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Fri 26 Feb, 2016 03:45 pm
I have often wondered how the TV stations can actually know for a certainty just how many people are watching a TV show at any given time. I believe it is called "TV ratings" and I really and truly would love to know HOW they can come up with an accurate number of viewers to a particular show at any given time. I knew a lady once who had a special box installed in her home attached to her TV set and it was supposed to record her 'viewing', but unless everyone with a TV set had something similar attached to their own TV how the ruddy hell can TV stations declare that they know with accuracy exactly how many viewers watched their show???
@drillersmum,
It's not that accurate, but it's the best they've got. They're called the Nielsen ratings.
Nielsen television ratings are gathered in one of two ways:
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.
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 television set.
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