Figure It Out

December 2008

Numbers and me—we never really got along. Fractions, percentages, equations, functions, proofs, sines and cosines, ooh, they would make my head explode. I’m definitely a word person, endlessly fascinated by the nuance of expression and the various ways of describing an emotion or a situation. Numbers, on the other hand, are so final, so absolute—there is only one right answer—so intimidating to someone who, in school, often got the wrong one.

Let’s not even get into the chaos that can ensue when a number-challenged person like me attempts to balance a checkbook. No experience in life is more disconcerting than that feeling of dread that overtakes you when the ATM reveals a checking account balance that is significantly different from the balance you thought you had. For years I tried ignoring numbers as much as possible. Ever hear the saying, “Calories are a matter of the mind—if you don’t mind they don’t matter”? Well, I tried to apply that philosophy to all areas of my life that had to do with numbers. (I’ll spare you the results.) A dear friend of mine once told me that when he proposed to his beloved—a talented artist who had an antipathy to numbers similar to my own—he told her she would never have to balance a checkbook again in her life. I thought, could there be a more romantic declaration of love?

I did get my husband to take over all matters associated with income-tax calculations and forms—a gesture for which I’ll be eternally grateful. Because if math tests in school brought on physical distress, the prospect of dealing with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service induces near paralysis in me. My husband is not only good at math, he is absolutely captivated by physics, especially quantum mechanics and string theory. Poor guy, he wants to share his enthusiasm for these topics with me, and I feel like such a failure when he regularly loses me right after, “You know what I read today?” Tired of not having me partake in his love of subatomic theories, he reminded me that a famous mathematician (I can’t remember his name, I’m bad with everything math-related) said that people who don’t have mathematical minds are brain dead. Ouch.

With age we mellow and become more conciliatory, and I’ve decided to give numbers another chance. I’ve tried to embrace them and even study math along with my 10-year-old—until she asked for help with her homework one evening and wound up getting all eight problems wrong. I immediately found her a tutor, a $100-an-hour tutor, and that’s a figure even I understand—expensive.

I am, however, continuing my truce with numbers, because they can reveal interesting trends in consumer and viewer behavior. For example, a recent study conducted by Knowledge Networks on the changes in the viewing habits of 18- to 49-year-olds from 2004 to 2008 showed that 38 percent of them are recording prime-time shows for later viewing, up from 27 percent in 2004. They are also more prone to appointment viewing, with 48 percent saying that “most of the time” they turn on the TV in prime time “with the intent to watch a particular show.”

Another study revealed numbers that should reassure advertisers and broadcasters. While DVRs are becoming increasingly popular, researchers at Boston College have found that viewers who fast-forward through commercials actually pay more attention and can be influenced by brand images they view only for a fraction of a second. Tracking the eye movements of viewers, researchers discovered that ads with brand information placed in the center of the screen still create brand memory despite a 95-percent reduction in frames viewed and complete loss of audio.

And according to The Nielsen Company’s TV/Internet Convergence Panel, TV viewing and Internet use are complementary. The heaviest TV watchers are also the most avid Internet users. And the top fifth of Internet users spend more than 250 minutes per day watching television, compared with 220 minutes of television viewing by people who do not use the Internet at all. And almost 31 percent of in-home Internet activity takes place while the user is watching TV.

Numbers have once again shown that when there’s something really compelling on television, viewers watch in droves. On Election Day in the U.S., 71.5 million viewers tuned in during prime time to see Barack Obama win. Among his campaign promises, he has pledged to invest significantly in math and science education. Maybe there will be a class for me, too.