Nielsen Ratings
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Nielsen Ratings are audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States. Nielsen Media Research was founded by Arthur Nielsen, who was a Market analyst whose career had begun in the 1920s with brand advertising analysis and expanded into radio market analysis during the 1930s, culminating in Nielsen ratings of radio programming, which was meant to provide statistics as to the markets of radio shows. In 1950, Nielsen moved to television, developing a ratings system using the methods he and his company had developed for radio. That method has since become the primary source of audience measurement information in the television industry around the world.
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[edit] Measuring ratings
Nielsen Television Ratings are gathered in one of two ways:
1. Viewer "diaries," in which a target audience self-records its viewing or listening habits. By targeting various demographics, the assembled statistical models provide a rendering of the audiences of any given show, network, and programming hour.
2. A more technologically sophisticated system uses Set Meters, which are small devices connected to televisions in selected homes. These devices gather the viewing habits of the home and transmit the information nightly to Nielsen through a "Home Unit" connected to a phone line. The technology-based home unit system is meant to allow market researchers to study television viewing habits on a minute to minute basis, seeing the exact moment viewers change channels or turn off their TV. In addition to set meters,individual viewer reporting devices, such as people meters, have allowed the company to separate household viewing information into various demographic groups, but so far Nielsen has refused to change its distribution of data of ethnic groups into subgroups, which could give more targeted information to networks and advertisers.
Changing systems of viewing have impacted Nielsen's methods of market research. In 2005, Nielsen began measuring the usage of digital video recordings such as TiVo. Initial results indicate that time-shifted viewing will have a significant impact on television ratings. The networks are not yet figuring these new results into their ad rates at the resistance of advertisers.[1]
[edit] Ratings/share and total viewers
The most commonly cited Nielsen results are reported in two measurements: ratings points and share, usually reported as: "ratings points/share". As of September 1, 2008, there are an estimated 114.5 million television households in the United States. A single national ratings point represents one percent of the total number, or 1,145,000 households for the 2006-07 season.
Share is the percentage of television sets in use tuned to the program. For example, Nielsen may report a show as receiving a 9.2/15 during its broadcast, meaning that on average 9.2 percent of all television-equipped households were tuned in to that program at any given moment, while 15 percent of households watching TV were tuned into that particular program during this timeslot. (Nielsen re-estimates the number of TV-equipped households each August for the upcoming television season.) The difference between rating and share is that a rating reflects the percentage of the total population of televisions tuned to a particular program while share reflects the percentage of televisions actually in use. [2]
Because ratings are based on samples, it is possible for shows to get 0.0 share, despite having an audience; the CNBC talk show McEnroe was one notable example.[3] Another example is The CW Television Network show, CW Now, which received two 0.0 ratings in the same season.
[edit] Demographics
Nielsen Media Research also provides statistics on specific demographics as advertising rates are influenced by such factors as age, gender, race, economic class, and area. Younger viewers are considered more attractive for many products, whereas in some cases older and wealthier audiences are desired, or female audiences are desired over males.
In general, the number of viewers within the 18-49 age range is more important than the total number of viewers.[4] According to Advertising Age, during the 2007-08 season, Grey's Anatomy was able to charge $419,000 per commercial, compared to only $248,000 for a commercial during CSI, despite CSI having almost five million more viewers on average.[5] Due to its strength in young demos, Friends was able to charge almost three times for a commercial as Murder, She Wrote, even though the two series had similar total viewer numbers during the seasons they were on the air together.[4]
[edit] Commercial ratings
Nielsen also provides viewership data calculated as the average viewership for only the commercial time within the program. This “Commercial Ratings” first became available on May 31, 2007. Additionally, Nielsen provides different “streams” of this data in order to take into consideration delayed viewing (DVR) data, at any interval up to seven days.[6] C3 was the metric launched in 2007. C3 refers to the ratings for average commercial minutes in live programming plus three days of digital video recorder playback.[7]
[edit] Sweeps
Much of the ratings system, however, still consists of the completion by viewers of ratings diaries, in which a viewer records his or her viewing habits, generally for a week, in exchange for being advanced a nominal amount (up to $30 in the United States). These diaries play an especially important role during the four sweeps periods conducted in February, May, July and November in an attempt to measure smaller local market audiences in markets that are not covered by People Meter samples already. Other, smaller sweeps are conducted through the year in the markets large enough to be measured by non-demographic meters, but not large enough to be measured by the demographic meters (people meters).
