What is viewership?

In television, there are two kinds of audience members: actives and passives. A passive viewer regards TV as sort of a background activity; he or she may have the TV on and not even pay that much attention. Passive viewers do not participate much in contests, they don't write fan letters, and while they do know what shows they like, they don't necessarily know what channel or network those shows are on. Passive viewers are more likely to just believe what they see, since they tend not to analyze it very much. (And most studies show that passives make up the largest segment of the typical audience-- as many as 90% of viewers, by some estimates.)

Active viewers, on the other hand, regard television as a foreground activity: they pay attention to it, are passionately loyal to their favorite programs and stars, and watch the programs much more carefully. They may write or call (or in these days of social media, tweet or make a posting to a station's Facebook page), and they are much more aware of what is on the air and when. And while active viewers can be fooled or manipulated just like passive viewers can, actives are more likely to discuss and debate what they watch, and some actives have very strong opinions about the quality of what is on the air.