Who has a Nielsen box?

[equazcion]

In recent years, when great TV shows got canceled for ratings reasons while heaps of unbridled crap survived, it got me thinking about who exactly has the Nielsen boxes. I think about this often. These people effectively control what we see on TV, and they're not doing a very good job of it. And, we never really hear anything about them. Who are these people?

I don't know anyone, nor do I know anyone who knows anyone, nor have I ever met anyone, or even HEARD of anyone, ever, who had a Nielsen box. Have you?

Are the people who have them contractually obligated to keep quiet?

If the kinds of people I am connected to, associate with, and/or hear about don't have Nielsen boxes, it makes me think my segment of the population is not being sufficiently represented in the ratings.