Originally Posted By: SkateZilla

Neilson's Rating system completely ignores DVRs, wether your watching Live, Delayed, or Replayed.

take into account how many cable and dish providers are phasing to only putting out DVR boxes (just disabling record permissions for those that dont pay for DVR.)

You get a sudden decrease in ratings.

For Example: Heroes went from a 3.5 Average Rating for the season to a 1.35 for the Final Season, but when they added DVR/Delayed/Replayed (aka Live+7 Day Rating)ratings went back up to 3.8-4.1 Marks.

The Live Ratings is what companies look at, and the reason why Heroes was finally cancelled.


Completely incorrect. I happen to be something of an expert on the NIELSEN (not Nielson) system.

Here are the facts:

Nielsen DOES take into account DVR viewings. Same-day DVR viewings before 3am are counted as part of LIVE+Same-Day (Live+SD) viewing. In other words, if you watch a DVR recording prior to 3am, then it is counted as you watching it the day of. Also, the networks are paid for the next 3-days as well, called C3. So, if you watch a program on DVR within 3-days of the recording, it will not be counted in the daily released Live+SD, but it WILL be counted in the C3, which means advertisers pay FULL PRICE.

Here is the rub... and what most Nielsen viewers don't know. If you watch Live, or DVR, and SKIP THE COMMERCIALS in ANY WAY, your view is NOT COUNTED. So, if you are watching LIVE and change channels during commercials... poof. Your view is not counted for the next half hour, and every half hour you do the same. Or, if you DVR the program and time-shift (fast forward), then your view is discounted.

So, while any show may have a ton of viewers, the second you change channels or time-shift, they are discounted by the system. That is because advertisers don't care how many people are watching the program... they only care how many watch their commercials.

As for your HEROES point... you are counting Live+7. That is Live + 7 days after on DVR. Advertisers only pay for Live+3. The 4-days after are meaningless. They are not paid for.