Ever wonder why some great shows go off the air after a season or less? Blame it on the Nielsen company, which has for more than 60 years been the almost exclusive decider of what goes and what stays on TV.
AI Summary
# Summary
In this episode, Josh and Chuck dive into the fascinating and surprisingly complicated world of TV ratings, tracing Nielsen's dominance from its humble beginnings in the 1920s through its struggle to keep up with how people actually watch television today. They explore how a tiny sample of households with mysterious eavesdropping boxes has controlled billions of dollars in advertising revenue for decades, and why sweeps week became such a big deal for networks desperate to boost their numbers. The guys break down how DVRs, streaming services, and mobile devices have completely upended the old system, forcing Nielsen and competitors like ComScore to scramble for new ways to track viewers across every platform imaginable.
"the NBC was smart enough to be like, oh, well, wait a minute. Yeah, its ratings are abysmal, traditionally speaking. — Josh discusses how Community's poor traditional ratings were offset by social media popularity."
— Josh
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
2000
★ 7.6
"Justin Bieber will show up on CSI. I didn't see that one, did you? — Josh mentions stunt casting during sweeps week as an example of CSI having a guest appearance."
— Josh
"Ellen used to have a sitcom based on her life, and she came out on that show during sweeps week. — Josh references Ellen's sitcom and her coming out during sweeps week as a major moment."
— Josh
Freaks and Geeks
1999
★ 8.2
"We might still have freaks and geeks. Yes, that would be nice. — Chuck laments that the show was canceled and suggests better tracking might have kept it alive."
— Chuck
"when the Nielsen box hears that audio, it can be like, oh, well, they're watching Good Times right now. — Used as an example of how Nielsen's audio fingerprinting technology identifies TV shows."
— Josh
"there was a not one, not two, but thrice part happy days where Fonzie jumps a shark on water skis. — Josh discusses the famous shark-jumping scene during sweeps week in Happy Days."
— Josh
Murder, She Wrote
1984
★ 7.5
"Not everybody's sitting down at eight o'clock on a Monday night and watching murder she wrote. — Used as an example of traditional viewing habits that have changed."
— Chuck
Poltergeist
1982
1h 54m
★ 7.2
"Do you remember AOL Instant Messenger and the dial-up sound like poltergeist? — Referenced in an advertisement for a podcast about 90s nostalgia comparing dial-up sounds to Poltergeist."
Romancing the Stone
1984
1h 46m
★ 6.8
"My last name is Cartagena, like the city in the Romancing the Stone. — A listener uses Romancing the Stone to help explain the pronunciation of Cartagena."
Saturday Night Live
1975
★ 7.0
"if you and I are watching the same classic episode of Saturday Night Live. — Used as an example in explaining hyper-targeted advertising across different platforms."
— Josh
Stuff You Should Know
2013
★ 6.0
"We had a television show once. It was called Stuff You Should Know. — Josh and Chuck discuss their own canceled sitcom based on their lives and work."
— Josh
Three's Company
1977
★ 7.6
"I should say Three's Company instead. It depends. — Josh mentions the show as an alternative example of what might be playing on a TV channel."
— Josh
"who binged watch season two of True Blood this week, you know? — Used as an example of a show people might binge-watch using DVR and cookies technology."
— Josh
What's Happening!!
1976
★ 7.4
"Henry Mancini did the, what's happening theme song? — Chuck references that Henry Mancini composed the theme song for What's Happening!!"
— Chuck
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