superfro

Does anyone know where to go to find historical ratings reports? I'm looking for data from the end of last summer, around August to current.

Thanks in advance!

das Monkey

Zap2It's archives should go back to around 1998 or so. You could try there. I doubt they have a front end to access the data, so you may have to just keep clicking on weeks and copying the data or write an app to cull it from the site.

das

Shemp

What exactly are you looking for? I may be able to help you out. I do this kind of stuff for a living.

superfro

Thanks for the offer Shemp. If you can help that'd be awesome.

Specifically I'm looking for comparison data for ABC's "The Mole 2" vs. it's replacement "America's Funniest Videos". It would be for Fridays and I believe that The Mole started last August, but I'm not sure on the actual date. It ran for I believe three weeks, then it was replaced.

Any info that you would happen to have would be great! Thanks again!!

Shemp

Superfro -

The info below is stated in household (HH) ratings which includes kids and adults. If you need specific demographics, let me know.

Here's how things went down:

It looks like The Mole II debuted Friday, Sept. 28 to a 3.7 HH rating (approx. 3.9 million HH). The following two weeks it averaged pretty much the same rating (3.8, 3.7).

AFHV apparently replaced it on October 19 and earned a 5.1 HH rating or 5.4 million HH.

Then there were ABC specials for the next 4 weeks. When AFHV came back on 11/23, it earned a 6.0 HH rating (6.3 million HH).

Since it's return in October and up to last Friday (4/5/02), AFHV has averaged a 5.8 HH rating.

Hope this helps.

Venusian

you have special access to this stuff from work or is there a public site that is easily accessible other than zapit?

das Monkey

You have to pay for the report data. Many companies do this for business purposes (e.g. networks), and some of them (Zap2It, USA Today) publish averages over timeslots for the Top ## shows in a day or week or whatever. If the bulk of this information were freely available, no one would pay Nielsen for the data, and they'd go out of business.

das

Venusian

i know a friend of mine gets a magazine that has the info for all time slots....something like Electronic Media Weekly or something

BoatDrinks

It's all published weekly by the newspapers in most of the major markets as well as trade publications.

Pretty much any info you want re: the entertainment biz can be found by going to Variety or The Hollywood Reporter.

das Monkey

Yeah, like I said, you can get ratings averages over a timeslot for popular shows from many publications. Unless I'm mistaken, Nielsen reports by station and quarter hours. These publications then determine what was being shown on that station for those quarter hours in each market, average it out over the duration of the timeslot, and report that data to the public who is curious about the ratings.

But there is a wealth of information not included in those averages for popular programs that advertisers are really interested in.

das

Shemp

"Unless I'm mistaken, Nielsen reports by station and quarter hours. These publications then determine what was being shown on that station for those quarter hours in each market, average it out over the duration of the timeslot, and report that data to the public who is curious about the ratings. "

You're mostly right. With the Nielsen software you can look up information based on dayparts (8p - 11p); time period (8p-830p); program names (That 80's Show), or even program combination (Friends thru E.R). The ratings differences between these formats is negligible, but each does serve a purpose

Also, you can slice and dice this information in several different ways. Whether it's by demo (persons 2+, kids 2-5, adults 18-24, etc.); by ethnicity, region of the country or househod income to name a few.

The biggest point of contention is that Nielsen's sample is only about 5,000 households. Though, statistically, it's said they represent the demographic make up of the country, it's still far from perfect.