1 00:00:03,040 --> 00:00:06,240 Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, Happy Saturday. It's Chuck here with another Stuff 2 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:08,879 Speaker 1: you Should Know select this week everyone, I picked out 3 00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:12,160 Speaker 1: an episode about TV ratings because I don't know. I 4 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:15,800 Speaker 1: love TV and it's interesting. This from September two, fourteen, 5 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:21,200 Speaker 1: and I hope you enjoyed. Welcome to Stuff you Should Know, 6 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:29,840 Speaker 1: a production of My Heart Radios How Stuff Works. Hey, 7 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:33,000 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. There's Charles W. 8 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:39,680 Speaker 1: Chuckers Bryant, and there's Jerry W. Jerre Rowland. Actually, Jerry 9 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:42,800 Speaker 1: has been canceled, okay, due to low ratings. You know 10 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:46,960 Speaker 1: it's funny, is um? Jerry has been portrayed on television 11 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:49,360 Speaker 1: and a TV show that was canceled due to poor ratings, 12 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:51,880 Speaker 1: poor ratings. That was our show. That was our show. 13 00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:54,320 Speaker 1: We had a television show once. It was called Stuff 14 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:59,000 Speaker 1: you Should Know. It was a slightly fictionalized version of 15 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:02,960 Speaker 1: our life, our work life. We made a sitcom. Yeah 16 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:06,040 Speaker 1: we did. It's pretty cool and a lot of people 17 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:07,319 Speaker 1: loved it, and a lot of people are like, what 18 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:08,959 Speaker 1: in the world did you do it that way? For? 19 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:12,920 Speaker 1: So that a lot it's like basically ten and ten. 20 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:15,680 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, you're referring to the Tony people who've seen 21 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:20,679 Speaker 1: this show. Yeah, actually we'll get to that all. But we, um, 22 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:23,120 Speaker 1: we know a little bit about how TV ratings work 23 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:26,679 Speaker 1: because of that, and uh, in some ways, I believe 24 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: we're a victim of the antiquated system that is the 25 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:38,200 Speaker 1: Nielsen TV ratings. Now, dude, it's it's it's antiquated. Why 26 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:41,440 Speaker 1: it's changing. I do not disagree with the antiquated part. 27 00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:43,479 Speaker 1: What I do disagree with is that had it been 28 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:45,759 Speaker 1: up to date, I think it would have had zero 29 00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:48,160 Speaker 1: impact on our success. I don't know, man, I will 30 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:51,920 Speaker 1: say this to the people out there. What um, what 31 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:55,360 Speaker 1: the network did was they looked only at one number, 32 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:58,280 Speaker 1: which is the amount of people that sat down in 33 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:01,720 Speaker 1: front of their television set on a Saturday night live 34 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:06,000 Speaker 1: at ten pm to watch our show. Right. They did 35 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:08,720 Speaker 1: not count things that we'll talk about like online streaming 36 00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:13,360 Speaker 1: or DVR um or anything like that, which is what 37 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:17,080 Speaker 1: makes it antiquated. Because it's it's changing, man, people aren't 38 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:19,880 Speaker 1: watching TV like they used to. But they're basing a 39 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:24,560 Speaker 1: lot of these uh decisions on a system that was 40 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:28,079 Speaker 1: designed in the nineteen fifties. So let's go back, man, 41 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:32,239 Speaker 1: it goes back even further than that. Back in the A. C. 42 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:38,320 Speaker 1: Nielsen Company started. At the time, people who were broadcasting 43 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:42,000 Speaker 1: radio wanted to know what people were listening to. So 44 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:45,079 Speaker 1: there are a lot of companies that would telephone up 45 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:49,280 Speaker 1: family at random and say, say, fella, what are you 46 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:52,120 Speaker 1: listening to right now on the old Victor Rola The 47 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:55,160 Speaker 1: Amazing Adventure AWA, and uh he'd say, hey, thanks a lot, 48 00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:57,959 Speaker 1: bub talk to you later, and they'd hang up a 49 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:01,160 Speaker 1: nickel fill your trouble. So that they because we're talking 50 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:06,400 Speaker 1: depression at this time, um, well not later on, they 51 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:08,560 Speaker 1: wish the head a nickel. Here's a chicken for your pot. 52 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:12,359 Speaker 1: That's a Hoover reference. Man, you don't get those two 53 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:17,359 Speaker 1: often try to bust them out. So the Nielsen Company said, 54 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:19,519 Speaker 1: that's all fine and good. That's great that you guys 55 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:21,560 Speaker 1: are figuring out what people are listening to, but we 56 00:03:21,639 --> 00:03:25,720 Speaker 1: have something even better because we are a technological powerhouse. 57 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:29,720 Speaker 1: And what they did was they randomly picked some families 58 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:33,320 Speaker 1: around America and said, say, can we put this cool 59 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:36,960 Speaker 1: recording device in your home near your radio and it 60 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:39,480 Speaker 1: will record what you're listening to at any given time, 61 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:42,000 Speaker 1: and then we'll send technicians out to pick it up 62 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:45,080 Speaker 1: from time to time to get the information off of 63 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:46,840 Speaker 1: it and then bring it back so we can keep 64 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:50,480 Speaker 1: recording it. And family said sure, and the Nielsen Company's 65 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:56,720 Speaker 1: domination of broadcast ratings was sealed. After that point, everybody 66 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:00,120 Speaker 1: from every competitor they had was just peanuts can here 67 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:03,440 Speaker 1: to the Nielsen Company, so much so that when you 68 00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:07,600 Speaker 1: hear TV ratings, it's synonymous with Nielsen ratings, very much 69 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:11,080 Speaker 1: like Kleenex and UH facial tissue are one and the 70 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:16,920 Speaker 1: same same thing thanks to Nielsen's technological powerhouse. The irony 71 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:20,120 Speaker 1: of it, though, is that once they started installing those 72 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:22,800 Speaker 1: boxes in the twenties or thirties, and then they moved 73 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:26,640 Speaker 1: on to television sets, the innovation, I mean they innovated 74 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:32,520 Speaker 1: somewhat fundamentally principally, it remained the same until a year 75 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:35,840 Speaker 1: or two ago. Yeah, and they're not, um, we'll get 76 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:40,440 Speaker 1: into all the hardware of the the hardware side of 77 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:43,240 Speaker 1: how it works. But what they did in nur with 78 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:46,440 Speaker 1: send actual little diaries that you would fill out and 79 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:51,320 Speaker 1: pencil and send back. And they still do that today 80 00:04:51,680 --> 00:04:53,640 Speaker 1: in two thousand fourteen, even though in two thousand six 81 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:56,119 Speaker 1: they said they were going to stop they still send 82 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:57,919 Speaker 1: those little diaries and you get a little diary in 83 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:01,400 Speaker 1: the mail with five one dollar bill really in the 84 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:05,599 Speaker 1: envelope for your troubles. And they look like the modern nickel. 