It's an audience measurement Airlock Alpha and the BlipNetwork has used for more than two years. But now it has a new name.

The Stability Index Rating, which compares a television show's highest overnight viewing audience against its average, has been rebranded to the Audience Loyalty Index, or the ALI.

"We're not changing anything about the ALI except the name," said Michael Hinman, the site coordinator for Inside Blip, and the head of its parent organization, Quantum Global Media Inc. "The ALI will still give our readers an idea of how much of its overall audience a show is retaining, but the new name will help explain a little better what that data does."

What the data does is show how much of a television program's audience returns each and every week. Using a show's highest overnight rating and comparing it to its average, the ALI provides insight on how much of a show's total television audience typically returns on a regular basis to watch the show.

For example, a show with an ALI of 92.1 indicates that 92 percent of a show's biggest audience are regular viewers each week.

Hinman developed what was originally the Stability Index Rating using it on network science-fiction/fantasy/horror shows for the 2007-08 season for the sites Airlock Alpha and Rabid Doll, part of the same family of sites as Inside Blip. He expanded it to include select other programs in 2008-09, and is now tracking the audience loyalty to all first-run, non-event or news programs, on network television.

The idea of the measurement is to help provide more details on how well a show's audience is being perceived by networks and advertisers, Hinman said. The advertising for many shows are sold in advance by the networks based on a project audience size. If the number of viewers end up being smaller than projected, networks typically are forced to provide "make-goods," where the advertiser earns an additional commercial slot for free or at a reduced price, costing the network revenue it could've earned by selling that spot.

Shows that have inconsistent ratings are even harder to sell, because networks struggle to find an advertising rate that it can sell since it can't really predict how big -- or small -- an audience will be.

Such statistics, while not specifically tracked by the networks, tend to play a role in the overall mindset of those deciding the fates of programs, and a history of erratic ratings or number of make-goods could become a prominent variable in whether or not a particular show is canceled.

While the ALI does not take into account what audience size a network projected for its shows, it does provide a look at how stable that audience is. The higher the ALI rating for a show, the more consistent its audience is, meaning that the network would have a much easier time making advertising rate adjustments, and could lead to a better chance the show could be renewed based on those perceptions.

Among the top-rated network shows overall for the week through Thursday, one of the three weekly installments of "Dancing With the Stars" on ABC has the highest Audience Loyalty Index rating, showing that 98.2 percent of its overall audience has watched the show on a weekly basis.

On the other hand, "Dancing's" results show hasn't done as well, with only 84.1 percent of its total audience returning each week.

The best ALI ratings for the top 10 network shows for the week of Oct. 11 (through Oct. 15):

1. "Dancing With the Stars" (ABC) -- 98.2
2. "CSI" (CBS) -- 97.9
3. "The Good Wife" (CBS) -- 96.7
4. "NCIS" (CBS) -- 96.0
5. "Dancing With the Stars" (ABC) -- 95.8
6. "The Mentalist" (CBS) -- 94.9
7. "CSI: New York" (CBS) -- 94.4
8. "NCIS: Los Angeles" (CBS) -- 93.7
9. "Grey's Anatomy" (ABC) -- 89.1
10. "Dancing With the Stars" (ABC) -- 84.1