I am going to agree with Melissa here, the sample size (the size of the Nielsen sample) has probably not changed, and is unlikely to be the problem. There may well be other kinds of problems with the Nielsen sample in terms of how representative it is of the true population of people watching television programs, and some of those may work against Colbert in particular, but that is something different.
I guess you could say that the sample of Colbert shows, not television viewers is still small, which goes to Melissa and Tom's point that it is too early to draw conclusions about where Colbert will fall in the late night ratings and rankings. My early guess though is to agree with those who would identify his high brow, rather than his liberalism, as his biggest challenge for getting a consistent high number. As a big fan of the man and the show, this is one reason why I harp so much on Batiste - it seems like the right band leader and band could help make him more friendly to a mass audience; indeed, it seems like he thinks Batiste is that right guy, and he just isn't. On Mon, Nov 23, 2015 at 6:16 PM, Melissa P <[email protected]> wrote: > Sample size isn’t a problem. > > > > However, I agree that we should wait for long term trends before reaching > any conclusions. > > > > *From:* [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] *On > Behalf Of *Tom Wolper > *Sent:* Monday, November 23, 2015 4:53 PM > *To:* TV or not TV > *Subject:* Re: [TV orNotTV] Re: Colbert's Ratings > > > > Going back to the original topic of the thread, which is ratings, we know > in statistics that smaller sample sizes lead to more volatile numbers and > shifts that do not correspond to explanations. And as the audiences for > late night shows shrink, the ratings might change due to long term trends, > short term blips, or maybe the change in ratings between Colbert and Kimmel > falls within the margin of error and Colbert actually has not fallen > behind. NPR did a business story once where they went to Wall Street area > bars after the work day and talked to people in the financial sector. They > noted what the Dow did that day and asked what caused that particular rise > or fall (I forget which). The interviewees gave a whole range of > explanations. Taken together the explanations made no sense and were > sometimes contradictory. > > I get a similar feeling about this story. With smaller audiences the > ratings might move around a lot more. We should really look for long term > trends before trying to pontificate about what any host needs to do. > > I only watch Colbert once a week, maybe twice so I don't feel entitled to > make grand pronouncements. But when I do and I'm not falling asleep during > the show I turn to Seth Meyers afterward to hear his opening bit. From what > I've seen Meyers gives a much sharper political commentary than Colbert. > > -- > -- > TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "TV or Not TV" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
