But there's a more practical reason as well. If The Powers That Be culled data from your cable box or DVR service, it would be raw data. "While it certainly can tell you what was watched when, it can't tell you what was watched when by whom," Seidman explained. "And, that's sort of the big deal with Nielsen is that they can tell you who in the household watched, whether they're male or female, how old they are, how much money they make, etc." And, for television advertisers (for whom this data are intended), those sorts of demographics are key. Nielsen even accounts for those households that do not possess a television (and yes, there are a few--I even know one or two of them).
"Nielsen projects a lot of things based on, you know, the make up of the population, how old people are, whether they own pets, whether they own trucks, whether they're going to be buying cars, whether they own their home, all that kind of stuff. So they project a universe estimate for the United States, and then they try to create a panel that basically mirrors the universe estimates that they projected. It is all done via what's called Nielsen People Meters, boxes that hook up to the sets and track who's watching what when. Those are in about 25,000 homes and probably represent roughly 50,000 people."
Within each household, Seidman explained, each family member has a code, which is entered when he or she begins watching a series. "I believe that something has to be entered every 30 minutes or it won't count," he noted. "So if you're watching CSI Miami at 10:00 p.m. on Sunday night and you fall asleep, some of your time spent sleeping will be credited, but sooner or later [the box] will stop. You won't be credited with watching CBS for eight hours if you fall asleep for eight hours."
I wondered (facetiously) if boring shows had an unfair advantage. The show gets credit for being watched if it lulls you to sleep. "I think the later the show is on perhaps the more important that becomes," Seidman suggested, which makes sense. You're much more likely to fall asleep the later it gets.
So what do all those ratings numbers mean to the series, the network and to fans? If you look at the ratings sheet (as you might find it in TV Guide or Entertainment Weekly--or on the TV by the Numbers Website), you might see a listing like this for House, M.D: 9.688 million viewers, 5.8/9 HH, 3.6/10 18-49.
Seidman took me through each of these statistics. "The first number, the 9.688 million, that's the average number of viewers who watch the full show. It's not the total number of people who watched some part of House. It's not even necessarily the total number of people who watched the whole show but skipped the commercials on their DVR that night. It is the total number of minutes spent viewing "House" divided by 60 and then converted into people. So it's the average audience that watched the whole hour. It's not the total audience that watched any part of the hour."
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - sunnysea
Thank you very much for this article! I found everything he said of interest. I might even understand the ratings game a little better :))
2 - Jerome Wetzel
This article was extremely interesting. Thank you so much for breaking it down! I am troubled, though, for the future of television.
I have had a DVR since January 2005. In the last six years I haven't watched commercials at all. I know commercials pay for TV, but at what point does that start to hurt the quality? We're getting there. Look at how much of each episode is now eaten up by commercials, versus a few years ago.
When networks started streaming their shows online, there were no commercials. Then there was one commercial. Now there are multiple commercials. I can't stand it. I'd rather pay TiVo and Amazon the $1.99 to download the episode rather than watch it for free with 3 minutes of commercials.
The problem with pay or play is that cable bills are currently high enough, higher than most people would like them to be, certainly. Perhaps if you only paid for what you watch, we could reach some sort of compromise. I get hundreds of channels I NEVER turn to.
The television landscape is changing in general. It certainly doesn't matter to me what time or day a show is in. Even for something like last spring's Lost series finale I waited the amount of time would be taken up by commercials after it started before I began watching it. And I know I'm not alone in this opinion.
Commercials annoy me to death, and I know they don't do that to everyone, but isn't enough enough? We're slammed with ads all day every day. I'd love a television landscape (like HBO or Showtime) not dominated by them. I think some people would even be willing to pay a bit more to get that.
3 - barbara barnett
Thanks guys. It took me more than a week of pouring through a 17-page interview transcript to pull this together. It was a fascinating opportunity to get into the head of such an expert.
One of the biggest complaints about House is that it's now broken up into six acts, which is very disruptive to the episode's flow. That makes (me at least) avoid the breaks at all costs. Who knew?
4 - HouseFan
This is very interesting! I really understand the ratings a little bit better, thank you for this.
I'm not english native speaker so I'm sorry for my mistakes, but I was wondering this:
if, according to Robert Seidman, we can maybe consider huddy as one of the causes for ratings falling, then we HAVE to consider the NOT-HUDDY storylines of Season 6 as a cause of eason 6's bigger fall of ratings. It seems only fair! :)
My point is: I don't believe a storyline has affected or is affecting the ratings at all.
Not in the "hilson season 6", and not in this Huddy season.
