• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Odds / How Can We Know How Many People Watch a TV Show?

How Can We Know How Many People Watch a TV Show?

July 28, 2020 by Karen Hill

Every television program receives a Nielsen rating, numbers in percentage form that show how many people watched that show. The ratings are provided by a firm called the A.C. Nielsen Company.

The company puts electronic boxes on about 1,170 TV sets around the country. These boxes register what channel each set was tuned to when it was on, and how long that channel remained on.

The 1,170 homes that are studied by the Nielsen Company are made up of the same mix of people that the whole population is made up of. So when a show gets a rating of, let’s say, 25, it means that 25 percent of the homes with a Nielsen box watched that show. People who work in television then figure that about 25 percent of all the homes in America with television watched that show.

The highest rated show of all time was the last episode of Roots, which first aired in 1977. The program received a rating of 51, which means that about 37 million TV sets in America were tuned in to that program!

Related Facts

  • How do Television Networks know TV viewers don’t cheat during the Nielsen ratings?
  • How does the Nielsen Television Index measure American TV ratings and usage?
  • Who invented High Definition Television and Where did HDTV come from?
  • How does the Motion Picture Association of America rate movies?
  • What was the European Age of Exploration?
  • How do piano tuners tune a piano using a tuning fork and intervals?

Filed Under: Odds

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « Did King Arthur Really Live?
Next Post: What Causes Rust? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2020 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy