http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2014/1 ... el/310975/

Note: the data in the table in the link refers to ratings from last Friday.

I understand the need for extrapolation when doing ratings but having only 0.0173% of the total "Nielsen universe" with Nielsen sets is kinda bullshit. This is why I believe that ratings in areas such as Hulu (which has forced commercials so there is advertising money to be made) need to be taken much more seriously today. I wonder how much a difference ratings would be if the above number rose to just 0.1%.

Ratings are stupid.

It seems unfathomable that better data is not available.

The vast majority of people that watch live TV use a cable / dish set-top box that should theoretically have the ability to compile what has been watched. If I was one of those cable companies, I would be selling viewership data to the advertisers.

Another big factor is the real vs. actual. Anyone who's ever done surveys or talked to people knows there's a huge difference between what they say they do vs. what they actually do. These cable boxes know exactly what show is on - no manual reporting necessary.