By Pete Blackshaw, Nielsen
2008 was a newsworthy — albeit, topsy-turvy — year for marketers and researchers. Importantly, social media evolved from experimental sideline to a mainstream attraction. Twitter saw huge growth rates, Barack Obama rewrote the rules of digital marketing, and user-engagement, and “service is marketing” Zappos.com re-wrote new rules for building brands and rewiring e-commerce. Facebook trended upward, MySpace held steady, and reputation-broker Wikipedia continued marching to the top of Google search results.
Brands like Tide used social media to squeeze extra value out of Super Bowl ads, and Comcast (full …

CBS’s “NCIS” and “Kennedy Center Honors” special were the number one and two-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for Tuesday, December 30, 2008.
NBC’s special presentation of ”Law And Order: SVU” rounded out the top three.

Rank
Program
Network
Viewers (P2+)

1
NCIS
CBS
13,433,000

2
KENNEDY CENTER HONORS(S)-12/30/2008
CBS
10,513,000

3
LAW AND ORDER:SVU 12/30(S)-12/30/2008
NBC
9,624,000

4
LAW AND ORDER:SVU
NBC
8,881,000

5
HAPPY NEW YEAR, C. BROWN(S)-12/30/2008
ABC
6,334,000

6
HOUSE
FOX
5,922,000

7
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE TUE
UNI
5,407,000

8
LAW AND ORDER 12/30(S)-12/30/2008
NBC
5,259,000

9
CUIDADO CON EL ANGEL TUE
UNI
5,084,000

10
FRINGE
FOX
5,082,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (December 30, 2008).

Overall, CBS won the night with an average audience of almost 11.5 million viewers, while NBC took second place with almost 7.9 million average viewers. FOX and ABC …

Each week, Nielsen analysts offer their take on the biggest sports media headlines.
The NHL is hoping old acquaintances will provide an unforgettable New Year’s Day in its second annual Winter Classic. The Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks – two of the original six hockey teams – will drop the puck outdoors at historic Wrigley Field- home to baseball’s Chicago Cubs.
Last year’s inaugural outdoor game provided a memorable tableaux, with Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby carving through the Buffalo snow to score the winning goal in an overtime shootout in front of …

CBS’s “Two And A Half Men,” “CSI: Miami,” and a special presentation of “Garry Unmarried” were the top three primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for Monday, December 29, 2008.

Rank
Program
Network
Viewers (P2+)

1
TWO AND A HALF MEN
CBS
11,867,000

2
CSI: MIAMI
CBS
11,357,000

3
GARY UNMARRIED-MON 930-SP(S)-12/29/2008
CBS
8,778,000

4
BIG BANG THEORY, THE
CBS
7,768,000

5
HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
CBS
7,703,000

6
DEAL OR NO DEAL-MON 12/29(S)-12/29/2008
NBC
7,292,000

7
HOUSE SP-12/29 8P(S)-12/29/2008
FOX
6,725,000

8
BONES SP-12/29 9P(S)-12/29/2008
FOX
6,580,000

9
GREAT HOLIDAY MOMENT12/29(S)-12/29/2008
NBC
6,040,000

10
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE MON
UNI
5,310,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (December 29, 2008).

Overall, CBS won the night with an average audience of almost 9.8 million viewers,
while FOX took second place with almost 6.7 million average viewers. NBC and ABC
claimed …

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
60 MINUTES
CBS
Sunday
2,451,000

2
NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
NBC
Sunday
2,036,000

3
OT, THE
FOX
Sunday
1,627,000

4
COLD CASE
CBS
Sunday
1,379,000

5
LAW AND ORDER:SVU
NBC
Tuesday
1,355,000

6
CSI: MIAMI
CBS
Monday
1,297,000

7
UNIT, THE
CBS
Sunday
1,277,000

8
MILLION DOLLAR PASSWORD
CBS
Sunday
1,247,000

9
CSI: NY – SPCL
CBS
Wednesday
1,246,000

10
SUNDAY NIGHT NFL PRE-KICK
NBC
Sunday
1,186,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (December 22, 2008 – December 28, 2008)

