I got no clue how the Nielsen ratings work. I know if it's high, you are being watched by more people. The hard part is getting the number. A simpler way of doing this is connecting the TV to a computer. So, when you connect to whatever channel's Web site (ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, BBC, Chinese TV), there is a little pop-up window that appears on your TV after half the show has passed. It'll ask you to select between "Smash" (good) or "Trash" (bad). The next day, the show with the highest Smash-to-Trash ratio is the highest-rated show.
-- HomerX, Oct 01 2002

How The Nielsen Ratings Work http://www.nielsenm...om/whatratingsmean/
[calum, Oct 01 2002]

Nick, you got a point. But, the way I see it, a big network would rather keep a show a cheap little show that people like than a crappy show that no one likes, even if they they payed big money for the star. The viewer is always right!
-- HomerX, Oct 01 2002


I consider myself to be somewhat of an apt observer of human adaptation in action, and I have to guess that this system would lead to more ‘impulsive’ or trend shows -- shorter running, intense shows with large product tie-ins. Why do I? First, there is the irrational application of the one vote against its context. How many people are before the set, how many people live in the home, where are the others in the home while the set is tuned? Second, there are the samplers, the recorders, and the omitted groups. They can't (for reasons of timing or opposing shows) be present for an episode but would love to be. I would very much like to vote against a few shows that I cannot see via my TV provider; consequently, the network affiliates will never know my preference. Finally, do you want the most loyal fans of a show perpetuating the genre because their lifeless existence revolves around some video pablum? I dreaded the onslaught of brutal confrontation brought into homes following shock TV, but most are tending toward negotiation of difficulties now. I dreaded the appearance of exploitation TV, where the invasion of privacy offered to us has inexorably shifted toward overt pornography and shows no end of abating. I still dread every announcement made by investigative journalists, because of their reliance on the seven deadly sins to make money.

And there you have it, the facts behind why I annotate Halfbakery more than I vote, and why I think polling should be done correctly or not at all.
-- reensure, Oct 01 2002


<Slams fist onto red squealer button> We got a 2nd order RAS Syndrome here!
-- General Washington, Oct 01 2002



random, halfbakery