Post by arsenette on Jul 6, 2011 23:40:59 GMT -5
Moving the ratings discussion from this thread sasukemaniac.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=s27&action=display&thread=3589 here since there seem to be recurring questions about how Ratings work in general.
There's a general notion that somehow that "content" by itself within a show constitutes their ratings. That can't be further from the truth. While a rating can go up as the program continues to air (as in the case of a show lasting longer than an hour - Like Sasuke), the overall "rating" of a show takes this into account. It doesn't calculate the popularity of a show (whether it's perceived to be good or bad). It only shows how many households turned on that channel at that time to watch said program. Content in general has nothing to do with the rating. Anticipation alone for a show can give a one-time show with no history a 40 rating never to be seen again after that.
Case in point, people complained about Sasuke 25's rating saying that the prefecture's thing killed it. I even tried to explain it using the exact things that killed it that night (ramblingrican.blogspot.com/2010/04/state-of-sasuke-in-japan.html for those who never saw it) That has nothing to do with it.. it only showed that 7.5% of the populating watching television that evening even TURNED ON to watch TBS at that time. How they perceived what they were watching had nothing to do with the number. Ratings also take into account if someone watched it for a couple minutes.. figured it was crap and then turned it off. That's all part of the calculation.
People really have to look at a whole slew of factors that control a rating. Using Sasuke again as an example... Do people even KNOW the show is going to be aired? Sasuke is a random show thrown in during off-peak times to fill a slot in the market. It's filler. Given also that there is no set schedule for Sasuke, unless you area hardcore fan.. the average Japanese television viewer will not know when this particular show will be broadcast. That falls on TBS. TBS is notorious for not properly promoting their own shows to their detriment. Some seem to appear out of nowhere when channel surfing. Sasuke has been put in this position before many times and ratings have suffered because of it. 25 is expected to have fallen into this trap given that it was the 3rd tournament in less than 6 months. People most likely thought that it would appear in the fall .. and not again in the Spring after having a 5 1/2 hour New Year's show. Competitors kept questioning ME when it came to Sasuke 25.. most thought I was spreading a rumor that it was happening at all until they saw the link I gave them with the announcement. When THEY don't even know when it's coming on how are people who aren't hooked to the show 24/7 know when to watch?
Also, the biggest effect to control a rating can be summed up with one word: COMPETITION. What was on that night? Did it go up against the Olympics? Was a World Championship Final featuring a National hero being broadcast at the same time in another channel? Was there a prize fight? How many comedy shows were on featuring the same people who are featured also on Sasuke but are shown for a lot longer in the program? Was there a national catastrophe that happened? Typhoon or power outage in the area preventing people from watching television? There's so many factors that constitute why people turn on the television.
That's not even including cultural differences. Many people take their own viewing patterns in their own countries (say watching as an American or a British viewer) and somehow superimposing their point of view as to how viewership reacts in Japan. The same can be said vice versa. Even something simple as saturation can kill a show. The era of obstacle course shows has seemed to have passed in Japan. No longer are there several shows in different channels competing for each other. The market has dried out thanks to M9's massive saturation on the subject.
Finally.. the issue of popularity in the sense of a one-time show vs. a series. Sasuke is shown at best twice a year. Something like ANW is shown over a series of weeks. While word of mouth can help or hurt a rating for ANW (like what happened between Venice Beach episodes, Boot Camp and Sasuke Runs), it has no bearing over Sasuke which is shown in one night and not repeated. If any past information can help or hurt Sasuke, it will be the reaction of someone who watched the last tournament and had certain expectations for this upcoming tournament. Given how low the ratings have been it's safe to say that the core Sasuke audience is the only thing keeping Sasuke alive in Japan right now. What is IN the shows themselves seem to be just about irrelevant over the passage of time between tournaments.
So just remember that a rating is a physical representation of viewership that night watching a show in comparison to other shows that same night at the same time. Complaining about content in a show someone hasn't watched doesn't make any sense. That's a subject between people who watched the show but doesn't constitute a rating between said people.
