Ratings System Under Scrutiny

Today Variety is holding their first Entertainment and Technology Summit, and the hot topic of the day seems to be the executives general unhappiness with the Nielsen ratings system. FX general manager John Landgraf seems to have hit the nail on the head when he said:

"It needs to be completely revamped. We have to follow viewers wherever they are. The simple fact that we can't get any compensation for anyone who doesn't watch within a three-day window is ridiculous...now that viewing takes weeks for months".

While Nieslen ratings are generally regarded as an outdated system, it seems to me more than a little ridiculous to lay the blame for falling ratings on the system that measures them. There is a great article on tvbythenumbers.com that breaks down the Variety article and attempts to refute their claims that the ratings system is responsible for changing the television business. Though the article is clearly biased, it raises some interesting points about Landgraf's statements. Number one, Nielsen ratings are not responsible for the fact that networks don't get paid for viewing that doesn't occur in that three day window. Advertisers don't want to pay for those viewers. Television execs need to stop looking for someone else to blame for falling ratings. Yes, the Nielsen system is outdated and it could probably do with an update, but simply changing the way viewers are measured still won't change the fact DVR and online streaming changes the way people watch television.