The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 258

The Nielsens to the cancellation of a program This makes life hard for the producers and viewers of a show such as Street Blues" which was a favorite but no challenge to in the ratings Street" survived but Paper did not even while CBS gave the show a chance some local stations such as WTVJ (Ch4) felt that no one was watching and dumped it Sometimes the networks hold out long enough as with Sometimes as with several years ago they The Nielsen people stand back from it all not quite responsible After all they merely measure the 1200 if the networks want to panic over the results it really the fault truth of the matter when you get down to canceled says Frerk that these shows usually any good He must be right After all can 1200 Nielsen families be wrong? local-meter service coining in late 1983 Subscription to the ratings services now costs Ch 6 $50000 a year per service Ziegler says the metered service will cost five times that much But it may be worth It because the meters will measure those young-folk viewing habits automatically Experience has shown that when metered systems come to town the ratings for independent stations improve Which brings us back to the national ratings which are the worst and the best of the sampling business Nielsen has a monopoly on those ratings The 1200 families are chosen by computer with great care sampling methods are a science in themselves and Nielsen goes to great pains to ensure the anonymity of its families so no chance of an interested party influencing the results Over the course of the season samplers say the small variations in national sampling average out by the end of the year if the numbers say Is a big hit it is a big hit The problem is that the networks wait for the season to run its course The difference in a single ratings point a measurement that is usually not significant" in a given week can lead BiU Cos ford watches television when not films for The Herald Dear Arbitron diary When I received my summons from Arbitron I regarded it as I would Jury duty It was only a radio rating and it was only for a week but so much seemed to hinge on it I would take this seriously Arbitron encourages this The company is careful in its approach First comes the letter telling you you have been selected as an Arbitron person Then comes the phone call confirming that you have received the request Then comes the diary a friendly looking pamphlet written in simple declarative sentences Later there is phone call confirming that you are filling out the diary and a good deal later the phone call Inquiring as to what you thought of it all and would-you-please-indi-cate-your-family-income-level Efficient Caring too Each diary offered a little quid pro quo: The Arbitron Co would contribute $1 (not much but so many diaries!) to your favorite charity There was a checklist I went with the National Wildlife Federation Somewhere because of Arbi-tron and me a duck breathes easier today But for all this care diary system is not ideal As flattered as I was at being chosen and as sure as I was that I would be scrupulously honest there was bias in my diary I never cheated I never sneaked in WTMI Just for Mozart's sake when I was really listening to Blondie on Y-100 I out listening from me It was a sad thought: Arbitron was going to take my numbers multiply them times many people and conclude that none of us listened to Rogers Tuesday night I took action I took the long way home and 11s- tened to Rogers without really meaning to It was a boring show too matter On any other week I would have gone to Love 94 or WAXY or 1-95 Not this time and Rogers got a solid block 10:15 to 11:50 I did what I could Wednesday too I listened right through the commercials and phone calls Somewhere in there I missed a baseball game (that would have been WIOD and had a disproportionate share earlier in the week anyway) I mailed the diary in promptly (though not too soon the instructions were clear on that there apparently having been trouble with folks estimating their listening for the week and filing early) But I knew scanning the thing that I still given Arbitron a typical week At the mailbox I said quietly It was the Thursday after my last diary day before I realized how compromised I had become I got in the car and tuned In WNWS when a friend riding with me protested I said have to Then It dawned on me that It no longer mattered Rogers was on his own again We played a little Love 94 on the way home BillCosford never put off filling in the diary never went back to guess later No every single quarter hour I had the radio on I filled in the call letters and the time checked AM or PM AM or FM or from home (including In a But my diary wasn't working out the way it should have The problem was that I like to listen to talk radio the shows where a host who badgers his audiences until they call in and either insult the host or are insulted by him I will listen to nearly anything even on though I have no plants I only listen in the car while en route to and from work And nothing kills that time like talk I particularly like WNWS and within that station I like Neil Rogers who is stimulating concerned and occasionally abrasive to his sillier callers I was sure my radio diary would support his already highly rated show after all I listen a lot But the diary arrived on a weird week The Rogers show is on weekdays from 8 pm to midnight and on this week in late August I In the car much Thursday went by (caught first five minutes) Friday went by (20 minutes of the first hour) Saturday and Sunday were big listening days lots of driving around but show on then By Monday when my driving ended at 6:30 pm I had noticed that Rogers getting a fair shake He getting the usual week-in week-.