There's a general notion that somehow that "content" by itself within a show constitutes their ratings. That can't be further from the truth. While a rating can go up as the program continues to air (as in the case of a show lasting longer than an hour - Like Sasuke), the overall "rating" of a show takes this into account. It doesn't calculate the popularity of a show (whether it's perceived to be good or bad). It only shows how many households turned on that channel at that time to watch said program. Content in general has nothing to do with the rating. Anticipation alone for a show can give a one-time show with no history a 40 rating never to be seen again after that.
Case in point, people complained about Sasuke 25's rating saying that the prefecture's thing killed it. I even tried to explain it using the exact things that killed it that night (ramblingrican.blogspot.com/2010/04/state-of-sasuke-in-japan.html for those who never saw it) That has nothing to do with it.. it only showed that 7.5% of the populating watching television that evening even TURNED ON to watch TBS at that time. How they perceived what they were watching had nothing to do with the number. Ratings also take into account if someone watched it for a couple minutes.. figured it was crap and then turned it off. That's all part of the calculation.
People really have to look at a whole slew of factors that control a rating. Using Sasuke again as an example... Do people even KNOW the show is going to be aired? Sasuke is a random show thrown in during off-peak times to fill a slot in the market. It's filler. Given also that there is no set schedule for Sasuke, unless you area hardcore fan.. the average Japanese television viewer will not know when this particular show will be broadcast. That falls on TBS. TBS is notorious for not properly promoting their own shows to their detriment. Some seem to appear out of nowhere when channel surfing. Sasuke has been put in this position before many times and ratings have suffered because of it. 25 is expected to have fallen into this trap given that it was the 3rd tournament in less than 6 months. People most likely thought that it would appear in the fall .. and not again in the Spring after having a 5 1/2 hour New Year's show. Competitors kept questioning ME when it came to Sasuke 25.. most thought I was spreading a rumor that it was happening at all until they saw the link I gave them with the announcement. When THEY don't even know when it's coming on how are people who aren't hooked to the show 24/7 know when to watch?
Also, the biggest effect to control a rating can be summed up with one word: COMPETITION. What was on that night? Did it go up against the Olympics? Was a World Championship Final featuring a National hero being broadcast at the same time in another channel? Was there a prize fight? How many comedy shows were on featuring the same people who are featured also on Sasuke but are shown for a lot longer in the program? Was there a national catastrophe that happened? Typhoon or power outage in the area preventing people from watching television? There's so many factors that constitute why people turn on the television.
That's not even including cultural differences. Many people take their own viewing patterns in their own countries (say watching as an American or a British viewer) and somehow superimposing their point of view as to how viewership reacts in Japan. The same can be said vice versa. Even something simple as saturation can kill a show. The era of obstacle course shows has seemed to have passed in Japan. No longer are there several shows in different channels competing for each other. The market has dried out thanks to M9's massive saturation on the subject.
Finally.. the issue of popularity in the sense of a one-time show vs. a series. Sasuke is shown at best twice a year. Something like ANW is shown over a series of weeks. While word of mouth can help or hurt a rating for ANW (like what happened between Venice Beach episodes, Boot Camp and Sasuke Runs), it has no bearing over Sasuke which is shown in one night and not repeated. If any past information can help or hurt Sasuke, it will be the reaction of someone who watched the last tournament and had certain expectations for this upcoming tournament. Given how low the ratings have been it's safe to say that the core Sasuke audience is the only thing keeping Sasuke alive in Japan right now. What is IN the shows themselves seem to be just about irrelevant over the passage of time between tournaments.
So just remember that a rating is a physical representation of viewership that night watching a show in comparison to other shows that same night at the same time. Complaining about content in a show someone hasn't watched doesn't make any sense. That's a subject between people who watched the show but doesn't constitute a rating between said people.
Sasuke at least is given "some" more importance but it's already sitting at a dead zone which is "filler" for their more prominent time slots which is called drama season. Similar to here in the USA watching commercials for So you think you can dance during the summer but you don't hear jack when Prime season in the fall starts.
