Statistical Breakdown of Saturdays Television Viewing (Sept 29th)

Saturday Night College Football Ratings Comparison: NBC Reigns Supreme

Saturday night, Sept 29th 2012, had a plethora of college football games broadcasted between the major networks of ABC (Clemson at Florida State), NBC (Michigan at Notre Dame), and FOX (Kansas State at Oklahoma). First let's break down the viewing of these games in terms of "ratings." Ratings estimate the total estimated TV households in the universe who tune in for the average minute. Basically, this stat is including every estimated TV household there is, and how many tuned into specific programs. NBC's game posted a rating of 1.9 percent, followed by ABC with 1.7, and Fox with .8 percent. This data displays that over the average minute, universal TV household tuned into the Michigan vs. Notre Dame game the most, and the Kansas Sate vs. Oklahoma game the least. This statistic can be attributed to many factors, but all signs point towards the traditional rivalry game of Michigan vs. Notre Dame having the most universal appeal of the major games on Saturday night.

Saturday Night College Football Shares Comparison: Whats the Difference?

The difference between ratings and shares is that shares inlcude only TV's that are on, or being utilized to watch a program. Once again ratings include all TV's households regardless of whether that home is watching TV or not. Shares record only those homes that were watching television. Using shares, 6 percent of home tuned into the NBC Michigan vs. Notre Dame game, 5 percent for the Clemson and Florida State game, and 2 percent for the Kansas St. and Oklahoma game. The order of most popular games in both ratings and shares data remains the same. So why use both statistics? Ratings tells us how many people in the universe that own a TV watched a program. Shares tell us how many people that were watching TV at the time tunes in to a program. The order of popularity in ratings will always be the same as the order of popularity in shares.For more information on Ratings vs. Shares, reference Math in Media.

Other Statistics from Saturday Night: Crime Thrillers Succeed

Two of the three major football games beat out the popular Saturday night shows of CSI, Criminal Minds, and 48 Hours Mystery. However, 48 Hours Mystery and Criminal minds did have higher ratings and shares than the Fox football game, Kansas St. vs. Oklahoma.

 

Are Ratings and Shares Data Truly Representative of Overall Viewing?

While ratings and shares and total viewers give the best idea of overall population viewing, there is one variable that cannot be accounted for. Though someone may be tuned into a program, are they actually watching it? According to Pew Research Data, 38% of cell phone owners use their phone to stay occupied during commercials or breaks. Undoubtedly, whatever they are doing on their phones cuts into viewing time, but this is not a recordable stat as of now.  In addition, 29% of users text during a program, and 20% use their phones to surf the web about the program they are watching. These statistics show that though people may technically be tuning into a show, how much attention they are paying is a different story.