ratings for unsuccessful TV Shows. I just knew i would be able to find the ranking for shows that were cancelled after a month or year but i can only find the top 30. Does that surprise anyone else?

In a way, no, because there have been lots of things I thought I'd find online, and can't.

Originally posted by dawsongirl
In a way, no, because there have been lots of things I thought I'd find online, and can't.

I just don't understand why in the TV directory the rankings stop at 30. What's the point of that? Show all the rankings from every TV season. And that way we will know why shows were canceled after 30 days

Originally posted by TVShow Analyzer
I just don't understand why in the TV directory the rankings stop at 30. What's the point of that? Show all the rankings from every TV season. And that way we will know why shows were canceled after 30 days

Guess they figure no one cares about the sucky shows down in like 50th. Which is stupid.

Originally posted by dawsongirl
Guess they figure no one cares about the sucky shows down in like 50th. Which is stupid.

That's why i feel i wasted my money on The Directory of PrimeTime TV shows.

1o or so l years ago I wrote to the Neilson Rating Company. I think was under the name of Arbitron. Anyway I got a weeks ranking of shows for the week. .

Originally posted by vze3t9q9
1o or so l years ago I wrote to the Neilson Rating Company. I think was under the name of Arbitron. Anyway I got a weeks ranking of shows for the week. .

Just by writing to them? That's surprising

Originally posted by TVShow Analyzer
That's why i feel i wasted my money on The Directory of PrimeTime TV shows. That book used to only rate the top 25 shows. They just started doing the top 30 in the last 2 editions.

Originally posted by mr roper
That book used to only rate the top 25 shows. They just started doing the top 30 in the last 2 editions.


Well it looks like when the newer editions start doing the top 60, i will be close to 60-LOL

The reason you can't find the ratings for short-lived shows is probably due to the fact that those ratings were never released to the public. I believe (and I stress the believe portion of that phrase) that the authors of books like "The Complete Directory To Prime Time Television" use the ratings from industry magazines that would print the ratings for the top 30 shows. They don't contact Nielsen Media Research. The company keeps the ratings very confidential.

I have a book about either the 1980 or 1981 season that has ratings for portions of the season, including short-lived shows. That's a rarity, though. I picked it up at a used book store and am very happy with it. I haven't been able to find many other sources (aside from TV Guides) that include ratings.

Originally posted by TVShow Analyzer
ratings for unsuccessful TV Shows. I just knew i would be able to find the ranking for shows that were cancelled after a month or year but i can only find the top 30. Does that surprise anyone else?

Have you tried contacing tvguideonline or writing to tvguide magazine? I'm sure they could probably help in some way :)

Nielsen treats its ratings as copywrited intellectual material and will only release the top 20 or 30 series each week. If you want to get the total rankings, you have to buy that right from them, which is expensive, so not many people do. USA Today each Wednesday has the previous week's ratings (a full list by timeslot), and of course the La trade papers, but that's what they're in the business for.

Nielsen went on a sting early this year of people using their ratings info on the internet without their permission. A Passions website that I go to, which only posted the soap ratings, was told to stop it, as was The Futon Critic, once the best source for the ratings. Now they only posted the previous day's national ratings, but they can only be listed by show on each network, they can't be used in chart form.

I guess Nielsen does have a right to stop people from using the ratings info that it painstakingly collects, but really, was The Futon Critic cutting into their business. I'm sure NBC didn't check the website for its info. It's a tad ridiculous.

Originally posted by tvobscurities
The reason you can't find the ratings for short-lived shows is probably due to the fact that those ratings were never released to the public. I believe (and I stress the believe portion of that phrase) that the authors of books like "The Complete Directory To Prime Time Television" use the ratings from industry magazines that would print the ratings for the top 30 shows. They don't contact Nielsen Media Research. The company keeps the ratings very confidential.

I have a book about either the 1980 or 1981 season that has ratings for portions of the season, including short-lived shows. That's a rarity, though. I picked it up at a used book store and am very happy with it. I haven't been able to find many other sources (aside from TV Guides) that include ratings.


Why do they keep them confidential? also what is the title of the book dealing with the 80/81 season?

Originally posted by db108108
Nielsen treats its ratings as copywrited intellectual material and will only release the top 20 or 30 series each week. If you want to get the total rankings, you have to buy that right from them, which is expensive, so not many people do. USA Today each Wednesday has the previous week's ratings (a full list by timeslot), and of course the La trade papers, but that's what they're in the business for.

Nielsen went on a sting early this year of people using their ratings info on the internet without their permission. A Passions website that I go to, which only posted the soap ratings, was told to stop it, as was The Futon Critic, once the best source for the ratings. Now they only posted the previous day's national ratings, but they can only be listed by show on each network, they can't be used in chart form.

