Programming for TV, Radio & The Internet, 2nd Edition

11	Program Evaluation

In this chapter you will learn about the following:

•  The purpose and uses of programming evaluation

•  The history of metering technologies and strategies

•  The two main players in the ratings game: Nielsen and Arbitron

•  Current practices in metering audiences

•  Ways data is parsed out to represent different audience behaviors

•  Special measures taken to capture underrepresented populations

•  How the sweeps rating periods are used—and abused

•  New metering technologies in development and deployment

•  How programmers use and are affected by ratings

•  Longstanding concerns about and investigations into ratings accuracy

Theoretically, media programming could be evaluated any number of ways—the number of fan letters ...