Blizzard Entertainment’s “World of Warcraft” dominated Nielsen Games’ ranking of the most popular PC game titles for October, claiming more than 62% of the total PC game minutes played during the month. 

Rank
Top 10 PC Game Titles:
October 2008
Publisher
Share
Avg. Mins
Per Week
TMP%

1
World of Warcraft
Blizzard Entertainment
12.509
546
62.280

2
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
Blizzard Entertainment
1.890
328
4.751

3
Half-Life 2
Vivendi Games
1.917
288
4.301

4
Spore
Electric Entertainment
2.234
268
4.220

5
Bookworm
PopCap Games
3.074
133
2.716

6
Cake Mania 3
Sandlot Games
4.260
138
2.709

7
Virtual Villagers: The Secret City
Wild Games
1.567
204
2.456

8
Chessmaster Challenge
PlayFirst
8.856
47
2.123

9
Halo: Combat Evolved
Microsoft Game Studios
2.005
165
2.105

10
Build-a-Lot 2: Town Of The Year
HipSoft LLC
1.661
183
1.668

Source: Nielsen Games
Share is the percentage of the gaming audience measured that played the title
Overall TMP% represents the percent of total minutes played …

President-Elect Barack Obama’s “V.P. pick” text message remains the most notable example of short code marketing in the U.S.  
According to a report released Monday by Nielsen’s Telecom Practice, Americans should expect to see more text message marketing in the future.  Given the immense popularity of texting in the U.S. and abroad, it’s not surprising that marketers have ramped up their use of the medium to engage their customers — where there’s an audience, marketers are not far behind.

Savvy marketers in the U.S. have their eye on Hispanic consumers — with good reason: Hispanic Americans account for 50% of all potential new buyers entering the U.S. marketplace.
But reaching these consumers is no simple task, according to a new study released Monday by Nielsen PreView.
For one thing, America’s Hispanic population is far from homogenous.  Instead, Hispanics in the U.S. can actually be divided into three distinct segments: most acculturated, bi-cultural, and least acculturated.
“Bi-cultural” Hispanics account for 53% of the total Hispanic population in the U.S.  Members of this segment …

The economic crunch will drive tighter spending across the board. As consumers continue to make tough choices, they will spend less on products that don’t deliver a rational benefit. Expect continued decreases in the purchasing of premium products, organics and more-expensive sustainable goods. Increases will be found in the online, mobile and in-home entertainment sectors.

Ken Cassar & Pete Blackshaw
A lot of folks have seen the Black Friday and Cyber Monday releases that we’ve put out, but we’ve also been tracking Web traffic on a daily basis – in total, by category, and by retailer since the Monday before Thanksgiving. Let me share a little bit more data:
Traffic was up by 10 percent on both of the high profile days, where consumers expected that they would be able to find deals. This is certainly better than some might have feared given the …

CBS’s “CSI” was the number one-ranked primetime telecast on broadcast TV for Thursday, December 4, 2008, drawing almost 17.5 million average viewers.
ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Barbara Walters Presents” rounded out the top three, with just over 15.3 million and 13.2 million average viewers, respectively.

Rank
Program
Network
Viewers (P2+)

1
CSI
CBS
17,476,000

2
GREY’S ANATOMY-THU 9PM
ABC
15,279,000

3
BARBARA WALTERS PRESENTS(S)-12/04/2008
ABC
13,191,000

4
SURVIVOR: GABON
CBS
12,727,000

5
ELEVENTH HOUR
CBS
10,864,000

6
OFFICE
NBC
8,456,000

7
UGLY BETTY
ABC
8,370,000

8
E.R.
NBC
8,202,000

9
30 ROCK
NBC
7,182,000

10
MY NAME IS EARL
NBC
6,132,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (December 4, 2008).

Overall, CBS won the night with an average audience of just over 13.7 million viewers, while ABC took second place with almost 12.3 million average viewers. NBC and Univision …

The global financial crisis is impacting every market around the world, but that doesn’t mean consumers everywhere are reacting the same way. While huge numbers of people feel the impact of rising fuel prices and plan cutbacks in new clothes, utilities and entertaining, it’s the consumers in the world’s developing markets who feel the most optimistic.

With less money to spend, consumers will undoubtedly be spending more time at home in 2009.
Already this year, Nielsen witnessed significant year-over-year (ending September 2008) growth in online activities with increases in time spent daily on videos (+46%), blogs (+20%), and e-commerce sites (+17%).
Expect this trend to continue, as well as increases in newer in-home entertainment options such as video vending.
But don’t expect more time spent at home to trigger increased book sales.
Technology-driven gadgets, gizmos, and games will dominate spare-time activities, while U.S. book sales will remain essentially flat, with …

Poor people need low prices. Rich people love low prices. Either way, these are happy days for the promotion industry, as manufacturers and retailers update time-proven promotional techniques and unleash a new arsenal of Internet and wireless-based delivery systems.

Was 2008 the best sports year ever?  At least in terms of viewer interest, there’s plenty of evidence to support that argument.  Consider these TV sports highlights from 2008:
-The most-watched global event ever (2008 Beijing Summer Olympics: 4.7 billion viewers)
-The most-watched Super Bowl ever (Giants-Patriots, Super Bowl XLII: 97.5 million viewers)
-The most-watched cable broadcast of all time (Cowboys-Eagles, Monday Night Football: 18.6 million viewers)
-The most-watched cable golf event of all time (Tiger vs. Rocco, U.S. Open Playoff: 4.8 million viewers)
-The most-watched cable baseball game ever (Red Sox-Rays, ALCS Game 7: …