{"id":12544,"date":"2014-11-08T07:46:30","date_gmt":"2014-11-08T12:46:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/?page_id=12544"},"modified":"2023-12-07T10:07:28","modified_gmt":"2023-12-07T15:07:28","slug":"math-media-what-do-ratings-represent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/math-media-what-do-ratings-represent\/","title":{"rendered":"Math in the Media: What Do Ratings Represent?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"wpe2.jpgMath In The Media \"wpe1.jpg<\/p>\n

\u00a0RATINGS REPRESENTATION<\/p>\n

What do these numbers REPRESENT?\u00a0\u00a0 (See also Measuring the Masses<\/a> )<\/p>\n

Another key concept to understand is “how big is the TV watching audience?”
\nHere again, students may search for the answer.<\/p>\n

US TV Households Chart<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
2012-2013<\/td>\n2011-2012<\/td>\n2910-2011<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
114.2 million HH<\/a><\/td>\n114.7 million HH<\/td>\n115.9 million HH<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2009-2010<\/td>\n2008-2009<\/td>\n2007-2008<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
114.9 million HH<\/td>\n114.5 million HH<\/td>\n112.8 million HH<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2006-2007<\/td>\n2005-2006<\/td>\n2004-2005<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
111.4 million HH<\/a><\/td>\n110.2 million HH<\/td>\n109.6 million HH<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

How are “ratings” and “shares” generated? Students should be able to explain
\nhow Nielsen obtains this information. ( See “What TV Ratings Really Mean” <\/a>for an
\nexplanation) How is this information used?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nielsen Media Research’s role is to measure both what is transmitted and what is received. By doing this, we provide the programmers and advertisers with vital feedback on their audience.Nielsen TV ratings are used like currency in the marketplace of advertiser-supported TV. \u00a0 When advertisers want a commercial to reach an audience, they need to place it in TV programs which deliver an audience. The more audience a program delivers, the more the commercial time is worth to advertisers. So the amount charged for advertising is usually a negotiated rate per thousand viewers multiplied by the Nielsen Media Research audience estimate (in thousands).<\/p>\n

Programs are expensive to produce, whether they attract large audiences or not. In the long run, TV programmers can’t pay more for a program than they can earn from selling advertising in it.
\n(Source: “What TV Ratings Really Mean”<\/a>)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Looking at rating information tells us which programs are popular (most watched)
\nand which are not ( least watched). Sales people use detailed information
\nobtained from the ratings to attract business people who want to advertise their
\nproducts or services, where their commercial will get the most attention.
\nExample:\u00a0 A tire dealer might decide that in order to reach men, he will buy
\nairtime to advertise his tires during a televised sporting event, since this type of
\nprogram seems to attract more men than women.<\/p>\n

———————————————————————————————————————————————–<\/p>\n

\n

Question: I have a question that has been killing me for a long time. Every time
\nthe Nielsen ratings come up, they always display ratings for a certain show by
\nage range. For instance, on a recent TV show, they said that it received the
\nmost viewers between the ages of 18-24. How on earth do they know how old
\nthe viewers are? How do they know if adults or teens watch their shows? While
\nwe are on the subject, how do they calculate the viewer numbers? Is our
\ntelevision some kinda tracking device? Basically, how do they know who is watching? \u2014 Johanna D.<\/p>\n

Televisionary: Your TV isn’t a tracking device, Johanna, but the boxes the folks at Nielsen place in sample families’ homes certainly are. I’ve covered this before, but it’s been a while, so what the heck? Others are probably wondering about this kind of thing, too. Here are the basics.<\/p>\n

Nielsen uses a representative sample of U.S. TV households to determine who’s
\nwatching what and when \u2014 for obvious reasons, tracking each of the country’s
\n99 million households with TVs is out of the question. The sample is made up of
\nmore than 5,000 houses, containing more than 13,000 viewers, that are randomly picked in order to represent a wide range of demographics and locales. Extrapolating from that, in theory, provides a picture of what the whole country is watching at any given time, within a certain range of error.<\/p>\n

Exactly how do they measure? Using a few methods. They know the age, gender, etc. of each family member when they choose which households to work with. Meters are installed on every video device in the home \u2014 TV sets, cable boxes, VCRs, satellite dishes \u2014 to record which shows each is tuned to. Also, the company uses “people meters” to keep track of which person in the house is watching, and diaries and other methods are used to gather numbers on a market-by-market basis.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
Demographics Within the U.S. Television HomesDemographic\u00a0 2003-04\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2004-05\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2005-06
\nHouseholds\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 108,400,000\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 109,600,000\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 110,200,000
\nPersons 2+\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 275,580,000\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 277,930,000\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 280,500,000
\nWomen 18+\u00a0\u00a0 109,860,000\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 111,070,000\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 111,990,000
\nMen 18+\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 101,540,000\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 102,660,000\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 103,840,000
\nWomen 55+\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 35,180,000\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 35,340,000\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 36,210,000
\nMen 55+\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 28,290,000\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 28,850,000\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 29,720,000
\nTeens 12-17\u00a0\u00a0 24,700,000\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 24,560,000\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 24,710,000
\nChildren 2-11\u00a0 39,480,000\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 39,640,000\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 39,960,000Source: Aug.25, 2005 PR Wire story
\nhttp:\/\/www.hispanicbusiness.com\/news\/newsbyid.
\nasp?id=25051&cat=PR+Newswire&more=\/pr_newswire\/<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n

Persons Using Television<\/h1>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

<\/td>\n\n

2003-04<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

2004-05<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Chg.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Teens 12-17<\/td>\n\n

27.4<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

28.3<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

+0.9<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Persons 12-34<\/td>\n\n

30.5<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

31.4<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

+0.9<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Females 12-34<\/td>\n\n

31.9<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

32.9<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

+1.0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Adults 18-34<\/td>\n\n

31.7<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

32.6<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

+0.9<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Women 18-34<\/td>\n\n

33.7<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

34.8<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

+1.1<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Adults 18-49<\/td>\n\n

36.3<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

37.3<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

+1.0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Women 18-49<\/td>\n\n

38.0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

39.3<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

+1.3<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Adults 25-54<\/td>\n\n

40.7<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

41.4<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

+0.7<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Women 25-54<\/td>\n\n

42.3<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

43.3<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

+1.0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Adults 35+<\/td>\n\n

46.9<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

47.5<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

+0.6<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Adults 50+<\/td>\n\n

51.4<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

51.6<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

+0.2<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Source: Magna Global USA analysis of copyrighted Nielsen Media Research data. Seven-network affiliates includes PAX and the six broadcast networks regardless of whether they’re airing network programming (e.g., 10-11pm on Fox, WB, and
\nUPN affiliates)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Math In The Media  RATINGS REPRESENTATION What do these numbers…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[183],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12544","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-math-in-the-media"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12544"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12544\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36647,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12544\/revisions\/36647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}