The Television Viewer Union

What kind of fools does CBS take us for? I am disgusted by CBS, Nielsen, and Les Moonves. If that statement applies to you please keep reading.
************************

Banding together to get our voices heard.

"The game plan is this:
The simplified formula for television is that you have Networks that produce the shows we watch and who pay millions and millions of dollars to make the shows we watch. You have the advertisers or sponsors who pay millions and millions of dollars to the networks so that they can advertise on the shows that we watch to entice us to buy their goods and then there is us, the television viewers who watch the shows that the networks put out and who the advertisers pay big bucks too.

So we have the networks, the advertisers or sponsors and we the television viewers. It takes all three things for the whole formula to work and if you take one away it doesn't work.

Then you factor in Nielsen Ratings that rate our shows and their ratings determine the advertising dollars that the networks can demand for the shows they produce and even though it's a flawed system and good shows have been cancelled it's the only rating system out there and they are powerful enough to fend off Networks and the United States Government alike but are they powerful enough to fend off the fans?

The problem is that the television viewers aren't represented, so the networks don't have to listen to us. And until the Internet came along the technology wasn't available to unite the fans.

So this site was created to try to unite the television viewers and get us some representation with the networks. When we get enough members we will start to Rock The Ratings by doing roving boycotts of pre-selected shows and let the advertisers of those shows know about the boycotts after they happen. With a little time they will then start complaining to the networks about paying too much money for shows that are being boycotted. If that doesn't get them to work with us then we will stop roving and pick a network to boycott and that network can feel the power of the fans.

Now, if I understand Nielsen Media correctly then there are only 25,000 boxes in the United States that rates the shows and a million diaries that viewers fill out during sweeps. If that's the case, a boycott may not show up that much in the Nielsen Ratings but with enough people putting pressure on the advertisers, they will in turn put pressure on the networks who will have to change how they do things and work with us.

We realize that all the shows can't be saved and in some cases shouldn't be saved but we can try to get some concessions from the networks to get wrap up episodes for shows and possibly a season that goes to DVD and even things like fewer commercials in each televised episode."

CBS: You Are Dead To Me

Keeping Jericho

Margie: I'm home, Edna. I was walking back from Bailey's and I saw this huge truck pull into town. The logo on the side said CBS. Who are they?

Edna: I have no idea, Margie. Maybe CBS stands for “Can’t Bring Satisfaction”? “Could Be Snoring”? “Clowns, Buffoons, and Simpletons”?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


"Five Reasons To Keep Jericho

• Fans are engaged, watching episodes and embedded ads over and over.
• The online audience continues to grow, with ample consumer evangelists.
• Even with less-than-stellar ratings, the rating are better than many other shows.
• It’s a leading program among the network’s growing online inventory.
• There were notable flaws in engaging the fan base that saved show while CBS continues to get up to speed on how to best engage online fans. There is an opportunity to do it right with a third season."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Boondoggie is back.

"As I sit here tonight waiting for the second to last episode of the season, it occurred to me that the world of social networking has really changed since the last time around. The Save Jericho movement broke new ground the first time by leveraging social networks like Digg to communicate with the outside world. We even had a few of the articles on this blog hit the front page of the entertainment category on Digg because they were heavily dugg by Jericho fans. Surely, this time around they must have gained even more momentum."

Jericho: Approaching The Finale

Edna, our hometown just isn't the same anymore. Do you think we Rangers can keep it alive?

I truly do hope so, Margie, but I just don’t know. We’ve seen a lot of changes in the past year around here, haven’t we?
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I have given up on the CBS board. I should have done it a long time ago. There would never have been a Season 2 if we'd had all these squabbles and negativity back during Nuts.

It appears to me that there's less concern about saving Jericho than there is about egos and being right. Jericho has always come first with me and it always will.

I am firm in my belief that there will be a Season 3 but, if there isn't, I am going to enjoy the heck out of these last 2 episodes.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"The problem is, unless you are Paris Hilton -- or even young people of somewhat lesser wealth -- there's not many of you there, much to the chagrin of TV marketers.

Fox network can lay claim to getting more 18-34 viewers than anyone -- but the vast majority are not upper-income TV viewers, those who make $75,000 or $100,000 a year.

Marketers -- like wireless phone, car, and entertainment companies -- would love to sell young people more expensive stuff.

No doubt, there are some rich kids who watch MTV, Comedy Central, or E! But even then, they might be what older, rich viewers are sometimes called: "light TV" viewers.

