The regional ratings are survey-based. This is why it takes longer to collect and collate them.
It's absolutely remarkable that regional ratings don't seem to rate a mention or consideration when the media or, more importantly the people who run media outlets, talk about TV ratings and the popularity of programs. I'd actually like to hear someone justify this.
As someone who didn't take STAT101 at Uni I have no idea how the TV ratings system ranks in terms of statistical credibility but surely people who are experts in the area designed it so I'll leave it to them.
Statistics are remarkable things.
First guys on here lament that regions are not counted - but they should be.
How do these guys work out the ratings?
They take a sample of the population. Its small, very small, like 1000 people, 10,000 whatever it may be now. I am unfamiliar with oztam in detail, but they work from the same principals.
Thing is, you gotta believe stats are highly accurate - as they are highly predictable. You see, out of say 1000 sets, you will get a percentage. It may be, that 880 watched state of origin.
Guess what.
You could apply that stat to the whole state of qld, and you have a "trend" that would be so close to the actual number of tv sets turned on for all intents and purposes, its not funny (but not THE actual number which does not matter in reality) Remember, only the trend matters. From this you can predict all kinds of things.
They have proved with stats like these time and time and time and time beyond count that they are VERY accurate, and once you throw a few graphs into the sceme of things and do a few plottings and some calculations, you can make some very accurate calculations and predictions.
Its why small samples are used everywhere in comparison to the scale they read. People and trends can be measured and the total number closely predicted. Very accurately. Its as simple as that. You will never get exact numbers, but its not the point and exact numbers are not needed.
And everyone goes off these stats. Lots of money rides on it, and its never wrong to within 99.9% The trouble comes i believe when in newspaper reports they say "oztam saw X number of people wacth state of origin across 5 major capital cities" People go what the f?? How did they know?? Its just all goop, because the average person hates reading stats, as they dont understand them....but if you
make it look like normal text, people lap it up.
