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

At that point, their season total Nielsen rating of 0.68 in the Seattle-Tacoma market ranked in the bottom third of 23 measured U.S.-based teams.

From Seattle Times

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

The Series finished with a 6.1 Nielsen rating and 17 share.

From Seattle Times

“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

Although the first hearing drew an audience of about 19 million, according to the Nielsen rating service, that left the great majority of Americans either relying on video snippets and news accounts or ignoring the proceedings entirely.

From Washington Post