The Race of Ratings

Our book presents results of an analysis of the time-series of ratings during the lifetime of each of 400 prime-time US televised comedies and dramas, 1963 to 1994, based on more than 13,000 time-stamped observations of show-specific ratings. The research was motivated substantively by one question: was the process that generated ratings per show uniform across all shows, or was it differentiated by the racial composition of the show’s main cast members? In order to answer that question, we first had to construct a model of the actual ratings time- series of each show, using a uniform basic model that allowed show-to-show differences on multiple variables. Then, second, cross-show differences of process parameters, plus the compositional variables, were estimated using both linear (mainly OLS regression) and non-linear (mainly spectral analysis) techniques. The presentation is gradual and narrative as well as mathematical. Analytic techniques are explained in simple terms. The book is therefore a manual of instruction in the analysis of time-series data, as well as a research monograph reporting the results of one substantive study.