RANK
NAME
NETWORK
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
NBC NFL PLAYOFF GAME 2(S)
NBC
Saturday
27,792,000

2
NBC NFL PLAYOFF PRE-KICK2(S)
NBC
Saturday
21,865,000

3
FOX NFC WILDCARD POST GME(S)
FOX
Sunday
16,416,000

4
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES
ABC
Sunday
14,394,000

5
NCIS
CBS
Tuesday
13,433,000

6
ALLSTATE SUGAR BOWL(S)
FOX
Friday
13,369,000

7
COLD CASE
CBS
Sunday
12,673,000

8
60 MINUTES
CBS
Sunday
12,322,000

9
TWO AND A HALF MEN
CBS
Monday
11,867,000

10
CSI: MIAMI
CBS
Monday
11,357,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (December 29, 2008 – January 4, 2009)

CBS’s “The Mentalist”, “NCIS,” and “Without A Trace” were the top three primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for Tuesday, January 6, 2009.

Rank
Program
Network
Viewers (P2+)

1
MENTALIST, THE
CBS
19,617,000

2
NCIS
CBS
19,103,000

3
WITHOUT A TRACE
CBS
13,133,000

4
BIGGEST LOSER 7
NBC
11,923,000

5
LAW AND ORDER:SVU
NBC
10,816,000

6
HOMELAND SECURITY USA
ABC
7,766,000

7
PRIMETIME:WHAT WOULD U DO
ABC
7,023,000

8
SCRUBS-TU 9PM
ABC
6,741,000

9
SCRUBS-TU 9:30PM
ABC
6,611,000

10
HOUSE
FOX
5,506,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (January 6, 2009).

Overall, CBS won the night with an average audience of almost 17.3 million viewers, while NBC took second place with almost 11.6 million average viewers. ABC and FOX claimed third and fourth places with roughly 7.2 million and 4.6 million average viewers. UNI and the CW followed in …

FOX’s “Tostitos Fiesta Bowl Special” was the number one-ranked primetime telecast on broadcast TV for Monday, January 5, 2009, with approximately 17.1million average viewers.
CBS’s “Two And A Half Men” and “CSI: Miami” rounded out the top three, with approximately 11.6 and 10.4 million average viewers, respectively.

Rank
Program
Network
Viewers (P2+)

1
TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL(S)-01/05/2009
FOX
17,056,000

2
TWO AND A HALF MEN
CBS
11,559,000

3
CSI: MIAMI
CBS
10,400,000

4
SUPERSTARS OF DANCE
NBC
9,666,000

5
BACHELOR, THE
ABC
8,742,000

6
BIG BANG THEORY, THE
CBS
8,505,000

7
TRUE BEAUTY
ABC
7,606,000

8
HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
CBS
7,234,000

9
WORST WEEK
CBS
7,042,000

10
MOMMA’S BOYS
NBC
5,323,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (January 5, 2009).

Overall, FOX won the night with an average audience of almost 17.1 million viewers, while CBS took second …

Jon Gibs
Hello all, and welcome from a slightly chilly Las Vegas. I’m a bit of a gadget dork, so coming to CES (Consumer Electronics Show) has been something I’ve looked forward to for some time. But you might be asking yourself, “Jon covers media, not technology, why, during these challenging economic times would Nielsen send Jon to hang out in the desert and lose money on cards for three days?”
The answer is twofold. First, I’m speaking on a panel tomorrow (if you’re around, stop by and say …

By: Jonathan Banks, Business Insights Director, The Nielsen Company
SUMMARY: While weight loss strategies vary by region, the world’s consumers will start the New Year looking for the right combination of alternatives to lose excess weight. Approaches range from changing their diet, to working out, consuming diet pills, bars or shakes, and taking prescription weight loss drugs.
Year after year, it leads the list of the most popular New Year’s Resolutions: lose weight. Close behind on the “most popular resolutions” list are promises to get fit (#5) and to eat right (#6). …

As the economy worsened in 2008, U.S. consumers cut discretionary spending — and shifted basic purchases to value-oriented brands and retailers.  Dollar stores and private label brands saw gains — but many other retailers and manufacturers suffered through dramatic declines.
Is the outlook any brighter for the new year?  Food marketing expert Phil Lempert, of SupermarketGuru.com, offers his take on what consumers and retailers can expect in 2009.
Nielsen Wire: How did consumer habits change in 2008 — and how should retailers adjust?
Phil Lempert:
In 2008 shoppers used more coupons, bought more store …

According to Nielsen Online, there were almost 8.1 billion Web searches conducted during November 2008 — up 9.6% over the same month last year.
Google searches accounted for more than 64% of all Web searches, with almost 5.2 billion queries.  Yahoo!, MSN, AOL, and Ask.com rounded out the top five.