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE MON-12/22/2008
UNI
Monday
5,174,000

2
CUIDADO CON EL ANGEL MON-12/22/2008
UNI
Monday
4,799,000

3
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE TUE-12/23/2008
UNI
Tuesday
4,674,000

4
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE FRI-12/26/2008
UNI
Friday
4,604,000

5
CUIDADO CON EL ANGEL TUE-12/23/2008
UNI
Tuesday
4,472,000

6
CUIDADO CON EL ANGEL FRI-12/26/2008
UNI
Friday
4,150,000

7
TONTAS NO VAN CIELO FRI-12/26/2008
UNI
Friday
3,713,000

8
TONTAS NO VAN CIELO TUE-12/23/2008
UNI
Tuesday
3,610,000

9
TONTAS NO VAN CIELO MON-12/22/2008
UNI
Monday
3,456,000

10
ROSA DE GUADALUPE FRI-12/26/2008
UNI
Friday
3,081,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (December 22, 2008 – December 28, 2008)

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
NFL REGULAR SEASON L (PACKERS/BEARS)
ESPN
MONDAY
13,803,000

2
COLL FTBALL-BOWL GAME L(WISCONSIN/FLORIDA STATE)
ESPN
SATURDAY
7,059,000

3
COLL FTBALL-BOWL GAME L(MIAMI (FL)/CALIFORNIA)
ESPN
SATURDAY
6,508,000

4
COLL FTBALL-BOWL GAME L(WEST VIRGINIA/NORTH CAROLINA)
ESPN
SATURDAY
5,881,000

5
COLL GAMEDAY SCOREBOARD
ESPN
SATURDAY
5,802,000

6
COLL GAMEDAY SCOREBOARD
ESPN
SATURDAY
5,675,000

7
COLL FTBALL-BOWL GAME L(BOISE STATE/TCU)
ESPN
TUESDAY
5,061,000

8
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (\WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
4,883,000

9
NCIS
USA
SATURDAY
4,781,000

10
NCIS
USA
SATURDAY
4,738,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (December 22, 2008 – December 28, 2008)

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
NBC
Sunday
14,847,000

2
60 MINUTES
CBS
Sunday
14,110,000

3
TWO AND A HALF MEN
CBS
Monday
11,817,000

4
MENTALIST, THE-10PM SPCL(S)
CBS
Tuesday
10,676,000

5
NCIS 9P-SPECIAL(S)
CBS
Tuesday
10,598,000

6
SUNDAY NIGHT NFL PRE-KICK
NBC
Sunday
10,137,000

7
MILLION DOLLAR PASSWORD
CBS
Sunday
9,836,000

8
COLD CASE
CBS
Sunday
9,693,000

9
CSI: MIAMI
CBS
Monday
8,541,000

10
CSI – SPECIAL(S)
CBS
Thursday
8,029,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (December 22, 2008 – December 28, 2008)

U.S. Box office earnings over the weekend following the Christmas holiday reached $169.9 million – up 120% over the prior weekend ($77.4 million), but down by 27% compared to the same weekend a year ago ($232.9 million), Nielsen reported Monday.
Twentieth Century Fox’s “Marley & Me” took over the top spot, with earnings of almost $36.5 million between Dec. 26 and 28.  Last weekend’s number one movie, Warner’s Brothers’ “Yes Man,” fell to fifth place — though its weekend gross fell only slightly: from $18.2 million during the weekend of Dec. 19-21, …

Jessica Hogue
My colleague Melissa Davies published findings earlier this year on the role of the Internet in healthcare, which found that while doctors are still the primary source for healthcare information, the Internet is a close second. In this new era of collaborative care, patients have access to an array of online tools to arm them with more detailed information about their conditions and treatments than ever before. Specifically, social media vehicles are expanding and accelerating the pace at which patients and caregivers can gain access to drug treatment ratings. …