A.C. Nielsen, Jr., who led the company that grew into an international market research firm known for producing the TV ratings known as “the Nielsens”, died recently. The report of his decease, however, took a back seat in the very media coverage he rated, upstaged by the obituary of Steve Jobs, former president of Apple—you know what that is—and the guru of the most spectacular developments in modern computer technology.
Nielsen ratings are measurement systems to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States. The ingenious method developed by Nielsen has since become the primary source of audience measurement information in the television industry around the world. Electronic “Set Meters” in homes throughout America self-record viewing or listening habits. By targeting various demographics, the assembled statistical models provide a rendering of the audiences of any given show, network, and programming hour. The technology-based home unit system is meant to allow market researchers to study television viewing habits on a minute to minute basis, seeing the exact moment viewers change channels or turn off their TV.
The most commonly cited Nielsen results are reported in two measurements: ratings points and share, usually reported as: “ratings points/share”. Currently there are an estimated 115.9 million television households in the United States. A single national ratings point represents one percent of the total number, or 1,159,000 households for the 2011–12 season.
Nielsen re-estimates the number of TV-equipped households each August for the upcoming television season. Then they process approximately 2 million diaries from households across the country for the months of November, February, May, and July—also known as the “sweeps” rating periods. Seven-day diaries are mailed to homes to keep a tally of what is watched on each television set and by whom. The life or death of any television program depends on the result of the Nielsen points and share. The highest ratings ever belong to the I Love Lucy sitcom which earned a 67.3 in 1952-53, far more than the figure of 19.1 for NCIS, today’s most watched program in a more widely competitive market, by the way, than Lucy and Desi faced in the Fifties.
(Stay with me, I’m getting to the spiritual part.)
The bottom line for the power of the ratings is dollar power. Shows that attract the most viewers generate the most cash. Sales execs who represent various companies which sell TV advertizing know that their most potent weapon for attracting and getting top dollar for commercial time is scoring a high number in the ratings. It’s nothing but the old share-of-the market thing. This being the case, what the producers give the viewers is what the largest number of viewers want and the programs consumers watch the least are dumped. The pros put it in terms of “audience demand.”
The ratings are what counts on the day of reckoning.
This leads to the proposal that all I’ve detailed above has a lot to do with the character of Christianity as those who claim to follow Christ navigate their way through the tossing waves in a veritable ocean of peer influence. The authentic message of the true Christian faith based on the Bible has done battle with the opposition of public opinion since day one—cite the very crucifixion of Christ and the immediate persecution of his disciples whose message went against the tide of public opinion. In fact, the only times in the history of the professing church when it seemed to control the “ratings” was when it was most prevalent in influence but prevailed only because of its use of forced coercion in the name of the faith; an infamous, obnoxious chapter in the annals of Christendom.
The stuff that it takes for a confessing Christian to stave off the seductive pressure of a self-gratifying society is indeed a kind of stuff that bears the trademark of “more than conquerors through Him that loved us.” Conforming to comfort in the form of “correctness” in the eyes of a secular populace is such a predictable probability for most church members that it reminds me of the lines by an unknown author,
“So they of the world and they of the church journeyed closely, hand and heart,
And none but Christ who knoweth all could tell the two apart.”
We who testify to being connected with the Christ of the Ages confront the strongest temptation that has ever come down the pike to finesse our faithfulness and come up with supposedly, pious-sounding excuses to compromise beyond the boundaries God has given us in his Word. When the Nielsen ratings are tabulated there is little difference in what professing Christians tune in to and what the non-believers watch. But more widely consequential is how Christians behave in general because we have failed to take, for instance, the Spirit-inspired challenge of the Apostle Paul seriously: “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity” (J.B. Phillips Translation). Tune in to that advice and you have a shot at persuading others to switch channels to God.
The “sweeps” tell it all—or at least what the marketers go by—and the results have their consequences. No points, no share, no show. The results of Christian compliance to the standards dictated by a secular populace also have their consequences. The influence of the only Person and the only message that can redeem a hell-bound, sin-sick, iniquity-smitten society gets misplaced in the ratings. No, God’s program will never be cancelled due to a low audience share but multiplied millions will not notice the difference between Christ and chaos if those of us who name his name are content to just move in the groove and glide with the tide.
A SHAKABLE DIAGNOSIS?
Judy & Bill McPhail
Amazing how two words ~ aggressive lymphoma ~ can so dramatically change your life, especially when you learn that without treatment it can be fatal in just a month.
Once spoken, they are joined in quick succession by other words that until that moment were simply inconsequential residents of a medical glossary. Terms like: Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, needle biopsy, core needle bone marrow biopsy, radioactive glucose and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan, hurriedly push other words aside.
Everything begins to move at warp speed…everything except biopsy and scan reports. Alas, il più presto possibile seems only available as adagio.
Today is day 16 since the diagnosis. Four days ago my surgeon removed the two largest lymph nodes in my throat and we now await the pathology report that will help determine the most effective treatment protocol.
It’s been nearly four decades since E. Stanley Jones, at the age of 87 wrote his book entitled “The Unshakable Kingdom and the Unchanging Person.” Having had the privilege of having lunch with him a few years earlier, I have often returned to his writings for both insight and reflection. Today, what he wrote when I was still a young man has particular relevance.
“The Kingdom of personal health is shakable. The doctor gives you a checkup, shakes his head and says: ‘You’ve got cancer.’ Shakable. Everything is shakable, except one thing—the kingdom of God. There is one thing and only one thing that is unshakable and that one thing is the kingdom of God. To be able to say that and to be able to say it in a world of relativisms and to say it without fear of contradiction from any source, scientific or religious or philosophical is important—all important.”
While I was still a young boy I became part of God’s unshakeable kingdom. Because of that, the core of who I am is not my health.
So, I continue to do what I have been endeavoring to do since I heard the voice of God call me to preach when I was barely four years of age: walk with God, endeavor to listen to His voice, deny self, and follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit. That remains my daily regimen.
Footnote: 1) As I was reflecting this week on the things that are important I believe that the Holy Spirit showed me that untreated carnality within the life of the church is more dangerous than the aggressive lymphoma is within my body. Perhaps that is why Romans 8:7 tells us that “the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.”
2) Tests results in the past few day indicate that the lymphoma is considered Stage 2 as it is currently contained in the upper torso: three on both sides of the neck; tw0 just above the right breast bone; and 0ne under my left arm pit. We are also thankful there is none in my bone marrow.