How are the Nielsen Media Research ratings used?
Nielsen Media Research s role is to measure both what is transmitted and what is received. By doing this, we provide the programmers and advertisers with vital feedback on their audience. Nielsen Media Research ratings are used as currency in the marketplace of advertiser-supported TV. When advertisers want a commercial to reach an audience, they need to place it in TV programs which deliver an audience. The more audience a program delivers, the more the commercial time is worth to advertisers. So the amount charged for advertising is usually a negotiated rate per thousand viewers multiplied by the Nielsen Media Research audience estimate (in thousands). Programs are expensive to produce, whether they attract large audiences or not. In the long run, TV programmers can t pay more for a program than they can earn from selling advertising in it.
