This document discusses television ratings and viewership. It provides background on how Nielsen ratings work using a representative sample to track viewership of shows. Some of the top rated shows of 2018 according to Nielsen are listed, including "Roseanne", "The Big Bang Theory", and "This Is Us". The document also discusses how viewership is changing with new platforms and argues ratings may not fully capture viewers who watch on devices outside the home. Alternative methods for measuring popularity using social media and streaming data are presented.

1. Chapter 8
Television, Cable, and
Mobile Video

2. Television, Cable, and Mobile
Video
• Our textbook offers information about the
history and technology involved with
television, cable, and mobile video and is
covered in quiz material
• We’ll be spending our class time looking at
two examples of groundbreaking TV and
how it’s made and then talking about
examples of our own

3. Norman Lear-TV Pioneer
•Norman Milton Lear is an American television writer
and producer who produced such 1970s sitcoms as
All in the Family, Sanford and Son, One Day at a
Time, The Jeffersons, Good Times, and Maude. As a
political activist, he founded the advocacy
organization People for the American Way in 1981
and has supported First Amendment rights and
progressive causes. Lear’s shows were known for
directly dealing with social and political issues of the
day. character design, and editing. Knowing about
the cultural history of TV enhances a viewer’s Media
Literacy.
•THE 70’s: TELEVISION GETS REAL

4. Impactful Television
• 50’s sitcom “I LOVE LUCY” was impactful in many ways:
• The first to use a 3-camera setup so they could shoot
angles and close-ups simultaneously. Traditional
sitcoms are still shot this way to this day.
• The first to have an inter-cultural couple as the stars
– Desi Arnaz was Cuban and the network didn’t want
him cast as her husband Ricky (even though he was
her real-life husband) because they feared viewers
would have difficulty accepting the Cuban Arnaz as
the husband of the all-American redhead.

5. Impactful Television
• 50’s sitcom “I LOVE LUCY” was impactful in many ways:
• I LOVE LUCY was one of the first sitcoms to feature
an on-screen pregnancy as part of the plot, but CBS
would not allow the use of the word “pregnant” so
“expecting” was used instead. Additionally, each
episode about Lucy’s pregnancy had to be reviewed
by a minister, priest and rabbi in order to ensure
that they weren’t offensive to the television
audience.
• The episode in which Lucy gives birth, "Lucy Goes to
the Hospital“, was watched by 44 million people,
more than any other television program up to that
time, with 71.7% of all American television sets
tuned in, topping the 67.7 rating for the presidential
inauguration coverage the following morning.

6. Impactful Television
• FIRST ON-SCREEN TOILET:
• 1957 – Leave it to Beaver (just the tank)
• FIRST LIVE 24-HOUR NEWS COVERAGE:
• 1963 - The assassination of President John F.
Kennedy
• FIRST BLACK ACTOR IN A STARRING ROLE:
• 1965 – Bill Cosby, I SPY
• FIRST PRIME-TIME ANIMATED SERIES:
• 1966 – The Flintstones
• FIRST TIME THE WORD “HELL” IS SPOKEN ON TV:
• 1967 – Star Trek “City on the Edge of Forever”

7. Impactful Television
• FIRST INTERRACIAL KISS:
• 1968 – Star Trek (Kirk & Uhura)
• FIRST REALITY TV SHOW:
• 1973: An American Family (PBS)
• FIRST TIME RAP/HIP-HOP IS ON TV:
• 1981 – American Bandstand; Sugar Hill Gang
performs “Rapper’s Delight”
• FIRST TIME A CHARACTER WITH DOWN
SYNDROME IS A MAJOR CHARACTER ON TV:
• 1989 – Life Goes On
• FIRST GAY/LESBIAN KISS ON TV:
• 1991 – L.A. LAW

8. Impactful Television
• 1990’s – TV brings the topic of oral sex into
people’s living rooms amidst coverage of the
Clinton-Lewinsky scandal
• 2003 – The invasion of Iraq involved
unprecedented U.S. media coverage, especially
cable news networks. The coverage itself became
a source of controversy, as media outlets were
accused of pro-war bias, reporters were casualties
of both Iraqi and American gunfire, and claims of
censorship and propaganda became widespread
• 2004 – The Super Bowl halftime show provides the
setting for Janet Jackson’s performance and her
bejeweled nipple

