Nielsen's is doing its ratings a little differently now, and the changes have been a great boost for ABC (DIS), especially "Grey's Anatomy."
The initiative which has been dubbed 'college viewing,' now counts what kids are watching when they are away at college and then adds it to the viewing habits of the rest of the family at home, counting them as if they were still living at home. While this is a significant step for the networks, it doesn't yet reach what they ultimately want, which is measuring the viewing of students where they hang out in groups.
ABC has been the greatest beneficiary of the new ratings so far with 4 out of the five top shows gaining the most being theirs.
The new ratings were launched on Jan. 29, and since then "Grey's Anatomy" has found itself up over a rating point in the 18-to-49 demo, which directly relates to the new measuring of student viewing. With the amount of viewers watching "Grey's," that's a significant upswing. Before the new ratings, "Grey's" averaged an 8.7 in the 18-to-49, now it comes in at a 9.8.
Others that have benefitted strongly have been Fox's (NWS-A) "House," up by 1.4, then ABC follows with "Lost," up by 1.1 and "Ugly Betty" up by 1.0.
At this time it is hard in some ways to understand what the increases mean. For example, with "House" they soared by 106 percent in the college demo, but also increased strongly in the 18-to-49, growing by 65 percent. Which means there was more than just the college ratings as part of the factor.
Over the short term, probably what's important with all of this is that in the 18-24 demo, advertisers will have a much more accurate measurement to market their wares with.
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