Explanatory notes relating to ratings posts.
Additional notes for non ratings season:
Non ratings for summer 2009/2010 runs from Sunday Nov 29 until Sat Feb 6 2010. During this time, ratings figures may be posted later, and without some of the data. In particular, channel shares generally are not available on most days. I will not be writing the timeslot order for most days during non ratings either.
Ratings will be posted on weekdays, but may be as late as 3pm. On weekends and public holidays, ratings may not be posted until the next weekday.
General notes:
1. Ratings figures are OzTam Five capital city Preliminary figures. Five capital cities are Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. Final figure may change from the preliminary figures shown. This report will remain as preliminary figures only.
2. Raw data sourced from TV Tonight and Media Spy.
3. Timeslot order is based on the ratings figures as shown and does not take into account that some of these figures are averaged out over the length of a full program and as such, may not be a true representation of actual timeslot order if the figures were broken down into smaller time zones for a show. Classic example is a three hour movie where more people may watch the first hour and less in the last hour yet the ratings figure for the show will be expressed as the one figure being the average for the entire show.
4. Timeslot order is not shown for times where there is not enough data to put at least three shows from three channels in order or when the order is the same everyday such as is the case from 5pm to 7pm weekdays.
5. Timeslot order will not be shown when there is different programming in different markets unless otherwise stated due to the complexity of comparing times and ratings on a city by city basis. Timeslot order may not be shown in cases where starting times between the channels are different as is often the case on Saturday nights with movies or shows starting and finishing at different times across the networks.
6. Timeslot order does not take into account lateness of shows starting and finishing. A show advertised to be on at 9.30 will be considered as a 9.30 timeslot even though it may have started as late as 9.45. Occasionally, the timeslot times may be adjusted to reflect lateness but only if observed on at least two channels.
7. Late starting or late finishing shows may actually affect the final ratings. In the case where a show has ran extremely late or there is a major last minute change to programming, when known, notification will be made to indicate same on the ratings report.
8. Network shares include all digital channels that the network is responsible for whether simulcast or different in content. For the purposes of this report, the word Seven will refer to the network and the number 7 to the main channel. Thus - each network comprises of channels as per the following: Seven = 7, 7HD and 7TWO. Nine = 9, 9HD and GO! Ten = 10, ONE HD and ONE Digital. ABC = ABC1, ABC2 and ABC3 (launching Dec 4, 6pm). SBS = SBS ONE and SBS TWO. STV = all subscription TV channels. Note that 7HD, 9HD, ABC HD and SBS HD are simulcasts of their respective main channels, while ONE Digital is the SD simulcast of ONE HD.
9. Channel shares are the shares of each individual channel separated. The channel shares for each channel relating to the same network should add up to the network share but sometimes may incur a variance of 0.1% due to rounding of figures. Channel shares generally are not available for Friday night and Saturday night as well as some nights before public holidays.
10. Channel shares modified refers to the channel shares of all channels being pro-rata reallocated for those households that have access to all digital channels, removing those that do not have access to digital channels. Currently, it is quoted that 53% of all households have access to free to air digital TV. This figure is used in the calculation in modifying the channel shares. The affect of these figures is that the main channel shares reduce while the digital channel shares increase. These shares do not take into account the fact that some digital channels like ABC2 and SBS TWO are also available through subscription TV which would influence the figures for those two channels.
11. Network shares including subscription TV refers to the chares for each of the networks when the share for subscription TV is factored in. In thes figures, subscription TV is considered a network as well. Figures are based on the five cities and cover from 6am to midnight. Because they included day time TV viewing, the order of the network shares may vary from those figures shown for 6pm to midninght without subscription TV. Networks include all channels under their umbrella. These figures are generally not available for Friday and Saturday night and may not always be available at the time of posting the ratings report.
12. Regional network shares are 6pm to midnight for those regional areas surveyed by RegTAM. These figures are generally not available for Friday and Saturday night and may not always be available at the time of posting the ratings report.
13. When a show is not aired in all five cities, the following abbreviations shall be used to designate those cities that the show is or is not aired in. S = Sydney. M = Melbourne. B = Brisbane. A = Adelaide. P = Perth.
14. Regional figures are not taken into account in this report at any stage. Shares are based on five capital city figures only. If regional figures or shares are shown, notification will be made to indicate same.
15. Nightly network and channel shares are based on the hours of 6pm - Midnight only.
16. The shows that follow the top 30 rating shows under the title of “A few others” are a selection of shows outside the top 30 and may not necessarily be in order and do not follow on from the top 30 in terms of their position for the night. Shows listed could be, for example, 31, 34, 55, 89, 110th for the night.
17. Ratings posts for Friday and Saturday nights may not be posted until Monday morning, usually by 11am Sydney time.
18. On weekdays, the aim is to have the ratings post up by 11am Sydney time but may sometimes be later if the source information is not available or due to other uncontrollable factors beyond our control.
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