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