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., Jean-Jacques Vandenheede, Director Retail Insights, Nielsen Europe

CI SUMMARY: A shift from nice-to-have to need-to-have assortment and retailing is a common thread across the U.S. and abroad. An interview with Nielsen’s top industry thought leaders reveals how shopping patterns across the world have been affected by the economic downturn, how consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers are coping and what lies ahead for the rest …

CBS’s “Flashpoint”, “Ghost Whisperer” and “Numb3rs” were the top three-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV with an average audience of approximately 8.4, 8.2 and 7.5 million viewers Friday, January 30, 2009.

Rank
Program
Network
Viewers (P2+)

1
FLASHPOINT
CBS
8,433,000

2
GHOST WHISPERER
CBS
8,222,000

3
NUMB3RS
CBS
7,506,000

4
20/20-FRI
ABC
6,642,000

5
DATELINE FRI
NBC
6,203,000

6
20/20 SPECIAL-1/30(S)-01/30/2009
ABC
6,078,000

7
HOWIE DO IT 8:30
NBC
5,367,000

8
HOWIE DO IT 8P
NBC
5,141,000

9
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE FRI
UNI
5,112,000

10
WIFE SWAP
ABC
4,964,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (January 30, 2009).

Overall, CBS won the night with an average audience of almost 8.1 million viewers, while ABC took second place with almost 5.9 million average viewers. NBC and UNI claimed third and fourth places with roughly 5.2 million and 4.4 …