85 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:10,359 Speaker 1: Yeah exactly. And they rely on lazy, dishonest people to 86 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:14,159 Speaker 1: fill out this card and mail it back and then 87 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:16,719 Speaker 1: go spend that five dollars on a on a grande 88 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:21,279 Speaker 1: a latte. It would have gotten a lot more. Oh man, 89 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:24,520 Speaker 1: you could have bought a car. But but that is 90 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:28,359 Speaker 1: the diary version. What UM and and the networks and 91 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:31,400 Speaker 1: advertisers have never liked the diary version. They still don't know. 92 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:35,520 Speaker 1: But it's what's called sweep sweek, which is hard to say. 93 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:37,320 Speaker 1: That's right, we'll get it sweeps in a second. But 94 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:40,480 Speaker 1: um what they mainly like to rely on are two 95 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:45,599 Speaker 1: different electronic hardware methods UM the set meters as in 96 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:49,279 Speaker 1: TV set and people meters. And right now they have 97 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:56,280 Speaker 1: by they plan to have more than sixty TV set meters. 98 00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:58,040 Speaker 1: And this is just for the U. S and Canada, 99 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:03,520 Speaker 1: by the way, because everyone else is TV is weird. Yeah, simon, 100 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: do you ever watched TV in different countries when you're 101 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:07,520 Speaker 1: traveling and stuff? Yes, And it is so much fun. 102 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:10,200 Speaker 1: It is fun, but after a while you're like, I 103 00:06:10,279 --> 00:06:12,640 Speaker 1: really miss American TV. Yeah, but I mean, if you're 104 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:14,280 Speaker 1: traveling abroad, you shouldn't be watching a whole lot of 105 00:06:14,839 --> 00:06:16,920 Speaker 1: it was like late night in the hotel. It's one 106 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:18,840 Speaker 1: of but it's one of the great pluses is you're 107 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:20,719 Speaker 1: just like, I don't feel like watching this, will go 108 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:23,320 Speaker 1: out and see the sights instead. Yeah. I think I 109 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:26,040 Speaker 1: was in Belgium watching TV with my buddy Brett years 110 00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:29,440 Speaker 1: and years ago, and uh that was translated in English 111 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:32,920 Speaker 1: and subtitles and one of the characters said something and 112 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:34,960 Speaker 1: I guess I don't know if it was Flemish, and 113 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:37,840 Speaker 1: the other guy just looked and said I and it 114 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:41,080 Speaker 1: said me too. So we still say that today when 115 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:43,080 Speaker 1: we're responding me to do each other, we'll go I 116 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:48,600 Speaker 1: all those years later. So anyway, Um, the set, Yeah, 117 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:53,440 Speaker 1: I said there were SI in thirty one uh markets, 118 00:06:53,480 --> 00:07:00,400 Speaker 1: TV markets, and then there are about thirty five thousand, 119 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:06,440 Speaker 1: I believe. Now people meeters in those homes. I'm sorry 120 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:10,320 Speaker 1: in about homes and those people meeters are more specific 121 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:14,320 Speaker 1: because you can have three people meeters in one house. 122 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:16,640 Speaker 1: We want to see what little Susie's watching. We want 123 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:19,400 Speaker 1: to see what her brother Randy's watching, and they won't 124 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:23,120 Speaker 1: see what her dad watches. Chafter everyone's gone to bed, 125 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:25,600 Speaker 1: so each one of them will have their own little 126 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:28,120 Speaker 1: people meeter that they'll turn on. And I always thought 127 00:07:28,120 --> 00:07:30,800 Speaker 1: that these things were connected to your television like your 128 00:07:30,840 --> 00:07:33,880 Speaker 1: cable box and it just kind of read the information. 129 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:37,560 Speaker 1: But they're actually listening devices. Isn't that weird? Totally blew 130 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:40,320 Speaker 1: my mind. So basically at the podcast and the way 131 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:44,480 Speaker 1: that the way that Nielsen figures out what TV show 132 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:47,400 Speaker 1: you're talking to is because they have a device that's 133 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:51,520 Speaker 1: connected to the Internet that um is eaves dropping on 134 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:56,000 Speaker 1: your TV. And they just in two thousand and six 135 00:07:56,160 --> 00:07:59,440 Speaker 1: finally got to the point where they perfected this technology 136 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:03,720 Speaker 1: and they have of codes that broadcasters, the networks and 137 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:06,960 Speaker 1: the local affiliates have to put in to their audio 138 00:08:07,080 --> 00:08:10,960 Speaker 1: stream the audio video stream that just the audio stream. 139 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:13,200 Speaker 1: Is it just audio? Yeah, but they're trying to come 140 00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:16,800 Speaker 1: up with the video version. So basically, there's a a sound, 141 00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:19,320 Speaker 1: there's a frequency that you can't hear. I don't even 142 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:21,600 Speaker 1: think your dog can hear it, but it comes through 143 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:25,320 Speaker 1: your TV and your Nielsen box can hear it. And 144 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:29,240 Speaker 1: it's a it's basically an audio fingerprint for a show. 145 00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:32,920 Speaker 1: And when the Nielsen box here's that audio, it can 146 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:35,400 Speaker 1: be like, oh, well they're watching good Times right now. 147 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:38,559 Speaker 1: That's funny. I was just thinking that good Times, yeah, 148 00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:40,640 Speaker 1: and then I was like, no, I should say Three's 149 00:08:40,679 --> 00:08:44,040 Speaker 1: Company instead. It's depends and then he said good Times. 150 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:46,120 Speaker 1: Although if you watch Good Times long enough, there's an 151 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:48,960 Speaker 1: episode of Three's Company coming on eventually on that channel. 152 00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:51,360 Speaker 1: That's I think good Times maybe my favorite all time 153 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:54,880 Speaker 1: theme song. That's a good one. Oh man, it's so good, 154 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:58,679 Speaker 1: it's ridiculous. Did I tell you Henry Mancini did the 155 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:03,120 Speaker 1: the What's Happening theme song? Yes? What episode was that 156 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:07,600 Speaker 1: in just a few ago? That was number Stations? Because 157 00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:11,760 Speaker 1: the sound that the short wave thing mean, so uh. 158 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:15,000 Speaker 1: That's how Nielsen's been figuring out what people are watching, 159 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:18,319 Speaker 1: which is mind blowing. It's also if it seems a 160 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:23,640 Speaker 1: little backwards, yeah, it may be emblematic of a larger 161 00:09:24,040 --> 00:09:30,800 Speaker 1: systematic resistance towards technological improvement. Yeah, or if it seems 162 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:33,920 Speaker 1: a little small as far as the sample pool goes um, 163 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:36,160 Speaker 1: which it is it is. But what they do is 164 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:40,760 Speaker 1: they extrapolate that number, just like polsters do, and they say, 165 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:45,640 Speaker 1: well this, these are average markets, these are average families. Um, 166 00:09:45,679 --> 00:09:50,440 Speaker 1: so if these eventually TV sets are watching this, we 167 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:54,040 Speaker 1: can pull that out and and do some sort of 168 00:09:54,160 --> 00:09:56,560 Speaker 1: They probably do it on a chalkboard in a room. 169 00:09:56,600 --> 00:09:59,199 Speaker 1: There's this one guy who has the piece of chalk 170 00:09:59,559 --> 00:10:01,719 Speaker 1: and the rapp Late sets out and says, well, this 171 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:05,080 Speaker 1: is what America is watching, which always has bugged me, 172 00:10:05,679 --> 00:10:07,720 Speaker 1: especially when you have a TV show that gets canceled. 