5 - Alan Kurtz
Dear Madame Editor:
Please correct "pouring" in comment #3 to "poring." Thank you.
Yours truly,
Mr. Punctilious
6 - barbara barnett
Alan--thank "U"-trying to multi-task while commenting. But I really did feel like I was "pouring" rather than "poring"--it was, after all, 17 pages.
7 - Christopher Rose
Or we could go with pawing!
8 - Jerome Wetzel
With 17 pages, I'm sure there were plenty of 'horse' bits and you needed to find the best 'zebras' to showcase in your article. :)
9 - barbara barnett
Pawing is good :)
Jerome--good point. I actually posted an earlier piece on Rubicon to discuss the cable ratings game a bit. And advocate for that "bubble" show to be renewed! So this was actually the second article I culled from "poring" over the interview. I have also learned that having an interview of that length professionally transcribed is well worth the cost!
10 - Hugh for prez!
Hmmm i only recently learn't (my bad) that writers have to take into account commercial breaks and therefore write to try to hit the highs and lows appropriately with breaks in mind.
Now i record House cos i hate watching ads, and do find sometimes the rhythm and emotional pace of some episodes to be downright odd. So even though i understand the logic and necessity of the way writers have to write episodes, it just ticks me off to see my favorite program's storylines so twisted.
Sigh..i know i will get a lecture about living in the real world but had to get my vent out there.
Viva House! Season 7 is still messing with my head cos whilst its er "nice" to see House trying to change, its also rather painful to see him subsume his normal behaviour for the Cuddy thing.
11 - Delia_Beatrice
@Barbara, i congratulate you for putting together this article. Is is not only very interesting and useful, but it's also gracefully dealing with calculations so complicated, i am tied up in knots trying to understand them...
Is it OK to ask you what you think about all this, Barbara? I am worried, i admit. Do you think, like HouseFan (#4), that storylines are not to be blamed for ratings drop? And if so, then is it reasonable to assume it's just the fact the show has been around for quite a while, and the time it airs is not the best?
If we are to find a common factor for seasons 6 and 7, it's what Barbara said: House has changed/tried to change and thus, the essential "formula" of the show has shifted. Viewers might have been lost on account of this.
On the other hand, viewers would have been lost, too, if House's story would have been frozen and the character would have been stagnant for all these years.
12 - barbara barnett
Delia: I think there is "normal" ratings erosion, but also dips due to the time change, the heavier competition, the fact that more people watch DWTS "live" than record it...
The "formula" is still the same "formula"--vis a vis the patient of the week. House as a character is attempting change, but the fundamental vision of the show has been to track the journey of this complex character. It is his journey, his challenges, etc.
That has not changed. People leave the show's viewership, but people also come into it. Maybe in the prime demo, maybe not.
I believe the lifecycle fo the series will bring it to a good and logical end, maybe the end of season eight--maybe later. My only hope is that the series ends on its own terms, not the network's.
13 - Orange450
Thank you for a fascinating perspective on a subject that I've never understood until now!
When I read the words describing House as closer to the end of its run than its beginning, I got a cold chill down my spine. And yet, you're absolutely right, and its inevitable end is beginning to breath down our collective necks. What will we do when House is over? I can't imagine life without it - and yes, I too was in that prized 18-49 demographic when the series began, but am no longer.
14 - DOB1234
Very nice article. I think some House fans have argued about most of the various aspects of the ratings game in the past, but it's nice to see everything brought together in one article. I learned a number of new things here, including the fact that there are still people out there with little black(?) Nielsen boxes and buttons to push.
I must also echo the words of Orange450 in that I can't imagine life without Gregory House, MD. Was glad to hear that barring a sudden collapse in the ratings we should have at least one more season.
15 - Kim F
Barbara,
Thank you for that wonderful foray into ratings and such especially with House since it seems to be a hot debate especially with the whole House/Cuddy arc going on this season. I know a lot of people that stopped watching House or were disgruntled because of last season, not because of the lack of House/Cuddy, but because of the show's inconsistency and failed plot attempts. It's great to see House 'changing' or moving on as best as he can, although the writer's do have a formula (ptow, medical puzzles...), it's even better that almost all the character's have had growth and haven't remained the same. Also, if you do manage to interview one of the writer's or even Katie Jacobs, any way you can possibly ask them to bring clinic back! That was probably the best!
If anything, I think that the House/Cuddy (I loathe the word 'Huddy') is keeping House is the game because they're finally together and its like a car accident, we all want to 'rubberneck' and see what's gonna happen. I trust you in saying that the next episodes are going to be better, since lately the patients haven't been very engaging with the exception of 'Unwriten.'
