What's All this Talk about Numbers?

I went to college for film and spent 4 years there.  What was something that wasn’t mentioned to me once?  The importance of ratings in television.  Sure my teacher had us read the trades in Senior year and see what the big topics were, but ratings was a topic that wasn’t explained to me.  After graduation I began working in the world of television.  Basically, ratings can make or break a television show.  With live events television, the studios can choose to bring a Producer back based on if they brought in the ratings the studio wanted to see.  Fun fact about the Oscars this year: the ratings SOARED in the male 18-35 range.  Overall, the show was up 3%, but the biggest climb was the 11% increase in the 18-49 demographic.  After so much controversy over the show, what do you think the studio cared the most about?

Just a fun outline of some past Oscars ratings:

2013 40.3 million Argo
2012 39.3 million The Artist
2011 37.9 million The King’s Speech
2010 41.3 million The Hurt Locker
2009 36.3 million Slumdog Millionaire
2008 32.0 million No Country For Old Men
2007 40. 2 million The Departed
2006 38.9 million Crash
2005 42.1 million Million Dollar Baby
2004 43.5 million Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King
2003 33.0 million Chicago
2002 41.8 million A Beautiful Mind
2001 42.9 million Gladiator

TV ratings are also very important in scripted television.  The higher the numbers, the better chance the show has to be picked up for another season as well as get a get a great primetime spot.  Recently, there was an NBC show that was moved to a Saturday spot from a Thursday primetime spot.  Why?  Because the ratings dropped significantly from the 1st season.  Curious what the term ratings actually means?  Ratings = the amount of viewers tuning in.  Studios see ratings minute by minute so they can track when they lost viewers and when they tuned in.  The minute by minute is also great for live event shows so they know what worked and what did not.  Do you find yourself turning the station right when commercials go on?  So do many other Americans which causes a ratings drop.  This past Sunday night I found myself in a huge conundrum.  There were SO many shows on at the exact same time that I wanted to watch.  I was curious to see what the ratings would turn out to be the next day.  I figured Game of Thrones would top the cable ratings.  Wouldn’t you agree?  Turns out, I was wrong.  Check out the tier below:

The Walking Dead Finale – 12.4 Million

The Bible Finale – 11.7 Million (overall) / 12.3 Million (9pm hour)

The Talking Dead Finale – 5.2 Million

Game of Thrones Premiere – 4.4 Million

Surprised?  I definitely was.  Now, Game of Thrones is in no danger of getting dropped or bumped.  In fact, the next morning it was picked up for a 4th Season.  I will say Sunday night was a victory for AMC.  You might have noticed above I said ‘Cable’ ratings.  Do you know the difference between cable and broadcast television?  Perhaps that’s another subject, for another post.  So next time you’re in a business of film class raise your hand and ask about TV ratings.  Start to become familiar with them before you find yourself surrounded by the whirlwind of television.

Until next time bloggers.

♥ Mir