Nielsen rating

American  

noun

1. an estimate of the total number of viewers for a particular television program, expressed as a percentage of the total number of viewers whose television sets are on at the time and based on a monitoring of the sets of a preselected sample of viewers.

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Etymology

Origin of Nielsen rating

First recorded in 1960–65; after the A.C. Nielsen Co., its originator

Example Sentences

“But baseball’s TV producer, Bowie Kuhn, demanded that the show must go on. Bowie Kuhn was more interested in a Nielsen rating than in championship conditions, a betrayal of his commissioner’s responsibility.”

From Washington Post • Oct. 27, 2022

DeChambeau rated first in the Nielsen rating, while Watson won the MVP Index metric.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 2, 2022

The company doesn’t open its full data up to others, and its metrics for what counts as a “view” are very different from a box office receipt or Nielsen rating.

From The Verge • Sep. 8, 2021

But for him to launch a widely distributed television network in 80 million homes and get a Nielsen rating on it, I think would be very, very difficult.

From Salon • Sep. 14, 2020

And the 6.9 Nielsen rating topped every golf broadcast from the year other than the final round of the Masters.

From Golf Digest • Oct. 18, 2019