Love them or hate them, television networks take little heed in the opinions of individual viewers as to the fate of television shows. Instead, the networks base their decisions almost solely on Nielsen ratings, and for college students and their favorite shows, this may not be a good thing.
According to a recent survey by ESPN, nearly five million students enrolled at four-year universities are not counted in the Nielsen ratings. The five million students comprise approximately 55 percent of the nation’s 8.8 million students. This means less than half of college students are being factored into Nielsen’s ratings.
Representatives at Nielsen were unable to comment, as they do not have the “time and resources to deal with college newspapers.”
Networks gauge a show’s success by ratings compiled by Nielsen Media Research. The networks are most interested in which shows attract certain demographics. The most sought after demographic is the 18-49 year old group. Advertisers tend gear most of their advertisements toward this group.
“Five million is a lot of people,” said Jack Mitchell, a professor of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Wisconsin. “They are the right demographic, usually 18 to 25 which is one of the main areas of interest by advertisers so I would think that it would make a significant difference.”
It is much easier for a network to keep a show on the air with low ratings if its primary audience falls into the key demographics. For example, in the 2001-02 ratings season, WB’s Dawson’s Creek was 121st in the rating ranks according to Nielsen Media. Dawson’s Creek was able to stay on the air despite its poor ratings because it reached the targeted demographic. Yet the CBS show Baby Bob, coming in at 25th in the rating ranks was slashed. Baby Bob had a much higher rating, but drew the wrong demographics, according to network standards.
The ESPN study was conducted from April 4 to May 1 of 2001 and revealed the average student spends 14.5 hours watching television each week, of which 37 percent takes place out of the home. Nearly all of the in-home viewing takes place in a student’s room.
Nielsen is currently investigating the possibility of wiring dorms for inclusion in Nielsen ratings, but needs financial backing.
In order to gauge ratings, Nielsen randomly draws a sample of 5,000 households nationwide, which equates to roughly 13,000 people. In many households a “television black box” is attached to the television, which in turn relays information about what’s being watched to computer’s at Nielsen.
