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Nielsen changes the ratings

NBC is the first US network to take advantage of a new change to Nielsen ratings which allows the figures for repeats to be added to a first-run episode in the same week.

Heroes aired on Monday night in the US but its repeat screening this Saturday will allow it to boost its aggregate audience.

The move is legitimate under a new ruling by ratings kings Nielsen, but rival networks and ad agencies are already disapproving.

“Morally, they’re playing with the weekly averages. … You could see where this could lead to abuse,” said a spokesman for ABC.

In Australia combining figures is prohibited in both Free to Air and Subscription. In cable TV, where repeats (and timeshift) are the norm, the final ratings tally is an average, depending on the number of screenings.

Its one of the reasons Foxtel says it is so protective of ‘misunderstood’ figures.

Source: Variety.

2 Responses

  1. QUALIFICATION:

    Actually a variation in Australian OzTam does pertain to territories.

    You are correct in pointing out the differing nights in differing cities here, so long as they are first run.

    So indeed City Homicide will have one accumulative figure that combines first-run audiences in all cities, regardless of the night it aired.

    Nine has for a long time managed to benefit by both NRL and AFL Footy Shows combine to deliver one figure.

    The difference is that “encore” and repeat screenings are not added to first-run figures.

  2. While networks would undoubtedly use it to their advantage, in some ways the new rulings could be positive.

    What about City Homicide this week here in Oz? It screened on two different nights in different areas because of the Brownlow coverage in some states, and probably won’t even make the top 100 because of the differing timeslots. The new ruling would eliminate that problem.

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