Board Thread:False Info and Speculative Discussion/@comment-24732895-20140910035928/@comment-19765459-20140912002421

Paul.rea wrote: The Nielsen system works in a few different ways.

1. people keep a log of what they watch. If they don't write it down it doesn't count. If they're not watching on a television set it doesn't count.

2. Set-Top boxes actually record what is playing on the TV at any given time.

3. PeopleMeters are devices worn on the body. They listen for inaudible signals broadcast over television which identify the show being watched at any given time. At bedtime, users plug those devices into a device that transmits the days viewing to Nielsen.

None of these methods show viewing on anything other than traditional television sets.

All of which only matters if you pretend that Nielsen ratings are the only thing the networks and advertisers look at any more, which is well known to not be true. However, if internet viewing were high, they would be trumpeting that fact and citing numbers. After-first-air viewings are accrued into final assessment of performance for both movies and TV (which is why the sale of DVD's, and now downloads) are considered a crucial part of show revenue. Some shows, such as the original Star Trek and Babylon 5, have made far more money since they went off the air than they did when they were in first-run!

This is why some shows myseriously linger even when ratings drop, because it is hoped that they will produce future revenue. However, with internet viewing, social networking, blogs and such, it is becoming more easy to quantify if a show is going to have a lasting impact in revenue. A lot of moderately successful shows get cancelled nonetheless if opinion is that they will not having a lasting impact that will keep money rolling in years down the road.