All editions of Sean Hannity’s Fox News program were among the 12 most-watched shows in cable the week of April 15. Among same-sex households, “Hannity” had an average finish of 247th place, according to Nielsen. Another news commentary show, MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show,” had a higher ranking among gay households than it did among general viewers.
The same-sex rating — which, for now, includes only same-sex couples — came about partly because of criticism from producers involved in making original programming centered on gay, lesbian and transgender themes who feared that the ratings for their series did not reflect their impact.
When ABC aired a four-part mini-series on the history of gay rights, “When We Rise,” in 2017, the show’s creator noticed that the low Nielsen ratings were in marked contrast to the enthusiastic response on social media.
“It just didn’t feel right,” said Dustin Lance Black, the creator of the series and the Oscar-winning writer of “Milk.” “I’m not saying it would have translated to a smash success, but something just felt off in the ratings versus the experience we were having.”
It led Mr. Black and another producer of the series, Bruce Cohen, to ask Glaad, the organization that tracks representation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, if Nielsen surveyed same-sex households.
The answer was no.
At the time, several series with gay and transgender characters were in danger of cancellation, including ABC’s “The Real O’Neals” and CBS’s “Doubt.” The year before, “Eyewitness,” a USA Network show centered on two gay teenagers, was canceled after one season.
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/01/business/media/nielsen-lgbtq-household-ratings.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
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