[Rant] Why "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" doesn't matter.

Status
Not open for further replies.
Norris

Norris

So Gilgamesh keeps bringing up the TLC reality show "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" as a sign that Americans are...stupid? Disinterested in the world around them? I'm not entirely sure. He's not the only person on the internet with this opinion. I'm going to explain, in detail, why this is an extremely small picture view.

"Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" is, currently, the top rated original program on cable. That is undeniably true, but the important words to note are "original program" and "on cable. Let's examine last week's numbers: Honey Boo Boo got 2.158 million viewers in its 10PM time slot and a 1.1 rating amongst adults 18-49 (the people advertisers care about). During that same one hour period, a double bill of Big Bang Theory reruns on TBS got an average of 2.622 million viewers and an average 1.3 rating among adults 18-49. Certainly not that much higher, but reruns got more viewers than Honey Boo Boo.

Now we'll compare that with what was going on with broadcast television. Unfortunately, TV By The Numbers doesn't seem to have last Wednesday's broadcast totals, so a strict comparison isn't available. However, Thursday's numbers will suffice to make my point. The winner in last Thursday's ten PM hour was NBC's news magazine program "Rock Center with Brian Williams". It landed 6 million viewers even, with a rating of 1.4 among 18-39. The relative lowness of that rating does indeed tell us that its mostly oldsters watching Rock Center. It still got the highest rating in that time slot, beating any other individual program on broadcast or cable...with the exception of football. Additionally, broadcast numbers include a measurement of share - that is to say, percentage of set group watching television at that time watching your show (if I recall my broadcast management class right). Rock Center got a 4 share among 18-49.

Even if the comparisons aren't enough to soothe your worried mind, consider this: ratings are a percentage. They are the total number of viewers in the group you're measuring divided by the number of people in that group in the country. 1.1% of Americans 18-49 tune into Honey Boo Boo. Not of all Americans, adults 18-49. One. Point. One. Percent.

Meaning 98.9% don't watch the fucking show.
 
Tress

Tress

True or false: If Gilgamesh had suggested that most Americans don't care about international news because they just flip the channel to football, his point would have been completely valid and you would not have grounds for this rant.
 
Norris

Norris

Tress said:
True or false: If Gilgamesh had suggested that most Americans don't care about international news because they just flip the channel to football, his point would have been completely valid and you would not have grounds for this rant.
Click to expand...
Eh, false with a little kernel of truth to it. Last Thursday's NFL regular season game on cable got 8.559 million viewers and a 3.8 rating, which blows all the news/opinion programming listed on TV By The Numbers away. So if you were to say "Your average American is more likely to tune into football than the news", that's definitely true. However, TV ratings (naturally) fail to account for other methods of getting your news. According to this graphic I found, 41% of Americans cite the internet as one of their primary sources of news. So pointing to any one medium and saying "that's proof Americans don't pay attention to the news" is a little bit overstating.

Though I suspect that may have been your point.
Gilgamesh said:
Click to expand...
Uh...yeah. That's why I created an entirely separate thread. So the one about the tension between Japan and China stays on topic, while this one is you completely failing to respond to objective reality disagreeing with you. That thread wasn't about this topic, so I started my own thread. With blackjack. And hookers!
 
Yoshimickster

Yoshimickster

.....I have never heard of this show until today....and have never been more glad that I was raised by the family I was blessed with. I read the wiki article and its like they are every single red-neck stereotype strewn into one.
 
blotsfan

blotsfan

I would like to see how ratings are in other countries. Do they just watch the news all the time and trashy television/sports is non existent?
 
Kovac

Kovac

This show seems like child abuse on display and someone should do something about it.

Perhaps child services
Or Batman
 
Covar

Covar

blotsfan said:
I would like to see how ratings are in other countries. Do they just watch the news all the time and trashy television/sports is non existent?
Click to expand...
Of course they do! Because they're clearly more intelligent, renfined, and just outright better than Americans.
 
sixpackshaker

sixpackshaker

Kovac said:
This show seems like child abuse on display and someone should do something about it.

Perhaps child services
Or Batman
Click to expand...

From what I've read about this show, that woman is raising a future drug addict. A child that is basically a toddler does not need to be drinking energy drinks.
 
Yoshimickster

Yoshimickster

sixpackshaker said:
From what I've read about this show, that woman is raising a future drug addict. A child that is basically a toddler does not need to be drinking energy drinks.
Click to expand...
Oh dear lord! Energy drinks? Does she WANT it to get Cancer?! I know the nicotine in Monster is small, but its still messed up she's doing that anyway.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top