173 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:09,959 Speaker 1: It is because it all comes down to just how 174 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:13,440 Speaker 1: representative is your sample. So there's six TV sets there 175 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:18,640 Speaker 1: by two thousand fifteen, right now in two thousand fourteen, 176 00:10:18,679 --> 00:10:20,600 Speaker 1: may have two thousand fourteen. There are a hundred and 177 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:24,240 Speaker 1: sixteen point three million TV sets in the US. So 178 00:10:24,280 --> 00:10:27,360 Speaker 1: this is a very small sample size. But if the 179 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:31,200 Speaker 1: guy with the chalk um Bert can can come up 180 00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:34,200 Speaker 1: with a very good representative portion of the US. Like 181 00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:40,280 Speaker 1: there's this many um divorced Hispanic families, there's this many 182 00:10:40,400 --> 00:10:45,040 Speaker 1: um gay Asian households. There's like this many you know, 183 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:48,240 Speaker 1: Mitt Romney voters, And like they take all these guys 184 00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:52,480 Speaker 1: and put them together and it's a clear cross section 185 00:10:52,559 --> 00:10:55,280 Speaker 1: of America. That's America. Baby, you should be able to 186 00:10:55,360 --> 00:11:00,560 Speaker 1: extrapolate pretty pretty well from that, that's true. It just 187 00:11:00,640 --> 00:11:03,839 Speaker 1: all depends on how good their statisticians are, that's right. 188 00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:06,920 Speaker 1: And they do audits over the years and quality checks 189 00:11:06,920 --> 00:11:10,920 Speaker 1: of course, and compare ratings from different samples. So it's 190 00:11:10,960 --> 00:11:13,200 Speaker 1: not like they just said it, I saw we're doing it, 191 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:16,080 Speaker 1: although they sort of do that, but they do they 192 00:11:16,120 --> 00:11:18,880 Speaker 1: do quality checks of course. Yeah. One of the problems 193 00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:22,840 Speaker 1: is like there's been so few challenges from outside competition 194 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:25,959 Speaker 1: that Nielsen can do whatever it wants, and it's so 195 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:30,600 Speaker 1: powerful that it literally has the entire television industry at 196 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:35,040 Speaker 1: its feet. It decides what rating a TV show gets, 197 00:11:35,040 --> 00:11:37,600 Speaker 1: and ultimately the whole point to all of this stuff, 198 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:41,560 Speaker 1: to TV ratings in general, is so that networks and 199 00:11:41,559 --> 00:11:48,760 Speaker 1: their local affiliates can set advertising rates for advertisers. There's 200 00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:52,839 Speaker 1: seventy eight billion dollars at stake. That's the advertising spent 201 00:11:52,960 --> 00:11:55,840 Speaker 1: in a year on television, and it all comes down 202 00:11:55,840 --> 00:11:59,920 Speaker 1: to what rating Nielsen, with their representative sample and their 203 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:03,840 Speaker 1: audio eavesdropping boxes and their five dollar bills in a 204 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:09,360 Speaker 1: paper diary, decide that your TV show got. That's right. 205 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:13,040 Speaker 1: That's the dirty little secret. Is that they don't care 206 00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:15,559 Speaker 1: how many people are watching that TV show. They care 207 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:18,480 Speaker 1: about how many people are watching the commercials. Yeah, that's 208 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:22,479 Speaker 1: really what they're looking at, and more specifically what demographic, 209 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:24,440 Speaker 1: which is why I don't think we mentioned why the 210 00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:27,480 Speaker 1: people meters are so valuable, because they want to get 211 00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:30,719 Speaker 1: that specific demo so they can show advertisers eighteen to 212 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:32,439 Speaker 1: forty nine year olds. They spend a ton of money 213 00:12:32,679 --> 00:12:37,280 Speaker 1: and they're watching, uh, they're watching Community, but no one 214 00:12:37,320 --> 00:12:40,559 Speaker 1: else is, so we'll cancel Community, which is kind of crazy, 215 00:12:40,559 --> 00:12:43,320 Speaker 1: as we'll see in a little a little while. Yeah, 216 00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:45,400 Speaker 1: but um, just quickly let me go over. I think 217 00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:47,520 Speaker 1: most people know this. But if you've got a half 218 00:12:47,559 --> 00:12:50,160 Speaker 1: hour TV show and um, you're gonna have twenty two 219 00:12:50,200 --> 00:12:53,480 Speaker 1: minutes of uh TV show, then you're gonna have eight 220 00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:56,760 Speaker 1: minutes of commercial. Six of those are national ads sold 221 00:12:56,760 --> 00:12:59,640 Speaker 1: by the network, and then your local affiliate is that's 222 00:12:59,679 --> 00:13:02,520 Speaker 1: where you're gonna get your awesome commercials. Hey just for 223 00:13:02,559 --> 00:13:06,240 Speaker 1: the Wolfman two minutes worth or crazy Eddie. I remember 224 00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:08,440 Speaker 1: was big up in the Northeast. And then so this 225 00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:10,960 Speaker 1: is two thousand and six. I couldn't find one recently, 226 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:13,840 Speaker 1: but back in two thousand and six. You if you're 227 00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:16,760 Speaker 1: buying a commercial slot from a local affiliate, you're gonna 228 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:20,080 Speaker 1: pay about a hundred dollars to two thousand dollars depending 229 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:22,720 Speaker 1: on This is during the daytime. This isn't like three am, 230 00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:25,680 Speaker 1: but depending on what show. So, like back when Oprah 231 00:13:25,840 --> 00:13:28,560 Speaker 1: was on, you could get a thirty second spot for 232 00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:32,319 Speaker 1: ninety bucks you could affiliate. Yeah, you could also pay 233 00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:35,000 Speaker 1: up to two thousand dollars for it, and then apparently 234 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:38,600 Speaker 1: you're going to double that for um a national ad 235 00:13:38,760 --> 00:13:42,000 Speaker 1: for a thirty second spot during the day which isn't 236 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:45,960 Speaker 1: just not outlandish. Well that's how crazy, Eddie, I mean, yeah, 237 00:13:46,280 --> 00:13:47,880 Speaker 1: or the Wolfman, they don't have a ton of money. 238 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:51,640 Speaker 1: Although I don't know a wolfman wore a lot of jewelry. Yeah, 239 00:13:51,679 --> 00:13:53,200 Speaker 1: that's true. For those of you who don't know who 240 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:56,720 Speaker 1: the Wolfman is, we understand because you probably didn't live 241 00:13:56,840 --> 00:14:00,600 Speaker 1: in Atlanta. Yeah, I bet its Southeast. I bet it 242 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:03,040 Speaker 1: was on like WTVS and stuff. All you have to 243 00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:07,840 Speaker 1: do is go type in Wolfman Donna gallery furniture into 244 00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:10,960 Speaker 1: the YouTube's and it will show you some classic gallery 245 00:14:10,960 --> 00:14:13,439 Speaker 1: furniture ads, or just type in hey, ask for the 246 00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:16,920 Speaker 1: Wolfman no, ask for Donna. I don't remember that part. 247 00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:19,840 Speaker 1: What you don't remember Donna his daughter with the hair. 248 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:24,320 Speaker 1: The whole premise of the ad man wanted you to 249 00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:27,240 Speaker 1: come see him, and she'd say, hey, ask for the 250 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:54,360 Speaker 1: wolf Man. She go, no, ask for Donna. All right, 251 00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:59,080 Speaker 1: Sweeps everyone's heard it. Um it is a bit everywhere. Yeah, 252 00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:01,160 Speaker 1: everyone hears about you know this is SWEEPS weeks. That's 253 00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:03,520 Speaker 1: when well, well we'll tell you what it is. This 254 00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:07,480 Speaker 1: is the fact that the podcast. To me what SWEEPS week? Yeah, 255 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:10,600 Speaker 1: where it came from and why it exists. Well, in 256 00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:15,680 Speaker 1: is when they started sending out those TV diaries and uh, 257 00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:19,400 Speaker 1: they made a geographic sweep starting in the northeast across 258 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:22,320 Speaker 1: the country from east to west, and they collected the 259 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:28,000 Speaker 1: little booklets and those were our first reportings of TV writings. 