Talk:List of Rectify episodes

18-49 rating

The 18-49 rating is only notable to ad buyers (and I guess, people obsessed with TV ratings statistics), not the general public. And since this isn't TV by the Numbers or a TV ratings news report website, but Wikipedia, it shouldn't be included in the episode table. The stat itself is fine in prose form when discussing maybe record-breaking numbers (for example, The Walking Dead) but shoehorning it into the episode table to include another piece of ratings info is excessive. For one, a general reader (read: most) will not understand what a "1.0" is for a "18-49 rating" as nothing is explained. Two, we use (mainly) TV by the Numbers as a reference which usually contains more information about the ratings, if someone is interested in more info, they can click the reference, which what it is there for. Three, this extra column in the episode table (as far as I can see) is not included in any popular and/or GA/FA level class articles, but only in articles that you (Encmetalhead) have shoehorned in, and other editors have attempted to remove this (here and here for example). Your edit summary here stating "as long as I edit this page the demo rating will be included." comes as as very much ownership. Wikipedia is based on consensus, and if more editors agree it's unnecessary to include this, that should be the case. Drovethrughosts (talk) 12:32, 22 May 2014 (UTC)

It is NOT only notable to ad buyers. The 18-49 rating is the Key Demo and determines in most cases if a show is cancelled or not. I also have seen it on other pages, thus why I added it to the tables on shows I edit. I unfortunately don't remember which TV shows, as it was over a year ago and I've even tried quickly looking, or I would offer them as proof. Also it's only you and one other person who seems to have an issue with the rating being included, everyone else who has edited a page has kept it. I rather see 18-49 presented (useful information) rather than production code (which offers no value whatsoever).Encmetalhead (talk) 01:26, 23 May 2014 (UTC)

My stance is Wikipedia is not a TV ratings report website, and generally my problem with it is that it's too much "inside baseball". You first have to have an understanding of what the rating point actually means in terms of viewership. Why not list the 18-49 numbers in millions? Is that not more effective and easily understandable? Also, who says 18-49 is the key demo for every television series? It's a key stat, yes, but for some networks it's a different demo. Look here, for Sundance, their key demo is 25-54. Drovethrughosts (talk) 13:32, 23 May 2014 (UTC)

Thus why I said most cases. 18-49 is regularly reported while 25-54 is not. Also a few things about your link, it's from 2008 and is about AMC and not Sundance(who just became ad supported this past fall). By 2012 AMC was touting 18-49 and 25-54. At this point, since I follow AMC Networks greatly, I feel like AMC is trying to please both groups on different nights (and why I see 'Turn' getting renewed) with the older skewing shows like 'Hell On Wheels' (see 25-54) going on Saturdays with the younger skewing shows like 'The Walking Dead' being on Sunday as their flagship night. This is not the place to discuss that, I can discuss it at length though, and this may become moot if Rectify pulls a 'The Red Road' (numbers almost never available easily) instead of an 'Orphan Black' (saw a ratings spike in season 2). — Preceding unsigned comment added by Encmetalhead (talk • contribs) 14:04, 23 May 2014 (UTC)

What if we wikilinked the 18-49 header to Nielsen ratings#Demographics? Encmetalhead (talk) 14:08, 23 May 2014 (UTC)

Very much agree with Drovethrughosts. These are episode lists for common readers, not a TV ratings report. This is too specific, and there's no justification for reporting one segment of the population's ratings other than they are useful to networks. It's too arbitrary and uncommon for Wikipedia. -- Wikipedical (talk) 18:12, 23 May 2014 (UTC)

Well said, Wikipedical. More good points. Thank you for your input. @Encmetalhead, linking to Nielsen ratings#Demographics still doesn't explain what the demo number means. For example, here, a series had a 1.68 18-49 rating; without explaining or understanding, that 1.68 literally means nothing, 1.68 what? Millions, thousands? In millions, it translates to 2.133 million, well, how does that work? What calculation is used to figure that out? That's (among other reasons) why it shouldn't be included, because it's too confusing and not easily understandable by a general reader. Again, this information isn't being eliminated from existence, more ratings stats all always available in the references being used. Drovethrughosts (talk) 14:25, 24 May 2014 (UTC)