However, almost all of us have turned on the television, clicked through every channel available to us, and found absolutely nothing to watch! How can it be that with so many possible channels, the same show is on six of them?

One answer to this is ratings. Specifically, Nielsen ratings. If you haven't heard of Nielsen Ratings, it is a system which surveys the viewing habits of people all over the world and reports back about which shows are viewed and by how many people.

The people at Nielsen do this is a few ways, but the main one is having selected people keep a TV vieiwing log, which is automated by connecting a device to their TV sets and report on viewing habits. As the different networks get this information, the base their programming decisions on it. So, if your favorite show is cancelled, this may be why.

Lots however are discovering that even though they have lots of channels to choose from, they can't find anything that they want to watch, despite the Nielsen rating system. And quite honestly, you would not be alone in that opinion.

There are many critics of the rating system. The critics feel that the system does not choose people randomly in the same statistical use of the word that scientific studies use. In addition, critics feel that the Nielsen surveys do not include enough viewers to provide proper feedback.

With the number of viewers rating television shows, your favorite program could be cancelled simply because it came in at a fraction of a percent below another! In addition to the mathematical criticisms of the rating system, many critics feel that the Nielsen system falls short because it only accounts for viewing within a physical home.

As a result no one watching in college dorms, sports bars or hotels viewing by satellite is included. Obviously the result is that thousands of viewers are not being counted.

So next time you turn on your television without finding anything to watch, you can know that someone else is being represented in the ratings, but your tastes clearly aren't.

After all, since 2005, American Idol has been the top rated show on television. Just about every network will try to a show that is competitive to Idol. So if you aren't an Idol or reality TV fan, then it is not surprising that people have trouble finding something good to watch, even on all their satellite channels.