I’ve seen this comment a couple of times, and I figure rather than responding individually, I’ll just make a post.
(Admittedly, this is all anecdotal knowledge, and I am by no means an expert in TV-ratings-calculations, so take this with a grain of salt).
A lot of people are responding to this post about PBS with, “Well I don’t have a Nielson Box, so it doesn’t matter, right?” And the answer is...not exactly.
It’s true that the Nielson Ratings System has traditionally been the way that TV networks measure their audience. It’s also true that, under this system, your “view” only counted if you had one of the Nielson devices linked to your TV set.
However, in recent times, particularly with the advent of online streaming, networks have begun to move away from using Nielson ratings to calculate theier numbers, especially because the ratings have a hard time accounting for DVR and other alternative platform views.
Networks are beginning to crunch their own numbers to determine views, especially when it comes to multiplatform (ex. BBC iPlayer, HBOGo, etc...) viewing. Additionally, networks are turning to social media to gauge the popularity of their shows, measuring tweets and other social media mentions (both during the show and before/after, depending on the marketing strategy)
TL:DR - Even if you don’t have a Nielson Box, watching Sherlock on PBS, or tweeting/tumblring/FBstatus-ing #Sherlock #MasterpiecePBS when it’s showing makes a difference.
Since I’m the one who brought this up, I’m going to keep an eye out for promotions/contests/marketing initiatives put on by PBS leading up to TAB, and sharing them on Tumblr to try and drive numbers. I’ll tag those posts “TeamPBS,” so if for some reason you’re anti-public broadcasting, you know what to avoid.
