How does the PTC conduct its research?
The PTC has more than 95,000 hours of entertainment programming in its custom-designed Entertainment Tracking System (ETS). The ETS is the only database of its kind in the world, and the PTC uses it to produce unique research and publications focusing on a variety topics relating to the content of prime time television — including in-depth analyses of the “family hour” and the television ratings system. This same database provides the background information necessary to produce our Family Guide to Prime Time Television. Time and again we hear from people asking, “How do you do it? How can you monitor every prime time network television show between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.?” With an arsenal of VCRs, televisions, a full-time team of entertainment analysts, and a massive online database we are able to build a database full of this unique research. Each evening, the PTC records every prime-time program on ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, ITV, UPN, and the WB, as well as original programm
