The All New Dummy's Guide To Understanding The US Rating's Analysis
US Ratings Data are recieved from an independent company known as 'Nielson Media and Data Research'
Nielson Media Ratings, The Futon Critic
Status: Updated 11 December 2006
How It Works:
Hundreds of channels, thousands of programs, millions of viewers. Thier job is to decipher and deliever the data everyday. How does a program become ranked #1 in the Neilson TV Programs or what does that even mean? Thier ratings aren't a qualitive evaluation of how much a program is liked. Instead thier the simplest, most democratic measurement: how many people watched.
Quick Guide To Understanding My Ratings System:
Here's how to read and understand when I post the ratings. It's actually quite simple once you know what you're reading!
Tonight's Biggest Winner:
Show Name (Network)
The Biggest Winner is not only about the show which attracted the highest audience or the show everyone loves. It's the show that is truely a winner for the night. Be it whether the show increased from it's week ago performance, whether it hit 'Season High' numbers or whether the show managed to increase from it's lead-in. Demos and viewership does come into account, though it does not dictate which show achieves this title.
Tonight's Biggest Loser:
Show Name (Network)
The Biggest Loser title doesn't necessary go to the lowest rated show. In order to be chosen the show much have hit low numbers, been declining in ratings, not be able to retain it's lead-in numbers or decline in ratings each week. Often encores are not considered.
Tonight's Ratings By Network:
NETWORK (Viewers: 12.34 Million; Demo: 1.2/3)
*The numbers in brackets are the overal numbers for the entire Primetime for the respective network)
8:00PM Show Tiitle- Viewers: #2, 12.34 Million Viewers; A18-49: #1 7.8/9
*The time of the show (in Eastern Time) along with the Show Name is in bold.(If the broadcast exceeds one hour, it is often indicated in brackets with the time duration). Other information in presented after the show name can be:
(encore)- re-run
(premiere)- first time run
(season premeire)- show's season premeire
(season finale/finale)- show's final episode
(special)- special episode or clip show
(new night/new time)- the show in a new timeslot or night
First up is the show's ranking (#2) this ranking is in it's hourly timeslot. Following that is the actual number of viewers that watched that particular broadcast. Next up is the demographics. A18-49 means Adult Demographic (Age 18-49) this is done because this is the most important demo (Adverstisers look at this demographic). The demographic ranking (#1) is next for it's hourly timeslot, followed by the demographic itself.
Here's an example:
ABC (Viewers: 21.3 Million; Demo: 8.2/6)
8:00PM Lost (special)- Viewers: #2, 18.3 Million; A18-49: #1, 7.4/8
Analysis: ABC for the night had 21.3 Million Viewers (8:00PM ET - 11:00PM ET) and had 8.2/6 demo for the night.
At 8pm "Lost" which was a special episode (clip show) pulled in 18.3 million viewers and came second in terms of viewers in it's timeslot. In it's Adult Demographic, the show came first in it's timeslot with a 7.4/8 demographic.
Key Words To Know:
F.N- Fast National Ratings
O.R- Overnight Ratings
L+- Live Plus
HH- Household
H.H- Half Hourly
t- Tie
Changes in Rating's Analysis:
Rating's will now be compiled weekly (Mon - Fri) and Weekend (Sat - Sun).
The Rating's Analysis part have been omitted and the format for posting the rating's have been slightly tweaked. New info are the respective network viewership and demo averages for the night.
From Nielson Media:
We collect viewing information for both national and local programs — not only what's being viewed (tuning data), but also the composition of the audience (demographic data).
Daily household minute-by-minute viewing and tuning data, from both the national and local metered samples, is stored in the in-home metering system until it is automatically retrieved by our computers each night. Once the data is relayed via phone lines to our operations center in Oldsmar, Florida, it is processed that same night for release to the television industry the next day.
Television networks, stations, and third-party data providers give us information on program lineups, telling us what aired on each channel. This essential reference data helps us turn the raw tuning and viewing data into meaningful numbers for reporting.
To comprehend the dimension of our task, let's look at the numbers. We collect information from approximately 25,000 metered households starting at about 3 a.m. each day, process approximately 10 million viewing minutes a day, and make more than 4,000 gigabytes of data available for customer access the next day. In addition, we collect and process data from 1.6 million handwritten paper diaries from households across the country during sweep periods.