Rank
(by # of
searches)
Provider
Searches
(in 000’s)
% Growth:
Year Over Year
% of Searches

 
All Searches
8,075,564
9.6%
100%

1
Google Search
5,177,158
21.7%
64.1%

2
Yahoo! Search
1,299,306
-1.4%
16.1%

3
MSN/Windows Live Search
733,460
-16.7%
9.1%

4
AOL Search
344,465
3.6%
4.3%

5
Ask.com Search
184,059
-6.0%
2.3%

6
My Web Search
71,113
-18.3%
0.9%

7
Comcast Search
40,645
3.5%
0.5%

8
AT&T Worldnet Search
25,351
-13.3%
0.3%

9
NexTag Search
22,308
-19.5%
0.3%

10
Dogpile.com Search
17,121
-6.5%
0.2%

Source: The Nielsen Company (November 2008).

View the full press release.
Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings on CNET.com and Silicon.com, as well as in Mediaweek and …

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
COLL FTBALL-BOWL GAME L(OKLAHOMA ST/OREGON)
ESPN
TUESDAY
6,220,000

2
COLL FTBALL-BOWL GAME L (MISSOURI/NORTHWESTERN)
ESPN
MONDAY
6,076,000

3
ICARLY
NICK
SATURDAY
5,943,000

4
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
5,675,000

5
COLL FTBALL-BOWL GAME L(LSU/GEORGIA TECH)
ESPN
WEDNESDAY
5,635,000

6
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
4,902,000

7
TRUE JACKSON, VP
NICK
SATURDAY
4,546,000

8
NCIS
USA
MONDAY
4,331,000

9
SPONGEBOB
NICK
SUNDAY
4,162,000

10
SPONGEBOB
NICK
SUNDAY
4,127,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (December 29, 2008 – January 4, 2009)

FOX’s “AllState Sugar Bowl Special” claimed the top slot in Nielsen’s ranking of the top primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for January 2, 2009. The show drew almost 13.4 million average viewers Friday night.

Rank
Program
Network
Viewers (P2+)

1
ALLSTATE SUGAR BOWL(S)-01/02/2009
FOX
13,369,000

2
NUMB3RS – SP(S)-01/02/2009
CBS
7,604,000

3
GHOST WHISPERER 9PM-SPCL(S)-01/02/2009
CBS
7,341,000

4
DEAL OR NO DEAL-FRI
NBC
7,065,000

5
20/20-FRI
ABC
6,613,000

6
GHOST WHISPERER – SP(S)-01/02/2009
CBS
6,388,000

7
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE FRI
UNI
4,879,000

8
DATELINE FRI
NBC
4,762,000

9
SUPERNANNY SP-1/2(S)-01/02/2009
ABC
4,759,000

10
CUIDADO CON EL ANGEL FRI
UNI
4,686,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (January 2, 2009).

Overall, FOX won the night with an average audience of almost 13.4 million viewers,
while CBS took second place with almost 7.1 million average viewers. NBC and ABC
claimed third and …

In November, almost one-third (30.6%) of all visitors to ProFlowers.com made a purchase — the highest conversion percentage among all retail websites, according to Nielsen.
Metrostyle (23.6% conversion rate), QVC (21.6% conversion rate), Office Depot (21.6% conversion rate), L.L. Bean (21.5% conversion rate), Tickets.com (20.1% conversion rate), Blair.com (18.9% conversion rate), Lands End (18.4% conversion rate), 1800flowers.com (17.8% conversion rate), and The Sportsman’s Guide (16.8% conversion rate) rounded out the top ten.
Top online retailers in ten key product categories, ranked by purchases and customer numbers in November, are below.