These are viewers who, because of their cash, wind up participating in better, non-TV activities -- all the stuff that money can buy for an entertaining good time.

In that regard, TV is good entertainment at a relatively cheap price -- attracting just the type of consumers TV advertisers increasingly don't want."

CBS: Count The Baby Boomers

You'll notice the Jericho Countdown to Season 2 Finale widget in the left sidebar. Yes, less than 2 weeks to go and not a peep out of CBS.
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"We are amused when visitors write to us ask what effect the boomers are having on the economy. Folks, in 2008, the economy IS the boomers! We represent the vast majority of the work force. There are 76 million of us; we ARE the economy. (That is not bragging; that is just a statistical reality.) The huge growth in the economy since the 90s was due in no small part to 76 million of us working up to our peak earning and spending years. What are we spending our money on? Other than Metallica CDs and movies aimed at 15 year-olds, whatever is being sold... we are buying it. (And, in fact, we are paying for most of those Metallica CDs and movie tickets, as well.) What kind of cars are we buying? What kind are Detroit and Japan selling? We ARE the upper end of the automobile market. What explains the explosion in the popularity of SUVs? We do. Where do we go on vacation? Everywhere. How do we get there? Every way possible."



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Hey, CBS, there are a lot of baby boomers. We'll soon outnumber the 18-49 crowd so what will the networks want then

You'll be begging us to watch but we'll remember how you didn't want us.



"This age-bias shows no signs of diminishing in Hollywood. But if network programmers were really smart about gearing shows to the 50-plus crowd -- and convincing the Nielsen people and advertisers to follow along -- they'd get themselves busy right now. Baby Boomers -- the first people raised on television -- are about to turn 50, creating the biggest viewing block shift in decades.

Were all those ads marketed to Baby Boomers yesterday's news? The vaunted buying power of this group now just sheer myth? Do they overnight become inconsequential just because they don't fit into the 18-49 demographic? The most product-conscious consumers of all time won't be allowed into the exclusive TV club?

Oh, really?

Television has always been slow to reinvent itself. It hates to change its long-held views, its governing procedures -- everything. So right now, if you're 50, you're powerless. You're undesirable. You're invisible. But hang in there. In the not too distant future, you might be able to revolutionize an old dinosaur."

Jericho: No Regrets ?

"With audiences increasingly distracted by other entertainment mediums, what network wouldn't be tempted to give a second chance to a show that sparked so much enthusiasm with a story that kept getting more interesting? After all, viewers never get this riled up about "Cold Case.

No matter what happens with 'Jericho,' there will be no regrets here," one CBS insider says. "We listened to our audience, and the producers delivered seven terrific episodes at a time we needed original programming during the writers strike."

Fans, however, have a very different take on the "Jericho" saga. Despite CBS risking a pickup, many blame the current "Jericho" woes on the network's lack of support."

Jericho: The Positive

"Finally, the big boy — “Jericho.” CBS has yet to decide this show’s fate. The LIVE viewing numbers haven’t been great, but they also haven’t been that bad. Anytime a network can garner 6 to 8 million consistant viewers to sit through a one hour show week after week with all those dreaded commercials is a good thing. More importantly, CBS is looking at the DVR numbers for the show and are ecstatic. Will this be enough to keep the show on CBS? We should know within a week or two. If the final episode (there’s only two left in Season Two) is a wrap up with no hanging threads, then we can be sure CBS will not give it a third season. However, if the show ends with a big cliffhanger, then that is a sign to fans that “Jericho” will return for Number Three. Keep watching!"


I bet Mr Orth would like Jericho. Because, no kidding, Jericho teaches American history like he did. Well, almost like he did because what Jericho is really good at is supplementing the knowledge passed down from our history teachers. Replanting seeds that grow into impulses to investigate anew to see if the writers are really referencing what we think. I can actually envision some progressive history class of the not so distant future using Jericho as a sort of Transformer who can twist, turn, invert and oscillate to become the real deal."
"

Digital Changes

"What is often a rather humdrum discussion of the strengths of magazines, TV and other media venues this year turned into an exercise in grenade launching and hand wringing over the increasingly obvious shortcomings in media measurement.

This year's 4A's Media Conference was given the title "Digital Changes Everything." That much is a truism accepted by most many moons ago, but what became evident as the panels and speeches at this year's event unfolded is that the digitization of our lives is raising questions a lot of media owners and agencies are far from being able to answer."