When the meter data is transmitted from the home to Nielsen, it is in raw code form. We then run a series of tests to ensure the integrity of this data.
If a problem is discovered, the system will flag the data from that household, analyze the problem, and determine the best course of action for correcting it. The solution may be as simple as calling the household to gather some information. In other instances, we may schedule a Nielsen field representative to visit the household and either repair or replace metering equipment, or re-coach the family members on usage of our equipment.
Once the data has been validated, our systems combine the transmitted and internal reference data to convert it to ratings information.
Understanding the Numbers and Data:
So what does all this crap mean? Here's a quick guide to understanding these numbers:
"My Name Is Earl" (households: 4.4/8, #9; adults 18-49: 2.7, #T4)
4.4 = "Earl's" household rating, which indicates 4.4% of all households in the U.S. watched this broadcast
8 = "Earl's" household share, which indicates 8% of all households watching TV in the U.S. watched this broadcast
#9 = "Earl's" household ranking for that night (T denotes a tie)
2.7 = "Earl's" adults 18-49 rating, which indicates 2.7% of all adults 18-49 in the U.S. watched this broadcast
#T4 = "Earl's" adults 18-49 ranking for that night (T denotes a tie)
Some other stuff to keep in mind:
· Ratings are percentages NOT flat numbers. A 1.0 household rating equals 1% of all households in the U.S. A 1.0 adults 18-49 ratings equals 1% of all adults 18-49 in the U.S.
· There are 111,348,110 television households in the U.S. so 1% of that equals 1,113,481 households. Note that a household may contain more than one person.
· There are an estimated 130.6 million adults between the ages of 18 and 49 in the U.S. so 1% of that equals 1.31 million people.
Nielson Rating's FAQ:
Still Don't Understand? Read through the F.A.Q's provided by Nielson Media and Futon Critic.
1. In your daily ratings breakdown, I always see the following information: "My Name Is Earl" (households: 4.4/8, #9; adults 18-49: 2.7, #T4). What does it mean?
Let's break it down piece by piece. In the example given for "My Name Is Earl," here's what each number signifies:
household rating = 4.4
household share = 8
household rank (for the night) = #9
adults 18-49 rating = 2.7
adults 18-49 rank (for the night) = tied for #4
2. So what does a 4.4 household rating mean?
A 4.4 household rating means that 4.4% of all households (that is to say homes with a TV set) watched this episode of "My Name Is Earl."
For the 2006-07 season, Nielsen Media Research has determined there are an estimated 111,348,110 television households in the U.S. This means that a single national household ratings point represents 1%, or 1,113,481 households.
With the above in mind, a 4.4 household rating equals 4.4% of 111,348,110 million television households or 4,899,317 households.
3. So that's great and all. How do I find out exactly how many people (not just households) watched the show?
Unfortunately, we do not have access to the total viewers numbers on a daily basis.
Also keep in mind, the number of actual total viewers CANNOT be determined from the household rating or household share. Obviously since there is at least one person in a household, the total viewers will be "at least" 4,899,317 people in the above case.
3. So what does an 8 household share mean?
An 8 household share means that 8% of all households that happened to be watching TV watched this episode of "My Name Is Earl."
So in keeping with the above example, the 4,899,317 households that watched "My Name Is Earl" accounted for 8% of the television audience that was watching television at the time the show was on.
Also note that the share will always be larger than the rating. This is because the number of households watching television at any give time will always be less than those who own a television period.
4. So what does a 2.7 adults 18-49 rating mean?
A 2.7 adults 18-49 rating means that 2.7% of all adults 18-49 watched this episode of "My Name Is Earl."
For the 2006-07 season, Nielsen Media Research has determined there are an estimated 130.6 million adults between the ages of 18 and 49 in the U.S. This means that a single national adults 18-49 ratings point represents 1%, or 1.31 million people.
With the above in mind, a 2.7 adults 18-49 rating equals 2.7% of 130.6 million adults between the ages of 18 and 49 or 3,526,200 people.
5. Okay, I've got all that. But how come the information I see here is different from the information I see elsewhere (i.e. Mediaweek, ABCMedia.com, etc.)?
This is where a lot of confusion about ratings comes from. To better understand the answer, we must quickly go through what Nielsen Media Research does.
Nielsen collects data from two different samples: a "National Measurement" and a "Local Measurement." Households in each sample are given a device that tracks their viewing habits.
