Movie buzz is up following the Golden Globes, SAG Awards and the nominations for the Academy Awards, but in recent years viewership for many award shows (including the Oscars) has actually been declining. Is it the host? The length of the broadcast? Or does it have something to do with the movies themselves?
According to a recent study by Nielsen Preview, viewership of the Academy Awards is directly impacted by the box office draw of the best picture nominees and the popularity of the host.
During the 2004 Academy Awards (hosted by …

For the second week in a row, the Kevin James comedy “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” led the box office with $21.6M in earnings. Newcomer “Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans” clawed to second with $20.8M. Oscar nominees for best picture were reward with a box office surge as “Slumdog Millionaire” pulled in $3.6M more than last week, and “Benjamin Button” turned back the clock with a return into the top 10, bringing in more than $6M the weekend after nominations were announced.

RANK
Title
Studio
Weekend Gross
Jan 19-25
Total Gross
Thru Jan …

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
OBAMA INAUG OATH/SPEECH(S)-01/20/2009 – 12:05PM
CNN
TUESDAY
8,602,000

2
SR/INAUGURATION OF OBAMA(S)-01/20/2009 – 12:00PM
CNN
TUESDAY
7,796,000

3
SR/INAUGURATION OF OBAMA(S)-01/20/2009 – 11:00AM
CNN
TUESDAY
6,733,000

4
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
6,165,000

5
SR/INAUGURATION OF OBAMA(S)-01/20/2009 – 1:00PM
CNN
TUESDAY
6,003,000

6
SITUATION ROOM – 5:00PM
CNN
TUESDAY
5,726,000

7
SITUATION ROOM – 6:00PM
CNN
TUESDAY
5,677,000

8
OBAMA INAUGURAL ADDRESS(S)-01/20/2009 – 12:07PM
FOXNC
TUESDAY
5,571,000

9
INAUGURATION 2009(S)-01/20/2009 - 12:00PM
FOXNC
TUESDAY
5,290,000

10
SR/INAUGURATION OF OBAMA(S)-01/20/2009  – 3:00PM
CNN
TUESDAY
5,272,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (January 19, 2009 – January 25, 2009)

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
NEIGHBORHOOD BALL-1/20
ABC
Tuesday
3,972,000

2
AMERICAN IDOL-WEDNESDAY
FOX
Wednesday
3,086,000

3
ABC NEWS SPECIAL-1/20
ABC
Tuesday
3,003,000

4
AMERICAN IDOL-TUESDAY
FOX
Tuesday
2,093,000

5
CSI
CBS
Thursday
1,812,000

6
LIE TO ME
FOX
Wednesday
1,751,000

7
CSI: MIAMI
CBS
Monday
1,744,000

8
ELEVENTH HOUR
CBS
Thursday
1,549,000

9
GREY’S ANATOMY-THU 9PM
ABC
Thursday
1,396,000

10
CSI: NY
CBS
Wednesday
1,380,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (January 19, 2009 – January 25, 2009)

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE THU-01/22/2009
UNI
Thursday
5,456,000

2
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE MON-01/19/2009
UNI
Monday
5,307,000

3
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE WED-01/21/2009
UNI
Wednesday
5,304,000

4
CUIDADO CON EL ANGEL WED-01/21/2009
UNI
Wednesday
5,247,000

5
CUIDADO CON EL ANGEL THU-01/22/2009
UNI
Thursday
5,195,000

6
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE FRI-01/23/2009
UNI
Friday
5,161,000

7
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE TUE-01/20/2009
UNI
Tuesday
5,156,000

8
CUIDADO CON EL ANGEL TUE-01/20/2009
UNI
Tuesday
5,046,000

9
CUIDADO CON EL ANGEL MON-01/19/2009
UNI
Monday
4,929,000

10
CUIDADO CON EL ANGEL FRI-01/23/2009
UNI
Friday
4,487,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (January 19, 2009 – January 25, 2009)

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
AMERICAN IDOL-WEDNESDAY
FOX
Wednesday
25,897,000

2
AMERICAN IDOL-TUESDAY
FOX
Tuesday
22,773,000

3
CSI
CBS
Thursday
17,572,000

4
TWO AND A HALF MEN
CBS
Monday
16,094,000

5
HOUSE
FOX
Monday
15,027,000

6
CSI: MIAMI
CBS
Monday
14,579,000

7
GREY’S ANATOMY-THU 9PM
ABC
Thursday
14,432,000

8
60 MINUTES
CBS
Sunday
14,208,000

9
CRIMINAL MINDS
CBS
Wednesday
13,816,000

10
COLD CASE
CBS
Sunday
13,257,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (January 19, 2009 – January 25, 2009)

CBS’s “Ghost Whisperer”, “Numb3rs” and “Flashpoint” were the top three-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV with an average audience of approximately 11.2, 11.0 and 10.2 million viewers Friday, January 23, 2009.

Rank
Program
Network
Viewers (P2+)

1
GHOST WHISPERER
CBS
11,183,000

2
NUMB3RS
CBS
10,959,000

3
FLASHPOINT
CBS
10,182,000

4
SMARTER THAN 5TH GRADER
FOX
6,072,000

5
DON’T FORGET THE LYRICS
FOX
6,041,000

6
HOWIE DO IT 8:30
NBC
5,679,000

7
20/20-FRI
ABC
5,591,000

8
HOWIE DO IT 8P
NBC
5,523,000

9
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE FRI
UNI
5,310,000

10
DATELINE FRI
NBC
5,087,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (January 23, 2009).

Overall, CBS won the night with an average audience of almost 10.8 million viewers,
while FOX took second place with almost 6.1 million average viewers. NBC and ABC
claimed third and fourth places with roughly 4.9 million …

Between 2001 and 2008, more than 35,500 new stores – from warehouse clubs, supercenters and home improvement to convenience and grocery – opened around the U.S.  And while almost all categories of stores showed significant growth (except for drug stores, toy stores and electronics stores, which actually contracted) during the eight years studied, some formats showed greater promise than others.  According to new findings from Nielsen, the economic turmoil of the last year or so has already had a profound effect on the …

The 2009 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas provided another exciting look into the future of electronics.  Two prevailing themes were that convergence – the long talked-about concept of uniting entertainment and information, and media with Internet – has truly and finally arrived, and that sleekness and multi-function capability is the new industry mantra.
HDTV flat screen televisions dominated, with 3D, Internet-enabled and ultra-thin and flexible screens on display.  New sets with on-screen interactive “widgets” to click to additional information and services were demonstrated by Yahoo!, Intel and Samsung.  Using this …

Following the Inauguration of President Barack Obama, which was viewed by 37.8M on television, Nielsen Online released traffic figures for the top 10 most visited Current Events & Global News web sites on Inauguration Day. In addition, Nielsen also reported the fastest growing news sites on January 20th, Web traffic to whitehouse.gov and the most linked-to videos of the day.
CNN Digital Network was the top online Current Events & Global News destination when ranked by unique audience on Inauguration Day, with 11.0 million unique visitors. MSNBC Digital Network and Yahoo! …