CBS’s “Ghost Whisperer”, “Numb3rs” and “Flashpoint” were the top three-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV with an average audience of approximately 11.5, 9.6 and 9.0 million viewers Friday, February 27, 2009.

Rank
Program
Network
Viewers (P2+)

1
GHOST WHISPERER
CBS
11,543,000

2
NUMB3RS
CBS
9,623,000

3
FLASHPOINT
CBS
8,990,000

4
20/20-FRI
ABC
7,052,000

5
DATELINE FRI
NBC
5,779,000

6
SUPERNANNY
ABC
5,534,000

7
WIFE SWAP
ABC
4,530,000

8
HOWIE DO IT 8P
NBC
4,488,000

9
CUIDADO CON EL ANGEL FRI
UNI
4,459,000

10
MANANA PARA SIEMPRE FRI
UNI
4,434,000

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

Overall, CBS won the night with an average audience of almost 10.1 million viewers, while ABC took second place with almost 5.7 million average viewers. NBC and UNI claimed third and fourth places with roughly 4.7 million and 4.0 million …

In Q4 of 2008, 11.2M people watched tv or video on their cellphones according Nielsen, an increase of 9% over the previous quarter. The report tracks usage by demographics, types of content viewed,  engagement, devices used and more. The number of mobile video subscribers grew overall as well to 18.6M, a jump of 13% over the previous quarter.
Key findings in the Mobile Video Report

51% of mobile video viewers surveyed reported that they are new to the medium, viewing for less than 6 months
Viewers are spending an average 17 sessions per …

FOX’s “American Idol-Thursday Special” claimed the top slot in Nielsen’s ranking of the top primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for February 26, 2009. The show drew just over 20.9 million average viewers Thursday evening.
CBS’s “CSI” and “Survivor: Tocantins” rounded out the top three with 17.7 and 12.1 million average viewers respectively.

Rank
Program
Network
Viewers (P2+)

1
AMERICAN IDOL THU SP-2/26(S)-02/26/2009
FOX
20,889,000

2
CSI
CBS
17,724,000

3
SURVIVOR: TOCANTINS
CBS
12,053,000

4
ELEVENTH HOUR
CBS
11,699,000

5
HELL’S KITCHEN
FOX
9,853,000

6
E.R.
NBC
8,724,000

7
GREY’S ANATOMY-THU 9PM
ABC
6,798,000

8
UGLY BETTY
ABC
6,737,000

9
30 ROCK
NBC
6.364,000

10
OFFICE
NBC
5,286,000

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

Overall, FOX won the night with an average audience of almost 15.4 million viewers, while CBS took second place with almost 13.9 million …

Unlike past recessions, few countries have been spared from the economic downturn.  Nielsen’s top industry thought leaders recently discussed how shopping patterns around the world have been affected by economic conditions, how consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers are adapting to the new marketplace realities and what lies ahead.
The participants were Todd Hale, Senior Vice President, Consumer & Shopper Insights, Nielsen U.S.; Jonathan Banks, Director, Retail Insights, Nielsen Europe; James Russo, Vice President of Marketing, Nielsen U.S., and; Jean-Jacques Vandenheede, Director, Retail Insights, Nielsen Europe.  Key themes were:
Consumers: It does …

FOX’s “American Idol-Wednesday” claimed the top slot in Nielsen’s ranking of the top primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for February 25, 2009. The show drew just over 24.5 million average viewers Wednesday evening.
CBS’s “Criminal Minds” and “CSI: NY” rounded out the top three with 13.9 and 12.6 million average viewers respectively.

Rank
Program
Network
Viewers (P2+)

1
AMERICAN IDOL-WEDNESDAY
FOX
24,541,000

2
CRIMINAL MINDS
CBS
13,930,000

3
CSI: NY
CBS
12,563,000

4
LOST
ABC
10,050,000

5
BIGGEST LOSER 7 2/25(S)-02/25/2009
NBC
8,613,000

6
LAW AND ORDER
NBC
5,774,000

7
GARY UNMARRIED
CBS
5,706,000

8
OLD CHRISTINE
CBS
5,602,000

9
LOST-WED 8PM
ABC
5,000,000

10
LIFE
NBC
4,893,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (February 25, 2009).

Overall, FOX won the night with an average audience of almost 24.5 million viewers, while CBS took second place with almost 10.7 …

With more Americans out of work, career development web sites have seen a surge in traffic, according to a new report from Nielsen Online.  In January 2009, there were 49.7 million unique visitors to these sites, up from 41.5 million unique visitors in January 2008, an increase of 20 percent.
CareerBuilder Network was the top destination with 20.8 million visitors, followed by Yahoo! HotJobs and Monster, with 11.7 million and 9.5 million unique visitors, respectively.  Among age groups, the number of unique visitors to career development web sites age 65 and …

On Tuesday, February 24, 2009 President Barack Obama delivered his first address to a Joint Session of Congress, the traditional first-term equivalent of the State of the Union.  The address was carried live on 10 national television networks – ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, Telemundo, Univision, CNBC, CNN, FOX News Channel and MSNBC.  The figures below are the sum of the preliminary average audience estimates for the sources noted and for the approximate common time.  Exact times varied by network.
President Obama’s Address to Joint Session of Congress –
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 …

When Frito-Lay wanted to increase the appeal of its calorie-conscious snacks to women – who are snacking more than men – it turned to NeuroFocus, a research company that brings neuroscience to the world of advertising, messaging, packaging and product development.  By measuring brainwaves, eye-tracking and skin conductance, researchers can, for example, determine whether a message resonates with a consumer.
In Frito-Lay’s case, NeuroFocus was enlisted by the ad agency charged with re-defining calorie-conscious snacks such as Baked Lays and 100-calorie packages to make them appeal to women.  To learn more …

When Tiger Woods tees off later today at the Accenture Match Play Championship, he won’t be the only one relieved by his return to the links. In fact, PGA Tour officials and TV executives might have more of a reason to celebrate than Tiger himself.
The Nielsen Company compared the network TV ratings for the 3rd and 4th rounds of golf tournaments played by Woods after the U.S. Open in 2007 with those same tournaments he missed in 2008 due to a season-ending knee injury. And the results are just what …

The 2009 Awards aired 26 minutes of commercials (excluding promotional announcements and PSAs), three minutes more than the 2008 event. Hyundai replaced General Motors as the exclusive auto advertiser, and aired 4½ minutes of commercials, making it the top advertiser. Coca-Cola was next with 4 minutes, followed by JC Penney, with 3½.
New advertisers for the 2009 Awards and how many minutes they ran are listed in the chart below. Hyundai, the top advertiser, ran several general ads, as well as three 30-second spots for its Genesis brand. Sprint Nextel promoted …