The term "sweeps" has two meanings. One refers to how the diaries were handled by Nielsen Media when the ratings were first produced: They are mailed to the households and processed by beginning initially on the East Coast and "sweeping" across the nation. The other meaning refers to television programming during the months of November, February, May and (of lesser importance) July, in which eagerly anticipated programs are deliberately scheduled in order to boost television ratings. Television networks and other programmers make unusual efforts to attract additional viewers during these periods, including broadcasting mostly original programming as opposed to repeats, showing more special broadcasts, and including special content in programming such as guest stars, controversial and unexpected plots or topics, extended episodes, finales, and increased competition in advertising. Even news programs are often involved, broadcasting especially controversial or titillating investigative reports and promotions. For this reason, the "sweeps" system of national ratings has been criticized as not representative of typical programming, and encouraging an increase in content of concern such as violence and explicit sexuality. Outside of these peak periods it is more common to see reruns of television programs.
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Nielsen 2008 sweeps dates February 2008 31 January – 27 February, 2008 May 2008 24 April – 21 May, 2008 July 2008 3 July – 30 July, 2008 November 2008 30 October – 26 November, 2008
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Nielsen 2009 sweeps dates March 2009 March 5 – April 1, 2009 May 2009 April 23 – May 20, 2009 July 2009 July 2 – July 29, 2009 November 2009 October 29 – November 25, 2009
Note: The February 2009 sweeps period was moved to March so that the ratings would not be affected by any problems created by the February 17th switchover of the USA's analog broadcast television signals to digital. When, in early February, the digital transition date was moved to June 12, the "February" sweeps period for 2009 remained in March.
The change in the 2009 February sweeps schedule also provided a clearer picture of ratings, because the new period did not include this year's Super Bowl (in sweeps since 2004) or the Daytona 500 (in sweeps since 2007, when the finish aired in primetime), both of which events often inflate ratings during sweeps periods. It did, however, cover the first four rounds of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament for the first time.
[edit] Criticism of ratings systems
There is some public critique regarding accuracy and potential bias within Nielsen's rating system. In June 2006, however, Nielsen announced a "sweeping" plan to revamp its entire methodology to include all types of media viewing in its sample.
Since viewers are aware of being part of the Nielsen sample, it can lead to response bias in recording and viewing habits. Audience counts gathered by the self-reporting diary methodology are sometimes higher than those gathered by the electronic meters which provide less opportunity for response bias. This trend seems to be more common for news programming and popular prime time programming. Also, daytime viewing and late night viewing tend to be under-reported by the diary.
Another criticism of the measuring system itself is that it fails the most important criteria of a sample: it is not random in the statistical sense of the word. Only a small fraction of the population is selected and only those that actually accept are used as the sample size. Compounding matters is the fact that of the sample data that is collected, advertisers will not pay for time shifted (recorded for replay at a different time) programs [8] rendering the 'raw' numbers useless. In many local areas, the difference between a rating that keeps a show on the air and one that will cancel it is so small as to be statistically insignificant, and yet the show that just happens to get the higher rating will survive.[9] As the possible choices increase so does the margin of error resulting in the sampling sizes being too small.[10]
In 2004, News Corporation retained the services of public relations firm Glover Park to launch a campaign aimed at delaying Nielsen's plan to replace its aging household electronic data collection methodology in larger local markets with its newer electronic People Meter system. The advocates in the public relations campaign charged that data derived from the newer People Meter system represented a bias toward underreporting minority viewing, which could lead to a de-facto discrimination in employment against minority actors and writers. Nielsen countered the campaign by revealing its sample composition counts. According to Nielsen Media Research's sample composition counts, as of November 2004[update], nationwide, African American Households using People Meters represented 6.7% of the Nielsen sample, compared to 6.0% in the general population. Latino Households represent 5.7% of the Nielsen sample, compared to 5.0% in the general population. By October 2006, New Corp. and Nielsen settled, with Nielsen agreeing to spend an additional $50 million to ensure that minority viewing was not being underreported by the new electronic people meter system.[11]
Another criticism of the Nielsen ratings system is its lack of a system for measuring television audiences in environments outside the home, such as college dormitories, transport terminals, bars, and other public places where television is frequently viewed, often by large numbers of people in a common setting. In 2005, Nielsen has announced plans to incorporate viewing by away-from-home college students into its sample. Internet TV viewing is another rapidly growing market for which Nielsen Ratings fail to account for viewer impact. Apple iTunes, atomfilms, YouTube, and some of the networks' own websites (e.g., ABC.com, CBS.com) provide full-length web-based programming, either subscription-based or ad-supported. Though web sites can already track popularity of a site and the referring page, they can't track viewer demographics. To both track this and expand their market research offerings, Nielsen purchased NetRatings in 2007.[12]
Furthermore, a new problem has developed primarily with the February sweeps. For the 2001-2002 season, the National Football League moved Super Bowl XXXVI to February, when it was placed in the sweeps period, because of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, which postponed the NFL schedule a week. Because of that, starting with the 2003-04 season, the NFL moved the Super Bowl into the sweeps period.
Since the move of the Super Bowl into the sweeps period, Sunday nights in the sweeps period in February is almost guaranteed to be a winner for the network holding the big event on each of the four Sundays – the Super Bowl (alternates among NBC, CBS, FOX), Grammy Awards (moved to Sundays since 2003 except during Olympics, CBS), Daytona 500 (finish moved into prime-time in 2007; FOX), or Academy Awards (moved into the sweeps period in 2004, ABC) and every fourth year, the Winter Olympic Games (next telecast 2010, NBC).
[edit] Annual top-rated shows
Nielsen began compiling ratings for television nationally beginning in 1950. Before that year, television ratings were compiled by a number of other sources, including C. E. Hooper and Variety. Hooper was bought out by Nielsen in February 1950.
These are the programs that finished with the highest average Nielsen rating in each television season:[13]
| Year | Program | Network |
|---|---|---|
| 1951 | Texaco Star Theater | NBC |
| 1952 | Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts | CBS |
| 1953 | I Love Lucy | |
| 1954 | ||
| 1955 | ||
| 1956 | The $64,000 Question | |
| 1957 | I Love Lucy | |
| 1958 | Gunsmoke | |
| 1959 | ||
| 1960 | ||
| 1961 | ||
| 1962 | Wagon Train | NBC |
| 1963 | The Beverly Hillbillies | CBS |
| 1964 | ||
| 1965 | Bonanza | NBC |
| 1966 | ||
| 1967 | ||
| 1968 | The Andy Griffith Show | CBS |
| 1969 | Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In | NBC |
| 1970 | ||
| 1971 | Marcus Welby, M.D. | ABC |
| 1972 | All in the Family | CBS |
| 1973 | ||
| 1974 | ||
| 1975 | ||
| 1976 | ||
| 1977 | Happy Days | ABC |
| 1978 | Laverne & Shirley | |
| 1979 | Three's Company | |
| 1980 | 60 Minutes | CBS |
| 1981 | Dallas | |
| 1982 | ||
| 1983 | 60 Minutes | |
| 1984 | Dallas | |
| 1985 | Dynasty | ABC |
| 1986 | The Cosby Show | NBC |
| 1987 | ||
| 1988 | ||
| 1989 | ||
| 1990 | Roseanne[14][15] | ABC |
| 1991 | Cheers | NBC |
| 1992 | 60 Minutes | CBS |
| 1993 | ||
| 1994 | Home Improvement[16] | ABC |
| 1995 | Seinfeld | NBC |
| 1996 | ER | |
| 1997 | ||
| 1998 | Seinfeld | |
| 1999 | ER | |
| 2000 | Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? | ABC |
| 2001 | Survivor: The Australian Outback | CBS |
| 2002 | Friends | NBC |
| 2003 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | CBS |
| 2004 | ||
| 2005 | American Idol | Fox |
| 2006 | ||
| 2007 | ||
| 2008 | ||
| 2009 |
[edit] See also
- Appreciation Index
- Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB)
- Crossley ratings
- C. E. Hooper
- List of most-watched television broadcasts
- List of television stations in North America by media market
- List of US daytime soap opera ratings
[edit] References
- ^ Levin, Gary (2006-10-12). "Playback time for Nielsens". USA Today. p. 1D.
