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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.


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.

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

According to the Nielsen rating service, the network attracted an average nightly audience of around 34,000 last year, and about 24,000 throughout the entire day.

From Washington Post • Jan. 13, 2016

The Houston market drew a 0.0 Nielsen rating for Monday’s Astros-Angels game.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 11, 2014