YEAR
NETWORKS
TOTAL RATING
TOTAL HOMES

2004
Total- ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, FOXNC
15.3*
16,809,000*

2000
Total- ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, FOXNC
13.9**
14,042,000**

1996
Total– ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, PBS
16.5***
15,756,000***

1992
Total– ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, PBS
20.5
20,000,000

1988
Total– ABC, CBS, NBC
18.3
16,200,000

1984
Total– ABC, CBS, NBC
19.2
16,200,000

1980
Total– ABC, CBS, NBC
21.6
16,500,000

1976
Total– ABC, CBS, NBC
31.5
21,900,000

1972
Total– ABC, CBS, NBC
23.4
14,400,000

1968
Total– ABC, CBS, NBC
26.4
15,000,000

1964
Total– ABC, CBS, NBC
21.8
11,130,000

1960
Total– ABC, CBS, NBC
28
12,596,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (1960 – 2004)

Presidential nominating conventions are held in July and August with the party holding the Presidency scheduling its convention last. Changes in the parties’ primary system have impacted the conventions in recent campaigns.

*2004 data based on the …

YEAR
NETWORKS
TOTAL RATING
TOTAL HOMES

2004
Total- ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, FOXNC
14.3*
15,537,000*

2000
Total- ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, FOXNC
15.3**
15,380,000**

1996
Total– ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, PBS
17.2
16,418,000

1992
Total– ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, PBS
22
20,500,000

1988
Total– ABC, CBS, NBC
19.8
17,400,000

1984
Total– ABC, CBS, NBC
23.4
19,500,000

1980
Total– ABC, CBS, NBC
27
20,700,000

1976
Total– ABC, CBS, NBC
25.2
17,400,000

1972
Total– ABC, CBS, NBC
18.3
11,400,000

1968
Total– ABC, CBS, NBC
28.5
16,200,000

1964
Total– ABC, CBS, NBC
28.8
14,695,000

1960
Total– ABC, CBS, NBC
29.2
13,216,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (1960 – 2004)

Presidential nominating conventions are held in July and August with the party holding the Presidency scheduling its convention last. Changes in the parties’ primary system have impacted the conventions in recent campaigns.

*2004 data based on the …

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
CLOSER, THE
TNT
6,445,000

2
CHEETAH GIRLS ONE WORLD
DSNY
6,176,000

3
LAW & ORDER: CI (ORIG)
USA
5,150,000

4
NASCAR SPRINT CUP L (BRISTOL, TN)
ESPN
4,997,000

5
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
4,966,000

6
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
4,763,000

7
SPONGEBOB THE MOVIE
NICK
4,690,000

8
MONK
USA
4,577,000

9
SPONGEBOB
NICK
3,977,000

10
PSYCH
USA
3,956,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (August 18, 2008 – August 24, 2008)

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
SUM OLYM CLOSE CEREM(S)
NBC
27,834,000

2
SUM OLYM TUE PRIME 2(S)
NBC
26,629,000

3
SUM OLYM MON PRIME 2(S)
NBC
26,374,000

4
SUM OLYM WED PRIME 2(S)
NBC
24,755,000

5
SUM OLYM THU PRIME 2(S)
NBC
22,438,000

6
BEIJING CLOSING PARTY(S)
NBC
20,577,000

7
SUM OLYM FRI PRIME 2(S)
NBC
17,876,000

8
SUM OLYM SAT PRIME 3(S)
NBC
16,756,000

9
TWO AND A HALF MEN
CBS
8,162,000

10
NCIS
CBS
7,610,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (August 18, 2008 – August 24, 2008)

NBC’s “Deal or No Deal” and “America’s Toughest Jobs” were, respectively, the number one- and number three-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for Monday, August 25, 2008.
CBS’s “Two and a Half Men” was sandwiched between the two, in second place.
NBC’s coverage of the 2008 Democratic National Convention also made the top ten.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
DEAL OR NO DEAL-MON
NBC
10,999,000

