U.S. TV networks hoodwink Nielsen’s ratings system with timely typos

SOME U.S. TV NETWORKS are deliberately misspelling the names of shows on nights with few viewers in an attempt to boost ratings by deceiving Nielsen’s automated system.According to a Wall Street Journal report (subscription), NBC retitled its evening news program on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend this year, typically a time of low viewership, to “NBC Nitely News”. The retitling of NBC Nightly News fooled Nielsen’s automated system, which listed “Nitely” as a separate show.Hiding the May 26 program from Nielsen dramatically improved the show’s average viewership that week, continues the report. Instead of falling further behind first-place rival...