Television ratings another casualty of Hurricane Irma

NEW YORK – The ability of television networks to know how many people are watching their programs is one temporary casualty of Hurricane Irma.

The Nielsen company said Tuesday that its ratings information from this past weekend is delayed because the company’s processing centre in Tampa, Florida, was shut down because of Irma. The company’s weekly list of top television programs is usually released Tuesdays, and it’s unclear when it will be ready.

Television networks are most anxious to see how ratings held up for football with the start of a new NFL season over the weekend. Viewership was down for the NFL’s kickoff game Thursday between New England and Kansas City.

News networks are also curious about how many people watched hurricane coverage, but that’s been delayed because of the hurricane, too.