In Reply to: CBS has always been MAGA ish posted by amadbruin on July 19, 2025 at 10:19:33
Up to then, Nielsen simply reported the overall viewership. But then they started parsing the demographics. And advertisers started researching the meaning of the demographics. Everyone came to realize that some demos were more valuable than others.
As you cited, CBS was the famous example. Another thing I've read is that if the demographics had been understood a couple years earlier, Star Trek wouldn't have been canceled. Its total viewership was smaller, but the audience hit the sweet spot of ideal demographics for advertisers: young and urban and influenceable.