Is it Nov. 8th yet?
16 - Cynthiaanne (hiyacinth)
Thankyou very much for the article, always interesting to learn more of how the viewer ratings work, i hope we continue to have solid viewer ratings her in the UK, i really want to watch House's journey to the end, would hate for Sky not to renew rights to air new seasons.
17 - maya
Made for an interesting read. Feel like less of an ignoramus when it comes to how TV ratings work.
I suppose we'll have to wait till Feb/March of next year to know for sure if House will have a season 8? Can't imagine what would make the ratings steadily tank from now till then, but we'll just have to wait and see.
Till then, I am sure the "great ratings debate" in the fandom will rage on unabated. LOL. I, for one, will certainly be following the ratings for the show with more interest from now on.
Thanks for doing this, Barbara!
18 - wunderbar777
Thank you for your fascinating article, Barbara (and I'm also very much enjoying your book as well). It demystified a topic that I frankly never really understood the complex logistics behind it, esp. today because of modern technology.
The drop in "House's" ratings saddens me, but I sincerely do not think it has anything to do with the House/Cuddy storyline - statistics have shown that the majority of viewers have been waiting for this for a very long time, and "cheesy love scenes" are obviously not dominating airtime - it's still a show about based on medical mysteries, and more importantly, human relationships. As I have consistently said, people are constantly evolving and changing - noone is the same person that they were 7 years ago, and that's just called life.
I wish for "House" to continue as long as it remains as vital as it is at the moment. It would be very sad to see it "slowly fade away," but I do not think the producer/writers/Hugh Laurie would ever let that happen.
19 - Nadia
Thks for the article.
Also I want to remind everyone to vote for the House cast at the people's Choice awards including LISA EDELSTEIN for best TV drama actress.
Thank You
20 - Delia_Beatrice
@Barbara: THANK YOU very, very much for your answer.
I am very unfamiliar with the subject and i appreciate your point of view immensely - especially since it's what i've been wanting to hear:))))
I obviously agree fully to everything you wrote. I have said it so many times, i am so full of admiration and even pride at TPTB for having the artistic integrity and courage and backbone to address House's journey in a veridical and interesting manner.
They chose creative value, verticality and chalenges, instead of freezing in a formulaic equation (in regard to the character, because i agree that the general formula stayed the same), that wouldn't have allowed House to grow or his story to be explored properly.
However, i too am saddened by the drop in ratings, simply because i think they deserve more recognition and all the success in the world. I cannot but join the collective hope that the show carries on till its logical and natural final point - and may that be "with a bang, not a whimper".
By the way, idiotic question: if i watch "House" live via satellite ( i live in Eastern Europe), i take it I don't count in any sort of ratings, right?:(
21 - Delia_Beatrice
@Orange450 (#13) and everybody else who cannot imagine life without "House":
I know exactly what you mean. However, personally, i am working my way towards accepting that. I feel like this season has helped me with that - i feel like his (and our) struggles have been rewarded and that his journey has the chance for some sort of (slightly) positive ending
I do have insane fears regarding the end, though. I only hope that it will allow me to rewatch "House", for the rest of my life, with joy and sweet nostalgia, celebrating his humanity and their love - instead of mourning for them.
22 - tessy
House!soap-operish.
lost quality, lost viewers.
23 - Jacksam4eva
Idk if it has been said already but as a foreigner who watches House every Tuesday mornings (jetlag!) I would like to add a few things here.
There was a question raised about whether or not American viewers would be able to suffer through the commercial breaks while watching on the internet. I believe that anyway, there will still be a huge amount of websites (megavideo, zshare) that will upload the episodes without the commercial breaks. Hulu is only available in the US (and also maybe in England... Idk, I'm french lol) and so most of us catch up on this kind of websites. So I just guess that if networks end up broadcasting the episodes with the commercials, Americans will start watching the shows just like foreigners do. And that's bad 'cause watching that way doesn't matter for the ratings ;).
24 - Jacksam4eva
Yeah I meant
"So I just guess that if networks end up broadcasting the episodes with more commercials on the internet,"
Sorry for the typo
25 - Hyacinth
Wunderbar777 said: "The drop in "House's" ratings saddens me, but I sincerely do not think it has anything to do with the House/Cuddy storyline - statistics have shown that the majority of viewers have been waiting for this for a very long time..."
Wunderbar, I would be interested to know the source of your statistics. I had not realized that it was counted somewhere officially.