Nielsen= A big No-No

The Nielsen Ratings System is a deeply flawed method of determining how many people tuned in to watch a certain show. There are a total of roughly 20,000 Nielsen household totaling about 50,000 individuals participating. Their TV habits, the shows they watch, and those they don’t, are recorded for each individual family member, which helps advertisers know the demographics they are appealing to. You see, that’s just it: the Nielsen System’s data is given to advertisers and they only care about which commercials were seen and which were skipped through.

 This is why so many good shows that still have a lot of ideas, like Arrested Development, are cancelled and those like Two and Half Men stay on for 10 years. The former shows are usually enjoyed by a younger, more tech-savvy audience who watch shows online or DVR them and skip through the commercials, while the latter are watched mostly by older viewers who don’t have these viewing habits. This is also why so many shows with cult-followings are cancelled, because no matter how dedicated a fan-base is, no matter how many methods they use to watch their favorite shows, no matter how beloved the show is, if they are not a Nielsen family, their vote does not count, and if they are a Nielsen family who does love one of these shows but has a habit of skipping through commercials, their love for it is futile. You see, advertisers don’t care how much you love a show or how critically acclaimed it is; they just want you to buy their stuff.
I don't only feel this way because of the effect this system has on my shows, but that's definitely a factor of my opinion. Because no matter how "awful" they are, they're important to me and to many others around the world.