2 of 3

Write now Article Tools

The Nielsen television ratings have been used to figure out who is watching certain television programs and can make or break the success of a program. However many people who hear about these ratings don't know how they work. Here is a look at how the Nielsen ratings work for television programs.

The Nielsen ratings are gathered according to television habits that are reported by television viewers and other devices that can be used for monitoring what people are watching. What happens is that the ratings are measured by gathering information in one of two ways. The first and most commonly used method involves viewers who work with groups that gather these ratings writing down what they are watching on television in their Nielsen diaries. This includes information on what the person was watching and who the person was watching the program with. This has been used as a standard because it gives television executives a better idea of not only how many people are watching programs but also the demographics of who is watching these programs.

The second and more modern approach to gathering these ratings comes from the use of set meters that are attached to certain television sets. These work to automatically monitor what people are watching on certain sets.

After this information is gathered it will be easy to tally the number of people who are watching programs. First there is the number of households that are watching a program. It is estimated that there are 114.5 million households in the United States that have television sets. When 1.145 million households are watching a program that program will receive one ratings share point. This is used to determine what percentage of the country is watching a program. For example, if twelve million people are watching a program that show's ratings share will be a 10.5.

Second there is the total viewers number. This refers to the exact number of people who saw a program. This is important because in many cases more than one or two people in a household could have seen a program. This number is generally gathered according to diary numbers that state how many people saw a show at one point or how many people watch television on a set that is linked with a set meter.

The use of demographics has been important in terms of how these ratings work too. Diaries or set meters will be set with details on the demographics of people who use these devices for recording what they watch.

The last part of how these ratings work deal with sweeps. During sweeps periods, which occur mainly in February and November, set meters are used along with people meters that record additional details on who is watching a program. The use of Nielsen reporting devices increases during this time. As a result many television networks will bring out their most popular programs during this time period.

Learn more about this author, Michael Fox.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about How Nielsen TV ratings work?
We want to hear your view. Write now!