Bad Week for NBC - Or For Nielsen?

Has NBC become the Joey Fatone of TV networks? Big in the late '90s...not so popular today. Too bad it can't jumpstart its career on Dancing With the Stars. The network averaged only 6.8 million viewers in prime time last week--believed to be their lowest weekly average recorded in the past 20 years--and didn't have one show to break the Nielsen Top 10 (Deal or No Deal was NBC's top-ranked show with 11 million viewers, coming in at 23 for the week). But how are we to interpret this data, and this decline, in an age of iTunes and streaming shows from network websites? Maybe its Nielsen that's having a hard time connecting with audiences, although the firm claims to keep tabs on what people are watching on computers as well as their iPods. And as they announced this past week, they're also going to track outside home viewing, i.e. what's watched in bars, hotels, at parties, etc. starting this fall. Per the LA Times:

The roaming Nielsen panelists will carry mobile phones equipped with software that records the sounds around them. Nielsen will analyze 10-second clips and compare them to a database of recorded broadcast TV and cable programming.

Integrated Media Measurement Inc. of San Mateo, Calif., which developed the software, said that even the noise of a party shouldn't stop the Nielsen phones from learning what they want to know. Televisions with the sound turned off won't register, but then those viewers watching silent sets probably aren't paying much attention to the commercials anyway.

Once the out-of-home data is combined with the regular Nielsen ratings -- which Nielsen said might not happen for several years -- the networks should be able to charge advertisers for roving viewers.

"It can only help," said Preston Beckman, head of scheduling and research at Fox. "Obviously sports is going to benefit." He added that "American Idol" probably was also "a shared viewing experience" for many.

The plan comes as the major networks grapple with declining ratings and the fear that more advertisers will desert them for the Internet. And one of the Web's advantages is that it is easier to track ads' effectiveness.

NIELSEN TOP 10 (APRIL 9-15)
1. "American Idol" (Wednesday), Fox, 28.56 million viewers.
2. "American Idol" (Tuesday), Fox, 26.78 million viewers.
3. "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 22.18 million viewers.
4. "House," Fox, 21.57 million viewers.
5. "Dancing With the Stars" (Monday), ABC, 18.84 million viewers.
6. "Dancing With the Stars Results" (Tuesday), ABC, 17.32 million viewers.
7. "Desperate Housewives," ABC, 16.35 million viewers.
8. "CSI: Miami," CBS, 16.11 million viewers.
9. "Shark," CBS, 14.49 million viewers.
10. "NCIS," CBS, 14.38 million viewers.

NBC Has One of its Worst Weeks Ever [AP]