"When asked about the future of TV and of video on the internet, people reveal profound differences in attitudes based on age groups. We asked people ages 12 to 64 if they agreed (on a scale of one to five, with five meaning they agreed completely) with two statements about the future of TV and competition with the TV for entertainment time."



" For a variety of shows, the Web proves valuable as a time machine, permitting users to catch up on missed episodes. The Web site for “Jericho,” a show that was canceled by CBS but revived last year because of Internet-savvy fans, had roughly 1.3 million video views in the first week after the show’s second-season debut on Feb. 12. Less than half of those views were of the premiere episode; the rest were from viewers catching up on the first season or sharing clips.

In addition to tracking the episode views, CBS measures the amount of online conversation happening about shows.

“We’re still midstream,” said Nina Tassler, the president of CBS Entertainment. “We’re still learning about people’s behaviors and we’re still learning about what shows really resonate with an online audience.”

Schumi Leads Again

"The biggest difference this time is fans are not being asked to bombard CBS with nuts. Instead, the fan-based campaign focuses on “Jericho’s” popularity in alternative distribution nodes like the Internet and timeshifted viewing, which grows the live audience by more than 20 percent according to releases issued by CBS.

The campaign is being facillitated by fan-forum member who goes under the screen name of Shumi. In an open letter to CBS, Shumi said, “With ‘Jericho’ you succeeded where your competitors frequently fail — you brought viewers back to network television,” Schumi said. “You did that by taking a chance on a little show that was different and offered more than the usual fare of recycled drama plots, or mindless games shows and reality TV. But what you brought back was a new viewer, the viewer of tomorrow.”

Shumi’s goes on to say that CBS is passing up a “lucrative opportunity” with the network’s “online opportunities.”
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Trish Kate's TV Talk

"Even if 75% of those 15 million opt out of the real time measurement (highly unlikely), that blows nielsen's 25,000 sample away because we're still talking millions. It makes Nielsen look absolutely piddly. And really, in this day & age, Nielsen is antiquated. Do you want change? Speak up. Be loud. Make NOISE. Because it's NOT going to change until we do.
Jericho has exploded online - critics, news articles, entertainment features, cast interviews, blogs, iTunes purchases, Amazon Unboxed purchases, CBS' own website - including forums and innertube views, Xbox live, illegal torrent numbers, etc.. whew. I could go on & on. It's overwhelming and it speaks volumes. Jericho is popular.

Ok back to Nielsen chatter. I'll be investigating this whole thing further, because we just can't let this go. No matter what happens with Jericho, the time for television measurement change is now. For every single person that watches Television: this is your fight too, don't think for a minute that it isn't. Your favorite show may someday disappear without warning if you don't act now."

Jericho: Counting The Everyman

My thanks to Karen for sharing her letter. Pay attention CBS.



To whom it may concern:

I’m writing you today to encourage the people that matter and
influence programming decisions to continue to support a little show
called Jericho. To be totally honest I do not trust Nielsen’s to
accurately represent myself and people like me who have little time
in their life for brainless, heartless television. Perhaps we do not
represent double digit millions but we are significant. We matter.
This is the only way I can feel I count so I truly hope someone reads
this.

I fall in the treasured age demographic, though I am a female and not
the coveted “boy-man” demo. I make a respectable income and have
complete control over how it is spent.

Why do I support Jericho so passionately? I’ve though a great deal
about this because I wondered why I cared so much too. For one thing,
from the first promo I saw I was reminded of one of my favorite
novels, read many times, Alas Babylon.

I am from the Midwest. I grew up in South Dakota and my father was a
Chief Master Sergeant in the Air Force and he worked in a missile
wing. I can still remember when he snuck me into a missile silo and
let me peek over the edge. I was maybe 8 years old. I knew exactly
what it was and what it could do. Maybe because of this, I have
always known such possibilities as Jericho really do exist. Maybe
that is part of the lure. But when you grow up in South Dakota, and
for years at any rate, you couldn’t drive very far but you saw the
tell tale (at least to me) signs of a nuclear weapon somewhere.

I went to university in South Dakota too, graduated and now live and
work in Nebraska. I work for a small, independent telephone, cable
and internet company that services much of rural central Nebraska.

Do you realize that Jericho is one of the few programs I can ever
remember that accurately depicts small town, rural Americans? Jericho
is the “everyman” for a chunk of Americans who are largely neglected
by the entertainment industry. I know every single one of the people
portrayed in Jericho in real life.

