual consent of sellers and buyers”. The buyers and sellers are happy with how Nielson gets, massages and publishes the numbers, therefore the market is free. It’s not like there’s some government mandate that makes Nielson the sole source of information. There are other companies that provide data, they are used and compared against the Nielson data, even with all that other data everybody benchmarks from Nielson. That’s a free market.
Really?
Interesting take, then explain why shows like Firefly and Jericho were canceled based on Neilsen's Data when the Satelite and Cable systems were showing totall different viewership?
BTW a market can still be Un-Free without government intervention. Its why there are laws against Monopolies in the US which BTW is exactly what Nielsen's System has been for many years. Now with the advent of the internet and new Digital technology they are being challenged but they still control that market.
One of the major indicators that the system was seriously flawed on numbers data is when Firefly went to DVD and it outsold the Star Wars episode that was released on DVD at the same time for many weeks in a row.
Futon Critic run some numbers on the phenomenon and it was telling. I wonder if it is any coincidence that the stealth campaign against TIVO tracking viewers habits started hitting the mainstream at about the same time.