Board Thread:False Info and Speculative Discussion/@comment-24732895-20140910035928/@comment-19765459-20140912020546

Paul.rea wrote: Nielsen numbers set the prices. That is the determining factor. Networks don't set prices. The advertisers decide what they're willing to pay based on Nielsens. If the ratings come in lower than expected, money must be refunded to the advertiser. Neilsen is the stick by which all this is measured.

And again - future revenue, to date, is all in syndication. There's no other pot of gold out there.

Hence the point. It all boils down to how much each viewer is perceived to be worth to advertiser. How much are they willing to pay for those viewers? There is a whole complex system behind measuring that. But the simple summary is that there must be a perceived audience that will actually watch ads. If there is no such perceived audience, then advertisers will not pay the money at all! They have to manage their spending after all. Return-on-investment is everything.

If Nielsen's are low, then actuals are even lower. Internet viewers dodge ads. So where is the money?

I'm a prime example. The fact that I shifted from being a first-run TV viewer to an unreliable internet viewer by definition made me a less value advertising target, regardless of income, in addition to the simple fact that the switch subtracted me from any measurable TV audience (the cable box is off during Teen Wolf, in this day and age, Comcast knows that).