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! …

Susan Whiting, Vice Chair, Nielsen
In 2005, Congress mandated that television stations switch from analog to digital signals in 2009. The purpose of this switch was to increase the efficient use of the spectrum, to expand consumer choice for video programming, and to increase the amount of spectrum available for public safety and other wireless services.  In addition, Congress was able to raise nearly $20 billion by auctioning the analog spectrum that has been used for broadcast television.
The switch to all-digital television broadcasting, which was originally scheduled to occur on February …

According to Nielsen, more than 6.5 million U.S. households – or 5.7 percent of all homes — are not ready for the upcoming transition to all-digital broadcasting and would be unable to receive any television programming at all if the transition occurred today. This is an improvement of 1.3M homes since Nielsen reported readiness status at the end of December.
“Nielsen has been preparing for the transition to digital television for more than two years,” said Nielsen Vice Chair Susan Whiting. “Because we recognize that accurate and reliable information …

The NHL’s Eastern and Western Conference All-Stars will rendezvous in Montreal this weekend, commemorating the 100th year of Les Habs, the Montreal Canadiens franchise.
US TV Ratings for last year’s All-Star Game on VERSUS were up 17%, proving the NHL’s decision to move the game the first Sunday sans NFL in 5 months a wise one.
Viewership for the Skills Competition and Young Stars Game, airing on Saturday Night, was also up 26% compared to 2007.
This season, the NHL on VERSUS is up an impressive 17%, continuing hockey’s ratings renaissance.

Season
# …

Nearly 37.8 million Americans watching at home viewed President Barack Obama’s oath of office and inaugural speech between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. ET on January 20, 2009.  This is the most viewed inauguration since the record of 41.8 million viewers who watched Ronald Reagan’s 1981 inauguration.
This is the first inaugural since Nielsen began tracking time-shifted viewing, and this year’s data is based on Live + Same Day, meaning incremental viewing during the same broadcast day is included.
Download the complete report.

President
Date
HH Rating
Households
Viewers …

Updated 01/27: The updated %figures and chart reflect updated data relative to select West Coast markets.
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The combined overall household rating for the inauguration of President Barack Obama in the top 56 local television markets where Nielsen maintains TV meters was 30.1%.
The Raleigh-Durham market had the largest TV audience with more than 51% of households tuned in to the day’s events.

Americans are increasingly turning to foods and beverages that promote healthy living.  But just how much do these foods generate in sales? And which categories have shown the most growth?  Nielsen’s Healthy Eating Report for 2008 answers these and many other questions about food and beverage health and wellness claims.
Highlights of the report include:

Food labeled as “natural” generated $22.3 billion in sales in 2008, up 10% from 2007, and up 37% from 2004
Organic foods (UPC-coded) …

As Americans prepare for the shift to digital television, Nielsen has been at the forefront of tracking the public’s readiness for the change.  As the February 17 transition approaches, new attention has been focused on the sizeable number of people, particularly from minority communities, who have not yet taken action to prepare and may lose their signals.
Two Nielsen executives, Susan Whiting, Vice Chairman of the company, and Anne Elliot, a Vice President, spoke with the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune, respectively, about the preparedness of some communities and …

Chuck Schilling
Zynga is to Facebook as Clownfish Is to Sea Anemones
Social Networking is all the craze and Online Games are the guilty pleasure of almost half (46%) of all active web users, so it was only a matter of time before someone put the two together. Zynga, only a year old, focuses specifically on adding social elements to casual online games. Just as the symbiotic relationship between clownfish and sea anemones produces mutually beneficial results, so does that between Zynga and Facebook. Although Zynga offers games on other social networks, …

Using the dramatic landing of US Airways flight 1549, Matthew Bachman of Nielsen Online takes a look at how Twitter tracks big events.
“During the crash and subsequent rescue operations for US Airways Flight 1549, major news teams flocked to the scene at midtown in Manhattan… Almost simultaneously, Twitter and Flickr users flocked to their iPhones, laptops, and other assorted devices to monitor the event—and even provide their own accounts. Beating bloggers to the scene (though they played a significant role overall), Twitterers perched in midtown offices described the scene. Heyathena …