Why Nielsen Ratings Suck

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Even though the average person doesn't really care about Nielsen ratings, I am sure they would be surprised to know that the ad ratings are more important than the actual show itself. Read this quote from the article:

To be sure, networks are interested in knowing how many people watch their programming, and freely tout or play down Nielsen's wider audience measurements. But the numbers that networks and advertisers actually use — to sell ads, to set prices, and to decide on the fate of a show — are commercial ratings. In other words, advertisers don't care how many people are watching a show nearly as much as they care how many people are watching their ads. If every Nielsen Family watched a show the day after it aired but skipped through all its ads, that show would probably be canceled.
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This isn't news. Everyone knows that this is how it works and that is the reason why Nielsen ratings need to be abolished.
 
Someone trying to blame Nielsen for doing their job? This is ridiculous. Nielsen provides a broad range of statistics, its the networks that decide which of those statistics means the most to them. It isn't like Nielsen is saying that the ads are worth more than the total viewers watching a show, they don't care. It is the networks that say that statistic matters more to them. Nielsen publically discloses much of their information and statistics which include a staggering amount of information and graphs covering a very broad range of values.

The other points the author tries to bring up are just as equally ridiculous when used to direct some kind of blame on Nielsen. Statistics on Hulu and other streaming sites aren't used because they aren't from TV. The TV ratings are TV ratings because they are from....TV. It is ridiculous to even mention any of the other streaming sites unless you want a completely different comparison. And interestingly enough, there are infact statistics for those as well. At least the author pointedly admits that no ratings companies have figured out how to come up with a complete set.

In regards to singling out Nielsen and saying their data is inaccurate is a complete joke. I have participated in a number of their surveys and programs and have seen much of their data. They gather data and submit it in a series of charts and graphs according to what they are asked to research. They generally provide more information than asked for and their data is as accurate as any other data out there. The reason why they have a monopoly is exactly because of how much data they gather and how accurate that data is.

On the other note, the blame for shows getting canceled because networks care more about ads than viewership, was a face palm moment for me. What the hell else does a broadcast company care about than the money coming in that goes to support the shows. If a show cannot bring in enough money from ad revenue, then they can't continue to support the show, which is why it gets cancelled.

I really wonder if people honestly understand how the market works and how things get done. It seems like everyone expects there to be some utopia where nothing is based on actual business sense and people should not be concerned about what brings in the money, only on delivering the best product, even if that product costs them more than they make. It is a ridiculous philosophy to hold on to.
 
NoOther said:
I really wonder if people honestly understand how the market works and how things get done. It seems like everyone expects there to be some utopia where nothing is based on actual business sense and people should not be concerned about what brings in the money, only on delivering the best product, even if that product costs them more than they make. It is a ridiculous philosophy to hold on to.
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"The market" is both the greatest and worst thing to happen to mankind. There has to be something better than "the market", but in order for it to work people would have to be a little less selfish. Unfortunately, the chances of that happening are slim, so the wheel keeps turning... :(
 
So for a TV show to remain on the air, the viewers have to be dumb enough to sit through the commercials (no Tivo, ect.)
Guess that goes a long way in explaining the state of current TV shows, and why there's rarely anything worth watching.
 
Ahhh, TV. I have one. A 50" plasma. It's never on for viewing TV. Heck the kids (4 and 11) don't even turn it on anymore. Only time it's on is movie time either from Netflix or something I downloaded once a week.
TV shows suck now. Local news....yeah right, most of it is not news or just the same crap over and over again.
 
nutzo said:
So for a TV show to remain on the air, the viewers have to be dumb enough to sit through the commercials (no Tivo, ect.)
Guess that goes a long way in explaining the state of current TV shows, and why there's rarely anything worth watching.
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So sad, but so true at the same time.
 
In similar news: People blocking internet ads could also shut down a good website.
 
All I know is that TV is being overrun with 'reality' shows because they're cheaper to make and that more than 1 minute out of every 3 is spend on commercials. Who the hell thinks TV has a future if that's what they're asking us to watch?

I either buy the TV shows I would want to watch when they are released on DVD, or record them and FF over the commercials. If there is a show I want to watch now, I start my DVR, let it record the first 25 minutes of the show and then start watching. I can fast forward over the commercials and end up finishing the show right when it would have ended anyway.
 
Game Master 128 said:
This isn't news. Everyone knows that this is how it works and that is the reason why Nielsen ratings need to be abolished.
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Yep. And I make ZERO apologies for my TV viewing habits.

They forced us into this shit.
 
They must love sports. I flip around if I can, but if I'm sleepy or extra interested, I'll sit through the myriad phone, car, beer, and medical ads.
 
Advertisers must also LOVE DVRs.

Yeah, I know what you're thinking: people with DVRs always skip commercials, right?

Nope. You have three categories of watched commercials:

1. commercials so catchy that people stop to watch them.
2. users who don't know how to use the skip feature (surprisingly large).
3. users who are feeling too lazy to skip.

And the advertisers love it because they get REAL viewership numbers instantly for EVERY SINGLE commercial (assumption is that, if you didn't skip it, you watched it). This is much better feedback then they've ever had before.
 
ir0nw0lf said:
In other news: Sites need to stop relying on ads as a holy grail/savior of their site.
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...and do what, instead?

Rely on rainbows, and unicorn dreams to pay their staff so they can eat?

Or switch to entirely subscription-basis, so that nobody can actually see anything without forking over a credit card?
 
