According to a new report released by Magna Global, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies, shows likes ABC's Grey's Anatomy and Ugly Betty as well as Fox's juggernaut otherwise known as American Idol, showed big bumps in viewership when looking at Nielsen's new college sample. But, after reading the article one thing jumped out that made me squirm much the same way lots of people were this weekend when pictures of Britney shaving her head showed up in papers and on tv. The sample sized used for the analysis of college student viewership was only 150. Now, I am no statistician, but I would have to think using a sample size of 150 against a potential viewing audience of 2.9 million (about 47.5% of college students live in dorms on campus) seems a little out of whack. That said, I think you have to take some of the results with a few very large grains of premium salt. I think this is a good first step, but if Nielsen is serious about the 18-24 college audience is better get more sample. When we run our Top Ten List Reports, which is one of our smaller media reports, the sample size is four times as large as on the one Nielsen is using, and shows like Nip/Tuck, Entourage and Aqua Teen Hunger Force, which all rate in the latter part of the Top Ten List do not get the same visibility because the numbers are too small to move anything. If you really want to know what college students are watching, you also need to look at the other half of the audience who live off campus as well. Good first step, but lots of stairs remain.
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