As part of Nielsen’s kickoff presentation to the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) research summit, Nielsen Online presented two Brand Association Maps (BAM) illustrating how consumers’ online conversations have affected peanut butter in the wake of a nationwide Salmonella scare. What’s clear in looking at the pre- and post-event BAM maps is that online conversations about peanut butter soured very quickly. Once the first FDA report alerted consumers to salmonella-tainted peanut butter, online buzz tripled in a few short hours. Moreover, discussion was dispersed …

Julie Enzweiler
On January 26, 2009 President Obama announced that emission standards could be decided at a state level. This decision has spurred on an extremely heated debate online among all communities.

Forty-two percent are positive towards President Obama’s decision, predominately driven by the Environmental communities, while 44% are negative.

Consumers provide in-depth reasoning behind their belief on reversing the Bush administration’s emissions ruling; however, there is a significant amount of confusion on the number of potential emission standards the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM’s) would need to adhere to. Most consumers …

FOX’s “American Idol-Tuesday” claimed the top slot in Nielsen’s ranking of the top primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for January 27, 2009. The show drew just over 25.5 million average viewers Tuesday evening.
CBS’s “NCIS” and “The Mentalist” rounded out the top three with 19.2 and 15.2 million average viewers respectively.

Rank
Program
Network
Viewers (P2+)

1
AMERICAN IDOL-TUESDAY
FOX
25,539,000

2
NCIS
CBS
19,202,000

3
MENTALIST, THE
CBS
15,226,000

4
WITHOUT A TRACE
CBS
12,999,000

5
FRINGE
FOX
11,619,000

6
BIGGEST LOSER 7
NBC
11,078,000

7
LAW AND ORDER:SVU
NBC
7,136,000

8
PRIMETIME:WHAT WOULD U DO
ABC
6,349,000

9
HOMELAND SECURITY USA
ABC
5,649,000

10
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE TUE
UNI
5,450,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (January 27, 2009).

Overall, FOX won the night with an average audience of almost 18.7 million viewers,
while CBS took second …

We’ve all gone to the grocery store and seen them: the boxes of cookies, crackers and other snacks that offer small packs of our favorite treats that limit calorie intake to 100 calories. Given the amount of shelf space these products take up, it would be a fair assumption that these items generate a fair amount of sales.  But the fact is that these products comprise a fairly small share of the huge, multi-billion dollar snack category. And with a high cost-per-ounce, the price premium for these products may be …

Last year’s matchup between the Patriots and the Giants was viewed by a record 97.5 million people in the U.S. As expected, the Super Bowl was the most-watched TV broadcast in 2008. Networks broadcasting the Super Bowl often use the game as a lead-in for one of their regular shows. This year, NBC will broadcast a one-hour episode of The Office. Last year, 29.1 million viewers stuck around after the game to watch an episode of House on FOX.

Year
Super Bowl
Avg. viewers
in millions
Show After Game
Avg. viewers
in millions

2008
FOX – …

Oprah Winfrey starts trends.  When her book club features a book, chances are good that it will be a bestseller.  When she mentions a product on her talk show, millions of viewers will check that product out.
Earlier this month, Oprah discussed healthy living with her regular guest Dr. Mehmet Oz, who presented his “Ultimate Health Checklist,” which included three points about eating:
Know the five ingredients to avoid (high fructose corn syrup, sugar, enriched flour, trans fat, saturated fats)
The healthy foods to add to your diet

Antioxidants (Dr. Oz recommends tomatoes, broccoli, …

While newspapers across the country face a declining number of subscribers, traffic to the top 10 online newspapers grew 16 percent in December 2008 versus a year ago, according to new research from Nielsen Online.
NYTimes.com continued to be the number one online newspaper, with 18.2 million unique visitors.  USATODAY.com and washingotnpost.com took maintained the number two and three ranks, respectively.

Site
Dec-07 (000)
Dec-08 (000)
% Change

Top 10 Online Newspapers
34,602
40,093
16

NYTimes.com
17,177
18,187
6

USATODAY.com
9,939
11,420
15

washingtonpost.com
8,478
9,470
12

LA Times
4,607
7,963
73

Wall Street Journal Online
5,409
7,235
34

Daily News Online Edition
2,956
5,883
99

Chicago Tribune
3,891
5,235
35

New York Post
2,851
4,557
60

Boston.com
4,364
4,086
-6

SFGate.com/SF Chronicle
2,785
3,503
26

Source: Nielsen Online (January 26, 2009)

“December was an extremely active month in terms …

FOX’s “House” and “24″ were the number one and number three-ranked primetime telecasts on
broadcast TV Monday, January 26, 2009 with 15.7 and 12.2 million average viewers.
CBS’s “Two And A Half Men” was the second ranked telecast on broadcast TV Monday evening with approximately 12.8 million average viewers.

Rank
Program
Network
Viewers (P2+)

1
HOUSE
FOX
15,692,000

2
TWO AND A HALF MEN
CBS
12,781,000

3
24
FOX
12,223,000

4
BACHELOR, THE
ABC
10,566,000

5
BIG BANG THEORY, THE
CBS
9,207,000

6
CSI: MIAMI
CBS
9,192,000

7
NBC MOVIE OF THE WEEK-MON(S)-01/26/2009
NBC
8,325,000

8
HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
CBS
8,083,000

9
WORST WEEK
CBS
7,130,000

10
TRUE BEAUTY
ABC
6,946,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (January 26, 2009).

Overall, FOX won the night with an average audience of almost 14.0 million viewers,
while ABC took second place …

The 2008 Super Bowl was the highest-rated TV show in the U.S. for the year and was viewed by a record 97.5 million people – more than any previous Super Bowl. And, as expected, 42.9 percent of those viewers were males 18 years and older (45.8 million viewers). However, according to The Nielsen Company, 37.7 million women over the age of 18 were also watching. In the last 10 years, the percentage of women watching the Super Bowl between the ages of 18-54 has increased by 8 percent.
Despite this …

Over-the-counter (OTC) heartburn medications save the U.S. healthcare system $757 million each year — by reducing office visits, Nielsen and the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) reported in a study released on January 26th.
At an individual level, OTC heartburn remedies save the average American $174 each year — in office visits and medication costs.
Nielsen and CHPA’s joint study also found that 94% of all patients report being satisfied with available OTC heartburn medications.
More than half (61%) of consumers surveyed by Nielsen and CHPA reported treating their heartburn without discussing symptoms with …