Ok, a few important things to note about our ratings system (especially for OS viewers who are scratching their heads at our perceived low numbers...).
As has already been stated, Australia is a relatively small country (population) compared with the UK and the US. Also, the ratings reported in this thread come from OzTam who do not measure the whole population, rather just the 5 main capital city regions.
This link shows a map of the areas covered by OzTam:
http://www.oztam.com.au/documents/other/OzTAM Metro Total TV Coverage Map - Updated 151011.pdf
You will see that the little greeny splotches are are relatively small geographical survey size, however these areas are the largest audiences in Australia. So when a show is reported to have a million viewers, it means a million viewers out of those 5 greeny splotches, not out of Australia's ~22ish million.
I am actually unsure of what percentage of Australia's total population are actually represented by the 5 capital markets. Perhaps [MENTION=31810]IRT5[/MENTION] knows the answer to this?
The rest of Australia is covered by 'Regional Tam' and 'Nielsen Media Research Australia.' I don't know if/where their results are posted online??
Now as for [MENTION=34641]Ayr[/MENTION]'s question. At the moment the results that a posted here daily are based on live or as live viewing. Which means the program had to be watched by 2am the following morning to be counted (whether live or via PVR). Earlier in this thread I posted the consolidated figures which come out later and account for people watching on PVR later than 2am the next day (some time over the following week, I believe).
At this point in time I do not think online catch up services are counted at all, but I'm sure that it won't be too long before they are. It has only been just recently that every network had a substantial and reliable online service.
This data comes from within those greeny splotches using a sample population of 3500 homes. These homes are supposed to be a reflection of the whole areas so I am certain that they have a range of different sized homes and I know that multiple televisions within a house are also counted. Apparently even visitors who watch television in a sample home are also counted.
I am just an interested 'ratings-watcher' not a professional by any means, so what I am saying is based on my own interest and research. I could be slightly wrong in my understanding but this is what I have been able to gather.
Note: I am not an OzTam subscriber and do not have a box in my home.
Hope this is helpful.
As has already been stated, Australia is a relatively small country (population) compared with the UK and the US. Also, the ratings reported in this thread come from OzTam who do not measure the whole population, rather just the 5 main capital city regions.
This link shows a map of the areas covered by OzTam:
http://www.oztam.com.au/documents/other/OzTAM Metro Total TV Coverage Map - Updated 151011.pdf
You will see that the little greeny splotches are are relatively small geographical survey size, however these areas are the largest audiences in Australia. So when a show is reported to have a million viewers, it means a million viewers out of those 5 greeny splotches, not out of Australia's ~22ish million.
I am actually unsure of what percentage of Australia's total population are actually represented by the 5 capital markets. Perhaps [MENTION=31810]IRT5[/MENTION] knows the answer to this?
The rest of Australia is covered by 'Regional Tam' and 'Nielsen Media Research Australia.' I don't know if/where their results are posted online??
Now as for [MENTION=34641]Ayr[/MENTION]'s question. At the moment the results that a posted here daily are based on live or as live viewing. Which means the program had to be watched by 2am the following morning to be counted (whether live or via PVR). Earlier in this thread I posted the consolidated figures which come out later and account for people watching on PVR later than 2am the next day (some time over the following week, I believe).
At this point in time I do not think online catch up services are counted at all, but I'm sure that it won't be too long before they are. It has only been just recently that every network had a substantial and reliable online service.
This data comes from within those greeny splotches using a sample population of 3500 homes. These homes are supposed to be a reflection of the whole areas so I am certain that they have a range of different sized homes and I know that multiple televisions within a house are also counted. Apparently even visitors who watch television in a sample home are also counted.
I am just an interested 'ratings-watcher' not a professional by any means, so what I am saying is based on my own interest and research. I could be slightly wrong in my understanding but this is what I have been able to gather.
Note: I am not an OzTam subscriber and do not have a box in my home.
Hope this is helpful.