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How Do TV Ratings Work? Let the ESPN muppets tell you!

While this video from ESPN is a few years old it’s still worth a watch to understand how Nielsen measures the viewing of Nielsen family members and their in-home guests.

What’s changed since that video was made?

Nielsen now measures the online, in-app and out of home viewing of Nielsen family members.

Other Important Notes

• If you’re not viewing in a Nielsen family household, your viewing is never measured for TV ratings.
• The C3 commercial ratings mentioned in the video (now also C7 for commercial viewing up to 7 days after airdate) are what advertisers pay for, and so are the only ratings that matter for ad revenue. C3/C7 ratings are rarely seen in public, but when they are they’re very close to the Live+Same Day program ratings you see every day. Advertisers for sports programming pay primarily for Live/Live+Same Day ratings, and out of home viewing is beginning to be sold for sports as well.
• Many think Twitter activity contributes to the Nielsen TV ratings. It does not!
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Here’s a much newer video with Nielsen’s Brian Fuhrer talking about the TV ratings process

Check it out. (sadly, not embeddable)
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Lots More Detail About The TV Ratings Numbers You See Online

Check out the “TV Basics” section at Showbuzz Daily here.
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More Background Information Direct from Nielsen

Check out Nielsen’s “Ratings Academy” site.
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