My telephone technicians, who are also the county EMTs, and fireman
or who ranch on the side, one even runs a scavenging business and can
find you any kind of part, engine or any object are just like many
characters on Jericho. Oliver with the radio? Totally my customer
who calls in insisting that men in black cars are parking on the hill
and tapping in to their phone conversations. Emily and Heather are
definitely the women who teach but work the farm as well, or like the
woman who opened the mechanics shop with money she inherited from
family. Gail and Johnston Green are the people who come rescue you 40
miles out in to the country when your car breaks down. Do you see
characters like this on the double digit million viewer shows?
Probably not, because the majority of your urban viewers (read: the
most people with a Nielsen box) don’t think that’s realistic.

Jericho puts these people in an unknowable situation and the writers
spin heart and intrigue into the stories. People think no one is as
versatile as these characters but when you live where there isn’t a
WalMart for 50 miles and businesses close at 8 or 10 pm, you make
sure you know how to do many different jobs and you develop multiple
skills. There is no place I would rather be than a small town if a
disaster occurred.

The writers have also put us, viewers that relate, into a position to
feel up close and personal what people in many nations deal with
daily: deprivation and oppression. It is one thing to watch the news
and see a story or read history and another to see a street that
looks like my street, with people who are just like the people I know
facing that situation.

I also appreciate that the women of Jericho are presented as the
backbone of the community, as people of strength, action, wisdom and
practicality.

But, why should the network support Jericho?

Because six million faithful viewers in your hand is worth 11 million
in the proverbial bush.

Jericho fans turn out. Jericho fans continue to recruit (but it takes
time to catch people up). With the lead in of a show that is
guaranteed to be viewed by people who have no desire to turn on their
brains, you can’t expect them to stay tuned to Jericho. And people
who would probably like Jericho aren’t going to remember to go back
and turn it on (unless they are the diehards). This is not effective
scheduling.

Why should you support Jericho? Because on a night when the biggest
juggernaut in American Television history has its following sitting
on the phone either voting or yapping with a friend over yet another
singing zombie must see TV episode, Jericho holds steady. On the
Tuesday nights when the first actually exciting primaries between
iconic, history making candidates is playing out and people are
actually interested, maybe even excited about politics, Jericho is
holding steady. Without E!TV coverage of some scandalous trespass the
actors are not involved in; without one Early Show recap, behind the
scenes or sneak peak; without Barbie Doll actors sporting the latest
fashions or indulging in clandestine, steamy relationships in a
closet, Jericho is holding steady.

Imagine a Jericho that is supported. Imagine a Jericho with some talk
show coverage. Imagine a Jericho aired before the viewers have to go
to bed because they work early. Imagine a Jericho with a lead in of a
television show that somewhat fits the profile of viewers interested
in smart, speculative, heart warming, funny, action TV.

Why, the viewer base might have a chance to grow! And always, like a
steady heartbeat, the faithful fans will be there. Your numbers at
least show that. I know advertisers buy the shows, but there are more
types of viewers than rating Goliaths cater to, and we have money to
spend too. Why not get both kinds of viewers instead of settling for
just the one slice, even if it is big? Is it really smarter to throw
an amount of money after a possibility than hang on to something
solid? How many of your freshman shows survived last year? I’m not
gambling a whole lot when I say maybe a smaller return on a sure
thing is better to back than losing a wad of money to that
glistening, good looking longshot.

Now a word about “new media”. I know it is an unknown factor. I know
it isn’t quantifiable in the same way as tried and trusty (but
questionable in truly reflecting the entire public’s taste)
Nielsen’s. New media is a baby.

Well, someone needs to start feeding the baby now. It may not be a
huge number but Jericho has a strong internet and download following.
Yes, some of it is repeat users like myself who want media in various
formats, but a lot of it is unique. It’s certainly how the people I
have interested in Jericho are catching up.

