When I used to hear that my favourite television show was "down 13% among adults 18-49 versus last year’s premiere and was the show’s lowest-rated season opener ever."  I used to think it was my responsibility, as a loyal fan of the show, to try to improve that rating.

Therefore, I would tune every television set in my household to that program as it aired and ensure that it stayed on for the entire duration of the show.  Furthermore, I would constantly be on the hunt for re-runs, to ensure I was watching.

Hoping I'm not alone in the shenanigans I will endure for the love of certain TV shows,  I think it's time to look into how exactly TV ratings are actually measured.

According to the HowStuffWorks's article on TV ratings; companies like Neilsen Media Research select about 5000 households that are interested in taking part in their representative sample.  They then set up meters that track when each TV set is on and what channels they are tuned into, which sends the data to a "Black Box" and is directed to the company's central computer.

Based on that representative sample alone, the results are extrapolated and applied to the entire population.  As you can see several flaws could take place with the study, Neilsen tries to confirm its accuracy by randomly calling households asking if their TV sets are indeed on and ensuring that what they are watching matches their results. 

As subjective as these results may be, they are worth billions.  Advertising companies purchase the results and base decisions like which channels and times they would like to air their commercials.

Knowing what I know now, my customer loyalty for my shows has not changed.  However, knowing that such a subjective and random sample is undertaken I wouldn't necessarily engage in the shenanigans mentioned above to salvage a beloved show anymore.

How far do you go to stay loyal to your favourite brands?