260 00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:31,680 Speaker 1: So before they had they had the eavesdropping boxes that 261 00:15:31,760 --> 00:15:35,480 Speaker 1: they were using. But it was basically like um, this 262 00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:39,000 Speaker 1: this These are I think maybe up to twenty thousand 263 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:43,320 Speaker 1: households at one point in the major markets. The the 264 00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:45,440 Speaker 1: great thing about the paper diaries is they could go 265 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:49,200 Speaker 1: into local markets, smaller markets and find out not just 266 00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:51,800 Speaker 1: what you know, the people in New York or l 267 00:15:51,880 --> 00:15:54,680 Speaker 1: A or Chicago were watching, but what the people and 268 00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:57,880 Speaker 1: you know Santa Fe were watching too, or you know 269 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:01,120 Speaker 1: Fort Lauderdale. Yeah, those are saying, how does it play 270 00:16:01,160 --> 00:16:07,040 Speaker 1: in Santa Fe? Sheboygan or something probably or Walla, Walla, 271 00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:09,400 Speaker 1: I can't remember. It may have been a movie thing too, 272 00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:11,560 Speaker 1: but that there's an industry saying how does it play 273 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:14,600 Speaker 1: in the city. It's out of rhyme, because that's what matters, 274 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:16,600 Speaker 1: you know. Of course New York, in l A and 275 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:20,240 Speaker 1: the major markets are going to consume. Uh, they want 276 00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:23,280 Speaker 1: to know what your average household wants to see, right, 277 00:16:23,320 --> 00:16:26,960 Speaker 1: And this is this is the first time that anyone 278 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:31,240 Speaker 1: had ever taken a really comprehensive snapshot of what America 279 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:34,840 Speaker 1: was watching in a given week. And so they said, hey, 280 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:37,760 Speaker 1: this worked really well. We're gonna start doing this every year. 281 00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:40,720 Speaker 1: We're gonna have what's now called a sweeps week and 282 00:16:40,760 --> 00:16:43,280 Speaker 1: it's going to be on this week. And so the 283 00:16:43,320 --> 00:16:45,840 Speaker 1: TV executive said, well, wait a minute, wait a minute, 284 00:16:46,160 --> 00:16:49,000 Speaker 1: Sweeps Week, this is what we're gonna start setting our 285 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:52,000 Speaker 1: advertising rates against. And it's going to be this week, 286 00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:54,960 Speaker 1: and I'm going to do the craziest stuff I can 287 00:16:55,040 --> 00:16:59,040 Speaker 1: think of to get ratings as as big and wide 288 00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:02,360 Speaker 1: as I possibly can grab on that week, and that 289 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:05,919 Speaker 1: is where sweep Sweet came from. And we've seen some 290 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:09,400 Speaker 1: pretty interesting things as a result of Sweeps weak. Yeah, 291 00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:13,119 Speaker 1: there's um a great tradition of stunt casting during sweeps week. 292 00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:15,520 Speaker 1: Justin Bieber will show up on c S. I. I 293 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:17,240 Speaker 1: didn't see that one, did you? And I don't watch 294 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:18,960 Speaker 1: that show, and if I did, I would have punched 295 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:22,920 Speaker 1: my TV if he showed up on it. Um, if 296 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:25,640 Speaker 1: you're gonna shoot JR, you're gonna do it during sweeps weeks. 297 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:28,040 Speaker 1: Oh yeah. The late night talk shows are gonna load 298 00:17:28,119 --> 00:17:31,000 Speaker 1: up their their biggest A list guests during sweeps week. 299 00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:34,320 Speaker 1: E R did a live show. Yeah. I actually watched 300 00:17:34,359 --> 00:17:35,679 Speaker 1: that one, and I wasn't an e R fan. I 301 00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:37,040 Speaker 1: just wanted to see if they could pull it off. 302 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:39,679 Speaker 1: Yeah right, it's pretty cool. Ellen used to have a 303 00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:42,560 Speaker 1: sitcom based on her life and she came out on 304 00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:45,679 Speaker 1: that show during sweep sweek. Oh yeah, that's right. And 305 00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:50,840 Speaker 1: very famously there was a not one, not too but 306 00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:55,399 Speaker 1: thrice part Happy Days where Fonzie jumps a shark on 307 00:17:55,480 --> 00:17:58,760 Speaker 1: water skis that sweeps that happened during sweep Sweek. Wow, 308 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:02,760 Speaker 1: that's a sweeps failure. Well, i'll know if people watched it. Yeah, 309 00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:04,480 Speaker 1: I don't guess you can call it a failure because 310 00:18:04,480 --> 00:18:07,400 Speaker 1: that's probably US iconic. Yeah, it's part of the lexicon. 311 00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:10,960 Speaker 1: Now do you remember an arrested development where Henry Winkler 312 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:17,280 Speaker 1: jumps over Shark Classic. Uh, these days, sweep Sweek is 313 00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:23,000 Speaker 1: actually sixteen weeks because they have I don't know, but 314 00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:25,680 Speaker 1: narrowed it down. They broadened it out to four four 315 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:30,000 Speaker 1: week periods in November of February, May and July, and um, 316 00:18:30,359 --> 00:18:33,959 Speaker 1: they still tried out uh special things for sweeps but 317 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:36,159 Speaker 1: it's not It definitely doesn't have the teeth that it 318 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:39,880 Speaker 1: used to because the way that people consume media these days, 319 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:42,720 Speaker 1: which we're gonna you know, start getting into. So no, 320 00:18:42,960 --> 00:18:44,880 Speaker 1: it doesn't have the teeth that it used to. And 321 00:18:44,880 --> 00:18:47,520 Speaker 1: and as a result, um, a lot of networks have 322 00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:50,520 Speaker 1: kind of stopped, like you said, doing the stunt casting 323 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:55,240 Speaker 1: and that kind of stuff. But it's still as a um, um, 324 00:18:55,280 --> 00:18:59,439 Speaker 1: it's still basically holding broadcast TV hostage because that is 325 00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:03,280 Speaker 1: still what advertisers want to see, Well, what are your 326 00:19:03,359 --> 00:19:06,000 Speaker 1: ratings during sweeps Week? And that's what they set their 327 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:09,520 Speaker 1: ad rates against So the fact that there are these 328 00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:15,000 Speaker 1: four month long sweeps weeks, um means that the broadcasters 329 00:19:15,040 --> 00:19:19,160 Speaker 1: have to follow the normal fall the summer broadcast model 330 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:25,720 Speaker 1: with reruns in between. Yeah. And this is for for NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, 331 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:29,480 Speaker 1: like the major broadcast networks non cable networks, which is 332 00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:37,480 Speaker 1: a completely dying beast. Yeah, because they rely exclusively on advertising, 333 00:19:38,280 --> 00:19:41,720 Speaker 1: and cable has been eating their lunch because advertising has 334 00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:44,440 Speaker 1: been going down. It looks like it's already peaked. It's 335 00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:48,120 Speaker 1: still seventy eight million dollars billion billion. Yes, you're right, 336 00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:52,400 Speaker 1: but cable takes a huge substantial portion of that in advertising. 