The company I work for took a gamble 12 years ago and shelled out to
begin installing a fiber network throughout our territory, which is
some of the most rugged isolated country around, because they saw
something coming. The big companies didn’t want to do it and other
independents were uncertain (though many were persuaded by our
actions to do the same not too long after). As a result, when the
technology was needed because the public interest in digital devices
became a necessity, we were able to provide service long before other
rural areas. Our CEO didn’t use internet and didn’t see why our
customers would need it, but some of us persuaded them that these
people needed it most. You are lucky if your town has a public
library at all, and those that do have maybe two days a week that it
is open. In an area where you have to mail order half your purchases
or drive 50 or more miles to Walmart or Kmart or Target because they
don’t carry it at the U Pump It or local equivalent of Gracie’s
Grocery, internet was going to be a godsend. So, as a result 95% of
our customers can get DSL and the rest are coming (it really is
rural). While big companies are dropping the towns they have because
they don’t want to put in equipment and while other small
independents or co-ops are closing because it is too much to handle
now when demand is so big, we are stable because we fed the baby.

The other day, one of my remote customers called in very excited
because we will be turning up equipment that can provide her DSL.
Satellite TV is all that brings them a clear picture, if it isn’t
windy, or storming, which it often is. The first question out of her
mouth to me was “So then I can watch TV shows whenever I want online,
right? And I don’t have to watch them when they are on TV?” The very
first question. Not pricing or anything else was on the top of her
mind, but rather “I can watch TV shows”.

Find a way to monetize, measure and quantify “new media” because,
like Jericho fans, it’s here and it’s not going anywhere soon. Feed
the baby.
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Loving Jericho: Karen

Here is how I planned to begin this post:

Hello Karen. I don't know you but I think we could get along. I love your posts at tvbythenumbers because you rise above the gloom and doom. I'm so sick of all the naysayers. People said the Nuts couldn't save Jericho yet here we are.

Thank you for your persistence. Keep up the good work.
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Update:

The Internet is a big place but Karen's passion sparked something inside me so I went in search of her. Not easy. It took a few hours but I did find her and she has responded to my email so I now do know who she is.


The following are just a few of Karen's comments that caught my eye:


"No the answer is this: If one little show, Jericho, can prove the nielsen rating system is flawed, down goes the monopoly. It’s really that simple.

nielsen numbers flip flop all over

online buzz remains consistent and continues to grow.

You tell me what’s going on."


"Someone posted today on how hers was a Nielsen family but her ex-husband (now) controlled the remote, switching constantly between sports channels and she had to watch her programs at other houses. How often are Nielsen views actually controlled by one member? But it is moot. I will be told that Nielsen’s are the only measures and that’s just how it is.

BTW, the ratings dip two Tuesdays apart. Weren’t those BOTH election Tuesdays? Is that suspicious at all looking at the bounce? It seems to me *something* is affecting them other than disinterest."

Be sure to read more of Karen's comments and you'll be seeing her here on JM soon. Thank you Karen.

Jericho: Election Preemptions

Elections are being held Tuesday 3/4 in Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Be sure to write CBS if you can't watch Tuesday and let them know Jericho was preempted.



Here is another good article about shows that are cancelled and the audience that is often unnoticed by Nielsen and the networks. Think Jericho.


"Have you ever wondered why some TV shows are canceled due to supposedly low ratings when it seems like they have a strong following? Sometimes there are obvious reasons - like when CBS scheduled Jericho up against Fox's American Idol, or Journeyman possibly being a victim of bad timing with the writers' strike and too many reality show hitting the networks.

Neilsen Ratings are the measurement of selected "families" who actually sit down to watch television programs, watch. This tells me that networks tend to rely on the black and white data, and not consider what the "unnoticed" audience watches. Neilsen families are the ones who make shows like 60 Minutes, Seinfeld, ER, Survivor, CSI & American Idol the top rated shows in their respective time slots. I'm no expert, but this sounds like the folks that enjoy these shows may not be sci fi fans. Sci fi is a smaller niche, but fans of sci fi shows tend to be extremely loyal and dedicated to a series.

Knowing a TV series' demographics has it's merit, but Nielsen's "sampling methods" have been (rightly) criticized since the selected families know who they are, defeating the premise of double blind testing. Neilsen ratings also refuse to count recorded programming for later viewing as part of its sampling methods. This used to apply to VCRs (remember those?) but now includes Digital Recording Devices like Tivo. This does make some sense, since we skip commercials watching recorded shows, but it could spur advertisers to think of more creative ways to put ads in front of viewers while the show is on."

Jericho Ratings Improve

Jericho Ratings for Feb. 26:

"At 10:00 PM, JERICHO was second in households (4.3/07), viewers (6.90m), adults 25-54 (2.9/07) and adults 18-49 (2.2/06). Compared to last week, JERICHO was up +13% in households (from 3.8/06), +16% in adults 25-54 (from 2.5/06), +10% in adults 18-49 (from 2.0/05) and added +1.04m viewers (from 5.86m, +18%)."



