Viewing figures?

newballsplease

When media folk say a TV show had a viewing audience of (eg) 2.1 million, how do they know??

Born to Die

Someone is staring in your window.

Mr. Incognito

They make it all up

There's no such thing

It's like a female with good looks that cooks and cleans

-Marshall Mathers aka Eminem

Amirani

Like all statistics, they take a representative sample of the population and use the results of those people to estimate a nationwide result.

seantorious

For each facebook post like "Jeasus, did you see the tits on that one on Nationwide last night" they assume about 200,000 people watched it

Eric Cartman

the nielsen company does it in the US . Its all based on sample test surveys and averages

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nielsen_Company

Casillas

seantorious wrote: »

For each facebook post like "Jeasus, did you see the tits on that one on Nationwide last night" they assume about 200,000 people watched it

Close enough to the truth actually

cml387

I've heard all about these tv rating things but they must be wrong.
Otherwise how can you explan the popularity of the Rose Of Tralee,Saturday Night with that Corkman,etc

Aidric

seantorious wrote: »

For each facebook post like "Jeasus, did you see the tits on that one on Nationwide last night" they assume about 200,000 people watched it

Mary Kennedy? The only reason to watch Nationwide.

JustAddWater

Eric Cartman wrote: »

the nielsen company does it in the US . Its all based on sample test surveys and averages

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nielsen_Company

And in Ireland. It's more or less do d the same way here

Eric Cartman

JustAddWater wrote: »

And in Ireland. It's more or less do d the same way here

Do nielsen do it here ? i thought it was some other company like landmark or one of them

Where To

I look forward to the day one of the 900 porn channels make it into the top ten

ejmaztec

Tubridy adds a load of zeros to the handful of people who watch his show, these people being chained to seats with their eye-lids taped open so they don't miss anything.

Biggins

Eric Cartman wrote: »

the nielsen company does it in the US . Its all based on sample test surveys and averages

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nielsen_Company

As the good poster says above, OP.

Now a days there is some serious debate as to if the Nielsen accounting system is accurate any more given +1 stations, recording devices and such like.

wilkie2006

NiallSparky wrote: »

Like all statistics, they take a representative sample of the population and use the results of those people to estimate a nationwide result.

Yea, the company that calculates viewing figures have something like 5,000 households participating in the study (with whatever technology connected to their TVs) and use that as a sample with which to estimate figures nationwide.

However, things like RTE Player and TV3 Player also count and I think that everyone who watches through these channels count towards the national figure.

44leto

I anally check both the Neilsen and the US box office films figures weekly, it gives me an indication of what maybe good and what is doing well.

Eric Cartman

44leto wrote: »

I anally check both the Neilsen and the US box office films figures weekly, it gives me an indication of what maybe good and what is doing well.

whats good and what does well are two entirely separate issues , twilight and x factor being prime examples

Biggins

Eric Cartman wrote: »

whats good and what does well are two entirely separate issues , twilight and x factor being prime examples

Aye, Firefly for example, was brilliant but sadly the ratings sucked.
There is many similar other shows that went the same way.

wilkie2006

44leto wrote: »

I anally check both the Neilsen and the US box office films figures weekly, it gives me an indication of what maybe good and what is doing well.

Dr Bollocko take note - grammar Nazism is not wrong!!!

shancoduff

Does Nielsen use some sort of ratings box hooked up to a household's TV and then multiply this? Charlie Brooker says something along these lines in Screenwipe.(which I can't recommend enough!)

44leto

Eric Cartman wrote: »

whats good and what does well are two entirely separate issues , twilight and x factor being prime examples

Very true, but I can filter out what I know I wont like, but in saying that, I was recently caught with the dire "Hunger games".

That is the way cinema marketing works, in 9/10 cases the first weekend of the US box office acts like a billboard for the rest of the world and even potential DVD/pay per view sales. Film companies can spend more on promoting the first weekend of a film then the cost of production.

needacchelp

I would have thought digital providers would have an idea of what channels their boxes were tuned to, if not whether or not the tv was turned on. Of course I have no idea how any of this stuff actually works so...

44leto

wilkie2006 wrote: »

Dr Bollocko take note - grammar Nazism is not wrong!!!

What are you on about.

wilkie2006

44leto wrote: »

What are you on about.

Light hearted ribbing, my friend. However, I would point out that "I am anal about checking" and "I anally check something" are suggestive of two different things.

No big deal.

44leto

wilkie2006 wrote: »

Light hearted ribbing, my friend. However, would point out that "I am anal about checking" and "I anally check something" are suggestive of two different things.

No big deal.

Have you just given me lines,?? well I am not doing them.

Stiffler2

They don't actually know, they just make them up.

If they had real statistics we probably wouldn't be shown the bollox that's on TV as no one watches it



ta da