Hey Nielsen

There has been a debate raging since Jericho was canceled by CBS. That debate involves the Nielsen ratings and how those ratings affected the cancellation of Jericho as well as of other shows. Did the Nielsen ratings truly reflect all the viewers of Jericho? No, because so many fans used DVR or TiVo or watched online.

After Nina Tassler of CBS sent fans the renewal notice for Jericho the debate kicked into high gear. Here we were being told we had to increase Jericho's ratings by asking more people to watch it " live." People became angry and upset when it was pointed out that only Nielsen families who watched live would be counted. What's a Jericho Ranger to do? You can't go through the phone book and call Nielsen families because they aren't allowed to announce who they are.

For now, we are advertising everywhere in the hopes of Nielsen families seeing our efforts. Brochures, flyers, car and yard signs, and more. Then, last night, there seemed to be a flicker of light at the end of the tunnel. Nielsen has announced that, later this year, they will launch a website called Hey Nielsen. This will allow people- any people- to go to their website and leave feedback for favorite TV shows, movies, and more. There are two ststements that jumped out at me.

1) Concerning feedback Nielsen says they " may share it with the companies responsible for those entertainment products." Why do it if you aren't going to share it?

2) Nielsen states that users who leave " rich, insightful, and frequent feedback" may be invited to participate in surveys and/or interviews for TV, movies, and commercials.

Hopefully, this will be a way for us all to communicate how large a fanbase is really out there for a particular show or movie. And, maybe, advertisers will see what they're missing out on by not counting all viewers.

Wouldn't you love to leave your feedback? Come on, Nielsen, we need this in place before Jericho returns in the Fall.