I guess Nielsen does have a right to stop people from using the ratings info that it painstakingly collects, but really, was The Futon Critic cutting into their business. I'm sure NBC didn't check the website for its info. It's a tad ridiculous.



I was able to find the ratings for What's Happening for the 1977-78 season in Ebony Magazine. That was the season the show was not in the top 30.

I was just saying that generally, you're not going to get anything out of Nielsen. The info is out there somewherem you just have to dig for it.

I don't think that Nielsen has a problem with you writing that such and such a show was ranked whatever on the season and drew this many viewers. The problem comes when you give the ranks of all the series that season w/o buying the info from them. It really does suck, because Nielsen is directly responsible for what we get to watch on tv.

Originally posted by db108108
I was just saying that generally, you're not going to get anything out of Nielsen. The info is out there somewherem you just have to dig for it.

I don't think that Nielsen has a problem with you writing that such and such a show was ranked whatever on the season and drew this many viewers. The problem comes when you give the ranks of all the series that season w/o buying the info from them. It really does suck, because Nielsen is directly responsible for what we get to watch on tv.



Well i been doing a lot of digging-LOL And still digging for ratings for shows like

Sanford Arms
Checking In
CPO Sharkey
That's MY Mama

Originally posted by TVShow Analyzer
also what is the title of the book dealing with the 80/81 season?

It's for the 1981-1982 season, actually, my mistake, and the title is "Televisions: One Season In American Television" by Marc Eliot. It has four sections on ratings, the last of which has the seasonal ratings for all 105 shows.

In my quest to find information relating to rare television I have stumbled upon a bit of ratings information. I have TV Guides that include ratings but I've never gone through and actually copied everything down. I have the full season average ratings for the 1981-1982 season, and then the full season average ratings from the 1994-1995 season to the 2001-2002 season, I think a few only go to 50, though. I also have the ratings for the first half of the 1984-1985 season, and some weekly ratings from that season as well.

Originally posted by tvobscurities
It's for the 1981-1982 season, actually, my mistake, and the title is "Televisions: One Season In American Television" by Marc Eliot. It has four sections on ratings, the last of which has the seasonal ratings for all 105 shows.

In my quest to find information relating to rare television I have stumbled upon a bit of ratings information. I have TV Guides that include ratings but I've never gone through and actually copied everything down. I have the full season average ratings for the 1981-1982 season, and then the full season average ratings from the 1994-1995 season to the 2001-2002 season, I think a few only go to 50, though. I also have the ratings for the first half of the 1984-1985 season, and some weekly ratings from that season as well.



I just need to where did the show Mork and Mindy finish in the rankings after the 81-82 season?

Originally posted by TVShow Analyzer
I just need to where did the show Mork and Mindy finish in the rankings after the 81-82 season?

According to the book, Mork and Mindy placed 61st for the season with a 15.3 rating. 20/20 and Two of Us also had a 15.3 rating but the three had different shares (which aren't listed), so 20/20 came in 60th, Mork and Mindy 61st and Two of Us was 62nd.

For anyone who is interested, the top-rated series for the season was Dallas with a 28.4 rating and the lowest-rated series was Fitz and Bones with an 8.7.

Originally posted by tvobscurities
According to the book, Mork and Mindy placed 61st for the season with a 15.3 rating. 20/20 and Two of Us also had a 15.3 rating but the three had different shares (which aren't listed), so 20/20 came in 60th, Mork and Mindy 61st and Two of Us was 62nd.

For anyone who is interested, the top-rated series for the season was Dallas with a 28.4 rating and the lowest-rated series was Fitz and Bones with an 8.7.


Thanks.

What the heck is Fitz and Bones??? It sounds like a show about dogs.

Originally posted by hawaii five-o
What the heck is Fitz and Bones??? It sounds like a show about dogs.


It was a NBC drama that premeired in October of 1981 and ended in November of 1981 that was about two characters-Ryan Fitzpatrick who was a investigative reporter and Bones Howard-a inept cameraman who worked together to pursue news leads throughout the city San Francisco

Originally posted by tvobscurities
It's for the 1981-1982 season, actually, my mistake, and the title is "Televisions: One Season In American Television" by Marc Eliot. It has four sections on ratings, the last of which has the seasonal ratings for all 105 shows.

In my quest to find information relating to rare television I have stumbled upon a bit of ratings information. I have TV Guides that include ratings but I've never gone through and actually copied everything down. I have the full season average ratings for the 1981-1982 season, and then the full season average ratings from the 1994-1995 season to the 2001-2002 season, I think a few only go to 50, though. I also have the ratings for the first half of the 1984-1985 season, and some weekly ratings from that season as well.

I was considering going to the tv obscurities fourms because it seemed like a cool site but none of the boards seem to be active. I didn;t see any june/july dates for last posted message.