Nielsen backlog finally starts to clear -- but ratings are still delayed
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After four days in the dark, TV executives trying to set their lineups for next season and fans wondering how their favorite shows are doing finally got a few answers when Nielsen released last week's ratings.
Of course, we still don't know what happened Monday or Tuesday, and it's anyone's guess whether the apparently large "server issues" Nielsen experienced over the weekend have been resolved enough to get the system back on track to release Wednesday night's numbers, which include the finale of "Scrubs," the penultimate "Lie to Me" of the season and ABC's on-the-bubble crime show "The Unusuals."
Then, of course, there's the season finale of "Better Off Ted" and CBS' "Without a Trace" -- both of which aren't sure things for next season -- and this week's "American Idol" and "Dancing with the Stars," the big guns for FOX and ABC.
Nielsen says it's "working around the clock" to fix things and get back on schedule, but the networks who use the numbers to help set ad rates and schedules are, not surprisingly, pretty upset.
The system failure "couldn't have come at a worse time," NBC research boss Alan Wurtzel told The New York Times. "This comes at a particularly tough time of year because all of us are making evaluations about bubble shows and time periods and so forth."
Another executive fumed to Variety that "It makes you really wonder, though, about the validity of anything they put out."
Part of the ongoing issue is that Nielsen processes its data "in sequence" -- meaning it can't release one day's ratings until the previous day's numbers are out. Now that Sunday's ratings are finished, numbers for the other days this week may start trickling out fairly soon. Or so the networks and people who work for on-the-bubble shows hope.
Rating lie which is why good show live and die on whether or not a few people watch a show. By now with all the technology out there networks should be better able to know what we watch without the need of a small select same size.
Brendan is right. The whole Nielsen ratings system has been outdated and outmoded since the VCR made time-shifting a reality a quarter century ago. Now with so many options, both legal and illegal, for viewing TV programs, a new system is needed. How much "art" has been lost forever over the years because of a tick of a percentage point? Take Star Trek, since it's the big deal right now. It's been proven that had Nielsen looked at certain criteria, the show would never have been cancelled back in 1969 -- and that was more than a decade before "alternatives" to live viewing became available.
I think the networks should start offering the shows via their websites with ads so that those people who download them illegally can be counted for as well to get a true picture?
In this day and age, they should be able to get accurate accounts of what shows are actually being watched instead of relying on a third party that only has a sampling of viewers.
Everyone benefits from having this vastly inaccurate ratings. The networks sell inflated ad rates to the advertisers for viewers that may not exist, the advertisers tell their clients they are getting more viewers for their money, and shows without good ratings claim the numbers aren't even accurate so what does it matter...and everyone is the perfect amount of (dis)satisfied.
Oh dear God. It sounds like they use a similar system to scoring bowling. What the hell does Sunday's ratings have to do with Monday's? Bowling. I hate Nielsen.
Why doesnt neilson put a chip in the new DVRs and TIVOs that come out so that no one has to swipe anything they can just get the info on what the viewer is actually watching..i bet a lot more shows would be saved and more that should be cancelled would be
To beat an already well-beaten dead horse: When are the nets going to tell Nielsen where they can shove their ridiculously inaccurate system?! Surely there is something better. I'm about ready to take reading tea leaves over the current and ridiculously antiquated system of measuring (i.e. guessing) viewership.
hahaha, the BG and Modwild. i agree, i absolutely don't trust the nielsen ratings.
Where shall we start? A chip in your set-top-box? I would like to introduce you to a little friend called 'Privacy'. Beyond that, how would a privacy-invading chip in PVRs across the country be better as a representative sample? I suppose it would be a great sample for households with PVRs, but what about the other 70% of viewers?
On to 'guessing' - using a representative/random sample is not guessing. It's interpreting and interpolating - if you think this is guessing, scientists all over the world should stop right now.
I won't even bother with the bowling bit.. really? I mean I like drinking too, but let's be serious.
Now some small bits - shows being offered online. You might note that many (many) shows are now offered online, either through third party services (Hulu, etc.) or right on the cable/network website. While the sites, and the number of views on the web, are being counted (comScore, etc) those viewers are not being included in the TV numbers because (brace yourself) the show isn't being viewed on a TV for that instance! Trust me when I say that the networks/cable companies KNOW when someone has watched on their site, via Hulu, or via download from iTunes. Sales reports, internet traffic reports and the like are all available. Since the advertising through these fronts is handled differently than the advertising for the TV front, I'm sure that you can understand why these numbers aren't being integrated. Fret not though, because there are plenty of people talking about this all about the country, and thinking about how to best go forward with the trend of online viewing.
On to Star Trek, circa 1969. Or rather, Jericho circa 2007. After one season, the show was canceled due to low ratings. The fans went nuts, pun intended, and due to their response it was brought back for a second season. Granted it was canceled *again* due to low ratings, despite pleas from the cast & crew for viewers to watch live & on TV instead of time-shifted or online. Needless to say, their pleas were largely ignored.
Right, well I'm sure I could fine further preposterous bits within the comments above, but I think this should suffice. Don't go off on an area of technology, an entire industry and a methodology that you know absolutely nothing about. The system in place isn't perfect, but it has been working - a 4 day hardware glitch is no reason to let your ignorance shine (as if you needed a reason).