337 00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:56,280 Speaker 1: But then even when advertising rates go down, cable still 338 00:19:56,320 --> 00:20:00,320 Speaker 1: survives because cable makes money off of subscriber fees yep, 339 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:03,960 Speaker 1: and transmission fees to yeah exactly, which is why a 340 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:08,240 Speaker 1: cable has a big leg up. And also they can, um, 341 00:20:08,359 --> 00:20:10,880 Speaker 1: they don't have a traditional television season. They can release 342 00:20:10,920 --> 00:20:14,880 Speaker 1: stuff all year long and uh, you can binge watch it, yeah, 343 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:17,840 Speaker 1: which is happening. That's that's the new model. So, like 344 00:20:17,880 --> 00:20:20,640 Speaker 1: we said, for many years, um Nielsen was just kind 345 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:24,840 Speaker 1: of as this one Wired article, the Nielsen family is dead. 346 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:28,320 Speaker 1: Put it it was in a torpor. And the first 347 00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:32,720 Speaker 1: thing that really perfect um the first thing that really 348 00:20:32,840 --> 00:20:38,399 Speaker 1: roused um Nielsen was DVRs because when DVRs came along, 349 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:42,240 Speaker 1: the advertising industry was like, oh god, people can fast 350 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:45,639 Speaker 1: forward through ads now. Yeah, like they've always dreamed of 351 00:20:45,680 --> 00:20:49,000 Speaker 1: doing exactly now they can. And it was the basically 352 00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:53,080 Speaker 1: the television apocalypse and that didn't pan out because advertisers 353 00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:55,480 Speaker 1: figured out that, yeah, people can ever, we can fast 354 00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:58,320 Speaker 1: forward two ads, but there's ways to still get your 355 00:20:58,359 --> 00:21:01,440 Speaker 1: message across at sixteen time speed. You can do things 356 00:21:01,520 --> 00:21:04,720 Speaker 1: called popbusters where you use the actors or the look 357 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:07,040 Speaker 1: or the set of the TV show that you're advertising 358 00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:09,479 Speaker 1: within to make them think like the show just came 359 00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:11,560 Speaker 1: back on and you caught them yep. Because it's really 360 00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:14,159 Speaker 1: an ad um there's all sorts of stuff you can do. 361 00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:17,520 Speaker 1: So it hasn't been an advertising apocalypse. And as a result, 362 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:20,320 Speaker 1: because DVRs are clearly clearly here to stay and have 363 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:24,360 Speaker 1: been since you know, the early two thousand's, um Nielsen 364 00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:26,800 Speaker 1: has had to kind of finally be like, Okay, we 365 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:28,679 Speaker 1: need to innovate a little bit and figure out how 366 00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:33,880 Speaker 1: to include DVR because not everybody's sitting down at eight 367 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:37,280 Speaker 1: o'clock on a Monday night and watching Murder, she wrote, 368 00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:40,359 Speaker 1: nobody is Man. I watched a couple of episodes the 369 00:21:40,359 --> 00:21:44,040 Speaker 1: other night. I love that show. I've never seen one episode. 370 00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:48,200 Speaker 1: What I know, man, it is good? Is it's good? 371 00:21:49,119 --> 00:21:52,560 Speaker 1: M Another thing too? Uh just the backtrack is I've 372 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:56,520 Speaker 1: noticed lately is um, you're on demand watching, which a 373 00:21:56,560 --> 00:22:00,600 Speaker 1: lot of cable companies. I'm a Comcast person by because 374 00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:03,600 Speaker 1: I'm forced to be. Yeah, um yeah, a lot of 375 00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:06,639 Speaker 1: the the on demand shows now within the first like 376 00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:08,880 Speaker 1: a couple of weeks that they're available, you can't fast 377 00:22:08,880 --> 00:22:11,560 Speaker 1: forward through. Oh yeah, Like do you hit the fast 378 00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:16,080 Speaker 1: forward button and a little null sign comes up and says, sorry, 379 00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:22,000 Speaker 1: you're gonna have to sit through this. The DVR, I 380 00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:25,679 Speaker 1: guess the fact that the DVR is connected to the 381 00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:30,760 Speaker 1: internet and is because it's getting show information. The the 382 00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:33,639 Speaker 1: actual show is being recorded on your physical hard drive. 383 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:37,399 Speaker 1: I'm sure there's cloud DVR recorders or whatever, but for 384 00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:40,000 Speaker 1: the most part, there's a hard drive that's recording shows 385 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:43,800 Speaker 1: onto your DVR. And then the other capability is that 386 00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:45,600 Speaker 1: is connected to the internet, which is where it gets 387 00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:48,119 Speaker 1: show information and all that stuff to present to you. 388 00:22:48,920 --> 00:22:51,520 Speaker 1: But the Internet, as you may have figured out by now, 389 00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:54,679 Speaker 1: is a two way street. Not only can information be 390 00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:57,239 Speaker 1: downloaded to your home, it can be uploaded. And that 391 00:22:57,280 --> 00:23:01,920 Speaker 1: includes your preferences. How what shows you watch, um, how 392 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:04,240 Speaker 1: often you watch them, when you watch them, and so 393 00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:07,080 Speaker 1: all of a sudden, the DVR companies are like, hey, 394 00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:11,080 Speaker 1: Nielsen's giving you guys like eight pm on NBC ratings. 395 00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:14,560 Speaker 1: We've got all of these other ratings that they're not 396 00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:17,239 Speaker 1: taking into account that you can get from us. Not 397 00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:20,160 Speaker 1: only that, but they can actually tell when you're pausing 398 00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:25,520 Speaker 1: your TV because the infamous nip slip hate even saying 399 00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:28,280 Speaker 1: those words uh in the two thousand four Super Bowl 400 00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:32,840 Speaker 1: with Janet Jackson, they uh TiVo the popular DVR company, 401 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:35,639 Speaker 1: although the people still use Tvo. They probably do. I 402 00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:37,639 Speaker 1: don't know. It's like every local cable company has their 403 00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:40,280 Speaker 1: own dv R now it seems like it, but um, 404 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:43,200 Speaker 1: they were able to say that was the most replayed 405 00:23:43,240 --> 00:23:45,879 Speaker 1: clip h in the history of TiVo up into that 406 00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:50,479 Speaker 1: point was people pausing and rewinding. That's stupid, stupid stunt, right, 407 00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:55,200 Speaker 1: But like you were saying, they've now decided. Um, But 408 00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:58,639 Speaker 1: at least some networks have decided they're gonna start counting, 409 00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:02,399 Speaker 1: Um what's it called the DVR I'm so better the 410 00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:07,560 Speaker 1: DVR plus system, which is DVR UM live plus same day. Yeah, 411 00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:11,200 Speaker 1: that's the Nielsen method Live plus three days or Live 412 00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:13,920 Speaker 1: plus three and then Live plus seven, which is obviously 413 00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:16,520 Speaker 1: live plus same days if you just watch it later 414 00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:19,800 Speaker 1: that night. UM plus three is three days within three days, 415 00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:21,800 Speaker 1: and then seven is within that week. And I'm seeing 416 00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:26,560 Speaker 1: like conflicting information out there. Seems like either they they 417 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:30,560 Speaker 1: now have basically just Live plus Live plus three, which 418 00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:34,159 Speaker 1: is um like their main measurement. Well, what matters is 419 00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:38,439 Speaker 1: what the advertisers say is what we care about, Like, 420 00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:40,760 Speaker 1: you can have Live plus twenty, but if the advertisers 421 00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:42,560 Speaker 1: are like, we don't care about Live plus twenty, that 422 00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:45,560 Speaker 1: doesn't do anything for us. Exactly, it's true, but it 423 00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:47,640 Speaker 1: sounds like you're right. Like at one point they tried 424 00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:50,840 Speaker 1: to say that Live plus same Day is basically the 425 00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:53,720 Speaker 1: same thing Nielsen did and the advertising and they wanted 426 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:57,680 Speaker 1: to lump it together with Live and and the advertisers like, no, 427 00:24:57,840 --> 00:24:59,920 Speaker 1: that's really not the same. So because of the fast 428 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:03,159 Speaker 1: forwarding thing, Yeah, so let's at least separate these numbers 429 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:06,520 Speaker 1: out so we can look at it all individually. Yeah. UM. 430 00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:09,240 Speaker 1: The thing is is the people who are watching TV, 431 00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:13,720 Speaker 1: you know, I, EU and I UM, we don't care 432 00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:16,199 Speaker 1: what the advertisers think, and they basically just need to 433 00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:19,800 Speaker 1: keep up with our viewing habits, which are changing radically. 