Rate Me, Rate Me My Friend

I used to work for AC Nielsen Canada. The TV ratings people. Only I didn't work in the TV ratings department. I just thought I'd make that clear.

I've always been skeptical of Nielsen ratings. Particularly given the number of television stations now available. That, and the fact that, despite the emphasis placed on achieving high ratings numbers, there are also a number of other factors that determine a show's success. For example, wrestling brings in a good demographic (Males aged 18-34) and does half decent numbers. But because its wrestling, advertisers are still reluctant to do business. Because of the stigma attached to professional wrestling. So the ratings, despite claims to the contrary, are not the most important factor in determining a show's success.

This leads me to an interesting question. TNA has now moved their tapings from Tuesday to Monday nights, to give them time to properly edit the show. This means that there are some wrestling fans in Orlando who won't be watching Monday Night Raw because they're at TNA tapings. (This isn't to say that all TNA fans watch WWE, but I think I could strongly argue a large amount of crossover.) And I don't think that depriving Raw of a few hundred viewers was a motivation behind the move.

BUT!!!

What happens if ONE of those fans who attends a TNA taping is also a Nielsen box person? What effect will that have on Raw's ratings? Will the loss of one Nielsen box adversely affect the ratings? Just what impact does one box have on this supposedly scientific method of measurement?

Just a thought.