Nielsen Ratings Nielsen Media Research surveys television viewers to determine the numbers of people watching particular shows. They estimated that for the
2015
-
2016
television season, there were an estimated
113.3
million U.S. households with televisions. Each rating point represents
1
%
of that number, or
1
,
133
,
000
. Therefore, for instance, if
60
Minutes received a rating of
5.8
, then
5.8
%
of all U.S. households with televisions, or
(
0.058
)
(
113,300
,
000
)
=
6
,
571,4
00
households, were tuned to that program. A rating point does not mean that
1,133
,
000
people are watching a program. A rating point refers to the number of households with television sets tuned to that program: there may be more than one person watching a television set in the household.
Nielsen Media Research also describes a program’s share of the market. Share is the percent of households with television sets in use that are tuned to a program. Suppose that the same week that
60
Minutes received
5.8
rating points, the show received a share of
11
%
. This would mean that
11
%
of all households with a television turned on were tuned to
60
Minutes, whereas
5.8
%
of all households with a television were tuned to the program.
a. If
N
C
I
S
received a Nielsen rating of
10.1
and a share of
17
. how many TV households watched the program that week? How many TV households were watching television during that hour? Round to the nearest hundred thousand.
b. Suppose that The Big Bang Theory received a rating of
5.6
and a share of
11
. How many TV house holds watched the program that week? How many TV households were watching television during that hour? Round lo the nearest hundred thousand.
Suppose that Modern Family received a rating of
7.5
during a week in which
19,381,
000
people were watching the show. Find the average number of people per TV household who watched the program. Round to the nearest tenth.