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Posts tagged as nielsen

Ratings

Nielsen Will Expand from Inaccurate TV Ratings to Inaccurate Streaming Ratings

by | February 21st, 2013

The Nielsen Company has been the only arbiter of TV ratings for decades now (and an absurdly inaccurate one at that), and now the company is expanding to account for streaming (Netflix, Amazon) ratings too, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Beginning this fall, Nielsen will begin measuring data from Netflix, Amazon, and TV-enabled video game systems (XBox, PlayStation). They hope to start measuring iPad viewership sometime this year, as well. Despite Nielsen making this move, they'll only be able to measure how much time is being spent on Netflix, for example, and won't be able to collect data/release ratings on shows unless Netflix gives them permission. [...]

Ratings

Twitter and Nielsen Are Teaming Up for Twitter TV Ratings

by | December 17th, 2012

The Nielsen Company, which has been inaccurately measuring TV ratings and deciding which shows stay on the air and which don't since 1950, just announced today that they're partnering with Twitter to collect "Twitter TV ratings." Starting with the Fall 2013 TV season, Nielsen will begin gathering data on which shows are being discussed on Twitter to serve as a complement and companion to Nielsen's longstanding, sloppy, and erroneous TV ratings system. This could bring hope for comedies like Community, Happy Endings, and Parks and Recreation, which don't do well in the Nielsens but have large online fanbases – that is if these shows aren't canceled for low [...]

Ratings

Why Nielsen Ratings Are Inaccurate, and Why They'll Stay That Way

by | January 31st, 2011

It's easy to understand why people are ambivalent, or even hostile, toward ratings. The thinking goes something like this:

1. People love the shows that they love, a lot 2. Some of these shows get canceled "too soon" 3. They get canceled, almost invariably, because of what some mean old bully named Nelson said. Nielsen. I mean Nielsen.

To intensify your heartburn, the validity of these ratings is seemingly taken for granted. When you find out that your favorite show is getting canceled for having a 1.1 rating, there's never any "but" — just the number. A network might keep a show around for prestige, or on [...]

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