434 00:25:20,480 --> 00:25:25,240 Speaker 1: The broadcast networks have lost seventeen percent of the most 435 00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:29,440 Speaker 1: coveted demographic eighteen to forty nine year olds between two 436 00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:34,560 Speaker 1: thousand and twelve and two thirteen, sevent just gone. Part 437 00:25:34,560 --> 00:25:37,920 Speaker 1: of that is because the networks put out terrible, terrible stuff, 438 00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:42,119 Speaker 1: although so did the cable networks these days too. But 439 00:25:42,640 --> 00:25:45,720 Speaker 1: another part of it is because broadcast is stuck in 440 00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:52,240 Speaker 1: this sweep weeks sweeps week um certain time and on 441 00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:56,400 Speaker 1: a certain day format that has been in forever since 442 00:25:56,440 --> 00:26:01,479 Speaker 1: the fifties, and they're being basically held hostage by Nielsen's ratings. 443 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:06,520 Speaker 1: So there's been a real push to advance technologically and 444 00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:10,840 Speaker 1: to start taking into account these other myriad ways that 445 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:15,840 Speaker 1: people consume television and uh, getting a clear picture of 446 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:18,440 Speaker 1: what an audience is doing, and the fact that it's 447 00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:22,879 Speaker 1: now computer based and we have ways of tracking computers. Really, 448 00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:27,280 Speaker 1: broadcasters are as excited as ever and we just have 449 00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:28,639 Speaker 1: to figure out how to do it, and we'll talk 450 00:26:28,680 --> 00:26:30,320 Speaker 1: about how they're trying to figure out how to do 451 00:26:30,359 --> 00:26:48,320 Speaker 1: it right after this. Well, one thing before we get 452 00:26:48,359 --> 00:26:51,480 Speaker 1: to the internet, UM that we haven't mentioned yet is 453 00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:55,720 Speaker 1: you might hear in UH TV parlance the word share 454 00:26:56,240 --> 00:26:59,040 Speaker 1: as opposed to rating. Uh. And what that is is 455 00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:02,560 Speaker 1: a is a share is how many people are watching 456 00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:06,880 Speaker 1: a certain TV show that are actually watching TV. UM. 457 00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:08,719 Speaker 1: A rating is just how many people are watching it, 458 00:27:09,119 --> 00:27:11,639 Speaker 1: But the share is how many people what share of 459 00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:15,480 Speaker 1: people are watching a show that are watching something other 460 00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:17,880 Speaker 1: people like? If your TV is off, it doesn't count. 461 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:20,160 Speaker 1: Know that your share numbers always gonna be higher. Yeah 462 00:27:20,240 --> 00:27:23,520 Speaker 1: it is. But the rating is the number of people 463 00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:27,480 Speaker 1: watching it compared to the entire population of America, right exactly. 464 00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:31,240 Speaker 1: For Canada, Yeah, I keep forget about Canada. They steal 465 00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:36,800 Speaker 1: our shows. UM. So now we're onto the the newest development. 466 00:27:36,960 --> 00:27:39,080 Speaker 1: UM DVRs kind of threw a wrench in the plans, 467 00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:41,640 Speaker 1: but they're trying to take those into account and they've 468 00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:44,080 Speaker 1: they've been pretty successful, it seems like with that. Yeah, 469 00:27:44,119 --> 00:27:46,080 Speaker 1: once they settle on what they all agree is a 470 00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:50,760 Speaker 1: valid thing measurement. Yeah, valid measurement um. But now, of course, 471 00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:54,960 Speaker 1: people are consuming TV online more than ever, on their laptops, 472 00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:58,840 Speaker 1: on their tablets, their mobile devices, and throughout some figures 473 00:27:58,840 --> 00:28:01,919 Speaker 1: for you real quick, Chuck, please consider this A hundred 474 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:06,080 Speaker 1: and sixteen million television sets in the United States. There's 475 00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:10,119 Speaker 1: a hundred and thirteen million tablets, Yeah, a hundred and 476 00:28:10,119 --> 00:28:14,480 Speaker 1: sixties six million smartphones, and two hundred and forty three 477 00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:19,840 Speaker 1: million Internet connected computers, double the amount of televisions in 478 00:28:19,880 --> 00:28:24,320 Speaker 1: the US. And people are watching stuff whenever they want, 479 00:28:24,359 --> 00:28:27,480 Speaker 1: however they want on this and as it stands right now, 480 00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:30,320 Speaker 1: Nielsen is still trying to figure out how the heck 481 00:28:30,359 --> 00:28:33,520 Speaker 1: they can most effectively track these people. Yeah, well, this 482 00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:36,919 Speaker 1: is the the first year. Uh, this fall TV season 483 00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:40,560 Speaker 1: will be the very first year that uh, they're gonna 484 00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:47,320 Speaker 1: supposedly have a across the board measurement system with TV 485 00:28:47,440 --> 00:28:51,280 Speaker 1: ratings that will include viewership on everything, including your mobile device, 486 00:28:51,440 --> 00:28:54,440 Speaker 1: and has forced some innovation too, because the Nielson can't 487 00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:58,080 Speaker 1: just say, oh, well, we'll add like an eavesdropper onto 488 00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:01,400 Speaker 1: your tablet or your smartphone because it'll drain your battery. Yeah. 489 00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:03,320 Speaker 1: What it will probably be is a is a third 490 00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:06,400 Speaker 1: party app or a piece of software, and it makes sense. 491 00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:08,000 Speaker 1: It seems like it would be easier than ever to 492 00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:11,080 Speaker 1: track watching habits in the near future. Okay, it is. 493 00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:14,600 Speaker 1: If your Google, if you're Nielsen, and you've been basically 494 00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:16,800 Speaker 1: caught off guard by this since you know, you maybe 495 00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:19,680 Speaker 1: started thinking about this in two thousand and eleven, then 496 00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:25,280 Speaker 1: you're in deep trouble. There's a very very effective way 497 00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:29,640 Speaker 1: of tracking computer use, Chuck, and it's called cookies. And 498 00:29:29,640 --> 00:29:32,600 Speaker 1: cookies have been around forever, and they've gotten to the 499 00:29:32,600 --> 00:29:36,400 Speaker 1: point now where they can plant cookies on your tablet, 500 00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:40,320 Speaker 1: your smartphone, your computer. However, you have all these things 501 00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:43,440 Speaker 1: you use, and after a while, just from paying attention 502 00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:47,320 Speaker 1: to the data they're they're the algorithm will basically say, 503 00:29:47,360 --> 00:29:50,400 Speaker 1: I think these three cookies over here are the same person, 504 00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:52,840 Speaker 1: and they'll put them together and all of a sudden, 505 00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:55,680 Speaker 1: what was once three users is now one and the 506 00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:59,920 Speaker 1: picture is that much clear of who binge watched season 507 00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:05,280 Speaker 1: two of True Blood this week? You know. Yeah, So 508 00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:08,160 Speaker 1: there's cookies out there, and they've been around for a while, 509 00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:10,800 Speaker 1: and they're very easy to get, very easy to use, 510 00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:13,920 Speaker 1: and this is what Nielsen's up against. Yeah, and you 511 00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:17,360 Speaker 1: may be saying yourself, well, who cares how people are 512 00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:20,400 Speaker 1: watching it if it's online or on TV. But what 513 00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:24,920 Speaker 1: matters is advertisers. Uh. If you've noticed, if you watch 514 00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:28,240 Speaker 1: shows online like with Hulu or something, they're different commercials. 515 00:30:28,720 --> 00:30:31,760 Speaker 1: You're not seeing the same stuff. And they still can't 516 00:30:31,760 --> 00:30:37,720 Speaker 1: even decide now what to count because they don't want to. Uh. 517 00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:40,040 Speaker 1: You know, if if Brad Pitt does a pepsi commercial, 518 00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:42,480 Speaker 1: he probably has it in his contract. Well, this can 519 00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:46,880 Speaker 1: only run on on network on air TV in Thailand. 