Amazing: Regan beats Obama

[gotribego26]

2. Anybody remember what happened to television, starting in about 1981? (Late 70s actually, but it really took off in 1981 for a lot of reasons.) That would help explain the steady decline in inauguration Nielsens overall, just as it explains viewership declines for other televised events.

MTV?

Three letters was right - but I think he was looking for VCR.

[Jeemie]

1. Are these the final Nielsen numbers, or the "overnights?" Don't know, just asking.

2. Anybody remember what happened to television, starting in about 1981? (Late 70s actually, but it really took off in 1981 for a lot of reasons.) That would help explain the steady decline in inauguration Nielsens overall, just as it explains viewership declines for other televised events.

The VCR.

And one of the "many things" that made it take off was probably Chrles' and Di's wedding.

I remember our TV was broken, and we'd gotten by without one for almost a year, but my sister insisted we HAD to have it fixed so she could watch the wedding.

Only time I ever saw my parents give in because one of us whined enough (actually, I think it's also because my sister paid for the repairs herself).

[SportsFan68]

Just like polling, until the folkses doing the counting figure out how to account for new technology, the figures are misleading. Several of us in my dept. watched on our own computers even though we had permission to watch on the big screen TV in another building. As I understand it, we didn't count at our computers and wouldn't have over at the big screen either.

The Fishwrapper ran a photo of about 50 people in a space designed for about 20 -- did the 30 extra people get counted at all, or even the first 20? Or not at all, since it's one of those deals they stick above the bar and usually don't even turn the sound up, just the closed captioning?

Probably they were way short for Reagan too.

[themanintheseersuckersuit]

I think the concurrent coverage of the return of the Iranian Hostages had a bit to do with the Reagan TV numbers

[silverscreenselect]

Up until the last three years, Nielsen ratings were based exclusively on live, in-home watching of shows and did not take into account shows recorded for later viewing or shows being watched in public locations like college dorms, bars, and restaurants. This definitely impacts the viewership for news and sports broadcasts in partcular. They now claim that their system accounts fairly accurately for recording and same day viewing and reasonably accurately for viewing within a week. However, public TV's are still largely a matter of educated guesswork.

[Bob Juch]

Just like polling, until the folkses doing the counting figure out how to account for new technology, the figures are misleading. Several of us in my dept. watched on our own computers even though we had permission to watch on the big screen TV in another building. As I understand it, we didn't count at our computers and wouldn't have over at the big screen either.

The Fishwrapper ran a photo of about 50 people in a space designed for about 20 -- did the 30 extra people get counted at all, or even the first 20? Or not at all, since it's one of those deals they stick above the bar and usually don't even turn the sound up, just the closed captioning?

Probably they were way short for Reagan too.

Since they have only a T1 line here in the office, they blocked all video. I'm right next to the help desk and they got many calls asking, "Is there a problem with the Net?" Since it's totally unacceptable to use the Net for personal purposes here, they never admitted what they were trying to do. (I'm using my personal laptop and a cellular modem.)

[etaoin22]

I think had there been enough televisions in 1953, Eisenhower would have come close. i am sure the Checkers speech had one heck of a rating. (Nixon, 1952).

The data speaks more of how to remember the politics of 1981, which is now a bit obscured by everything else in that tumultuous decade.

And if I go 1953, 1981, 2009, I get a 28 year cycle, which might be a vigenoctennial cycle, or might not.

[andrewjackson]

Just like polling, until the folkses doing the counting figure out how to account for new technology, the figures are misleading. Several of us in my dept. watched on our own computers even though we had permission to watch on the big screen TV in another building. As I understand it, we didn't count at our computers and wouldn't have over at the big screen either.

The Fishwrapper ran a photo of about 50 people in a space designed for about 20 -- did the 30 extra people get counted at all, or even the first 20? Or not at all, since it's one of those deals they stick above the bar and usually don't even turn the sound up, just the closed captioning?

Probably they were way short for Reagan too.

Since they have only a T1 line here in the office, they blocked all video. I'm right next to the help desk and they got many calls asking, "Is there a problem with the Net?" Since it's totally unacceptable to use the Net for personal purposes here, they never admitted what they were trying to do. (I'm using my personal laptop and a cellular modem.)

We got a memo telling us specifically not to stream it over the network here at work.

[Ritterskoop]

We got a memo telling us specifically not to stream it over the network here at work.

As did we, which made good sense because there were several extra TVs all over the building, and there was no need to cut into everyone's bandwidth for those who needed to be online to do their jobs.

[andrewjackson]

We got a memo telling us specifically not to stream it over the network here at work.

As did we, which made good sense because there were several extra TVs all over the building, and there was no need to cut into everyone's bandwidth for those who needed to be online to do their jobs.

Not exactly the same situation here. There are no TVs allowed in the courthouse. Other than the ones in the judges' chambers. Or in the gym because the judges use the gym.

There are some video monitors in the building with VCRs and DVDs attached including one here in the library. But those have to be devoid of tuners, antennas, or any sort of cable/satellite connection to the outside world.

The inauguration was an Executive Branch deal any way.