How do Networks Know How Many People are Watching a TV Program?
Television networks clearly want to know what people are watching. A larger audience watching a show translates to being able to charge more money for ad time during a show. Television networks that broadcast shows watched by a huge number of people, such as the Oscars or the Super Bowl, generally profit from getting the highest dollar amount for advertisements aired during their shows. For weekly programs, however, television networks rely on a small sample of the population to determine what shows are the most popular. In the US and in Canada, the company that tracks what viewers are watching for television networks is the Nielsen Company. They choose a representative sampling of about 5000 viewers who will allow Nielsen to record what programs they watch. This is a fairly small sampling of the US population, but people are chosen based on their ability to represent varied populations. For example Nielsen must a diverse sampling of viewers and some viewers who fall into differing age