520 00:30:47,520 --> 00:30:50,200 Speaker 1: Don't don't show me on Hulu. I don't want my 521 00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:52,760 Speaker 1: commercial running online. If I show up in South Korea, 522 00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:55,520 Speaker 1: you owe me ten million dollars. That's right. So they 523 00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:57,960 Speaker 1: have a lot of control on how their images are seen. 524 00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:02,560 Speaker 1: Or maybe they uh, maybe there's an awesome commercial that licensed, 525 00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:06,880 Speaker 1: Um the who's won't get fooled again, it's only license 526 00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:10,200 Speaker 1: for television. They can't show that same commercial online, so 527 00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:14,200 Speaker 1: you're gonna have to show what some advertisers or or 528 00:31:14,600 --> 00:31:19,520 Speaker 1: shows or networks might consider uh, substandard ad So they 529 00:31:19,520 --> 00:31:22,000 Speaker 1: don't want to count that as a view. Yeah, and 530 00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:24,640 Speaker 1: the same applies to TV shows. To there there might 531 00:31:24,680 --> 00:31:27,680 Speaker 1: be actors writers that are just for on air and 532 00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:31,800 Speaker 1: not for video distribution or um, just like with the ads. 533 00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:35,440 Speaker 1: So it seems to me like the the there's it's 534 00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:37,680 Speaker 1: not just Nielsen's up against this. The networks are still 535 00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:40,560 Speaker 1: trying to figure out things like TV everywhere, Like they 536 00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:43,320 Speaker 1: want you to be able to watch TV everywhere you 537 00:31:43,320 --> 00:31:46,080 Speaker 1: are at all times, because then they can serve you 538 00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:48,920 Speaker 1: ads everywhere at all times and they can charge for 539 00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:52,160 Speaker 1: those kind of things. But they can't say how to 540 00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:56,040 Speaker 1: track this yet one and not everything's cleared for all 541 00:31:56,160 --> 00:31:59,440 Speaker 1: forms of media to the other problem with online viewing 542 00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:04,240 Speaker 1: is they don't have that all important demographic detail okay 543 00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:07,680 Speaker 1: again though or they could though if they start using cookies, 544 00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:10,520 Speaker 1: then they've got it right there that this is what 545 00:32:10,640 --> 00:32:15,040 Speaker 1: advertisers are salivating over, like hyper targeted ads. So like, 546 00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:17,400 Speaker 1: imagine if you and I are watching the same like 547 00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:20,959 Speaker 1: classic episode of Saturday Night Live, and I'm watching on 548 00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:23,360 Speaker 1: my computer, You're watching on your computer. We're sitting right 549 00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:25,400 Speaker 1: next to each other. We pressed play at the same time, 550 00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:27,760 Speaker 1: the ad break gets to the same spot at the 551 00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:30,680 Speaker 1: same time, and then boom, two different ads come up. Yeah, 552 00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:33,880 Speaker 1: I get because I'm in my forties, you get a 553 00:32:33,920 --> 00:32:37,440 Speaker 1: ferrari ad because you're five or six years younger. Exactly, 554 00:32:37,520 --> 00:32:39,920 Speaker 1: that's exactly what would happen to. So this is what 555 00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:44,680 Speaker 1: advertisers want, like that level of targeted. But the Nielsen 556 00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:47,040 Speaker 1: Company is still dominating. If they can catch up, the 557 00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:51,200 Speaker 1: Nielsen Company will be around for another fifty hundred years. 558 00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:54,040 Speaker 1: But again they're up against cookie tracking right now. And 559 00:32:54,080 --> 00:32:56,320 Speaker 1: if somebody can come along and be like, hey man, 560 00:32:56,440 --> 00:32:58,680 Speaker 1: we've got all of your second screen data you could 561 00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:02,720 Speaker 1: ever want, then again Nielsen's in big trouble. Well, there 562 00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:04,760 Speaker 1: are companies trying to do that. There's one called Calm 563 00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:09,520 Speaker 1: Score that says they can offer a single metric that 564 00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:13,280 Speaker 1: it shows who's watching television across every single platform you 565 00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:18,680 Speaker 1: can think of time shifted, on demand, streaming, live, whatever. 566 00:33:18,840 --> 00:33:22,160 Speaker 1: Calm scores as they can do it. Uh, NBC has 567 00:33:22,240 --> 00:33:24,960 Speaker 1: signed up with them and they haven't dropped Nilsen. You know, 568 00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:27,320 Speaker 1: they're just spending more money to try and get better tracking. 569 00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:31,080 Speaker 1: There's another company. They did that in the two thousand 570 00:33:31,120 --> 00:33:33,640 Speaker 1: fourteen Sochi Olympics, right was at the trial. Yeah, I 571 00:33:33,640 --> 00:33:36,600 Speaker 1: think that's when they rolled it out. Supposedly was super successful. Yeah, 572 00:33:36,640 --> 00:33:38,640 Speaker 1: that's what they said. Um and then there's another one 573 00:33:38,640 --> 00:33:43,360 Speaker 1: called ring Track that uh they their origins were just 574 00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:47,520 Speaker 1: a video cassette distributor, but they realized that that was 575 00:33:47,680 --> 00:33:52,120 Speaker 1: going nowhere. In two thousand fourteen, even worse, they were Beta. Yes, 576 00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:57,000 Speaker 1: they've diversified into TV ratings and they use cable set 577 00:33:57,000 --> 00:34:00,120 Speaker 1: top boxes and right now have deals with seventy at 578 00:34:00,120 --> 00:34:05,240 Speaker 1: works and three TV stations and basically the competition. David Poltrak, 579 00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:09,239 Speaker 1: he's a chief research officer for CBS Corporation, said that 580 00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:12,239 Speaker 1: it's the competition on the research front is the most 581 00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:16,040 Speaker 1: intense it's ever been and pretty exciting time. Yeah, and 582 00:34:16,120 --> 00:34:22,000 Speaker 1: Nielsen actually those um FTC antitrust settlement where I think 583 00:34:22,040 --> 00:34:24,080 Speaker 1: the way I understand it is that Nielsen was using 584 00:34:25,160 --> 00:34:30,440 Speaker 1: uh they they acquired a company called Arbitron, which is 585 00:34:30,440 --> 00:34:34,520 Speaker 1: a specialist in radio and out of home measurement, and 586 00:34:34,560 --> 00:34:36,279 Speaker 1: I think there was an anti trust suit saying like 587 00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:39,200 Speaker 1: you can't be the only people using this. So they've 588 00:34:39,239 --> 00:34:42,279 Speaker 1: now licensed that out. Uh we're forced, I think to 589 00:34:42,360 --> 00:34:45,000 Speaker 1: license it out to Calm Score, who is now using 590 00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:51,799 Speaker 1: that portable people meter, not purple people Eater, And I 591 00:34:51,880 --> 00:34:54,200 Speaker 1: think I'm understanding that correctly. But the long and The 592 00:34:54,200 --> 00:34:57,160 Speaker 1: short of it is, unless they get this right, they 593 00:34:57,200 --> 00:35:00,640 Speaker 1: think they're missing out on as much as five percent 594 00:35:01,239 --> 00:35:05,120 Speaker 1: of TV viewing is going unaccounted for at this point. 595 00:35:05,160 --> 00:35:07,280 Speaker 1: So if you like you're a network or something like that, 596 00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:11,239 Speaker 1: that's ad revenue, right, that's an ad rate hike that 597 00:35:11,320 --> 00:35:15,000 Speaker 1: you aren't getting. If you're an advertiser, that's like a 598 00:35:15,040 --> 00:35:17,960 Speaker 1: whole like ghost group that you may or may not 599 00:35:18,040 --> 00:35:22,239 Speaker 1: be getting your product in front of. But like you 600 00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:25,960 Speaker 1: can't say either way, Um, there's yeah, having ten or 601 00:35:25,960 --> 00:35:28,920 Speaker 1: fift percent of the advertising or viewing audience on accounting 602 00:35:28,920 --> 00:35:33,400 Speaker 1: for is not acceptable to me. Not in modern America, buddy. 