Nielsen Media Research polls 500 randomly selected households to help them conjure up a list of what (they say) America is watching. All the networks take this information as gospel, extending and canceling program contracts based solely on Nielsen ratings. On rare occasion throughout television history, a badly rated show can be rescued by a letter-writing blitz from its cult followers (Hawaii 5-O and Star Trek are classic examples) but usually, what Nielsen says, goes. And who are we to judge?
Indeed. The internet and Google have made us all miniature Nielsen companies. With a few simple searches, any of us can create data that rivals Nielsen... and would you be surprised at what can be discovered!
Here, for example, are the top 5 Nielsen shows:
1. American Idol
2. CSI Las Vegas
3. The Bachelor
4. 2 1/2 Men
5. NCIS
Seems OK, doesn't it? Everybody appears to be talking about these shows the morning after, right? OK, fine, but let's try another kind of ranking. Every show now has a web site. Wouldn't it be reasonable to assume that the top-rated shows would also have the top rated web sites? Wrong, by a country mile. Here are the most downloaded shows from the internet:
1. Lost
2. Heroes
3. 24
4. House
5. Smallville
Jaxonia doesn't pretend to be a survey company, but any internet data about television shows, whether it be downloads, or hits or page views, seems to, at the very least, question the power of Nielsen ratings.
Which of the above lists (if either) is closer to your TV habits?
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