My mother-in-law is just left of Lenin and wanted to turn on to a different channel during the inauguration so "Trump wouldn't get the ratings". So beyond the ludicrous notion that watching a different channel vs not watching at all would affect the inauguration viewership, I had to explain that ratings are based on a small sample of households that they extrapolate from like a poll and that unless she was a Nielson viewer then what she did doesn't matter at all there.

I still don't think she got it.

1/20/2017 10:50:18 AM

Just explain to her that people believing things they see on facebook is what got us here in the first place.

1/20/2017 10:52:28 AM

there is literally a facebook forward that tells people to turn off the tv and go outside so the ratings are bad

1/20/2017 12:20:07 PM

Has the world ended yet?

P.S. Congrats 'Murrca... maybe it is not the president half of you want, but it is the president you deserve


[Edited on January 20, 2017 at 12:28 PM. Reason : ]

1/20/2017 12:26:41 PM

Here's something I'm about to explain to grown-ass people: Many people own many types of TVs, including smart TVs with support for online services. Many of these TVs report back information on your usage regardless of whether you're a Nielsen family.

It's spelled, Nielsen, by the way, another thing I have to explain to a grown-ass person.

1/20/2017 12:35:54 PM

Lionheart bringing that 1990s knowledge

1/20/2017 12:38:55 PM

gets cable through his VCR

1/20/2017 12:51:13 PM

Yeah Alexa and siri will report back if she watches the trump show

[Edited on January 20, 2017 at 12:57 PM. Reason : H]

1/20/2017 12:56:20 PM

probably has a chip in his cable box to get all the pay channels for free

1/20/2017 1:09:52 PM

I had one of these when I was a kid. One of the channels was playboy, but it was really scrambled.

1/20/2017 1:17:52 PM

That character attacks and spam are not valid arguments in a political discussion, no matter how butt-hurt you get.

1/20/2017 2:08:18 PM

I VOTED FOR NADER, I HATE EVERYONE!!!

1/20/2017 3:14:00 PM

mmmmm...Nader.

1/22/2017 5:45:48 PM

mmmmm...punch. (I actually don't like fruit punch, it's gross)

1/22/2017 10:28:22 PM

As Frosh said, most cable and satellite providers track viewership of shows for ratings purposes these days. It's not just Nielsen homes specifically.
There's also this: http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/press-room/2017/nielsen-and-att-agree-on-multi-year-deal-to-use-set-top-box-viewing-data-for-ratings.html

[Edited on January 25, 2017 at 3:36 PM. Reason : ]

1/25/2017 3:34:04 PM

I had to explain to my dad that, no, that was not a sexy single woman looking to hookup that just emailed him. That was spam.

1/25/2017 4:42:55 PM

when i was in college i had a friend that thought the windshield wiper fluid in your car was just rainwater that your car collected, funneled into a reservoir, and stored.

1/25/2017 5:24:48 PM

It is.

1/25/2017 6:03:05 PM

If you set your beater car up properly

1/25/2017 6:47:18 PM

I know someone who thought the chicken wing drums were not the "upper arm" of the chicken wing, but instead were legs of baby chickens.

1/25/2017 8:24:37 PM

Someone didn't know bananas are clear until they hit oxygen.

1/26/2017 12:12:44 AM