603 00:35:33,520 --> 00:35:35,200 Speaker 1: This is what I think is gonna happen. I think 604 00:35:35,200 --> 00:35:38,960 Speaker 1: they're gonna get their their jazz together UM and be 605 00:35:39,040 --> 00:35:45,080 Speaker 1: able to track who watches a show down to UM 606 00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:49,920 Speaker 1: and the people who make the shows will sell a 607 00:35:49,960 --> 00:35:54,040 Speaker 1: package to an advertiser, and the advertiser spot runs in 608 00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:57,239 Speaker 1: that show no matter where it's consumed. So it's like 609 00:35:57,280 --> 00:36:00,560 Speaker 1: a three sixty deal. Basically, like this is going to 610 00:36:00,600 --> 00:36:03,560 Speaker 1: be broadcast live or broadcast on on the NEPs. It's 611 00:36:03,560 --> 00:36:06,320 Speaker 1: going to be up on our player. You're gonna be 612 00:36:06,360 --> 00:36:07,960 Speaker 1: able to watch it on tablet. But in all of 613 00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:12,000 Speaker 1: these it's going to be when you buy an ad spot, 614 00:36:12,120 --> 00:36:14,880 Speaker 1: it goes with the show, no matter where the show goes. 615 00:36:15,719 --> 00:36:19,920 Speaker 1: I could. And then there's another happy aspect of tracking viewing, 616 00:36:20,400 --> 00:36:24,120 Speaker 1: like down to this granular detail, your shows are more 617 00:36:24,160 --> 00:36:27,360 Speaker 1: likely to be saved. Our show, again, I say, would 618 00:36:27,360 --> 00:36:29,680 Speaker 1: not have been held by any of this. But the 619 00:36:29,680 --> 00:36:33,800 Speaker 1: whole reason community was online or still on air, it 620 00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:37,640 Speaker 1: was because the NBC was smart enough to be like, oh, well, 621 00:36:37,680 --> 00:36:42,680 Speaker 1: wait a minute, Like, yeah, it's ratings are abysmal traditionally speaking, 622 00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:46,360 Speaker 1: but on Twitter it actually trends. It's like a worldwide 623 00:36:46,360 --> 00:36:50,200 Speaker 1: trend that's valuable, and they figured out that this is 624 00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:52,920 Speaker 1: this is something you have to take into account. Nielsen 625 00:36:52,960 --> 00:36:56,160 Speaker 1: has as well. They launched a partnership with Twitter, who 626 00:36:56,200 --> 00:36:59,760 Speaker 1: in turn bought like a basically a TV trend tracking service. 627 00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:03,240 Speaker 1: So now Nielsen is going to start taking Twitter trending 628 00:37:03,280 --> 00:37:06,279 Speaker 1: into account into its ratings. And I think they think 629 00:37:06,320 --> 00:37:08,680 Speaker 1: Nielsen has a deal with Facebook too, right, I believe. 630 00:37:08,680 --> 00:37:12,640 Speaker 1: So you have to try and uh, see again, what's trending? 631 00:37:12,640 --> 00:37:15,399 Speaker 1: I guess yeah. And so now it's not just going 632 00:37:15,440 --> 00:37:17,680 Speaker 1: to be how many people are watching, how many people 633 00:37:17,680 --> 00:37:20,120 Speaker 1: are talking about it, how people like dress up like 634 00:37:20,160 --> 00:37:24,000 Speaker 1: that character on you know that night, that kind of thing. Um, 635 00:37:24,239 --> 00:37:28,239 Speaker 1: so really neat inventive shows that don't get a huge 636 00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:32,120 Speaker 1: national audience, well, maybe have a longer life. We might 637 00:37:32,160 --> 00:37:34,919 Speaker 1: still have freaks and geeks. It's the Yes, that would 638 00:37:34,920 --> 00:37:39,440 Speaker 1: be nice. Although that was a perfect run and encapsulated 639 00:37:39,480 --> 00:37:43,319 Speaker 1: in one season. Yeah, it's pretty great. And everyone on 640 00:37:43,320 --> 00:37:45,320 Speaker 1: that show went on to be huge movie stars almost 641 00:37:45,680 --> 00:37:47,439 Speaker 1: well not everyone, but a lot of them did most 642 00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:49,439 Speaker 1: of them? Um Man. You know who if we would 643 00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:50,520 Speaker 1: have had time, who we should have talked to you 644 00:37:50,560 --> 00:37:54,600 Speaker 1: about this was Luke Ryan. Oh yeah, our buddy Luke 645 00:37:54,760 --> 00:38:00,200 Speaker 1: is his movies though right well now he does. He 646 00:38:00,239 --> 00:38:02,279 Speaker 1: knows all about the stuff. He does TV as well. 647 00:38:02,280 --> 00:38:05,560 Speaker 1: But he's just talking to him is like he's always 648 00:38:05,600 --> 00:38:10,160 Speaker 1: one step ahead. He's very very forward thinking guy, and 649 00:38:10,440 --> 00:38:14,240 Speaker 1: I bet he would verify your theory on where we're headed, 650 00:38:14,719 --> 00:38:17,200 Speaker 1: maybe tweak it. Well, Luke, if you're out there listening, 651 00:38:17,760 --> 00:38:21,040 Speaker 1: let us know you'd better be listening. Um And also, 652 00:38:21,239 --> 00:38:24,600 Speaker 1: I'm eternally grateful to Luke Ryan for my Billy's ABCA 653 00:38:24,840 --> 00:38:27,960 Speaker 1: signed the hot Tub time Machine poster. That's right, that's 654 00:38:27,960 --> 00:38:30,799 Speaker 1: how we first met him, right, that's pretty cool. Uh. 655 00:38:30,840 --> 00:38:33,520 Speaker 1: If you want to know more about Luke Ryan or 656 00:38:34,239 --> 00:38:37,439 Speaker 1: TV ratings, you can type either of those two into 657 00:38:37,480 --> 00:38:40,720 Speaker 1: the search bar at how stuff works dot com. Uh. 658 00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:44,480 Speaker 1: And since I said Luke Ryan, not Luke Brian, Yeah, 659 00:38:44,520 --> 00:38:47,280 Speaker 1: that's different. I don't even know who. Look Brian is. Oh, 660 00:38:47,320 --> 00:38:49,880 Speaker 1: he's a huge, big time country star. That's why I 661 00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:51,759 Speaker 1: don't know who. Do you know? He's sold out like 662 00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:57,080 Speaker 1: two shows at Madison Square Gardens and like apparently he's 663 00:38:57,080 --> 00:39:00,120 Speaker 1: the only one to ever do that. He's huge. What 664 00:39:00,160 --> 00:39:02,560 Speaker 1: do you people sell out multiple shows at Madison Square 665 00:39:02,560 --> 00:39:04,960 Speaker 1: Garden all the time, Like Bruce sells out like six 666 00:39:05,000 --> 00:39:07,040 Speaker 1: eight in a row. He's one of them. Okay, maybe 667 00:39:07,040 --> 00:39:09,359 Speaker 1: he broke like the time record or something, but he's 668 00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:11,440 Speaker 1: a He's a good guy too though. You know, if 669 00:39:11,440 --> 00:39:14,360 Speaker 1: his name isn't Willie Nelson, then I don't know him. Well. Anyways, 670 00:39:14,360 --> 00:39:19,680 Speaker 1: time for listener mail. I'm gonna call this train conductor. 671 00:39:20,800 --> 00:39:23,160 Speaker 1: I love that job. We had one that wrote in. 672 00:39:24,239 --> 00:39:25,799 Speaker 1: Um Hey, guys, been wanting to write in for a 673 00:39:25,800 --> 00:39:27,799 Speaker 1: while now. I've been waiting until I could think it's 674 00:39:27,800 --> 00:39:30,880 Speaker 1: something interesting to relate to you. I found your podcast 675 00:39:30,920 --> 00:39:32,600 Speaker 1: a while back in February is looking for something to 676 00:39:32,640 --> 00:39:35,239 Speaker 1: listen to while I commute to work working out a 677 00:39:35,280 --> 00:39:37,920 Speaker 1: pin station for the Long Island Railroad as a train conductor, 678 00:39:38,360 --> 00:39:41,160 Speaker 1: means my hours tend to have me driving home anywhere 679 00:39:41,160 --> 00:39:43,600 Speaker 1: from midnight to three am. Prior to finding your show, 680 00:39:43,640 --> 00:39:46,319 Speaker 1: all I listened to our audiobooks or the radio. But 681 00:39:46,360 --> 00:39:48,600 Speaker 1: I got bored with all that after a while, and 682 00:39:48,640 --> 00:39:51,000 Speaker 1: I noticed my eyelids were getting heavier and heavier, which 683 00:39:51,080 --> 00:39:53,799 Speaker 1: is about seventy miles door to door trip. Yeah, it's 684 00:39:53,800 --> 00:39:57,000 Speaker 1: no good enter stuff. You should know from the first 685 00:39:57,000 --> 00:39:59,240 Speaker 1: time I listen to you, guys have been wide awake, amused, 686 00:39:59,239 --> 00:40:01,239 Speaker 1: and attended the whole drive. That's why I want to 687 00:40:01,239 --> 00:40:03,279 Speaker 1: thank you guys for keeping me alive, because if not 688 00:40:03,320 --> 00:40:04,920 Speaker 1: for your show, I'm sure I would have fallen asleep 689 00:40:04,920 --> 00:40:07,920 Speaker 1: and driven off the road. Ever since childhood, I've always 690 00:40:07,920 --> 00:40:11,640 Speaker 1: been fascinated about history and learning how things work. Uh 691 00:40:11,760 --> 00:40:15,040 Speaker 1: and was evident by me dismantling my toys and attempting 692 00:40:15,040 --> 00:40:17,279 Speaker 1: to put them back together. Although it's funny, in the end, 693 00:40:17,320 --> 00:40:20,680 Speaker 1: I always had extra parts. So again, thank you for 694 00:40:20,680 --> 00:40:22,920 Speaker 1: accompanying me on my drive home. Every night. It's been 695 00:40:23,000 --> 00:40:25,279 Speaker 1: nice having three friends in the car, although one of 696 00:40:25,280 --> 00:40:28,640 Speaker 1: you is extremely silent. That's Jerry. And by the way, 697 00:40:28,760 --> 00:40:32,719 Speaker 1: Jerry didn't get canceled. We were just joking. She's she's 698 00:40:32,760 --> 00:40:36,839 Speaker 1: on the air. Uh, and that is from Angel, Cartagena 699 00:40:36,960 --> 00:40:40,120 Speaker 1: and Bethel, Connecticut or on Hell. I wondered about that, 700 00:40:40,200 --> 00:40:42,360 Speaker 1: he says, PS if this becomes listener male, I know 701 00:40:42,480 --> 00:40:44,799 Speaker 1: you both try so hard to pronounce things. My last 702 00:40:44,880 --> 00:40:48,040 Speaker 1: name is Cartagena, like the city in Romancing the Stone. 703 00:40:48,680 --> 00:40:50,440 Speaker 1: But he didn't say if he's in Hell or Angel. 704 00:40:50,640 --> 00:40:53,640 Speaker 1: If his last name is Cartagena, it's on Hell, I 705 00:40:53,640 --> 00:40:56,799 Speaker 1: would think, but we'll see, we will see. Let us 706 00:40:56,800 --> 00:41:00,600 Speaker 1: know on Hell. That's what I'm going with, all right. Uh, 707 00:41:00,640 --> 00:41:02,760 Speaker 1: if you want to let us know how to pronounce 708 00:41:02,760 --> 00:41:05,640 Speaker 1: your name, We're always happy to hear from buddies out 709 00:41:05,719 --> 00:41:08,799 Speaker 1: there who listen in listening Land. You can tweak to 710 00:41:08,880 --> 00:41:11,760 Speaker 1: us at s y s K podcast. You can post 711 00:41:11,800 --> 00:41:14,560 Speaker 1: the pronunciation of your name on Facebook dot com, slash 712 00:41:14,560 --> 00:41:16,760 Speaker 1: stuff you Should Know. You can send us an email 713 00:41:16,800 --> 00:41:19,319 Speaker 1: to Stuff Podcast at how Stuff Works dot com, and 714 00:41:19,400 --> 00:41:21,239 Speaker 1: as always, hang out with us at our home on 715 00:41:21,280 --> 00:41:26,640 Speaker 1: the web. Stuff you Should Know dot com Stuff You 716 00:41:26,640 --> 00:41:29,400 Speaker 1: Should Know is a production of iHeart Radio's How Stuff Works. 717 00:41:29,440 --> 00:41:31,680 Speaker 1: For more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the iHeart 718 00:41:31,719 --> 00:41:34,239 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 719 00:41:34,280 --> 00:41:34,960 Speaker 1: favorite shows.