9. Impactful Television
• The impact of Television on culture was and is
magnified by several factors:
• The EXPOSURE of Television – for much of the
viewing audience, television provides their
formative exposure to cultures and societies
beyond their own.
• The EDUCATION of Television – for much of the
viewing audience, television provides the basis
for much of what we think and know about the
world and ourselves.
• TV = REPRESENTATION = REALITY

10. NIELSEN RATING POPULAR TV SHOWS
• In the United States, Nielsen is the primary source of television ratings.
• To electronically calculate TV ratings, Nielsen implements a statistical
system that is very similar to the one used by pollsters during elections.
Rather than measuring exactly what is being watched on every television
in every household, they gather a smaller, diverse sample group – about
41,000 households (including more than 100,000 people – that is meant
to be a representative cross-section of homes across the US.
The representative sample reflects the entire population of TV households
based on characteristics such as age, gender, race, geography, cable status,
and other characteristics.
• Ideally, this sample should demonstrate what the viewers of the country
are watching. As we have seen with any sampling methodology, these
numbers can be very accurate, but there is always a margin of error, and
sometimes they can definitely be off the mark.
• Once they have their representative sample in place, Nielsen primarily
measures viewing numbers with electronic meters that track what the
televisions are tuned to. They also install black boxes – aka a computer
and a modem – which deliver the viewing data from the TVs to Nielsen
every night.

11. NIELSEN RATING POPULAR TV SHOWS
• With this technology, Nielsen appeals to advertisers as they keep close track of
consumers' behaviors during programs and commercials with their constant, real-time
stream of data. They use this information to tell advertising clients which commercial
blocks are watched, and during which viewers flip to other channels. By keeping track of
viewer demographics, they can also analyze commercial spots that would be most
advantageous for certain brands or products to reach specific markets.
• As times and technology have changed, the company has had to adapt, as well. With the
rise of DVRs, OnDemand channels and instant watch mobile apps, people in the United
States can watch shows whenever they want. Furthermore, the TV is far from the only
means of television viewing: Americans frequently watch programs on computers, tablets
and mobile devices. Nielsen now keeps track of all viewing enabled for measurement
across all platforms, including computers, tablets and smartphone devices, happening up
to seven days after an original broadcast when calculating ratings. But they do this
through third-party census-style data – not through their own equipment.
• Though streaming systems like Netflix have complicated the ratings system by refusing to
make public their viewership data, Nielsen is still able to tracks the ratings for syndicated
shows that are shown on these subscription-based on demand services. To do this, a
client must opt in and send Nielsen audio files for a specific program. The files are then
put in an audio repository, and the panel technology works similarly to Shazam.
Whenever the audio from a show streaming on Netflix or Hulu matches a file in the
repository, the panel measures this data. But what about streaming that’s not near the
monitoring devices?

12. RATING POPULAR TV SHOWS
• NETFLIX says NIELSEN ratings mean “nothing”
• They claim Nielsen Ratings are an ineffective way of
monitoring Netflix. Nielsen might be able to measure
who’s streaming stuff on their set top box, but it has no
way of measuring Netflix views on devices, such as
laptops or tablets — which is the only way many people
watch Netflix these days. Not to mention that Nielsen
only has meters in a small number of houses, compared
with Netflix’s 104 million subscribers.
• Netflix will occasionally release its own material on
ratings and views, but always on its own terms. For
example, yesterday the company put out a list of the
most “binge-raced” series — meaning watched an entire
season within 24 hours of its release. According to
Netflix, 8.4 million of their subscribers binge race.

13. RATING POPULAR TV SHOWS
• TOP TEN OF 2018 (U.S. Nielsen)
• 10. "The Voice" (NBC) — 12.5 million
• 9. "NCIS: New Orleans" (CBS) — 12.7 million average viewers
• 8. "Blue Bloods" (CBS) — 13.2 million average viewers
• 7. "Bull" (CBS) — 14.7 million average viewers
• 6. "The Good Doctor" (ABC) — 15.8 million average viewers
• 5. "Young Sheldon" (CBS) — 16.5 million average viewers
• 4. "NCIS" (CBS) — 17.09 million average viewers
• 3. "This Is Us" (NBC) — 18.3 million average viewers
• 2. "The Big Bang Theory" (CBS) — 18.7 million average viewers
• 1. "Roseanne" (ABC) — 23.2 million average viewers

