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What are the advantages and disadvantages of relying on television ratings to determine a TV show's success?

Cannon Podmore

Well, I've been thinking about this question for a while now and it's definitely a tricky one. On the one hand, relying on television ratings to determine the success of a TV show can have some advantages. For example, it can help networks and advertisers to know which shows are popular with audiences and therefore where to invest their resources. It can also give producers and writers a sense of how their show is performing and whether they are reaching their intended audience.

However, there are also some disadvantages to relying on television ratings. One of the biggest problems is that the way ratings are measured can be flawed and inaccurate. Samples are often small and not necessarily representative of the larger population, which means that some shows may be wrongly labeled as successes or failures. There are also questions around the reliability of the measurement methods themselves, with critics arguing that traditional ratings systems may not be able to accurately capture the changing ways audiences are consuming television content.

Another downside of relying too heavily on ratings is that it can create a kind of "tyranny of the majority." Shows that are hugely popular with large sections of the population may dominate the ratings, while smaller, niche shows that are beloved by a more specialist audience may be overlooked. This can lead to a situation where television programming becomes stale and formulaic, with networks chasing after the next big hit and canceling shows that don't perform to expectations.

Finally, there is the issue of whether ratings accurately reflect the creative value of a show. Just because a show is popular doesn't necessarily mean it is good, and conversely, a critically acclaimed show may struggle to find an audience. At the end of the day, television ratings are just one way of measuring success, and they should be taken with a grain of salt.

So, to sum it up, there are both advantages and disadvantages to relying on television ratings to determine a TV show's success. While they can provide useful insights and information, they can also be inaccurate and lead to a homogenization of programming. Ultimately, it's up to individual viewers to decide what they like and what they don't, and not to rely solely on ratings to guide their viewing choices.