Nielsen

Tidying and Visualizing TV Ratings Data in R

About three years ago, I received a letter in the mail from Nielsen inviting me to participate in one of their panels. After spending a while on the phone with a representative to determine that it wasn’t a scam, I figured I’d give it a go. I tend to take great interest in knowing where data come from (especially when reporters and media sources try to use statistics to make a point), and as an avid tv watcher, it was cool to learn more about how Nielsen generates ratings and estimates program viewership.