Last week Nielsen, the company responsible for telling you what everyone's watching on TV, began to factor college students into their ratings system for the first time. The change could increase the 18-24 demographic's viewing power by as much as 12 percent, raising ratings for some programs by as much as 1 percent, according to the New York Times.
All I can say is: It's about time.
The viewing power of the college student is as high now as it has ever been. For one thing, the proliferation of junior colleges, technical schools and the like have increased the number of college students to the degree that it has become pretty much expected that high school graduates will further their education in some way.
For another, college students, ostensibly, have more free time than their older adult counterparts and consequently watch as much TV as anyone.
The move will help out networks that are aimed at younger viewers. The one that immediately comes to mind is The CW, home of such college-student fare as "Smallville," "Veronica Mars" and "Gilmore Girls." But it will also indirectly aid all-sports networks, whose college viewership is immense.
The ratings changes are just part of an American economy that is becoming focused on the college student.
An unexpected student's domain is the video game realm. Kids were the main target of the early video game systems, but when the Sega Genesis console grabbed up some of the market share in the mid-1990s by targeting older gamers, it sparked a trend that continues to this day. Halo, Madden, James Bond and many other video game series enjoy much of their success thanks to the teenage and college market.
Even ideas that target the littler ones, like Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros., have a tremendous college following. The college market is so prevalent in video gaming that consoles now have many other uses apart from games, to the point where Sony made its PlayStation 3 console Blu-Ray DVD capable.
Music is also more college-centric than ever before. MTV even launched an all-college network some time ago called mtvU, which actually plays music videos on occasion. (Dorm residents can find it on Channel 54.) Top 40 stations nationwide cater more and more to the interests of the younger market, with hip-hop and pop tunes carrying the day.
If bands like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were to creep up today, they wouldn't have a chance. Only the very best of the genre would even attain the level now held by, say, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, which most would agree is a notch or seven below where the legendary bands of the 1960s would have ranked at the time.
The interests of people our age can also be reflected in the television shows that are aired. The aforementioned shows on The CW are a great example of that, as are the only remaining sitcoms you can find anywhere, almost all of which seem to be about twentysomethings - a level we students will soon be reaching and are very curious about.
Also ever-popular among collegians are reality shows - everyone reading this probably has at least six friends who watch "American Idol" obsessively, whether they admit it or not.
After years of watching the media slowly cater more and more to our interests, the Nielsen rating change was long overdue. But now that they're on board, the ratings will now more accurately reflect what America is watching.
Better late than never.
Write to Andy atndistops@hotmail.com
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