The 5,100 participating households in the "National Measurement" are outfitted with what's called a "Nielsen People Meter." This device measures two things - what program or channel is being watched and who in the household is watching. It accomplishes this by instructing each member in the household to press a button indicating that they have begun watching television on that particular set. This process allows Nielsen to electronically gather demographic information.
Every night this data is transmitted to Nielsen Media Research's Operations Center in Dunedin, Florida. Around 8:00 a.m. EST the next day Nielsen releases the preliminary "fast national" ratings from this data. This is the information you see reported every morning on The Futon Critic and Zap2It.
That afternoon, around 3:00 p.m. EST, Nielsen releases the "final national" ratings. These are the revised numbers which take into account various scheduling changes from across the country, most notably those due to live events (such as "Sunday Night Football" on NBC). Unfortunately, we do not have access to the "final national" ratings on a daily basis.
Nevertheless, the "final national" ratings are what you see reported in places like The New York Times, L.A. Times and USA Today as well as the various "weekly roundup" press releases we post to the site.
6. So far so good. Now what about that "Local Measurement" sample you mentioned?
The "Local Measurement" sample is used to track, as you might guess, information in a specific market, as opposed to the entire country in the "National Measurement."
Approximately 22,400-28,000 total households participate in the "Local Measurement" sample or about 400-500 households in each of 56 of the largest markets in the U.S. These are what are commonly referred to as the "metered markets" (click here for the complete list).
In total, the 56 metered markets account for 69.66% of all households in the U.S. This means that 30.34% of U.S. households are not included in the "Local Measurement" sample.
Homes recruited for the "Local Measurement" sample are NOT equipped with People Meters. Instead they're given more generic electronic meters, which can only measure what is being watched in the household NOT who in the household is watching what (i.e. demographic information). Because of this, only household ratings and shares can be reported.
In any case, every night this data is also transmitted to Nielsen and the following morning the "metered market" ratings are released. These numbers obviously will be different (but not obnoxiously different) from the "fast national" ratings also released by Nielsen. Generally speaking, since "metered market" ratings come from the largest urban areas, the numbers will skew in favor of more "urban" shows.
These are the household ratings and shares you see reported every morning at Mediaweek. But, as we mentioned previously, since demographic information (total viewers, adults 18-49, etc.) isn't obtained in the "Local Measurement" sample - Mediaweek also reports the "fast national" information for total viewers and adults 18-49 (even though they're from a different sample than the "metered market" ratings).
This hopefully clears up the differences between the numbers reported by The Futon Critic, ABCMedia and Mediaweek.
7. One other thing - while I understand that The Futon Critic and ABC Media both report "fast national" ratings, how come sometimes the numbers are different by 1 or 2 digits?
The short answer is human error. Nielsen reports the "fast nationals" in half-hour form, meaning we have to average them to get the numbers for programs longer than a half-hour. Sometimes this leads to small variances.
8. So what about those paper diaries I hear about? Don't they count to?
Yes, but they're aren't a factor in the numbers that are electronically reported each day. Basically, paper diaries exist as a supplement to the "Local Measurement" sample.
Paper diaries are filled out during the months of November, February, May and July - periods generally referred to as "sweeps months." These diaries are used to record viewer habits, allowing each market to get some sort of demographic information.
As any regular TV viewer knows, the "sweep periods" are used by the networks to drum up ratings for their affiliate stations and often feature various stunts and special programming.
9. What about TiVos (or other DVR services)? Does Nielsen track those viewers?
Note: TiVo's and DVR is like PVR
As of January 1, Nielsen has added DVR viewership to its audience sample. In the case of "fast national" ratings, the data includes all DVR playback through 3:00 a.m. eastern time that day.
Overall, keep in mind that there are more than 110 million households in the U.S., only 7.09% of which own DVRs of some kind (about 7.8 million according to the latest estimates). The viewership of those households reflect the habits of those willing to buy a TiVo (or other DVR) and subscribe to its service, not a random sample of everyone in the U.S.
Note: When reading my US Rating's Colums I only use Fast National Ratings and demographics and viewerships. While some US News Services use Household demos, this has been omitted in the Rating's Analysis however still included in the FAQ. The numbers used are Fast National Live Plus meaning that numbers are differernt to Overnight Numbers which often slightly changes the viewership numbers, often shows go up as things such as TiVo's and DVR are taken into accounts as well as comparitve data through all timezones.
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