Nielsen doesn't measure ratings of the WHOLE population, it measures the ratings of specific groups of people. A true sampling is random. Nielsen isn't random in the least.
Their clients tell them WHO to poll and Nielsen goes out and polls THOSE clients. Marketers do their research to see who is likely to buy things. Older people and those in rural areas are less likely to buy things. For either they are too poor or already have them
This is why you constantly have had skewed programs throughout TV.
TV is not the local operations it was. Businesses now operate on the model you can't make money but you have to make the MOST. If a show seldom seen say "My Three Sons," makes $1,000/profit and "Roseanne," makes $1,001 profit the TV station has to go with Roseanne simply because they are responsible to their stockholders. Futhermore many stations are now owned by capital investment firms which are very bottom line to the penny.
When I worked for a hotel that was owned by a capital venture, you could see the owners look at you when you were drinking a coke. (We got free coffee, coke and meals). He'd look at you like "Well there's 5¢ that could've went into my pocket. A salaried General Manager probably wouldn't do that.
Watching TV when you aren't buying nothing is a waste to the TV station, in the old days there were rules about commercials and localism whereas owners saw TV stations as a way to gain clout in their community.
You can see this going back to "I Love Lucy," whereas Phillip Morris yelled at Desi Arnaz because Lucy wasn't selling his cigarettes, whereas Desi yelled back "It's your product, we're giving you the numbers." This is the classic example of
numbers not meaning anything.
Their clients tell them WHO to poll and Nielsen goes out and polls THOSE clients. Marketers do their research to see who is likely to buy things. Older people and those in rural areas are less likely to buy things. For either they are too poor or already have them
This is why you constantly have had skewed programs throughout TV.
TV is not the local operations it was. Businesses now operate on the model you can't make money but you have to make the MOST. If a show seldom seen say "My Three Sons," makes $1,000/profit and "Roseanne," makes $1,001 profit the TV station has to go with Roseanne simply because they are responsible to their stockholders. Futhermore many stations are now owned by capital investment firms which are very bottom line to the penny.
When I worked for a hotel that was owned by a capital venture, you could see the owners look at you when you were drinking a coke. (We got free coffee, coke and meals). He'd look at you like "Well there's 5¢ that could've went into my pocket. A salaried General Manager probably wouldn't do that.
Watching TV when you aren't buying nothing is a waste to the TV station, in the old days there were rules about commercials and localism whereas owners saw TV stations as a way to gain clout in their community.
You can see this going back to "I Love Lucy," whereas Phillip Morris yelled at Desi Arnaz because Lucy wasn't selling his cigarettes, whereas Desi yelled back "It's your product, we're giving you the numbers." This is the classic example of
numbers not meaning anything.
