Television and radio program ratings and measurements: A selected and annotated bibliography

Following testimony dealing with the role played by television audience ratings in determining whether a given program will or will not be kept on the air, Chairman Oren Harris of the House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce requested the American Statistical Association to examine, describe, and evaluate the statistical reliability and validity of the various commercial rating services. The ASA's Technical Committee on Broadcast Ratings, under the Chairmanship of William G. Madow, produced its report early in 1961. It was published by the House Commerce Committee in March, under the title, Evaluation of Statistical Methods Used in Obtaining Broadcast Ratings (House Report 193, 87th Congress, 1st Session).

Although the entire report is highly technical, it is recommended to all those seriously interested in the rating services and their standards. For those without the statistical background to understand certain portions of the report, attention is called to more easily read articles, such as Harrison B. Summers’ “Qualitative Information Concerning Audiences of Network Television Programs”; (which appeared on pp. 147–160 of this issue of the Journal) as well as general articles cited in the bibliography that follows.