Sunday Night Football Game Draws the Attention of Viewers

What is the Difference between Rating and Share?

Ratings and Shares are scores that help television broadcasting companies and companies who may want to advertise on a certain network determine how popular certain television programs are in comparison to other television shows. Specifically, the rating of a show describes how many of the total of all possible TV households are actually tuned to a program in the average minute. These ratings are expressed as a percentage. Additionally, the share of a show describes of those actually using television, what percent of those households are tuned into a specific program, station, or network at a specific time.

Which Is More Popular: Football or Series Premiers?

According to a website entitled “TV by the Numbers,” FOX broadcasting channel, which aired the live broadcasting of the Giants v. Eagles game, had the highest amount of viewers, ratings, and shares at 8:30 pm EST on Sunday September 30, 2012. Sunday Night Football (SNF) had a rating of 8.1, share of 19, and 20.56 million viewers. This does not come as a surprise because football is an “All American” sport. Usually around 8:30, children are still awake, winding down and getting ready for school the next day. Football is a “safe” program for the family to watch or have on in the background because parents do not have to worry about foul language, or inappropriate content while viewing this program. Let’s not forget that this was a broadcast of a NFC east division football game which is a huge rivalry and houses a huge fan-base in the area that we live in. 

            The series premiere of Revenge was also broadcasting around this time, 9:00pm, on ABC family on Sunday September 30th. This show did not nearly have the same amount of viewers, or shares or ratings. Revenge had a rating of 3.2, share of 7, and 9.50 million viewers. This show did premiere a little later than the football game which may be part of the reason why the viewers were lower.  Also, the maturity of the content of the show could have also contributed to the reason why there were fewer viewers because parents did not want their children seeing this content. Revenge often includes lots of violence, blood, foul language and some inappropriate sexual scenes/content.

Are People Actually Watching these Shows or are They Just Tuned In?

According to PEW, half (52%) of adult cell phone owners use their phones while watching television. The use of their cell phones ranges from looking up things they saw during a commercial, voting into television shows such as ‘The Voice’ or other reality shows, or just browsing social media networks as a diversion or distraction. Personally, during commercials or television breaks I will check my email or a social network just to pass time until the next part of the show comes on. Especially now with the rise of technology, smart phones make it a lot easier to do virtually anything in the palm of your hand anytime and anywhere.