# How to save our favorite TV shows from cancellation **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 16, 2009, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-save-our-favorite-tv-shows-from-cancellation/493279 "2009-04-16T12:35:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2009, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-save-our-favorite-tv-shows-from-cancellation/493279/1 "2009-04-16T12:35:01Z")
An [article in today’s Slate](http://www.thebigmoney.com/articles/impressions/2009/04/14/want-save-your-favorite-tv-show) argues that the best way to do this is NOT to write letters or enlist friends to watch the shows. The author suggests the best route is to watch, and encourage others to watch, shows online. The theory is that these are events which the networks can track, whereas, unless you’re a Nielsen family, nobody knows if you’re watching a television show. Moreover, the demographic that watches entertainment on line, is thought to be a younger, more attractive demographic. So, please, go tune in to _Dollhouse_ and _Chuck_ online. I’ll watch yours if you’ll watch mine. Or at least I’ll stream yours in the background while doing something else. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2009, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-save-our-favorite-tv-shows-from-cancellation/493279/2 "2009-04-16T17:28:54Z")
The revenues for online views of shows are much smaller than broadcast (although they can give you an idea of how much the DVDs will sell, and that can be a real asset to a bubble show). The best way to keep a show on the air is to convince your friends and acquaintances to give it a shot, because one or two of them probably **are** Nielsen families. You just don’t know which ones. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-save-our-favorite-tv-shows-from-cancellation/493279/3 "2009-04-16T18:26:30Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > The best way to keep a show on the air is to convince your friends and acquaintances to give it a shot, because one or two of them probably **are** Nielsen families. You just don’t know which ones. > > –Cliffy There are 12,000 Nielsen families. There are about 112,000,000 homes. That means that 1/10 of 1% of households are the ones that “get a vote”. It’s unlikely that more than a small handful of us on the boards knows a Nielsen family. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2009, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-save-our-favorite-tv-shows-from-cancellation/493279/4 "2009-04-16T20:59:46Z")
I’ve been a Nielson family twice in the last 10 years. Not currently though. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-save-our-favorite-tv-shows-from-cancellation/493279/5 "2009-04-17T03:03:09Z")
That small, really? Wow, I must be really lucky then, as I know at least three former members of the survey. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-save-our-favorite-tv-shows-from-cancellation/493279/6 "2009-04-17T14:49:54Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > That small, really? Wow, I must be really lucky then, as I know at least three former members of the survey. > > –Cliffy Well, they rotate most of them every week, right? (or is it monthly, I don’t remember, though I did do a Nielsen diary a couple of years ago) I’m sure a lot of people know someone who has done it at some time in the past, but very few would know someone whose viewing counts _right now_. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-save-our-favorite-tv-shows-from-cancellation/493279/7 "2009-04-17T15:00:10Z")
I think that the 12,000 number probably refers to the families with TV meters, although that’s not entirely clear. These folks have meters set on their televisions that monitor their watching patterns - not imperfectly, [see an interesting Boston Globe article on the subject here](http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2009/03/28/1400_new_englanders_decided_what_you_watched_last_night_who_are_they/?page=1). There are also diarists, who only participate for a short time and change often. These are probably the folks that you know.