Sports bar ratings

Kind of. Come September, 500 people will be wandering around L.A. with cellphone tracking devices that pick up the sounds of televisions that are on in gyms, bars, hotels, offices - pretty much anywhere but home. It's part of an effort announced today by Nielsen to get a better handle TV viewing in public venues. Over the years, the news and sports channels have griped about ratings that don't factor such viewing. It's a big deal, of course, because all this determines how much advertisers are charged. Nielsen will be working with a San Mateo outfit called Integrated Media Measurement, which developed the measuring system. Besides L.A., there will be trackers in NY, Miami, Chicago, Denver and Houston - as well as other locales around the country so that they can come up with national numbers. NYT PR Wire