Report - published September 04, 2013

RatingsIntel: Media Metrics Defined — Rating, Average Audience and Universe Estimates

RatingsIntel: Media Metrics Defined — Rating, Average Audience and Universe Estimates

Nielsen Television Ratings

Nielsen’s TV Ratings are the industry currency by which television is bought and sold. Ratings are a standardized metric used to estimate how many people, and which people, watch television programming or networks. In its simplest terms, a rating point represents one percent of the defined population. So if your 30 minute program gets a ten household rating, that means on any given minute that your show aired, ten percent of all US television households were watching, which is actually pretty good, and you will probably get renewed.

Household ratings measure anyone in the household who is watching, but the more commonly used ratings measure people. Demographic categories further define ratings, with the most common breaks being gender (male / female / adults) and standardized age breaks. A18-49 refers to adults aged from 18 to 49. Ratings are expressed as percents.

Average Audience

To convert ratings to average audience, multiply the rating by the universe estimate (UE). Average audience is expressed in thousands.

10 HH rating x 114,200,000 households = 11,420 (000) average audience.

So your program had an average audience of over 11 million people.

Nielsen Universe Estimates (UE)

Nielsen Universe Estimates are population estimates set at the beginning of every broadcast year (September), based on census data and Nielsen’s own information. For the 2013/2014 season, Nielsen’s new definition of a TV household will include households without traditional TV sets, encompassing all homes that have at least one operable TV or monitor that can deliver video through traditional means (antennae, cable set-top box or satellite), and/or with a broadband connection. The TV household UE for the 2013/2014 has been set at 115.6 million, up slightly from the 2012/2013 season.

2012/2013 Universe Estimates

Demograhpic  UE (000)
Households  114,200
Women 2+  148,400
Men 2+  141,020
People 2+  289,420
Women 18+  117,260
Men 18+  108,530
Adults 18+  225,790
Kids 6-11  23,590
Females 12-17  11,760
Males 12-17  12,260
People 12-17  24,020
Women 18-24  14,450
Men 18-24  14,720
Adults 18-24  29,170
Women 18-34  33,890
Men 18-34  33,770
Adults 18-34  67,660
Women 18-49  63,980
Men 18-49  62,560
Adults 18-49  126,540
Women 25-54  60,510
Men 25-54  58,190
Adults 25-54  118,700
Women 35-64  60,400
Men 35-64  56,920
Adults 35-64  117,320
Women 50+  53,280
Men 50+  45,970
Adults 50+  99,250

 

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