[PAR35]

You are correct - the set top boxes report back to the mother ship (cable or phone company). The data they capture is more valuable than the ad revenue at this point. And a lot more reliable than Nielsen. And, of course, they are happy to cooperate with the government.

[catnipman]

At this point Nielsen boxes are basically dead given that Nielsen now sucks minute -by-minute viewing data from millions of DirecTV and Dish set top boxes:

http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/press-room/2017/nielsen-and-att-agree-on-multi-year-deal-to-use-set-top-box-viewing-data-for-ratings.html

https://www.wsj.com/articles/nielsen-to-include-set-top-box-data-in-ratings-for-first-time-1459764001

FNC, for example, can now see which commentators get tuned out and decide whether to re-up their contracts. George Will apparently was REALLY unpopular. I always skip The Kraut and Karl Rove, so if enough people do that, then maybe they’ll get kicked to the curb as well.