audimat

TV ratings, audience figures

noun oh-dee-MAT Rare

Origin: Blend of 'audience' and 'automatique'; originally a brand name of the firm Médiamétrie.

Usage Note

Audimat started as a proprietary brand name that became a common noun in French, much like 'hoover' in English. It is used informally to mean TV audience ratings: faire de l'audimat means 'to get high ratings'. The word is invariable and always masculine, and carries a slightly pejorative nuance when critics speak of television chasing l'audimat at the expense of quality.

Examples

"Cette émission fait beaucoup d'audimat."

Natural Translation

This programme gets very high ratings.

Literal Translation

This programme does a lot of audimat.

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