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The 7 - Movies & TV - Ratings
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Alessandro
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#1 Posted on 29.11.04 1509.48
Reposted on: 29.11.11 1509.48
Is it possible to look up ratings for specific TV shows (particularly cable shows) via the inter-web?

And I'm looking for something a little more detailed than this; knowing the top 15 cables shows for a particular week is nice, but what if you're looking for a particular show that didn't happen to make the top 15 that week?

And, while I'm asking, how does one find quarter-hour ratings breakdowns for cable shows? I used to see them for RAW and Nitro all the time during the Monday Night Wars; did the "internet journalists" like Meltzer have pay-only access to those numbers, or were/are they available to the general public?

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CRZ
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#2 Posted on 29.11.04 1516.19
Reposted on: 29.11.11 1516.38
    Originally posted by Alessandro
    Is it possible to look up ratings for specific TV shows (particularly cable shows) via the inter-web?

    And I'm looking for something a little more detailed than this; knowing the top 15 cables shows for a particular week is nice, but what if you're looking for a particular show that didn't happen to make the top 15 that week?

    And, while I'm asking, how does one find quarter-hour ratings breakdowns for cable shows? I used to see them for RAW and Nitro all the time during the Monday Night Wars; did the "internet journalists" like Meltzer have pay-only access to those numbers, or were/are they available to the general public?


About the quarters: The numbers used to be fed from people who paid to see them, but there was a big crackdown by ACNielsen a few years back, which is why you never see them anymore.

About ratings: I know network ratings used to be available weekly in print editions of the newspapers, but Nielsen really frowned on online reprints (Y! might still have it?) and cable ones were NEVER really available, save the Top (x) list, as far as I know.

Some shows with really rabid followings have sites that slyly sneak ratings in under the radar, but you probably won't find them with simple web searches. Again, unless you're a paying customer, it's REALLY hard to get that information anymore, since they have people who scour the web and send lots of C&D letters.

So, I guess the REAL answer is: make friends with someone in the industry, get them to register here and teach them how to use the [hide] tags. ;-)
XPacArmy
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#3 Posted on 29.11.04 1517.20
Reposted on: 29.11.11 1517.31
Hey quick question about the page you linked to, Zap2It, since when is WWE RAW on Tuesdays and Wednesdays? Or is that just when the ratings come in or whatever?

I.E.:

#9 WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW ZONE) (10PM) Wed 2.9 3,146,000
#10 WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW) (9PM) Tue 2.8 3,111,000

(edited by XPacArmy on 29.11.04 1626)
geemoney
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#4 Posted on 29.11.04 1709.00
Reposted on: 29.11.11 1709.53
You can find the prime-time network numbers on Wednesdays in the USAToday.

To build on what CRZ said....why was there a big crack-down of letting the numbers out? And why don't they post them on their website? I don't see the big deal about keeping ratings a secret.
Guru Zim
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#5 Posted on 29.11.04 1738.37
Reposted on: 29.11.11 1749.23
I'm assuming it is because they sell the information. If it is given away for free, what do they have left to sell?
Cerebus
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#6 Posted on 29.11.04 1753.20
Reposted on: 29.11.11 1753.34
There's a magazine called BROADCASTING & CABLE WEEKLY that used to print the top 40 or 50 cable shows ratings. I really don't know if they still do or not. You can try looking for thier website, which will probably have them as well.

Also, VARIETY used to have weekly ratings for the top 20 cable shows and they'd mention daytime talk shows, soap operas, cartoon shows, even saturday morning cartoons and the sunday political show ratings. VARIETY also broke down ratings into half hour numbers. I'm only getting Daily Variety now, so I don't know if the weekly has this feature anymore. Try going to a BORDERS or BARNES & NOBLE book store and take a look.

I remember reading one of the big stinks about letting ratings out was that there were some TV stations that would fudge the ratings of syndicated shows to help boost advert revenue and they got busted on it. It turned out that a majority of the stations that were doing this were owned by Gannett Co. which in turn owns USAToday. An example I remember was for MURDER SHE WROTE. They were saying how great the ratings were but didn't tell advertisers that the ratings were great ONLY in a certain age bracket and that the show was dead last in all other rating brackets.
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#7 Posted on 29.11.04 1831.10
Reposted on: 29.11.11 1832.27
AC Nielsen cracked down horribly on anyone using the numbers and those that did making sure to put the (c) information in with the data.

Alessandro
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#8 Posted on 2.12.04 1217.46
Reposted on: 2.12.11 1219.49
    Originally posted by Cerebus
    There's a magazine called BROADCASTING & CABLE WEEKLY that used to print the top 40 or 50 cable shows ratings. I really don't know if they still do or not. You can try looking for thier website, which will probably have them as well.


One of the nice things about working at a library is that you're given access to online periodical databases FOR FREE ... Thanks for the title, I've located their archives and am searching for the pertinent ratings information as we speak.

BigSteve
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#9 Posted on 3.12.04 2022.55
Reposted on: 3.12.11 2023.47
Not totally sure, but I think that an "official" reason that Nielsen doesn't release the ratings is because it could influence what people watch and compromise the statistical process that they use to compile the ratings. I don't know if that's actually true or not, but I must have read taht somewhere because I didn't make it up.
PeterStork
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#10 Posted on 3.12.04 2057.45
Reposted on: 3.12.11 2059.01
    Originally posted by BigSteve
    Not totally sure, but I think that an "official" reason that Nielsen doesn't release the ratings is because it could influence what people watch and compromise the statistical process that they use to compile the ratings. I don't know if that's actually true or not, but I must have read taht somewhere because I didn't make it up.


That's what Nielsen tells you, yes, but the real reason is because the people that pay for access to the numbers roll out the big $$$, and Nielsen wants to protect their business.

People know what the highest rated shows on the telly are, and NMR is right...it does bias your viewing. People are certainly more likely to sample Desperate Housewives when they read about how it's creeping up on CSI. Still, that's not what keeps the numbers so secretive.
Net Hack Slasher
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#11 Posted on 4.12.04 0555.27
Reposted on: 4.12.11 0557.30
{ Sorry, you must be logged in to see this text! } used to be great, especially for network show breakdown, now there not much different than zap2it... It's still okay if you want the overall rating number for a network show for the week, but you are out of luck if you wanted half hour breakdowns on SD like I used to use that site for. Very little info (if at all) on Cable ratings unfortunately on the site I mentioned.

Nielsen contacted them and they took ratings out all together for a period of time but made a deal that it's information day would be up for only one week with no archived information and no in depth chart/graph features... The site seems apologetic trying to explain there's very little they could do with the power of Nielsen comes chasing after you.
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