Would you allow Nielsen to invade your privacy so they can learn everything about you? I'm not talking about just TV either. Keep reading.


"The central message here is that Nielsen, which would just love to know what TV shows you watch, which websites you visit, which books you read, which video games you play, and which brand of bread you eat, is running into iron walls as it tries to combine all of its audience analytics systems. Homes that are part of Nielsen’s television audience panel don’t want the company snooping in on its Internet browsing. Suddenly, privacy matters!

But that’s not keeping Nielsen from moving ahead with A2/M2, or “Anytime Anywhere Media Measurement,” which aims to measure the media a person is consuming anywhere, anytime. If that sounds a little Big Brother circa 2083, it is. It’s also nearly as impossible as it sounds.

Despite increasing competition, clients, like ad agencies and TV networks, have faith in Nielsen. But only because Nielsen is the biggest game in town, and not because its methodology and initiatives make any sense."



"The intimate media habits of the fickle public won't be a secret anymore. Nielsen announced yesterday that it will use paid human "shadows" to monitor plugged-in Americans during every waking moment, with information updated as often as every 10 seconds.

The television-ratings company calls the $3.5 million project both "landmark" and "groundbreaking," and has enlisted the help of academics and marketing mavens alike to mine the information. No bit of data is considered trivial."

How Not To Promote Jericho

Time is running short for Jericho and we Rangers have promoted to the best of our abilities. Most of us have anyway. In the time we have left I wanted to mention some items that are not effective when we want to promote Jericho. If you are a new fan I hope you will benefit as well. Please avoid these:
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1. Don't anger other fandoms (they might be a Nielsen family and would watch Jericho) by spamming their boards and making multiple posts on the same subject.

2. Don't attack other fandoms at HeyNielsen and expect them to watch Jericho in return.

3. Please don't attack Jericho's own fans. We have all worked hard and we saved Jericho as a group. If you disagree with someone at least be respectful when posting your difference of opinion.

4. Please don't bash other Jericho fan sites and characters. This is distorted thinking. The characters are not real people but the actor or actress who plays them is. You don't have to like every character and you can say that in a nice way. Bashing insults the entire Jericho cast and crew as well as your fellow fans.

5. Don't undermine promotional efforts in your own fandom just because you didn't think of an idea first.

6. Don't take credit for promotional efforts of other fandoms when you weren't responsible for them.

7. Please write legible, sensible posts. Here's an excellent blog post about "Writing In English."


8. The best way to lose potential viewers is to be confrontational, hostile, and condemn everything they say just because they disagree. Don't attack others so our ratings go even lower.

9. Don't tell people they have to do something. Asking nicely gets excellent results.

10. Don't tell people what to think because we are all different.

This post is not directed to anyone in particular. This is not the only fandom where these things occur. Let's all think before we post and remember we want people to watch Jericho.

Nielsen: Do You Count ?

We call Rich Becker the "Hammer" because he hits the nail on the head almost every time. His latest post is no exception. How many good TV shows have we lost because of them counting too few viewers?


"Why are Nielsen numbers only sometimes important? According to Nielsen: There are 5,000 households in the national People Meter sample, approximately 20,000 households in the local metered market samples, approximately 1,000 metered homes for our national and local Hispanic measurement, and nearly 1.6 million diaries are edited each year.

In other words, on Nielsen’s best day, we can expect less than 2 percent of all television households to be sampled, which doesn’t even consider how many people lie (if you were a Jericho fan, chances are you would say you watched it, even if you did not). Or, in yet other words, Nielsen only sounds good when someone like Hinman writes it up like this. Ho hum."


"My point is that the rating system has become little more than a tool to push perception instead of reality. How far from reality? Far enough from reality that when a show like Jericho, for example, is placed in a setting where every viewer is tracked, like TiVo viewers or iTunes downloads, it comes close to the top and looks more viable."
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"Interactive ads and techniques to advertise in the VOD and DVR age are top of mind for advertisers, portions of a new survey by the Association of National Advertisers and Forrester Research says. 65% of advertisers want to try ads embedded in VOD, while 43% want to experiment with interactive ads. The full survey will be released next Thursday."


