TV advertising rates are based heavily on the Nielsen rating, a rating system that uses a small sample group to judge which shows are the most popular. However, Nielsen has just announced that they are teaming up with Twitter to use tweets as a rating criteria. The new tweet-based rating will be used in conjunction with the old rating method.

The new rating will be called the "Nielsen Twitter TV Ranking" and will be based off of tweets sent on Twitter. The new ranking will become available for advertisers for the fall 2013 TV season. Chloe Sladden, Twitter's vice president of media, said, "Our users love the shared experience of watching television while engaging with other viewers and show talent," Sladden said in the release. "Twitter has become the world's digital water cooler, where conversations about TV happen in real time."