Never mind the width, feel the quality: appreciating TV audience reactions
William Phillips
Once upon a time broadcasters were conscientious public servants who wanted to know how much listeners and viewers appreciated their work. Then came commercial TV, which cared only for winning a sordid ratings war by corralling masses of consumer zombies for every programme. Now the fragmentation of audiences has forced these crass head-counters to consider the strength of the viewer's response as well as his or her income bracket, age and address. Systems evaluating an audience's opinions of a programme as well as its size and...