"How does the generally competent Sara Erichson, VP of sales and client services, plan to handle the general incompetence of Nielsen, the audience measure company plagued by, among other things, delays in reporting its TV data?
Like any good media conglomerate exec, she’s overseeing the snatching up other companies."



"Marketers need to better understand the changing dynamics of the consumer media market and develop new marketing plans that integrate new media to replace the erosion of traditional media for influence to purchase," said Gary Drenik, president of BIGresearch.

"Marketers who can't tap new media options for their influence to purchase will suffer a decline in advertising ROI."

Open Letter To Karim Zreik

The recent chat with you in Jeritopia was excellent. One part in particular caught my eye. You were asked this question by dbalcer:

" We love townjennie. When we get Season 3 can we get more of her storyline?"

"We all love townjennie," Karim replied. "What would you guys like to see townjennie do next season? Hey, perhaps that'll be a good contest:you guys write her."



Jennie's fans are waiting for the contest. We hope you were serious. Here are a few fan comments:


"My affinity for TownJennie is mostly because she's made herself so accessible to the fans. She has been in direct contact with the fans since she posted on the CBS boards, and it feels like she became our "friend" after Season 1. I guess I'd like to learn more about her character, and I'd also like my Jericho "friend" to have bigger success within the show. In addition, I also think she represents what most of us want for ourselves, to be taken from the background and out into the limelight."


"One of the reasons I want her to get a bigger part is that she has something special that made it so we could identify her. The she made herself available to us and shared her stories on the sets. She is one of them granted in a small role but wants to be one of us too."

" When Jennie first posted at CBS I wasn't sure who she was but people started talking about her so I began to pay attention. I finally saw her picture and saw some videos.I thought she was very pretty then I read an interview about her. She is so down to earth and seems to love the show and her job. She feels like a friend. I want her her to have a bigger role because she deserves it. We want Jennie."

" Jennie is a super nice lady. She's as pretty as Ashley or Sprague. Maybe more. I think she could do a good job in a bigger part."

" Jennie is the kind of person who makes everybody feel special. She deserves a much bigger role."

If you would like to make a comment please post in the comment section or email sweat1951@rock.com and I will post them here.

Nielsen: Counting The Few

"Q: It seems as if every TV show we enjoy and look forward to goes off the air due to low ratings. Could you explain how ratings are obtained? We have never been contacted by phone or any other medium as to what we are watching and are longtime viewers.

A: Ratings are based on the viewing habits of a sample of the audience. For the more than 111 million TV homes in the United States, Nielsen uses about 25,000 homes with meters to determine day-to-day ratings and about 1.6 million homes filling in diaries during ratings ''sweeps,'' the major measurement periods for local TV stations. Nielsen tries to select homes that, as a group, represent the entire population in terms of age and other factors, but there have been many criticisms over the years of the validity of that sample."



Most recorded based on TiVo numbers:
# 14- Jericho

Moved up 10 spots. See here.



Another Big Nielsen Error here.




Speaking of validity I found this at CBS:

"I have read in other posts that not all the CBS affiliates aired the repeat showing on Saturday."

Yes, this happened back during the summer too.

Jericho and TiVo

If you have TiVo you can record Jericho (on CBS and SciFi) and play it back the next day with commercials.
It's a lot easier to find TiVo owners than it is Nielsen families.


"The TiVo data is derived from a daily, anonymous, stratified random sample of 20,000 TiVo units from which the second-by-second "clickstream" of behavior and viewership is collected and assessed."


"As with TiVo's normal Stop||Watch data, the user information should remain anonymous and will be randomly plucked from TiVo's usual subscriber base. The change is expected to help CBS adapt both the way it displays advertising as well as the shows themselves; data collected in the near future should allow for ads that are more likely to garner attention as well as find a way to promote other shows to customers who might never see traditional spots, the studio says.

CBS is only the second major TV producer after NBC Universal to use the TiVo service to gauge ratings and reveals an increasing shift away from traditional ratings firms such as Nielsen, which often focus solely on live TV broadcasts."


"Nielsen's newer methods rely on automatic collection, too, and they should be just as accurate, but they require additional hardware installation and will always rely on a smaller statistical sample than TiVo's entire customer base. (Just last month, Nielsen said it would increase its sample size to 37,000 households by 2011.) For TiVo, that's some 2.5 million data points from the grandfathered DirecTV (NYSE: DTV) TiVo users alone, plus 1.7 million direct TiVo customers."

For more info on how TiVo works go here.


