I've been thinking about TV ratings lately. Specifically Thursday night TV ratings. I literally watch 7 different shows on Thursday nights, through creative DVR'ing and the Internet. Two of the shows I watch are Person of Interest and Parks and Recreation. They are very different shows but whatever, I like plucky ladies AND government conspiracies so I'm into both.
But you know who's not into both? Almost all other people. So here's where we get to TV ratings. POI gets somewhere in the 13-14 million viewers per episode every week. Parks gets literally 10 million less than that.
But here's the thing. I am the ONLY person I know, except my dad, who watches Person of Interest. Sometimes I will mention it to a friend and the response will be, "what is that?" (And I'll say oh Ben Linus and the creepy Jesus dude are like this Big Brother/Batman combo crime-fighting team. It's weird. But great!) Anyway. No one I know watches it. And here on the tracked tag gets some action but it is mostly from all the same, very loyal people.
Meanwhile, literally ALL of my friends watch Parks and Rec. Like, I was at dinner with a group of people and said, "I need to get home for Leslie & Ben's wedding," and everyone was like, "Oh yeah, totally me too!!" And the tracked tag is out of control. If tumblr had its way Amy Poehler would have been declared a deity by now. Actually, in some circles she probably has already.
So what the fuck is the deal with these ratings? Who are these extra ten million people who are sneaking in and watching Person of Interest? Where do they come from? If they love POI so much why don't they spend any time on the Internet?
And is Parks' ENTIRE fan base composed of liberal, educated 20-somethings in the Mid West, my Mom, and geeky schoolgirls on the Internet?
Sorry for the long pointless ranting. I really enjoy both of these shows, but I do not understand their ratings.