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Broadcast audience is measured. They choose a representative selection of the population and install some device that tracks exactly what people are watching.

• bunderbunder 10y ago
  Nielsen is the best-known (possibly only?) company that does this in the US, and they're very good at what they do. Their use of a sample is perfectly fine, and there might even be grounds to argue that it's more accurate than trying to get a complete count of viewership. But when it comes to ad viewership, I'm guessing all they can really measure is the attempt to show someone an ad. I'm not sure they have a good way to measure compliance. Are people actually watching the ads, or are they using ad breaks as an opportunity to take a leak, get another soda, or mute the TV and talk to each other? Granted, the same's true for Internet ads. Does anyone really sit through YouTube ads? Or do they just mute their computer's audio and go take a peek at Facebook while the ad plays?
  • CaptSpify 10y ago
    > Nielsen is the best-known (possibly only?) company that does this in the US, and they're very good at what they do. Their use of a sample is perfectly fine, and there might even be grounds to argue that it's more accurate than trying to get a complete count of viewership. Sorry, but this isn't true. We've known for a long time that their ratings are BS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nielsen_ratings#Criticism_of_ratings_systems https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nielsen_ratings#Criticism_of_r... Your other point is true though: They can only attempt to track who is watching ads, not actually track.
• deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]