Nielsen THIS

So here are the top 10 viewed shows last week according to the Nielsen ratings:

1) Without a Trace
2) CSI
3) Dancing with the Stars
4) Grey's Anatomy
5) Dancing with the Stars (results show)
6) Desperate Housewives
7) NCIS
8) NFL: Colts v Chargers
9) House
10) CMA Awards

Seriously?!

When I saw this list this morning, I asked my friend Katie, "WHO are the Nielsen viewers?! People 55 and over? What the hell?!"

Katie's response: "Actually... my 80-year-old grandparents are Nielsen viewers." No joke.

When I heard that, I a) convinced Katie to hijack her grandparents' television and start watching my shows on it, and b) started complaining to Katie about why I hate Nielsen ratings. I learned in doing this that Katie, like a lot of people, had no idea that Nielsen ratings are how advertising prices get set and therefore determine which shows get the boot.

(Read my previous beefs with Nielsen ratings here and here. Or just have a conversation with me at all, and it will probably come up at some point. I have very strong feelings about Nielsen ratings.)

So basically, in case you're not grasping this, Katie's grandparents are deciding which shows stay on the air. Great. Programming schedules full of CSI, Without a Trace, and Diagnosis Murder.

In case you don't know anything about Nielsen ratings, here's a place to start: "How do television ratings work?"