ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars” claimed the number one spot on Nielsen’s ranking of the top-rated primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for Monday, October 13, 2008.
CBS dominated the rest of Nielsen’s top 10 list, with “Two And Half Men,” “CSI: Miami,” “Worst Week,” “The Big Bang Theory,” and “How I Met Your Mother” claiming five of the nine remaining slots.

RANK
PROGRAM
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
DANCING WITH THE STARS
ABC
17,765,000

2
TWO AND A HALF MEN
CBS
14,719,000

3
CSI: MIAMI
CBS
13,217,000

4
SAMANTHA WHO?
ABC
11,446,000

5
WORST WEEK
CBS
9,754,000

6
BIG BANG THEORY, THE
CBS
9,337,000

7
HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
CBS
9,249,000

8
HEROES
NBC
8,753,000

9
BOSTON LEGAL
ABC
8,015,000

10
FOX MLB NLCS GAME 4(S)-10/13/2008
FOX
7,705,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (September 13, 2008).

Overall, ABC won …

RANK
PROGRAM
NETWORK
DAYS
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
NFL REGULAR SEASON – L (VIKINGS/SAINTS)
ESPN
MONDAY
10,975,000

2
SR/PRES DEBATE 2 2008(S)-10/07/2008
CNN
TUESDAY
9,228,000

3
PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE(S)-10/07/2008
FOXNC
TUESDAY
8,773,000

4
ON THE RECORD W/GRETA
FOXNC
TUESDAY
7,645,000

5
ANDERSON COOPER 360
CNN
TUESDAY
7,633,000

6
MLB ALCS (RED SOX-RAYS 1)
TBSC
FRIDAY
6,689,000

7
MLB ALCS (RED SOX-RAYS 2)
TBSC
SATURDAY
6,089,000

8
PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE CVG(S)-10/07/2008
FOXNC
TUESDAY
5,773,000

9
MLB DIVISION SERIES (ANGELS-RED SOX 4)
TBSC
MONDAY
5,720,000

10
PRES DEBATE/ANALYSIS(S)-10/07/2008
FOXNC
TUESDAY
5,432,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (October 6, 2008 – October 12, 2008).

RANK
PROGRAM
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
CSI
CBS
23,485,000

2
DANCING WITH THE STARS
ABC
18,592,000

3
NCIS
CBS
16,288,000

4
CRIMINAL MINDS
CBS
16,185,000

5
CSI: NY
CBS
15,873,000

6
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES
ABC
15,505,000

7
DANCING W/STARS RESULT SP(S)
ABC
15,065,000

8
GREY’S ANATOMY-THU 9PM
ABC
14,797,000

9
OT, THE
FOX
14,232,000

10
TWO AND A HALF MEN
CBS
14,073,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (October 6, 2008 – October 12, 2008).

Despite the opening-weekend star power of Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, and director Ridley Scott, the Middle Eastern thriller “Body Of Lies,” brought in only $13.1M, leaving it in third place. “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” took the top spot in box office earnings for the second week in a row, scooping up $17.5M in its second week. The horror film “Quarantine” grabbed the second spot, scaring up $14.2M in its first week.

RANK
TITLE
STUDIO
WEEKEND EARNINGS
(Oct 10-12)

1
BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA
WALT DISNEY STUDIOS
17.5M

2
QUARANTINE
SONY PICTURES
14.2M

3
BODY OF LIES
WARNER BROS.
13.1M

4
EAGLE EYE
DREAMWORKS/PARAMOUNT
11M

5
NICK AND NORAH’S INFINITE PLAYLIST
SONY PICTURES
6.5M

Source: The Hollywood Reporter / …

By 2050, the number of people on in the U.S. living to 100 will be nearly 850,000 — 14 times what it is today, according to a new study from Nielsen.
The report looks at issues related to the baby boom and beyond, breaking down the global challenges for marketing to an aging audience. 
A Global Phenomenon
The U.S. is not alone.  During this same period, Japan’s over-65 population will double, while parts of Europe will reach a 1:1 ratio between working-age and pension-able citizens.  Even developing nations will face unprecedented mid-century surges in their elderly: India’s …

Tightened belts and shrinking household budgets are the new norm, and American consumers have adjusted their shopping strategies accordingly.
With the holiday shopping season about to begin, Nielsen offers U.S. retailers and marketers five key insights to aid in attracting and retaining the loyalty of increasingly value-conscious American consumers.

CBS’s “Ghost Whisperer” and “Numbers” were, respectively, the number one- and two-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for Friday, October 10, 2008. 
“Ghost Whisperer” drew an average audience of almost 9.7 million viewers, while “Numbers” drew roughly 8 million average viewers.
ABC’s “20/20″ rounded out the top three, with just over 7 million average viewers.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
GHOST WHISPERER
CBS
9,693,000

2
NUMB3RS
CBS
8,012,000

3
20/20-FRI
ABC
7,017,000

4
DEAL OR NO DEAL-FRI
NBC
6,633,000

5
EX LIST, THE
CBS
5,596,000

6
SMARTER THAN 5TH GRADER
FOX
5,443,000

7
LIFE
NBC
4,978,000

8
SUPERNANNY
ABC
4,961,000

9
DON’T FORGET THE LYRICS
FOX
4,829,000

10
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE FRI
UNI
4,345,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (October 10, 2008).

Overall, CBS won the night with an average audience of almost 7.8 million viewers, while …

Yahoo! Sports was the number one-ranked sports website in September, edging past second-ranked ESPN.com, Nielsen Online reported Monday. 
Sports-related websites in the U.S. drew a total unique audience of 77.5 million visitors in September.

RANK
WEBSITE
UNIQUE AUDIENCE
(in 000s)

1
Yahoo! Sports
26,003

2
ESPN
22,834

3
FOX Sports on MSN
16,023

4
NFL Internet Network
15,037

5
CBS Sports
13,278

Source: Nielsen Online, NetView (September 1, 2008 – September 30, 2008).

View complete data on the top five sports websites.

Charlie Buchwalter
What’s happening in the world’s largest Internet market? Last week we announced our JV in China – CR-Nielsen – the first company authorized to support the delivery of standardized Internet measurement services in China. The top sites are dominated by Chinese brands, with global brands like Google and Yahoo! present with their local sites. Overall, the numbers are quite significant. The top site, Baidu, was visited by slightly more than 171 million unique browsers during a single week. And while there is no exact comparison between unique browsers and …

Good news for retailers with companion websites: multichannel consumers — those who shop both on- and offline – typically spend significantly more than those who shop only online or only offline, Nielsen PreView reported Monday. 
Shoppers who browsed for products both on- and offline at Wal-Mart, for example, spent 38% more than the store’s average customers.
The online/offline consumer connection goes even further, according to Nielsen.