Save The Amazing Race--All Fans MUST Read

[haejin]

To help the ratings, I'm going to have all four TVs in my house tuned to TAR next Thursday for the finale. This will be MY way of saving the Race.

Ah, if only my two other TVs hadn't broken down... :mad:

I've told plenty of people to watch TAR. Dunno if they've listened to me.

I'll sign the petition. Couldn't hurt.

[invisible777]

Ah, if only my two other TVs hadn't broken down... :mad:

I've told plenty of people to watch TAR. Dunno if they've listened to me.

I'll sign the petition. Couldn't hurt.

No problem. Everyone run to your local Best Buy or Circuit City Thursday night and turn on EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE TV'S to CBS! Hah.

[CantGetEnufTAR]

Waaaaa?

There is no magic TV measuring device that Nielsen uses. Tuning all TVs to a program at home or at a store or a bar or a gym or ... will do absolutely no good whatsoever. Unless of course you are a Nielsen Family.

Nielsen collects most of its national info from randomly selected Nielsen Families who actually manually keep track of what they watch.

Even in the so-called "metered markets" they still only measure a VERY small sample. It's just called metered because their homes are rigged up with automatic measuring of what is being watched.

It is a far from perfect system of measuring, but mathematically it is a relatively fair method. Probably what makes it most fair is that all shows are measured using the same technique.

I do think that some shows that end up with a very niche, or cult, or whatever you want to call it, fan base don't get measured accurately. Whether TAR fits that description is debatable but I'd say it's close. Unfortunately for those shows there is no other option--they have to live with their Nielsen numbers.

[haejin]

So basically, if what CGETAR said it right, Nielsen selects random familes, and whatever they watch gets figured into the ratings we see each week?

[Bumpkin]

Yes, CGE is right. At least if the ratings you are reading are "Neilsen Ratings"

If you aren't a Neilsen family, your viewing habits do not count.

Many years ago, the Neilsen folks would call my folks and ask them to participate. They would send us a paper log book to record which shows we watched in a two week period.

I haven't seen one of those in years.

[MollyRose]

Yes, this is how it works. I've been a Neilson rater but I'm not one at this time. Probably letter-writing is the best way to save TAR. There have been shows saved because of fan feedback.

[John]

A Nielsen family household represents around 100,000 other households, supposedly. They either manually track their viewing habits or are metered automatically. There aren't a lot of them, and they're not allowed to tell anyone they are one.

So, if 50 Nielsen families are watching TAR, that extrapolates out to a viewership of 5 million, roughly. And so on.

[marybethp]

I was a Nielsen household. I tell you, it's a PITA. I followed it to the tee, because I'm anal like that, but if you are Nielsen household and don't follow the instructions properly, it definitely skews the results.

Interesting that there's not something more high tech in this day and age to measure what's being watched.

[haejin]

Interesting, the Nielen ratings and their families. I'll write letters instead, then.

[karalott]

Yes, this is how it works. I've been a Neilson rater but I'm not one at this time. Probably letter-writing is the best way to save TAR. There have been shows saved because of fan feedback.

I was wondering how they added up the ratings. It seems like a big headache, if you ask me. They should just stop doing ratings for shows; at least that way, the networks don't have an excuse to cancel them.

It seems like it would take a lot of letters to keep the show on, but it can't hurt. Maybe Les Moonves has already has gotten a bunch. And speaking of Les Moonves, has he actually said that the show was cancelled, or just the possibility?