This one's for the UK members. British TV has this Appreciation Index rating that has been around for years. In the case of Doctor Who I tend to see it as being more valuable than the actual viewer rating because it actually gauges how much people like a show.
I'd never really heard of AI until DW made headlines with Stolen Earth and Journey's End setting records with 91 ratings (gee, I thought no one liked the RTD era. Oh well). Apparently, though, some version of AI has been in place since at least the mid-60s as the BBC's online Doctor Who archive includes documents making note of this index from time to time. To my knowledge neither Canada nor the US has anything like this. Or if they do, the numbers aren't make public.
How exactly is it calculated? I already know British TV sets are more technologically advanced than our behind-the-times North American society (no such thing as Red Button over here, nor did we ever get anything approaching Ceefax except for the 25 people or so who tried "WebTV"). Is there some sort of magic button you push to indicate whether you liked a show? Does everyone in the UK have brain implants?
Alex
PS. Mods, this one's a borderline topic for DW, I know, but please don't move it to TV & Media or Misc as it pertains directly to ongoing discussions on this thread regarding DW ratings.
I'd never really heard of AI until DW made headlines with Stolen Earth and Journey's End setting records with 91 ratings (gee, I thought no one liked the RTD era. Oh well). Apparently, though, some version of AI has been in place since at least the mid-60s as the BBC's online Doctor Who archive includes documents making note of this index from time to time. To my knowledge neither Canada nor the US has anything like this. Or if they do, the numbers aren't make public.
How exactly is it calculated? I already know British TV sets are more technologically advanced than our behind-the-times North American society (no such thing as Red Button over here, nor did we ever get anything approaching Ceefax except for the 25 people or so who tried "WebTV"). Is there some sort of magic button you push to indicate whether you liked a show? Does everyone in the UK have brain implants?

Alex
PS. Mods, this one's a borderline topic for DW, I know, but please don't move it to TV & Media or Misc as it pertains directly to ongoing discussions on this thread regarding DW ratings.