I read about the latest television consumer effort recently on the Jericho Monster blog and was intrigued.

Dubbed “Nuts to Nielsen,” the idea is that folks send peanuts to Nielsen to point out how many people are uncounted in the company’s ratings sampling program. It comes, of course, from last season’s successful Nuts to CBS effort, which got Jericho a (short) second season. That, of course, came from Jake Green’s response to the suggestion that Jericho surrender to New Bern. Which, of course, comes from that famous story from the Battle of the Bulge … and so on.

The thing that intrigued me about this campaign is that it zeroes in on why quality shows often get canceled before they’re really given a chance —  or, sometimes, even when they have a huge following. The ratings, it seems, reflect less and less of the reality of television viewing, as more television consumers don’t watch television in “traditional” ways, i.e. sitting down in front of the boob tube at the appointed hour and take potty breaks during the commercials.

So I decided to track down the brains behind the campaign to find out how this all came about.

Jon Whitesell, known on the CBS and SciFi boards as NorsU, is 43, married and a father of two boys. Nookie, their dog, is also a huge Jericho fan and watched religiously with the family —he growled every time Valente showed up on screen! (Good dog! I’ll send you a virtual doggie bone.) Jon’s a Controller/CPA with 20 years experience mostly in Telecom startups in the Northeast corridor. He lives in Boston Metro West and is an avid Red Sox, Celtics and Dallas Cowboys fan. Despite his poor taste in sports teams (duck!), I found he had rather good taste in television, as he’s a big Jericho fan.

I sent Jon a few questions via e-mail about the Nuts to Nielsen campaign and then about how he got into Jericho in the first place. My questions are in italics, followed by his responses:

Why Nuts to Nielsen?

The Nuts to Nielsen was an idea that actually snowballed as Season 2 progressed. It started early on in Season 2 and piqued my interest in the whole ratings system. It really started when I started tracking all the online rankings and was fascinated how popular Jericho was online. Weekly, right out of the gate, Jericho was # 1 on iTunes downloads. It was frequently #1 downloaded and always top 10 at Amazon and Xboxlive as downloads. Then I noticed that Jericho was in the top 8-12 on TiVo for DVR Season Pass. [Amy note: That’s when folks set up their DVR to record any new episode of a series.] Then I started noticing that when they added back DVR viewers to the Nielsens, Jericho was always top 10-15 and approximately 1.2 million to 1.5 million viewers were added. That’s where the whole “Nielsen is Nuts” idea started. The only stat that appeared wrong were the Nielsen numbers. I also just felt all along with the media buzz, press and word of mouth that there was no way that there were not more Jericho viewers.

Then I found the interactive DirecTV “what is hot” button. I have since learned that this is a live tracking of a very big sample of DirecTV viewers, about 30 million. I started tracking Jericho and for big blocks of most episodes it showed up as #1 or #2. On a few occasions ABC was a distant 3rd, 4th or worse. Yet the next day, Nielsen always had Jericho #3 and ABC #2 and it just didn’t sit right with the DirecTV results. In this time frame I actually started to get mad and once cancellation occurred I was ready to shell Nielsen with nuts! The Nuts to Nielsen just seemed like it had a good ring to it. And it also was eye-opening that 99.999% of all TV viewers are not counted. That just does not seem right in 2008 that a bigger sampling can’t occur.

I want to stress that the campaign to save Jericho’s main priority is to write to CBS (Paramount) and SciFi Channel to further chances to have Jericho picked up. I felt that sending Nuts to Nielsen would bring some media attention to the Save Jericho cause and at the same time be part of raising the issue of antiquated ratings at Nielsen and the various issues inherent with Nielsen. To date over the weekend on a few sites combined a modest plus or minus 1,000 pounds were sent to Nielsen for delivery on March 31st and April 1st! The protest has been picked up by about a dozen media outlets, websites and blogs to date. There are thoughts of expanding scope to other TV show fandoms to raise the stakes, so to speak, and is in the works.

Why do you think the networks continue to rely on old media methods while so aggressively touting their new media offerings?

Honestly, they almost have no choice as Nielsen holds near-monopolistic power over the TV advertising industry. I also sense that the major networks are comfortable with the relationship. Both parties are extracting mega $ from advertisers; why topple the applecart! And who foots the bill? Us, the consumers, and we get antiquated and inaccurate data to boot that decides the fate of shows. Nielsen had to admit over the weekend that it botched ratings backwards to October 2007. I do see a change in thought process as evidenced by CBS Interactive’s Quincy Smith, who has starting to sell the value in online platforms and viewing. He even went as far as to say in USA Today that Jericho had more online viewers than traditional TV viewers. Well, that would be greater than 6 to 7 million views! Eventually, the advertisers are going to demand to pay on an actual view basis versus a Nielsen “estimate.” If I am running a business, I would demand to know exactly how many viewers actually watched my show, not an extrapolation.

And who exactly are these Nielsen viewers? I have never met one or know anyone that knows anyone who was a Nielsen viewer. I hear representations of 20,000 Nielsen boxes, but Erin Media has reported this number may be as low as 8,000. Just not an adequate sample with all the digital information available!

