And finally, what about the magical number seven? What about the seven wonders of the world, the seven seas, the seven deadly sins, the seven daughters of Atlas in the Pleiades, the seven ages of man, the seven levels of hell, the seven primary colors, the seven notes of the musical scale, and the seven days of the week? What about the seven-point rating scale, the seven categories for absolute judgment, the seven objects in the span of attention, and the seven digits in the span of immediate memory? For the present I propose to withhold judgment. Perhaps there is something deep and profound behind all these sevens, something just calling out for us to discover it. But I suspect that it is only a pernicious, Pythagorean coincidence.
This week Nielsen Media Research fielded countless calls from networks and agencies alike in regards to the processing method for commercial ratings. After this year's broadcast upfront was negotiated almost entirely using the new currency of "C3," which measures who watched commercials live plus three additional days of time-shifted viewing, the idea was that more accountability would be brought to the TV-buying process.
