What kinds of information does Directv/Dish Network capture on my viewing habits? Aren't they sitting on much more data than Nielsen Ratings?

I do not know how your equipment is setup exactly, but keep in mind that satellite TV (and radio) is one-way communication. The satellite constantly broadcasts every channel to everyone, and doesn't know which programs (if any) any particular person is watching, because those people can't send any information back to the satellite. Perhaps you also have a tuner box that's connected to your TV and either a phone line or the internet, in which case, this box could potentially report back every time you switched channels and log that information with your TV provider. However, even if that's possible, there are plenty of reasons it may not actually happen. For instance, the TV provider might be afraid of making you mad by running up your phone bill, or fear customer backlash over privacy issues. So what I'm saying is that they may not have as much information as you'd think.

All the newish DirecTV HD DVRs have always-on internet connectivity for their on-demand streaming service and OS updates. I'd be surprised if they didn't report nearly every action you take (where you pause, where you fast-forward) to DirecTV HQ. DirecTV undoubtedly samples and summarizes that information by zip code and sells it to networks and advertisers. TiVo has done this for years, as far as I know, and I'd expect any box that can connect to a phone line or home network to do the same unless they explicitly state they don't. Remember when TiVo reported that the Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction was the http://news.cnet.com/Jacksons-Super-Bowl-flash-grabs-TiVo-users/2100-1041_3-5152141.html?

I do not know how your equipment is setup exactly, but keep in mind that satellite TV (and radio) is one-way communication. All satellite systems must have two-way communications to handle pay-per-view. If you don't have an internet connection to the sat box, then they mandate a telephone connection. When you access a pay-per-view program, the box stores this account information to memory or disk. At least once a month, usually late at night when you aren't expected to be using the phone, the sat box uses its modem to phone the sat company and upload your account information for billing. Supposedly this is only your pay-per-view history, but there is no reason they couldn't upload all of your viewing or recording history.

From http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/content/legal/privacy_policy: Your DIRECTV Receiver regularly sends Anonymous Viewing Information to us. This information allows us to know, for example, that a customer from a particular city watched a show, but we cannot associate those viewing choices with you. ...We do not collect Personally Identifiable Viewing Information unless you give us your express consent to do so....We may share Customer Information, including programming purchases, with selected media, entertainment, and other similar service providers, as well as with third parties with whom we offer co-branded or joint products or services. These third parties may use this Customer Information to market products or services to you.There's lots more - Give it a read. (PS: If you watch ten hours of TV a day, and change channels every ten minutes - (60 changes) and request 10 new shows a day, it could all be encoded in a space half the size of this postscript and reported nightly. I don't think the data is tying your phone line up for very long.)