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I was wondering how tv ratings are recorded because I have been watching a lot of shows that I download, instead of watching on tv because...either I forget, or I'm busy. Two of the shows I like to watch each week , my name is earl and everybody hates chris, are during one of my classes. So, I have no choice but download them if I want to watch them.

However, these days, a lot of good tv shows get cancelled because of low viewership. So, does that mean that my favorite tv shows, struggly by with only 4 million(that is few, for sindicated tv shows in prime time) viewers only has 3,999,999 because of me?

The answer in short, is no. My viewership doesn't count...even less than voting. Seriously.

Here is [url=http://www.nielsenmedia.com/whatratingsmean/]why[/url]. The Neilsen Media company takes what they believe is a good representation of the total population and finds out what they are watching. They claim that the results are as accurate and possible, and they probably know enough about statistics that that claim is statistically sound...but what you have to realise is that they can only take statistics from the people who participate, and the people who participate may not be totally representative of the total population that watches tv. I mean, how are you going to find out? The people who won't participate are not going to tell you because they're not participating.

I beleive this is probably why good shows get cancelled...or just because the people who watch tv suck...which is what I used to believe. Now, however I can only find out exactly how many people they polled, find out how many people they said watched the show and then say that that many people suck. For example, lets say that there are 99 million tvs in the US. There are 5,000 people participating the polls. Nielsen says that My Name is Earl only recieves 3 million viewers. 3 out of 99 is about 3 percent and 3 percent of 5,000 is 150. Therefore 4,850 of our viewing representatives suck. Isn't math great? (Statistics suck.)

So, I can download tv episodes to my hearts content and feel no moral shame. The only people I'm cheating are those companies who create those insulting commercials that make me hate and avoid their products(I avoided taco bell for months once for that reason, and still avoid mcdonalds). On that subject, they decide which commercials to play by using the same are similar statistics. Probably the same thing with radio.

The only moral obligation I have is to buy the dvds of the shows I like when they come out...which I have not been doing since I'm broke. Some day.

Knowing all this, I can't help but feel totally helpless to stop a good tv show getting cancelled...but I feel better knowing that I can just download the latest syndicated tv show episode and watch it without the commercials. It might not be totally legal, but I'm not going to feel guilty about it.

There still is one day, to try to save a good show: contact the tv station or start a campaign. For example, http://the-op.com/saveourbluths/. Also, buying the dvds probably helps, if they are out.