Another World Series Ratings Debacle, Coming Right Up!

[EdTarbusz]

Unless you have data supporting NEILSEN families did this in the 70's your post is completely hyperbolic.


We were asked to become a Neilsen family in summer 2010. I declined. Boxes were going to be sent (up to two, we have four tv's but two are in bedrooms), there was hoockups to do, paperwork, etc.

How many non-baseball fans do you remember watching the World Series in the 70s? I don't remember many doing it. I don't think Neilsen ratings would show how many non-fans tuned it to watch a World Series game.

[drstrangelove]

How many non-baseball fans do you remember watching the World Series in the 70s? I don't remember many doing it. I don't think Neilsen ratings would show how many non-fans tuned it to watch a World Series game.

I looked for something like this but I can't find it (the age distribution for WS viewers in say, 1975.) I'd really like to see this for 1975-2012. I'm sure it's proprietary to Nielsen, althought they do report large cohorts publically from time to time.

In 1975, for instance, baby boomers were ages 12-30, I think. I imagine that this age group was a very big part of the audience in 1975, especially males, and that the next group would have been males 31-49, or even a bit higher.

What do we think has happened since then? Well, beyond the fact that the audience has dwindled that is. It's clear that only a small fraction of today's 12-30 group is watching compared to 1975 (since the average age is now 53.) It's likely that a significant portion of the group that was 12-30 in 1975 that DID watch the 1975 series, and that is now 49-67, is also not watching. Although who knows what that number is outside of some corporate offices?

So, two things seem plausible: 1) the original group has declined in numbers to some extent over time and 2) the age-cohort today (that is comparable to the same group in 1975) does not participate as much.

The reason for both decreases could be strikingly different. For example, Group 1 might be due to growing disatisfaction with how MLB handles playoffs, steroids, strikes, instant replay, etc. while Group 2 could care less about those issues but finds appeal in the multiple choices on cable. I'm not suggesting that these are valid groups or that these are valid reasons, but those reasons are highly unrelated.

[drdg]

family guy season 12 episode 2
rating guy
http://www.hulu.com/#!watch/409768

[9RoyHobbsRF]

37 pages

laughable

[StanTheMan]

Laugh if you'd like, but ratings are decreasing. The why and the how is debatable of course.

[EdTarbusz]

I looked for something like this but I can't find it (the age distribution for WS viewers in say, 1975.)

I couldn't either. In 1975 I was in the sixth grade and I was able to watch two Series games (1 and 2 which were day games). At that time I had more friends that didn't like baseball. The World Series usually created some buzz in my neighborhood, but rarely at school.

[TonyK]

I have been pick many times here in NYC for the paper count
there are two methods that they used

1) they randomly sent you a paper ballot by mail and you get paid to fill out this ballot
by recording what tv programs you watch or what radio station you listen to in a given time in a given week

2)you get picked and if you say YES that you are willing to be a participant
you MUST sign a contract,
a background check is done to see if they can trust you
and most importantly that you and your family can keep SILENT about having that box
the box is connected to ONE tv in your household

yes ONE
and that tv must NOT be connected to a DVR

so dad can be watching the WS upstairs on his tv
son can be watching the WS on his tv or computer
daughter can be watching a girls show on her tv
and MOM is watching whatever is on the mom channel on the tv with the box
so whatever mom is watching is what is counted

the NYC metro area has the most people and is the home of most networks
thus we has the most Nielsen rating meters (boxes) follow by the 2nd (los angeles) and so on

EX: the 2000 world series between the Mets and the Yankees is one of the top ten most watched WS
even though outside the nyc metro area NO ONE yes NO ONE care to watch that series
why, simple because as I stated above the most people with these boxes are in new York

in years past, the ratings were higher because there was NO internet
and in most household the family gather around together and watch whatever
was showing on that one tv in the living room
The NFL superbowl is one example of a show that gets huge ratings because people group together
to watch the game, the commercials and the half time show.

BUT the number one reason
in my opinion why american football and basketball is watched by more people than baseball
is because of gambling
more people with absolutely no knowledge of football have won more office pools
than people that know the game and use all the stats in the world

Yet baseball was the first pro team sport to introduce gambling. It has been said that bettors bet on every pitch a long time ago. When was the last time you sat next to fans putting up $25 that the batter would strike out on the next pitch?

[Tenorman]

Laugh if you'd like, but ratings are decreasing. The why and the how is debatable of course.

And whether it actually matters to baseball is ALSO debatable. Perhaps national ratings are bad but it seems like the local TV markets for baseball are doing fine.

If all TV ratings were that abysmal, you wouldn't have teams being offered outrageously huge TV contracts nor teams with their own sports channels (YES, NESN, etc.).

[StanTheMan]

^

Agreed... To a point. What team would not want a larger tv contract? What network would not want 5% more in advertising revenue during MLB games? A more positive ratings trend might help accomplish both. Not just World Series ratings of course...