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TV ratings - how are they measured?

TV ratings - how are they measured?

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can they magically measure the antennas tuning into tv stations?
i remember hearing they can - but it seems hard to believe.

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Originally posted by flexmore
can they magically measure the antennas tuning into tv stations?
i remember hearing they can - but it seems hard to believe.
I doubt that, but most of us in the U.S. that are hooked up to cable; now that's another story. I for one, have digital cable, and I swear that every time I change the channel the darn box records my preference before it completes the channel switch! 🙁

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Originally posted by flexmore
can they magically measure the antennas tuning into tv stations?
i remember hearing they can - but it seems hard to believe.
They're watching you right now.... 😕

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Originally posted by flexmore
can they magically measure the antennas tuning into tv stations?
i remember hearing they can - but it seems hard to believe.
They get a sample of people, representational of the population as a whole, ask them what they watch and multiply it up.

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Originally posted by jimmyb270
They get a sample of people, representational of the population as a whole, ask them what they watch and multiply it up.
In the UK, it's just 1000 people from different sectors of the populace.
From that they extrapolate (that's guess in English) how many people are actually watching each channel.

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There's a company called Neilson Media Research, which uses a sample of a couple of thousand families around the U.S. These families either record their viewing in 'diaries' or they have a box connected to the TV which measures viewing habits.

No one I know has ever met a "Neilson" family. But they do supposedly exist.

Networks use ratings during certain months of the year (during May, November and some other month, maybe January) to set their advertising rates. The networks used to put great shows on during "sweeps" months, (e.g. ABC broadcast six hours of the "Beatles Anthology" during sweeps month a few years ago) now the networks just seems to put on the same old stuff.

Sometimes when watching reruns, a really, really famous movie star appears in an ordinary sitcom or drama. When you see this, it's a good bet that the show originally aired during one of the "sweeps" months.

I agree with arrakis about digital cable... We have digital cable as well, and there's no way Comcast isn't tracking what we watch...even though we're not a Neilson family...

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