Do you think that sends a mixed message?

Yes! Because they are announcing a service that they can’t deliver any time soon. In fact, Erin Media  —  which recently settled an antitrust lawsuit with Nielsen  —  is pursuing litigation against Nielsen for this recent announcement about enhanced new media offerings. Erin Media has exclusive technology that could count actual views of 30 million cable viewers. Erin Media’s website proclaimed this Nielsen’s press release and unfair contract practices caused Erin Media to miss out on critical financing. The settlement with Erin Media is the latest of victories for Nielsen, which has fended off competitive challenges from Arbitron, AGB, R.D. Percy & Co., and SMART. Nielsen is the 800-pound monkey in this game and stomps out potential competition. And, yes, that they are saying they are going to be offering these new services implies that their existing service is dated and obsolete.

[This site, run by the businessman behind Erin Media, gives some background information on this and this article from Variety explains it far better than I can, but the main thrust of the anti-trust suit is that the way Nielsen staggers its contracts makes it all but impossible for a competitor to get into the TV ratings market.]

What do you think the answer is?

I think the answer is to count a significant number of actual viewers. I foresee a convergence of all online viewers and traditional viewers. With DirecTV and cable, well over 70% of all households can be counted. The day of [a few thousand] Nielsen box samples cornering the TV advertising $ will go the way of the dodo. It’s just a matter of time, but I don’t see that day happening soon if Nielsen has its way.

Jericho-related questions:

When did you start watching Jericho?

I actually did not start watching until the final 3 episodes of Season 1. I started to pick up that my wife and two sons (ages 10 and 13) were always watching a show together. I started to question what they were so interested in — they said, Jericho. I eventually gave in and sat in and was immediately hooked. I then did a mad dash to CBS Online and did my best to catch up on Season 1. Ironically, I had just finished catching up on Season One when CBS canceled Jericho. The reason I started posting and have spent so much time doing all I can to save this show is for my youngest son. The day I told him Jericho was canceled, tears welled up and he was devastated. It was right then that I jumped in to save his Jericho! I’m a grown professional man and had NEVER been involved in a save campaign before. Intrinsically I was drawn in and never for a second doubted that we would not save Jericho! And how did it feel to make history? Satisfying.

What hooked you?

What hooked me was the acting and the storyline. I somehow felt really connected to the characters and the storyline. There was a lot of character development and action. Candidly, I thought Gerald McRaney carried Season 1 as Johnston Green. He is such a commanding actor and presence. The other angle that hooked me was that I was watching a show as a family unit in an era where that is not the norm. It was connecting and drawing in multiple generations. I also felt the show really depicted the good in people as well as the bad, in the ultimate battle for survival. It’s also a show that once the episodes are over you can’t wait for the next one, it’s just that good! I think that last factor is why the show is so big on iTunes downloads, online playbacks and DVR/TiVo.

Who’s your favorite character?

I guess I would have to say I have several favorite character(s). I already mentioned Mayor Johnston Green in Season 1. I think Hawkins is a masterful character. He is kind of MacGyver meets Jack Bauer! He [Lennie James] plays his role so well you almost can’t tell if he’s one of the good or bad guys! Season 2, I thought Jake’s [Skeet Ulrich] character grew as he emerged as more of a leader role with some of the rash decision-making traits that harkens back to his earlier bad-boy days. The character I thought stole the show Season 2 in his episodes was Goetz. D.B. Sweeney so nailed this character! He was the absolute perfect casting to portray the evil and corrupt Ravenwood leader. I could go on and on. One last add is that Bonnie [Shoshannah Stern] will be greatly missed!

++++

Thanks for taking the time to “talk” with me, Jon.

It’s been a really interesting ride, and I think that, no matter what happens with Jericho, its legacy will be that the way television viewers are counted will be changed forever.

Today, Jericho Monster has this post about how CBS is touting its huge online viewing audience for basketball. The same online viewing audience that counted for nothing when it came to Jericho’s ratings.

I honestly don’t think it’s a matter of the network being disingenuous, but a matter of the chief of the online portion of the network talking up how well his division is doing. But the network’s top guys are still used to looking at the traditional numbers when it comes time to make programming decisions.

NBC is looking into a new form that’s actually very old  —  single-sponsor shows. Think “Jericho brought to you by Sprint.” Banner at the beginning and end, maybe a commercial in the middle, maybe a little product placement, but one big sponsor. That’s how TV started. Maybe it’s the future.

The world is changing when it comes to all media — TV, movies, music, news — and everyone involved is trying to make sense of it. But until the sense is made, the decision-makers are going to rely on the tried-and-true methods of measurement, because that’s what the advertisers are looking at.

Have you ever tried to turn around a cruise ship? It doesn’t stop or turn on a dime. Think of the entire media industry as a cruise ship the size of the Atlantic.

It can’t — and won’t — turn around overnight.

But it can’t — and won’t — turn around if the captain’s allowed to fall asleep at the wheel.

Photo of Skeet Ulrich with the infamous peanuts courtesy of CBS.