Primetime Broadcast Ratings, August 28, 2008

ABC’s primetime coverage of the final day of the Democratic National Convention led in viewership drawing an average audience of roughly 6.6 million viewers. The event featured the widely viewed acceptance speech by Sen. Barack Obama.

Convention coverage from NBC and CBS also made their way into the top 10.

Overall, NBC won the night with an average audience of 6.1 million viewers, while CBS took second place with just over 5.3 million average viewers. Univision and ABC claimed third and fourth places — with just over 4.9 million and 4.6 million average viewers, respectively. FOX followed in fifth place with an average audience of slightly more than 4.4 million viewers.

Obama Speech, Final Day Of DNC Reaches A Quarter Of American Households

Day four of the Democratic National Convention featured the acceptance speech by nominee Sen. Barack Obama.  The convention was carried live during prime time on ten networks – ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News Channel, MSNBC, BET, TV One, Univision and Telemundo.  Coverage varied by network, all ten aired live coverage from approximately 10-11PM (ET). The final night drew the largest audience so far for the Democrats (24.5% of all American homes), eclipsing the audience reach the three previous evenings.

The speech by Sen. Obama was the fifth most-viewed, non-sports program among African American households in the last 11 years.

Highest Rated Programs Among African Americans 1997-2008
Viewers age 2+ (Sports Not Included)

* Persons ratings for African American, Hispanic are % of African American/ Hispanic persons age 2+ in TV homes watching the convention coverage. 2008 Networks Included: Days 1, 2, 3 - ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, BET, TV One Day 4 - ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, BET, TV One, Univision, Telemundo 2004 Networks Included: Days 1, 3, 4 – ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News, MSNBC Day 2 - CNN, FOX News, MSNBC. ABC, CBS, NBC regularly scheduled programs.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in The Washington Post, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the National Review, CBS News, the Boston Herald, and Variety.

Day 3 DNC Ratings For Clinton, Biden Dip Slightly

More than 24 million people watched the third night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention — a 7.5% decrease from 26 million viewers on day two of the convention.

Wednesday night’s speeches, which featured Former President Bill Clinton’s endorsement of Senator Obama and Senator Joseph Biden’s acceptance of his party’s nomination for vice president, drew 12.2% of all African American viewers — down slightly from the prevous night when Hillary Clinton addressed the convention (12.7%), but up from day one (12%), when Michelle Obama spoke.

Viewers age 55 and older continue to dominate the DNC’s TV audience, with 18.1% of all Americans in that age group — 12.5 million people — tuning in to Wednesday night’s convention coverage on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News Channel, MSNBC, BET, and TV One.

In comparison to day three of the 2004 convention, which drew almost 18 million viewers, the audience for day three of the 2008 convention was still significantly larger (up by a third to 24 million viewers). 

On Wednesday, August 27, 2008, convention coverage varied by network, with all eight networks noted above airing live coverage from approximately 10pm to 11pm EST.

View the full media alert.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in MarketWatch, The New York Times’ “TV Decoder” blog, and Variety.

Primetime Broadcast Ratings: August 27, 2008

For the second night in a row, NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” claimed the top spot in Nielsen’s ranking of primetime broadcast TV programs.

The telecast drew an average audience of 10.3 million viewers, while CBS’s “Criminal Minds” and FOX’s special presentation of “Bones” were ranked second and third, respectively, with 6.9 million and almost 6.1 million average viewers each.

Coverage of the third night of the Democratic National Convention on NBC, CBS, and ABC also made the top ten.

Overall, NBC won the night with an average audience of nearly 8.7 million viewers, while FOX took second place with 5.8 million average viewers.  CBS and Univision claimed third and fourth places — with just over 5.3 million and 4.3 million average viewers, respectively.  ABC followed in fifth place with an average audience of almost 3.3 million viewers.

More U.S. Viewers, Households For 2008-09 TV Season

The total number of U.S. television households for the 2008-2009 TV season has grown to 114.5 million — up 1.5% from last year, Nielsen reported Thursday.

U.S. television viewers also increased by 1.3%, to a total of nearly 290 million people (age two and older), with older viewers (age 55+) showing the fastest growth rate (+2.7%).

The new figures, Nielsen’s TV Universe Estimate for the 2008-2009 TV season, will be reflected in Nielsen’s national TV ratings as of September 1, 2008. 