14. RATING POPULAR TV SHOWS
• But how do you measure “popular”? Think of all the ways
we view and interact with TV these days – compiling
available global data on social media, blogging, pirating,
and other factors to figure out the viewer demand for
shows comes up with these as the 10 most popular fall
shows of the season so far.
• 10. “The Office” (NBC) Average Demand Expressions: 39.25 million
• 9. “My Hero Academia” (Hulu) Average Demand Expressions: 39.31 million
• 8. “America’s Got Talent” (NBC) Average Demand Expressions: 41.92 million
• 7. “Grey’s Anatomy” (ABC) Average Demand Expressions: 43.02 million
• 6. “The Flash” (The CW) Average Demand Expressions: 43.65 million
• 5. “Saturday Night Live” (NBC) Average Demand Expressions: 45.55 million
• 4. “Game of Thrones” (HBO) Average Demand Expressions: 47.10 million
• 3. “Spongebob Squarepants” (Nickelodeon) Average Demand Expressions: 48.99
million
• 2. “The Walking Dead” (AMC) Average Demand Expressions: 55.69 million
• 1. “American Horror Story” (FX) Average Demand Expressions: 71.77 million

15. RATING POPULAR TV SHOWS
• 10. "The Voice" (NBC) — 12.5
million
• 9. "NCIS: New Orleans" (CBS)
— 12.7 million average
viewers
• 8. "Blue Bloods" (CBS) — 13.2
million average viewers
• 7. "Bull" (CBS) — 14.7 million
average viewers
• 6. "The Good Doctor" (ABC) —
15.8 million average viewers
• 5. "Young Sheldon" (CBS) —
16.5 million average viewers
• 4. "NCIS" (CBS) — 17.09
million average viewers
• 3. "This Is Us" (NBC) — 18.3
million average viewers
• 2. "The Big Bang Theory"
(CBS) — 18.7 million average
viewers
• 1. "Roseanne" (ABC) — 23.2
million average viewers
10. “The Office” (NBC) Average Demand
Expressions: 39.25 million
9. “My Hero Academia” (Hulu) Average Demand
Expressions: 39.31 million
8. “America’s Got Talent” (NBC) Average Demand
Expressions: 41.92 million
7. “Grey’s Anatomy” (ABC) Average Demand
Expressions: 43.02 million
6. “The Flash” (The CW) Average Demand
Expressions: 43.65 million
5. “Saturday Night Live” (NBC) Average Demand
Expressions: 45.55 million
4. “Game of Thrones” (HBO) Average Demand
Expressions: 47.10 million
3. “Spongebob Squarepants” (Nickelodeon)
Average Demand Expressions: 48.99 million
2. “The Walking Dead” (AMC) Average Demand
Expressions: 55.69 million
1. “American Horror Story” (FX) Average Demand
Expressions: 71.77 million

16. RATING POPULAR TV SHOWS
• TOP TEN OF WEEK (11/5, U.S. Nielsen)
Rank Program Network Rating Viewers (000)
1 NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALLNBC 11.5 20,101
2 FOX+NFLN THU NT FOOTBALL FOX 8.8 14,803
3 60 MINUTES CBS 7.9 12,705
4 SUNDAY NIGHT NFL PRE-KICK NBC 7.8 13,629
5 BIG BANG THEORY, THE CBS 7.8 12,853
6 YOUNG SHELDON CBS 6.6 11,004
7 FOOTBALL NT AMERICA PT 3 NBC 5.9 10,140
8 FOX+NFLN THU NT PRE-KICK FOX 5.9 9,724
9 BLUE BLOODS CBS 5.7 8,973
10 FOX NFL SUNDAY-PST GN-NAT FOX 5.6 9,321
Source: Nielsen. Primetime Broadcast Programs. Viewing estimates on this page include Live viewing and DVR playback
on the Same Day, defined as 3am-3am. Ratings are the percentage of TV homes in the U.S. tuned into television.

17. RATING POPULAR TV SHOWS
• “MOST
WANTED”
TV IN U.S.
(Parrot)

18. Study Focus
• Give one brief example of how Television has
been important in your own life and why;
consider television shows you loved,
television events you witnessed, the way
you’ve bonded with others over television,
how television changed your mind about
something, etc.

19. Study Focus
• Why do you think Television has proven to
be such a powerful and important medium
for our culture?

20. Making Television: South
Park

21. Making Television: South
Park
•6 Days to Air: The Making of South Park is a television
documentary film that details the production process
of the American adult animated sitcom South Park.
The film follows the show's hectic, rushed six-day
production schedule, in which a 22-minute episode is
completed just hours before its original air date. The
film covers various aspects of production, including
voice acting, animation, lip sync, communication with
standards and practices, character design, and
editing. Knowing what goes into TV production
enhances a viewer’s Media Literacy.