Nielsen rating

American

noun

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.

Etymology

Origin of Nielsen rating

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

That remains highest-rated game in basketball history with a 24.1 Nielsen rating, which is an estimated 35.1 million viewers.

From Washington Post • Jan. 26, 2023

He was No. 8 in the MVP Index and 43rd in the Nielsen rating.

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

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023