Who actually watches commercials (other than the Superbowl ads)? If I'm actually watching live TV (rare but it happens), the commercials are usually so loud I hit the mute button until whatever show I'm watching comes back on. Most commercials I have actually seen and listened to make me wonder what moron hired the morons that made the commercial and what moron approved it for broadcast. They usually actually make me less likely to buy whatever product or service they advertize.
 
I always like the creative commericials, I almost never cared about what they were advertising. Yeah, it got my attention, but I never went out and purchased anything as a result. Okay, maybe Oxy Clean.

I don't know about you guys but I would be slightly pissed if the little bit of quality programming were to be pulled from the air, but in the end I would just say f' it and move on, finding something else to do in my spare time. It wouldn't be a huge loss.

The sad thing is that it would probably be the equivalant of dooms day for the folks who's lifes revolve around who's the biggest loser, or which star dances the best, or shows about dumb ass humans lusting after vampires (True Blood isn't totally terrible but you get the point). F'em.

And Oeleo,
"The market" is both the greatest and worst thing to happen to mankind. There has to be something better than "the market", but in order for it to work people would have to be a little less selfish.
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I totally agree, and I argue this point with friends from time to time. But how do you fix a problem like that, and can it be fixed without resorting a "reset"?
 
NoOther said:
Someone trying to blame Nielsen for doing their job? This is ridiculous. Nielsen provides a broad range of statistics, its the networks that decide which of those statistics means the most to them. It isn't like Nielsen is saying that the ads are worth more than the total viewers watching a show, they don't care. It is the networks that say that statistic matters more to them. Nielsen publically discloses much of their information and statistics which include a staggering amount of information and graphs covering a very broad range of values.

The other points the author tries to bring up are just as equally ridiculous when used to direct some kind of blame on Nielsen. Statistics on Hulu and other streaming sites aren't used because they aren't from TV. The TV ratings are TV ratings because they are from....TV. It is ridiculous to even mention any of the other streaming sites unless you want a completely different comparison. And interestingly enough, there are infact statistics for those as well. At least the author pointedly admits that no ratings companies have figured out how to come up with a complete set.

In regards to singling out Nielsen and saying their data is inaccurate is a complete joke. I have participated in a number of their surveys and programs and have seen much of their data. They gather data and submit it in a series of charts and graphs according to what they are asked to research. They generally provide more information than asked for and their data is as accurate as any other data out there. The reason why they have a monopoly is exactly because of how much data they gather and how accurate that data is.

On the other note, the blame for shows getting canceled because networks care more about ads than viewership, was a face palm moment for me. What the hell else does a broadcast company care about than the money coming in that goes to support the shows. If a show cannot bring in enough money from ad revenue, then they can't continue to support the show, which is why it gets cancelled.

I really wonder if people honestly understand how the market works and how things get done. It seems like everyone expects there to be some utopia where nothing is based on actual business sense and people should not be concerned about what brings in the money, only on delivering the best product, even if that product costs them more than they make. It is a ridiculous philosophy to hold on to.
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Amen brother. Don't get me wrong, I think the networks should rethink their business model because it's beginning to heavily compete with streaming content and many people skip over commercials through use of their DVR. But yeah, most people seem to think we live on Big Rock Candy Mountain where money grows on trees, pot lines every sidewalk and where Birkenstocks are the only authorized foot wear.
 
There's just no reliable way to track what people watch these days,there's so many choices available.You'd have to sample a huge number of viewers,and with DVR's even time slots are irrelevant.
 
NoOther said:
I really wonder if people honestly understand how the market works and how things get done. It seems like everyone expects there to be some utopia where nothing is based on actual business sense and people should not be concerned about what brings in the money, only on delivering the best product, even if that product costs them more than they make. It is a ridiculous philosophy to hold on to.
Click to expand...

Most people seem to understand that. What they (mostly intentionally) don't see is that as far as TV is concerned, the audience is the product sold to advertisers. If the program creates a good product (people watch and believe the ads), it gets good ratings and continues. If it keeps peoples brains alive and they fast forward through ads, it gets dumped.
 
You know, people wouldn't want to skip the damn ads so much if it was like the 1960s, where the entire commercial break was 60-90 seconds long, and in an hour there were perhaps 3 of them. Now there are so many commercials, and they are so fucking long, I practically forget what I was watching between them.

I don't feel like somebody is trying to sell me anything anymore, I feel like corporations are trying to brainwash me.
 
leslie_nielsen.jpg
 
Oeleo said:
"The market" is both the greatest and worst thing to happen to mankind. There has to be something better than "the market", but in order for it to work people would have to be a little less selfish. Unfortunately, the chances of that happening are slim, so the wheel keeps turning... :(
Click to expand...

Sorry I happen to like the market Ill choose how selfish I want to be with what I have or as generous as I want... thats why I like the market free to choose(mostly /sad) . Read some Milton Friedman sometime youll learn we havnt really had a free open one in a while. I also think without "The Market" man wouldnt live the way he does now, well that and when man decided he could rule himself thats where all the progress has been made over the last 200+ years in human history. Before that we where a bunch of surfs/slaves.
 
michael.pa2 said:
There's just no reliable way to track what people watch these days,there's so many choices available.You'd have to sample a huge number of viewers,and with DVR's even time slots are irrelevant.
Click to expand...

Yeah there is, the fucking internet! Hits per page, simple as that.... or even unique hits (traced hits so it doesn't recount the same people)

The cable companies have to be stupid not to have seen the internet video revolution coming through... its just obvious. I have been off of it too for 3+ years because shit is almost always online now. The major selling point is they have FULL 1080p HD on cable/sat and its hard to find online in High quality. Other than that, why pay them $30+ for something you can wait a day and pay $8 for each month?
 
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