Are Nielsen Ratings Meaningless? Comedy In Post-Linear World
The New York Times Magazine profiled how Comedy Central has maintained relevance in an era where time-slotted television viewing is fading rapidly. They also detailed the figures of some of the network’s most popular shows. The numbers prove what many fans who consume the entertainment know: Nielsen ratings do not matter.
For instance, the third season of Inside Amy Schumer has received as much buzz as any show on television in 2015. Over the first seven episodes of the season, the show has streamed over 27 million times on YouTube, over 4.5 million times on Facebook, over 1.2 million times on Hulu, and over 4.2 million times on Snapchat. The average number of viewers watching on television? 1.4 million.
The fourth season of Key & Peele is even more extreme in the disparity. The show streamed over 195 million times on YouTube, over 50 million times on Facebook, over 10 million times on Hulu, and over 5 million times on-demand. The linear TV viewer average is just 1.9 million.
Broad City’s second season is also primarily consumed outside of television. The show’s most recent season has streamed nearly 6 million times on YouTube, nearly 3 million times on Facebook, over 8.4 million times on Hulu, and almost 2 million times on Snapchat. The show only averages 1.2 million TV viewers.
All of these shows have high viewership with the 18-35 demographic. Television continues to change quickly in terms of how it is consumed by audiences. The ironic element is that a show like Broad City started as a web series, before being brought to Comedy Central, where it gained a substantial following from fans. Now, those fans watch the show in the same forum in which their small web series was first produced: online.
