Everyone is talking about higher ratings, but let's be clear. Leno had higher ratings according to the outdated Nielson system, which is problematic for a number of reasons.
1. Viewers who participate are aware that they are being monitored, and have been shown to change their viewing patterns accordingly. As a result, the Nielson system has been shown to underreport late night viewership.
2. The Nielson Ratings do not provide a random statistical sample. Only a small fraction of the population is selected, and only those that agree to participate are used as the sample size. There are only 25,000 total American households that participate in the Nielsen daily metered system. Assuming each household averages four family members, CONAN STILL HAS ALMOST 3 TIMES AS MANY FOLLOWERS ON TWITTER, and he’s only been on a few days. 99.97% of American households (read: all of us) have no input into what is actually being watched, which is why Leno has lasted for so long.
4. Nielson ratings do not take into account internet viewership. Though NBC posted full episodes online, internet viewers, like myself, were not accounted for. (Though we did sit through the ads.)
Twitter, on the other hand, offers a much larger and more diverse sample size. (75 million users) Anyone can create an account, even those who have not been selected by a panel of marketing morons. Though many derisive comments has been made about twitter users being young, twitter is easy to operate, user friendly, and unintimidating to older users. My grandfather has an account. In any case, the young audience is the coveted market, whether you like it or not. The older audience is shrinking, and people my age do not, and WILL not, watch Leno.
Face it. Conan is more popular. NBC made a mistake.
1. Viewers who participate are aware that they are being monitored, and have been shown to change their viewing patterns accordingly. As a result, the Nielson system has been shown to underreport late night viewership.
2. The Nielson Ratings do not provide a random statistical sample. Only a small fraction of the population is selected, and only those that agree to participate are used as the sample size. There are only 25,000 total American households that participate in the Nielsen daily metered system. Assuming each household averages four family members, CONAN STILL HAS ALMOST 3 TIMES AS MANY FOLLOWERS ON TWITTER, and he’s only been on a few days. 99.97% of American households (read: all of us) have no input into what is actually being watched, which is why Leno has lasted for so long.
4. Nielson ratings do not take into account internet viewership. Though NBC posted full episodes online, internet viewers, like myself, were not accounted for. (Though we did sit through the ads.)
Twitter, on the other hand, offers a much larger and more diverse sample size. (75 million users) Anyone can create an account, even those who have not been selected by a panel of marketing morons. Though many derisive comments has been made about twitter users being young, twitter is easy to operate, user friendly, and unintimidating to older users. My grandfather has an account. In any case, the young audience is the coveted market, whether you like it or not. The older audience is shrinking, and people my age do not, and WILL not, watch Leno.
Face it. Conan is more popular. NBC made a mistake.
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