The Active/Passive (or A/P for short) meter is a way to measure audience participation and viewing for television programs in the modern world. The old system, which measured when people changed the channel, isn't so useful due to the changeover to . However, there are downsides to the A/P meter as well.
Cost
The A/P meter functions off of a timer. This means that resources have to be allocated to power the timer, and that the results of the timer have to be recorded and analyzed. You also have to pay for the timer and install it on the television network. These costs all fall squarely onto the shoulders of the television station, and it has to cope with the loss of resources to measure the viewer response to its programs.
Digital
The A/P meter is meant to be used with systems. In fact, the A/P meter was developed exclusively for measuring viewer habits on digital television which doesn't have traditional channels in a mechanical sense. However, the A/P meter is not as useful as the traditional, viewer-counting method that is used for less advanced . While many TV systems have already switched over to digital programming, if that isn't the case then an investment in an A/P system might actually be a mistake.
NAVE
An additional difficulty with the A/P meter is that companies have to set up the base material, called the NAVE. Nielsen Audio and Video Encoders are machines that monitor the , and they form the base of the A/P meter testing ability. Television studios and networks will need to invest in these NAVE basics so that the A/P test will be able to monitor the watching habits along the line. This represents another investment made by the station before the test can even be run.
Tags: digital television, monitor watching, habits, television systems, watching habits