FG gets a 4.0!

The Nielsens from last Thursday are out.

"Family Guy" (FOX) - 4.0/6

"Blowfly" wrote in message news:udd58.166608$[email]...

Not bad for a show that doesn't get ONE ad on its own network. If that's not proof that the fans of the show are loyal and aren't going anywhere, I don't know what is. Imagine what the ratings might be like with regular ads promoting each new episode....I talk to Family Guy fans every day that don't even know the show is still on.

On Mon, 28 Jan 2002 14:27:38 GMT, [email] (Blowfly) wrote:

Please enlighten me if I'm incorrect as I'm not sure how this all works. I'm under the assumption that there are a relavitely small number of people with a Nielsen box and/or one of those sheets you fill out. I think the last number I heard was one box for every 20,000 people, or something like that anyway. Doesn't this seem obsolete? If I'm right, as it is, someone is voting for me as to what I watch on TV. That doesn't seem fair. Isn't our technology at a point where every cable subscriber should be able to anonymously and automatically report what they're watching for more accurate ratings? If so, why isn't it being done? I can't for the life of me figure out how crap like Friends is still on the air while FG gets canned. Please, someone explain this to me. Thanks.

Oh, and I signed the petition as well as wrote a letter. I'm doing my part! (for whatever it's worth...) :-)

--Quadriflax "To insanity and beyond..."

People without cable/satellite strictly watch the networks, which bends the stats. Not sure how they compensate for that.

On Mon, 28 Jan 2002 22:12:14 GMT, Craig wrote:

So why not give Nielson boxes to all those that don't have cable and just record what cable/satellite subscribers are watching?

As for the Big Brother argument, they could be recording everything we watch anyway. At least if they said they were doing it we'd know. In fact, don't they already monitor what we watch? Just to make sure we aren't stealing premium channels like HBO? I don't know much about TV and it's going ons so sorry for the basic questions :-)

I can see the bottom line is that people are morons. But they're also quite gullable, so I'm sure ad/TV execs could put a positive spin on the whole thing. "It's like voting for your television" or something.

--Quadriflax "To insanity and beyond..."

Quadriflax wrote in news:[email] on Mon, 28 Jan 2002 23:22:02 GMT

They could always offer an option to no send the data to them.

For a couple reasons A) That's impossible. There are so many TVs in so many places, to outfit them all would be ridiculously expensive and impossible to ensure. How would you know if they were all hooked up? Maybe some people would disconnect theirs when they watch porn, then forget to put it back on. B) They can get good enough statistics with just a sample of the public. One in 20,000 people is a lot when there are 280,000,000 people.

It may be hard to believe that many people watch Friends or any other show, but just remember how much everyone hates boy bands, and how bad they are, then look how many millions of albums they sell.

That's because of the tremendous buying power of 12 year old girls.

Kev

On Tue, 29 Jan 2002 01:50:27 GMT, Craig wrote:

I realized this as soon as I posted. Blah.

But they could get better with what they already have installed. And Robert Naylor brings up a good point. There could be an opt-in/opt-out program to have your ratings polled. Just seems an awful waste to not use a technology that's right at our fingertips.

Don't even get me started... ugh...

--Quadriflax "To insanity and beyond..."

Well, that probably happens already.

Quadriflax wrote in message news:...

You may not get a sample size that reflects the economic status of all 280 million people in this country, though. The Nielsons are essentially a widely accepted way of measuring the popularity of shows. Its far from perfect, but if there was a better way of doing it, a system probably would have already replaced it.

On 30 Jan 2002 13:29:14 -0800, [email] (Dead Guy) wrote:

You'd like to think so. But when only 5000 people have one of those boxes, you'd think almost anything could be better. That's the number posted on their site. So maybe next time we have a presidential election we should just randomly select 5000 people to vote. Not that TV is as important... or is it more important...? I can't tell anymore...

--Quadriflax "To insanity and beyond..."

But wouldn't that like double the number of actual voters in this country? ;)

jb

Isn't that what they did in Florida?

No, the voters just couldn't read.

Lysis627 wrote:

On 01 Feb 2002 03:01:18 GMT, [email] (Lysis627) wrote:

No, it was just 5 people that decided that.

Bradley

The one time I participated in the Nielsens' program a few years ago, there was no box. You just fill in a little schedule with what you watched and when. That must be EXTREMELY inaccurate. If someone was embarrassed about watching Family Guy or something, they could just not write it in the book.

I remember I did the opposite and filled in shows that I liked, but hadn't watched. (It was summer, so I really wasn't into watching re-runs.)

It's the 21st century; Nielsen Families and Electoral Colleges need to go away fast!!

"Gyumaoh" wrote in message news:[email]...

there was

when.

could

Then you weren't part of the official nielson program. The neilson program uses electronic boxes hooked up to all TV's/VCR's/Whatever in the home.

nathan

Thank you for that insightful bit of information Nate.

"Happy Noodle Boy(aka Mr. Socially Inept)"

Your so very, very, VERY welcome.

nathan

??? Then what was it?

"We should be conscious of the superiority of our civilization, which consists of a value system that has given people widespread prosperity in those countries that embrace it, and guarantees respect for human rights and religion." - Silvio Berlusconi

Everyone's afraid that The Man is watching them. Even if it was anonymous, the teamsters would still think that the government was spying.

People are morons. How the hell can Will & Grace still be on, or Temptation Island 2? Friends is a pot of gold compared to some of the other crap that's on TV.

Kev