- ^ Baker, Frank (2009-02-12). "What is a RATING". Media Literacy Clearinghouse. http://www.frankwbaker.com/ratingshare.htm. Retrieved on 2009-03-02.
- ^ de Moraes, Lisa (2004-08-13). "Where's the Love? CNBC Scrambles to Woo Viewers for 'McEnroe'". http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61516-2004Aug12.html. Retrieved on 2007-06-08.
- ^ a b Storey, Michael (2009-04-23). "THE TV COLUMN: Not in 18-49 age group? TV execs write you off". Arkansas Democrat Gazette. http://www2.arkansasonline.com/news/2009/apr/23/tv-column-not-18-49-age-group-tv-execs-wr-20090423/. Retrieved on 2008-05-02.
- ^ Santiago, Rosario (2007-10-03). "For Advertising Purposes, 'Grey's Anatomy' May Well be Colored Green". BuddyTV. http://www.buddytv.com/articles/greys-anatomy/for-advertising-purposes-greys-11849.aspx. Retrieved on 2009-05-03.
- ^ Holmeys, Gary (2006-01-16). "Nielsen Announces Schedule And Plan For Commercial-Minute Ratings". http://www.nielsenmedia.com/nc/portal/site/Public/menuitem.55dc65b4a7d5adff3f65936147a062a0/?allRmCB=on&newSearch=yes&vgnextoid=264b66f7e2c20110VgnVCM100000ac0a260aRCRD&searchBox=media. Retrieved on 2007-07-02.
- ^ Lafayette, Jon (2007-10-07). "Commercial Ratings Shuffle the Deck". http://www.tvweek.com/news/2007/10/commercial_ratings_shuffle_the.php. Retrieved on 2008-05-13.
- ^ Levin, Gary (2007-04-25). "Networks' top shows at a rating Loss". USA Today. p. 1D.
- ^ "Can You Believe TV Ratings?". Nova / Horizon (PBS). 1992-02-18.
- ^ Segal, Andrea (2007-04-26). "Nielsen Ratings: An Inaccurate Truth". The Cornell Daily Sun. http://cornellsun.com/node/23180. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
- ^ Learmonth, Michael (2006-10-26). "Rupe ends Nielsen tiff". http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-154755762.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-20.
- ^ "Briefing: Nielsen to purchase all NetRatings shares". International Herald Tribune. 2007-02-05. http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/02/05/business/techbrief.php. Retrieved on 2008-10-10.
- ^ McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television, 4th ed.. New York: Penguin. pp. 1143–1161. ISBN 0-14-024916-8.
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=Nogrhq5WtagC&pg=PA175&dq=roseanne+television&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a
- ^ "'Roseanne' Tops 'Cosby' In the Nielsen Ratings", The New York Times, March 15, 1989, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEFDB1431F936A25750C0A96F948260
- ^ Home Improvement #1 in 1993-94
[edit] Further reading
- Anthony Bianco and Ronald Grover. "How Nielsen Stood Up to Murdoch" BusinessWeek. September 20, 2004.
[edit] External links
- Nielsen Media Research website
- Nielsen Media: FAQs - About the "Sweeps"
- Slate (magazine): How Does Sweeps Week Work? (February 16, 2004)
- Nielsen Global Technology and Information Center website
- Nielsen Media Research: Everyone Counts
- Information on Nielsen's Anytime Anywhere Media Measurement Initiative.
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