Demographics & Nielsen ratings

You might try contacting nielsen and explain that you are a student.

Contact your university's library and see what online services they have subscriptions to. It may be the case that some service they subscribe to has access to the kind of data you're looking for.

Or perhaps contact your professor or your department chair—it may be that some other student or professor in the department has found a way to get this information in the past. Failing that, perhaps a researcher in another field at the university (psychology? women's studies? political science?) has gained access to such data.

http://www.nielsenmedia.com/nc/portal/site/Public/menuitem.55dc65b4a7d5adff3f65936147a062a0/?vgnextoid=dcc81ae22bac5010VgnVCM100000880a260aRCRD notes that they're happy to work with journalists who need the data to do their jobs, and will get back to you in 1-2 business days. Writing a class paper may not be enough to qualify, but it might be worth getting a prof in your department to vouch for you. If that fails: Do you know anyone who works at a local television station? When I was a media reporter, I could always find contacts at local stations who were willing to share Nielsen info on a "you didn't get this from me" basis. Approaching the station as a student might get you somewhere, too.

Oh, also, try checking industry trade publications like http://www.broadcastingcable.com/. Any university librarian can help you find them.

Mediareport... your response was very helpful. I have two close friends who are reporters and would be a good source to go through. Lime - thanks but my library stinks and I can find the occasional mention in Lexus Nexus but nothing consistant. Thanks guys...

The challenge that you face is that Nielsen is a company that makes its money by selling the kind of information you're looking for to media companies and advertisers. They are notoriously stingy with the kind of data you're looking for. Someone already mentioned http://www.broadcastingcable.com/ which is one of the best trade publications for this field of study. Although, since The Daily Show is a cable show, it's hard to say how comprehensive B&C's data will be. When I was a regular reader, they would do weekly rankings of cable shows, but I don't recall how deep they would drill down. Getting any kind of demographic data will require some direct interaction with Nielsen, who may or may not be willing to help you out. There's no real way around it. They are pretty much the only player in the TV ratings game.