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Film & Television vocabulary · Television Formats and Series

Ratings

Meaning in film & television, with examples

/ˈreɪtɪŋz/nounCommon term

In film & television, ratings means: Measurements of how many people watch a TV programme, used by channels and advertisers to judge its success.

In Turkish: reyting, izlenme oranı

How it is used

Always plural in this meaning: high or low ratings, ratings fell, a ratings hit, a ratings war between channels. Share means the percentage of people watching TV at that moment who chose this programme. In the US, Nielsen is the best-known ratings company.

Example sentences

  1. The ratings for the final episode were the highest of the year.

  2. The channel cancelled the show because of poor ratings.

Common collocations

  • high ratings
  • ratings war
  • ratings hit
  • viewing figures
  • audience share
  • prime timeThe evening hours when the largest number of people watch TV, so channels show their most important programmes and charge the most for adverts.
  • seriesA TV or streaming programme made of many episodes that share the same characters, subject or story.
  • reality showA TV programme that films real people, not actors, in real or specially arranged situations, such as competitions, dating or daily life.
  • age ratingAn official category given to a film or programme that shows which age groups it is suitable for, based on content such as violence, language and sex.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Television Formats and Series

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