Nielsens don't count for genre shows?

[Temis the Vorta]

I thought the gang would like this. Everyone wants the Nielsens to DIE! and have been waiting for eons for the ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead dance to begin.

Who needs Neilsens anyway?

This phenomenon also applies to non-genre shows but it appears to me that sf/f benefits much more than, say, police procedurals. It might help explain why, despite sf/f shows not burning up the airwaves this year in ratings, the networks are trotting out about as many as ever for their fall pilots.

While ABC's Lost and NBC's Heroes have lost some steam in the Nielsen ratings over the past year, they remain two of the most valuable program franchises a marketer can tap into, according to the just released calendar year "content power ratings" (CPR) released by Publicis Group's Optimedia.

The CPR rankings, which the media shop first launched a little more than a year ago, try to assess the overall value of network and cable TV programs to advertisers by going beyond the Nielsen TV ratings to look at factors such as program environment and viewer involvement, as well as by monitoring chatter on blogs and social networks about programs.

...

As Optimedia U.S. CEO Antony Young explained in a Webinar unveiling the new rankings today, "TV isn't just TV anymore. Agencies buy shows, not ratings."

...

For the 2008 rankings, the science-fiction program genre fared exceptionally well during the year, as viewers sought escapist fare to distract themselves from the harsh realities of the recession, the Optimedia index showed. Lost was number two on the CPR ranking followed by Heroes at six and Fringe at 13.

I don't think the recession had much to do with it. Genre shows just happen to attract an audience that "interact" with shows beyond simple viewing.