NBC’s broadcast of the 2008 Beijing Olympics claimed the top slot in Nielsen’s ranking of primetime telecasts for Monday, August 11, 2008.
CBS’s “Two and a Half Men” and “CSI: Miami” rounded out the top three.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
SUM OLYM MON PRIME 1(S)-08/11/2008
NBC
30,173,000

2
TWO AND A HALF MEN
CBS
8,068,000

3
CSI: MIAMI
CBS
6,305,000

4
OLD CHRISTINE
CBS
5,628,000

5
AL DIABLO CON GUAPOS MON
UNI
5,112,000

6
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE MON
UNI
4,849,000

7
HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
CBS
4,819,000

8
BIG BANG THEORY, THE
CBS
4,623,000

9
TERMINATOR:SCC SP-8/11 9P(S)-08/11/2008
FOX
2,767,000

10
CRISTINA MON
UNI
2,573,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (August 11, 2008)

Overall, NBC won the night with an average audience of 30.1 million viewers, while CBS took second place with 5.9 million …

Advertising spending in Malaysia reached RM2.9 billion during the first half of this year — up 22% over the same period last year, according to Nielsen.
Terrestrial TV (+37%), point-of-sale (+33%), radio (+22%), and newspapers (+16%) saw the largest growth. 
Overall, newspapers and terrestrial TV accounted for the bulk of ad spending during the first half of the year.  Newspapers cornered 56% of all advertising — or RM1.6 billion, while terrestrial TV claimed 33% (RM948 million), Nielsen reported. 
Telecommunications brands Celcom (RM94.9 million), Digi (RM51 million), and Maxis (RM44.7 million) were the top …

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
CLOSER, THE
TNT
7,863,000

2
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
5,201,000

3
SAVING GRACE
TNT
4,937,000

4
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
4,923,000

5
NASCAR SPRINT CUP (WATKINS GLEN, NY) L
ESPN
4,828,000

6
BURN NOTICE
USA
4,558,000

7
FINDING NEMO
DSNY
4,324,000

8
IN PLAIN SIGHT
USA
4,177,000

9
LAW & ORDER: CI (ORIG)
USA
4,164,000

10
SECRET LIFE/AMERICAN TEEN
FAM
4,092,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (August 4, 2008 – August 10, 2008)

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
SUM OLYM OPEN CEREM(S)
NBC
34,891,000

2
SUM OLYM SUN PRIME 1(S)
NBC
32,256,000

3
SUM OLYM SAT PRIME 1(S)
NBC
24,082,000

4
AMERICA’S GOT TALENT
NBC
12,611,000

5
TWO AND A HALF MEN
CBS
9,979,000

6
SO YOU THINK CN DANCE-THU
FOX
9,693,000

7
CRIMINAL MINDS
CBS
9,109,000

8
SO YOU THINK CN DANCE-WED
FOX
8,960,000

9
NCIS
CBS
8,703,000

10
CSI: MIAMI
CBS
7,891,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (August 4, 2008 – August 10, 2008)

Google and Yahoo! were again the number one- and number two-ranked Web brands in July, according to Nielsen Online.

Rank
Brand
Unique Audience

1
Google
123,161,000

2
Yahoo!
116,178,000

3
MSN/Windows Live
99,512,000

4
Microsoft
92,318,000

5
AOL Media Network
91,776,000

6
YouTube
74,809,000

7
Fox Interactive Media
70,103,000

8
eBay
56,111,000

9
Wikipedia
51,786,000

10
Apple
50,694,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (July 1 – 31, 2008)

View the full press release.

Mobile Internet users in the growing Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) mobile markets are likely to visit entertainment-themed websites while on the go, according to a report released Tuesday by Nielsen.
Meanwhile users across the U.S. and Europe commonly use their phones to access news and information online, Nielsen found. 
Entertainment, gaming, and music websites rank among the top five categories visited via the mobile Web in all four BRIC countries, while email, weather, news, and search are the top categories for both American and European mobile Internet users. 
In the U.S., entertainment, …

Rockstar Games’ “Grand Theft Auto IV” is one of the strongest brands in recent video game history, according to a new study by Nielsen.
In general, awareness of the “Grand Theft Auto” brand is significant, compared with games such as Microsoft’s “Halo 3,” Konami’s “Metal Gear Solid 4,” and Electronic Arts’ “Madden NFL 08,” Nielsen found. 
Of the 6,000 video gamers surveyed, 23% entered “GTA IV,” unaided by survey questions and prompts, as a game they were thinking about.  Only “Halo 3″ had a higher level of unaided brand awareness (32%). 
The results …

The official work week has begun, but people in China are still finding time to tune into Olympics broadcasts on TV.   On Monday, August 11, the third day of the Beijing Olympics, 84% of Chinese families tuned in to at least some Olympic programming, according to AGB Nielsen Media Research. 
The top-ranked Chinese Women’s Volleyball team’s match against Poland drew the largest TV audience on Monday.  More than 148 million Chinese tuned in for the final, which drew an average audience of over 54 million viewers, according to AGB Nielsen.
In all, …

RANK
PROGRAM
NETWORK
# OF OCCURRENCES ON PROGRAM

1
AMERICAN IDOL
FOX
4,636

2
BIGGEST LOSER (NBC)
NBC
4,364

3
DEAL OR NO DEAL
NBC
2,122

4
EXTREME MAKEOVER HOME EDITION
ABC
1,776

5
APPRENTICE
NBC
1,646

6
HELLS KITCHEN
FOX
1,596

7
BIG BROTHER 9
CBS
1,514

8
ONE TREE HILL
CW
1,308

9
AMERICAS NEXT TOP MODEL (CW)
CW
1,259

10
LAST COMIC STANDING (NBC)
NBC
1,206

Source: The Nielsen Company (January 1, 2008 – June 30, 2008)

Chart includes data for the following broadcast TV networks: ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, MNT, NBC

RANK
BRAND
CATEGORY
# OF OCCURRENCES ON TELEVISION

1
COCA-COLA SOFT DRINKS
SOFT DRINKS
2,990

2
24 HOUR FITNESS FITNESS CTRS-CLUBS
FITNESS CTRS-CLUBS
1,765

3
CHEF REVIVAL APPAREL
APPAREL
1,308

4
AT&T TELEPH SVCS-WIRELESS TEXT MESSAGING
TELEPH SVCS-WIRELESS
701

5
PUSSYCAT DOLLS LOUNGE NIGHTCLUBS
NIGHTCLUBS
602

6
NIKE SPRT FTWR
SPORTING FOOTWEAR
575

7
FREEMOTION FITNESS EXERCISE EQUIP
EXERCISE EQUIP
409

8
CHICAGO BEARS FTBL TM
FOOTBALL TEAM
383

9
NIKE APPAREL
APPAREL
378

10
PRECOR EXERCISE EQUIP
EXERCISE EQUIP
374

Source: The Nielsen Company (January 1, 2008 – June 30, 2008)

Chart includes data for the following broadcast TV networks: ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, MNT, NBC