Many thanks to Gwen and The Jericho Telegraph for much of this information.

Hey CBS: Keeping Promises

"CBS primarily made four promises to Jericho fans when they reinstated the series in June", says Rich Becker of Copywrite Ink.

"• Re-broadcast “Jericho” on CBS, which they did with an odd order, until the series was pre-empted by football.
• Stream online episodes and clips online, but without much marketing support for the varied platforms where you can find it.
• Release the first season to DVD on Sept. 25, which was postponed and lacked any substantial marketing support.
• Continue the story of Jericho in digital media, which they almost did but not in any real tangible sort of way."


In light of those facts what should we make of Jericho's season opener ratings?


"Maybe those ratings aren't all bad", says Rich Becker of Copywrite Ink. "They might even be good. Jericho outperformed all but one episode of "Cane," which was planned for this time slot this season for CBS.
What does that mean? Jericho is the better bet for CBS and next week's episode is reported to be even better.
That has to be the feeling at CBS as Dan Shotz and Karim Zreik, co-producers, took time out to mention CBS was happy with the numbers and committed. We shall see."
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Do you think CBS will be more lenient with Jericho this time around because Nielsen ratings remain flawed?


"I'm not so sure that CBS will be more lenient because of the flaws in the Nielsen system (I'm not so sure they, even now, consider them to be flawed), but I am pretty sure that CBS is going to give Jericho every chance before canceling it",says Amy Vernon of Remote Access. "Didn't they learn their lesson? But seriously, I read on someone's blog that this time slot is usually pretty bad for CBS, and Jericho's ratings in that slot were better than CBS has gotten there before; that will count for something.

And with the writer's strike, a lot fewer new shows are being added in the fall. So long as the ratings aren't bad, and the DVR+7 ratings jack up the ratings another couple million, I think there's still a decent shot at a season 3. However, I'm a rank amateur at all this, so what do I know?

Hope, as they say, springs eternal."
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Is it fair for CBS to consider only Nielsen numbers?

"No, it is not fair" says a media consultant who wishes to remain anonymous. "The Nielsen ratings system is so far outdated and, in my opinion, has never been an accurate way of counting viewership of any program. In this day of new forms of media and methods in which one can view programming, it is obsolete. Millions of viewers don't get counted. But if we are talking about simply watching our TVs when a new episode of a show airs, I for one have never liked the Nielsen system of having one family determine what several thousand other households are viewing. Unless I'm failing to understand how this can possibly work with any accuracy, it's just simply not an accurate way of counting viewers. It's an unfair system and while it's good they are now counting DVR recordings, it's not enough. I believe it would be in the networks best interest to look at other ways of determining if a show they've invested in as well as the fan base of those shows' viewership get counted properly and fairly before making the decision to pull the plug. The history making grass roots campaign done by the millions of Jericho fans should be a really big wake up call that times are and have changed and before we shoot ourselves in the foot, take a good hard look at what we need to do to create a new ratings system and apply it.

We should all have our own voice in rating a show as it airs like we do when we go to the polls to vote in elections. This is America where every individual choice should be counted."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Let's remind CBS that we ALL want to be counted. They know we're here. Are you going to count all of us this time CBS?

Jericho: Moonves Optimistic

"CBS Corp. Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves predicted advertising revenue will increase this year and doesn't see signs of a recession in that market.

Moonves said in an interview today in New York that while he's concerned about the economy, he feels ``very good'' about the fundamentals of CBS's business.

CBS, owner of the most-watched U.S. television network, is among the media companies most vulnerable to a recession, because 73 percent of sales come from advertising, Merrill Lynch & Co. analyst Jessica Reif Cohen said yesterday. The network will attract advertisers, Moonves told Bloomberg Television.

``Even during harder times, the network, which is our bread and butter, still remains a very significant place where advertisers go and is almost recession-proof,'' Moonves said.

CBS declined $1.33, or 5.8 percent, to $21.55 at 12:49 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has dropped this week amid a global sell-off of equities.

The Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by 0.75 percentage point yesterday, the most in 23 years. The S&P 500 fell to a 16-month low after the Fed's emergency reduction failed to convince investors the U.S. will avoid recession.

Morgan Stanley analyst Benjamin Swinburne reduced his estimate for advertising spending growth to 3.2 percent from 5.4 percent today, citing slowing economies.

Broadcasters have also suffered from an 11-week-old strike by TV and movie writers that forced them to air reruns."