2
TWO AND A HALF MEN
CBS
9,030,000

3
AMERICA’S TOUGHEST JOBS
NBC
7,298,000

4
OLD CHRISTINE
CBS
6,631,000

5
HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
CBS
5,545,000

6
BIG BANG THEORY, THE
CBS
5,481,000

7
AL DIABLO CON GUAPOS MON
UNI
5,342,000

8
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE MON
UNI
5,167,000

9
DECISION ‘08 DEM CONV MON(S)-08/25/2008
NBC
4,706,000

10
PRISON BREAK SP-8/25 9P(S)-08/25/2008
FOX
4,288,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (August 25, …

The New York Times reports that the Summer Olympics in Beijing was the most-viewed event in American television history, according to data provided by Nielsen Media Research.
The Beijing Games surpassed the old record- 209 million viewers of the 1996 Games in Atlanta- on Saturday night. Through Saturday, 211 million viewers had watched at least some of the Games on any of NBC Universal’s networks.
On Saturday, 43 million viewers tuned in to at least a portion of NBC’s coverage. The average audience from 9 to 11 p.m. on Saturday night was 16.5 …

The Barack Obama Campaign generated significant buzz this weekend by announcing Senator Obama’s Vice Presidential selection via SMS text-message. Nielsen estimates that 2.9 million U.S. mobile subscribers received a text message from the Obama campaign over the weekend.
The Vice Presidential message (sent in the late hours of Friday night) is, by many accounts, the single largest mobile marketing event ever in the U.S.
“From a mobile perspective, it makes sense that the campaign chose to use text-messages,” Nic Covey, Director of Insights, Nielsen Mobile, noted. “Today, 116 million U.S. mobile subscribers (52 …

As athletes continued to break world records in the last days of the 2008 Summer Olympics, the Beijing Games’ set a record of its own – as the most-watched Olympics ever.   
Global television broadcasts during the first ten days of the Games (August 8 – 17) attracted a cumulative TV audience of 4.4 billion viewers — or almost two-thirds of the world’s population, according to Nielsen.
In contrast, the 2004 Athens Summer Games attracted a total of 3.9 billion viewers worldwide, while the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney drew 3.6 billion total viewers.
Nielsen’s global audience estimates are …

“Tropic Thunder” took in an estimated $16.2 million over the weekend to claim the top spot at The Box Office for the second straight weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The PG-13 comedy “The House Bunny” claimed second place, raking in $14.5 million over the weekend.  Below are last weekend’s box-office totals from Nielsen EDI as of Sunday, August 24.

RANK
FILM
STUDIO
WEEKEND
GROSS

1
Tropic Thunder
DREAMWORKS / PARAMOUNT
$16,272,195
$65.8

2
The House Bunny
SONY PICTURES
$14,533,702
$14.5

3
Death Race
UNIVERSAL
$12,621,090
$12.6

4
The Dark Knight
WARNER BROS.
$10,542,424
$489.4

5
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
WARNER BROS.
$5,661,456
$25.0

6
Pineapple Express
SONY PICTURES
$5,452,163
$73.8

7
Mirrors
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX
$5,010,663
$20.2

8
Mamma Mia!
UNIVERSAL
$4,314,840
$124.5

9
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
UNIVERSAL
$4,177,950
$93.9

10
The Longshots
MGM STUDIOS
$4,080,687
$4.1

Source: The Hollywood Reporter …

NBC’s broadcast of the 2008 Beijing Olympics again claimed the top slot in Nielsen’s ranking of primetime telecasts for Friday, August 22, 2008.
CBS’s “NFL Pre-Season Special” and FOX’s “Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?” rounded out the top three.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
SUM OLYM FRI PRIME 2(S)-08/22/2008
NBC
17,876,000

2
NFL PRE-SEASON(S)-08/22/2008
CBS
4,825,000

3
SMARTER THAN 5TH 8/22-9P(S)-08/22/2008
FOX
4,120,000

4
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE FRI
UNI
4,094,000

5
AL DIABLO CON GUAPOS FRI
UNI
4,006,000

6
20/20-FRI
ABC
3,844,000

7
SMARTER THAN 5TH 8/22-8P(S)-08/22/2008
FOX
3,843,000

8
ABC FRI MOVIE OF THE WK
ABC
3,790,000

9
FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN
CW
3,617,000

10
ROSA DE GUADALUPE FRI
UNI
2,700,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (August 22, 2008)

Overall, NBC won the night with an average audience of almost 17.9 million viewers, while …