Nationally, in comparison to the total number of TV households, the number of Hispanic and Asian television households increased by 4.4% and 4.3%, respectively. African American TV households grew by 2.2% during the same time period.

Locally, the top 20 television markets held onto their 2007-2008 TV season ranks. Movement among lower-ranked markets reflected recent population growth in the Southern and Western United States — of the 58 markets that moved up in rank, more than half are in the Southeast or Mountain regions.

Local market estimates are projected to January 1, 2009 and will be used in metered market samples as of September 27, 2008.

View the full press release.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in Mediaweek and Media Daily News.

Clinton, Dems See Ratings Boost On DNC Day 2

Almost 26 million people watched the second night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention — a 16% increase from 22.3 million viewers on the opening night of the convention.

Tuesday night’s speeches, which featured Senator Hillary Clinton’s much anticipated keynote address, continued to draw a large proportion of African Americans (12.7% of all African American viewers tuned in). 

Viewers age 55 and older also continued to dominate Tuesday night’s TV audience, with 20% of all Americans in that age group watching the convention coverage on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News Channel, MSNBC, BET, and TV One.

In comparison to day two of the 2004 convention, which drew 5.9 million viewers, the audience for day two of the 2008 convention was significantly larger (26 million viewers).  In 2004, cable networks provided the only TV coverage of the convention.

On Tuesday, August 26, 2008, convention coverage varied by network, with all eight networks noted above airing live coverage from approximately 10pm to 11:15pm EST.

View the full media alert.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in The Nation, The Boston Globe, The San Francisco Chronicle, New York Daily News, and Variety.

Primetime Broadcast Ratings: August 26, 2008

NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” claimed the top spot in Nielsen’s ranking of primetime broadcast TV programs for Tuesday, August 26, 2008.

The telecast drew an average audience of 11.1 million viewers, while CBS’s “NCIS” and FOX’s “House” were ranked second and third, respectively, with 7.5 million and 6.8 million average viewers each.

Coverage of the second night of the Democratic National Convention on NBC and ABC also made the top ten.

Overall, NBC won the night with an average audience of just over 9.2 million viewers, while FOX took second place with 5.8 million average viewers.  CBS and ABC claimed third and fourth places — with just over 5.7 million and 5 million average viewers, respectively.  Univision followed in fifth place with an average audience of just over 4.7 million viewers.

Taiwan Ad Market Up 1% In First Half Of 2008

Advertising in Taiwan grew by one percent to reach NT$22.23 billion during the first half of 2008, according to a report released Wednesday by Nielsen Advertising Information Service.

The modest first-half increase — driven largely by Kuomintang (+2,134%; NT$164 million) and Democratic Progressive Party (+2,938; NT$70 million) political advertising — is the first advertising growth since 2004 for Taiwan’s struggling advertising market.

Radio (+19%) and terrestrial TV ads (+12%) recorded significant growth, while print and outdoor advertising continued to struggle.

The FarGlory Group, a leading property developer in Taiwan, was again the top advertiser position for the period, spending NT$368 million, despite cutting its advertising budget by 6% in the first half of 2008.

Among the top 20 advertisers, the Kuomintang political party (+2,134%; NT$164 million), Jaysanlyn Real Estate & Advertising Co. (+812%; NT$255 million), and Highwealth Construction (+535%; NT$188 million) recorded the largest percentage increases during the first half.

View the full press release.

Dems’ First Night Is Big Draw For African Americans

More than 22 million people — and 17 million U.S. households — watched the first night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention on Monday, August 25.

A large percentage of African American households (24%) tuned in for the night’s speeches, which included a keynote address by Michelle Obama. 

Among White households in the U.S., 14.6% watched the convention Monday night, while just 7.3% of Hispanic households tuned in.

Viewers age 55 and older also dominated the TV audience Monday night – 16.6% of all Americans in that age group watched the first night of convention coverage broadcast live during primetime on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News Channel, MSNBC, BET, and TV One.

Convention coverage varied by network; all eight networks aired live coverage from approximately 10pm to 11pm EST.

View comparable TV ratings for Day 1 of the 2004 Democratic National Convention (Monday, July 26, 2004).

Read the Los Angeles Times’ coverage of Nielsen’s findings.

2008 Olympics: U.S. Primetime Daily TV Ratings