RANK
CONSOLE
USAGE
MINUTES % *

1
PlayStation 2
31.5

2
Xbox 360
16.8

3
Wii
15.0

4
Xbox
8.7

5
PlayStation 3
7.8

6
GameCube
4.0

7
Other**
16.2

Source: The Nielsen Company (July 1, 2008 – July 31, 2008)
*Usage Minutes % is the percent of all measured console minutes.
**”Other” consists of any other console systems found in the home

RANK
GAME TITLE
PUBLISHER
AU% *
AVERAGE
MINUTES
PLAYED
PER WEEK
TMP% **

1
World of Warcraft
Blizzard Entertainment
0.871
892
18.058

2
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Activision
0.213
560
4.431

3
Diablo II
Blizzard Entertainment
0.150
359
3.109

4
Halo: Combat Evolved
Microsoft Game Studios
0.135
367
2.782

5
Age of Conan – Hyborian Adventures
Funcom
0.118
746
2.442

6
Sims 2, The
Electronic Arts Inc.
0.108
334
2.228

7
Team Fortress 2
Valve
0.107
590
2.222

8
Counter-Strike: Source
Valve
0.098
703
2.033

9
Grand Theft Auto
ASC Games
0.095
405
1.983

10
Warcraft III (Unspecified)
Blizzard Entertainment
0.091
638
1.907

Source: The Nielsen Company (July 1, 2008 – July 31, 2008)
*AU% is the percent of PC Gamers playing title in the average minute.
**Overall TMP% is the percent of total minutes played as compared to all PC games measured.

More than two billion people — almost one-third of the world’s population — watched the 2008 Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony on Friday, August 8, Nielsen reported Thursday.
Nielsen’s estimates are based on television audience data collected from 38 key markets throughout the world, including host nation China, the U.S., Brazil, South Africa, Italy, and Australia.
The Asia-Pacific region had the highest audience reach, with more than five in 10 people watching the opening ceremony.  Europe and North America followed with 30% and 24% reach, respectively.
Within Asia-Pacific, China had the highest percentage of …

On Thursday, Nielsen announced its financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2008.
For complete earnings details, read the full press release and Nielsen’s quarterly financial report on Form 10-Q.
Read past Nielsen financial announcements.
Conference Call and Webcast
Nielsen held an earnings conference call and audio-webcast on Thursday, August 14. 
Listen to the call replay by dialing 888.286.8010 (U.S. only) or 617.801.6888, and entering the following passcode: 11296384.
View the archived audio-webcast.

Although it was a work day, online traffic to websites with Olympics-related content and video soared on Monday, August 11, according to Nielsen Online. 
Unique visitors to the video section of NBC’s Olympics site increased by nearly 140% – from 858,000 on Sunday, August 10, to 2,030,000 on Monday, August 11, Nielsen reported.
Meanwhile, traffic to Yahoo’s Olympics section grew 85% on Monday, compared to daily web traffic the prior day.

Rank:
U.A., Aug. 11
Website
Unique Audience:
Aug. 8
(in 000’s)
Unique Audience:
Aug. 9
(in 000’s)
Unique Audience:
Aug. 10
(in 000’s)
Unique Audience:
Aug. 11
(in 000’s)

1
Yahoo Olympics
1,477
3,324
2,839
5,253

2
NBC Olympics
2,664
4,008
3,264
4,560

3
AOL Olympics
395
1,010
1,205
1,192

4
Sports Illustrated Olympics
293
331
667
646

5
Beijing2008.cn
429
780
581
607

6
New York Times Olympics
341
466
301
482

7
ESPN Olympics
273
343
579
368

8
Fox Sports on MSN Olympics
49
95
259
182

9
USA Today Olympics
280
184
231
163

10
CBS …

Media Week (UK) recently put that question to a panel of four industry experts, including Kent Ferguson of Nielsen Mobile.
Ferguson argued that four essential components needed to take mobile advertising mainstream — advanced consumer devices, high-speed networks, reasonable data packages, and compelling content — are now in place, paving the way for growth. 
“In the UK, about 10 million people have recalled seeing a mobile ad; in the US, that number is almost 60 million,” Ferguson told Media Week.  “As more countries lay down the groundwork for an effective mobile advertising …

NBC’s broadcast of the 2008 Beijing Olympics again claimed the top slot in Nielsen’s ranking of primetime telecasts for Tuesday, August 12, 2008.
CBS’s “NCIS” and “Big Brother” rounded out the top three.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
SUM OLYM TUE PRIME 1(S)-08/12/2008
NBC
34,014,000

2
NCIS
CBS
7,218,000

3
BIG BROTHER 10-TUE
CBS
6,358,000

4
WIPEOUT
ABC
4,842,000

5
AL DIABLO CON GUAPOS TUE
UNI
4,809,000

6
PRIMETIME: MED MYST-8/12(S)-08/12/2008
ABC
4,669,000

7
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE TUE
UNI
4,377,000

8
WITHOUT A TRACE
CBS
4,346,000

9
HOUSE-TUE 8P
FOX
3,684,000

10
WANNA BET
ABC
3,682,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (August 12, 2008)

Overall, NBC won the night with an average audience of just over 34 million viewers, while CBS took second place with 5.9 million average viewers.  ABC and Univision claimed third and fourth …

Barack Obama’s Olympics ads strike a positive note, while John McCain’s ads take a more negative approach, The New York Times “TV Decorder” blog reported Monday.
The story noted that one McCain ad attacking Obama aired last Friday during the Olympics opening ceremony’s “parade of nations” — a procession of smiling athletes. 
According to Nielsen, that ad accounted for 30 seconds of the total 35 minutes of commercials that aired on NBC’s U.S. broadcast of the opening ceremony.
View Nielsen’s advertising data round-up for the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony.

American swimmer Michael Phelps’ quest for a gold medal record has captivated fans — and bloggers.
During the first week of the Olymipcs, Phelps was the most buzzed-about athlete, according to Nielsen Online, which analyzed online discussion of more than 50 high profile athletes competing in basketball, gymnastics, beach volleyball, and swimming events.
Basketball players Yao Ming, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James, as well as American swimmer Dara Torres rounded out the top five in Nielsen’s ranking of the most buzzworthy Olympic athletes. 
Overall, swimmers and basketball players received the lion’s share of …

Small businesses are especially dependent on favorable testimonials — and for many consumers, online forums have become the favored means of sharing feedback about businesses and products.
“About 60% of Americans are putting content on the Web, and it can affect how your product or service is perceived in the marketplace,” Pete Blackshaw, Nielsen Online’s EVP of Digital Strategic Services, told Fortune Small Business in a recent Q&A.  “Consumers trust each other more than they trust advertisers or businesses.  The question is, how do you turn it to your advantage?”
In general, …