The choice of which gaming system to buy can be difficult: Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3 all have their pros and cons.  But according to recent metered usage data from Nielsen, each console tends to appeal to different demographic groups.
“All three of the consoles have their fans, and sales of consoles and games have been some of the few bright spots in an otherwise bleak retail environment,” said Bradley Raczka, Marketing Manager for Nielsen Games.  “It will be interesting to watch the continued migration to the current generation consoles in 2009, and see how releases …

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
AMERICAN IDOL-TUESDAY
FOX
TUESDAY
24,941,000

2
AMERICAN IDOL-WEDNESDAY
FOX
WEDNESDAY
24,825,000

3
MENTALIST, THE
CBS
TUESDAY
19,699,000

4
NCIS
CBS
TUESDAY
18,031,000

5
CSI
CBS
THURSDAY
17,938,000

6
GREY’S ANATOMY-THU 9PM
ABC
THURSDAY
15,159,000

7
TWO AND A HALF MEN
CBS
MONDAY
14,995,000

8
WITHOUT A TRACE
CBS
TUESDAY
14,308,000

9
PRIVATE PRACTICE
ABC
THURSDAY
14,097,000

10
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES
ABC
SUNDAY
14,010,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (February 9, 2009 – February 15, 2009)

ABC’s “20/20-Fri” claimed the top slot in Nielsen’s ranking of the top primetime telecasts on
broadcast TV for February 13, 2009. The show drew approximately 11.0 million average viewers Friday evening.
CBS’s “Ghost Whisperer” and “Numb3rs” rounded out the top three with 10.3 and 9.1 million average viewers respectively.

Rank
Program
Network
Viewers (P2+)

1
20/20-FRI
ABC
10,990,000

2
GHOST WHISPERER
CBS
10,305,000

3
NUMB3RS
CBS
9,105,000

4
FLASHPOINT
CBS
8,797,000

5
SUPERNANNY
ABC
6,090,000

6
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE FRI
UNI
5,000,000

7
DOLLHOUSE
FOX
4,760,000

8
DATELINE FRI
NBC
4,585,000

9
CUIDADO CON EL ANGEL FRI
UNI
4,292,000

10
WIFE SWAP
ABC
4,172,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (February 13, 2009).

Overall, CBS won the night with an average audience of almost 9.4 million viewers,
while ABC took second place with almost 7.1 million average viewers. FOX and …

Brandon Eshman, Nielsen Online
According to the old saying “content is king,” right? But what if a combination of content and convenience are ultimately what attract consumers? It’s no secret that media today comes in many easy-to-access formats: video, music, TV, podcasts, etc., at the palm of our hand. Consumers have the ultimate choice in what they view and when they choose to view (or participate with) the content. The convergence of traditional viewing habits and the web is inevitable, as evidenced by the popularity of Hulu, …

CBS’s “CSI” claimed the top slot in Nielsen’s ranking of the top primetime telecasts on
broadcast TV for February 12, 2009. The show drew just over 17.9 million average viewers Thursday evening.
ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy-Thu 9PM” and “Private Practice” rounded out the top three with 15.2 and 14.1 million average viewers respectively.

Rank
Program
Network
Viewers (P2+)

1
CSI
CBS
17,938,000

2
GREY’S ANATOMY-THU 9PM
ABC
15,159,000

3
PRIVATE PRACTICE
ABC
14,097,000

4
SURVIVOR: TOCANTINS
CBS
13,632,000

5
ELEVENTH HOUR
CBS
10,941,000

6
OFFICE
NBC
9,000,000

7
30 ROCK
NBC
7,675,000

8
UGLY BETTY
ABC
7,402,000

9
E.R.
NBC
7,241,000

10
MY NAME IS EARL
NBC
6,399,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (February 12, 2009).

Overall, CBS won the night with an average audience of almost 14.2 million viewers,
while ABC took second place with almost 12.2 million average viewers. …

Nielsen today released its first public rankings of online individual TV programs, and ABC.com’s “Lost” led the way with 1.4 million unique viewers in December. NBC.com’s “Saturday Night Live” was close behind with 1.1 million unique viewers, followed by “Grey’s Anatomy” on ABC.com with 879,000 unique viewers.
Top 10 Online Broadcast TV Network Entertainment Programs* for December 2008 ranked by Unique Viewers (U.S.)

Rank
Program
Network
Unique Viewers

1
Lost
ABC.com
1,425,000

2
Saturday Night Live
NBC.com
1,111,000

3
Grey’s Anatomy
ABC.com
879,000

4
Desperate Housewives
ABC.com
723,000

5
Heroes
NBC.com
685,000

6
Ugly Betty
ABC.com
631,000

7
Samantha Who?
ABC.com
560,000

8
Scrubs
ABC.com
519,000

9
Survivor
CBS Television
496,000

10
True Beauty
ABC.com
462,000

“Source: Nielsen Online, VideoCensus
*Reflects video content on ABC.com, CBS Television, CWTV.com, FOX Broadcasting,
and NBC.com, …

This weekend, NASCAR revs up its 2009 season with its most popular race, the Daytona 500. And when it comes to the race’s TV ratings, it’s clear that NASCAR likes to go “Green.”
In an analysis of the last ten Daytona 500s, Greenville, SC and Greensboro, NC emerged with the highest average household ratings among metered markets of 23.8 and 22.4, respectively. Rounding out the top five over that same time period are Orlando (20.0), Charlotte (19.6), and Knoxville (19.4).

Highest Avg. Household Rating: Daytona 500, 1999-2008

Rank
Market
HH Rating
# of Households (000s)

1
Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville
23.8
195

2
Greensboro-High Point-Winston-Salem
22.4
142

3
Orlando-Dayton …

Despite the fact that many Americans have cut back discretionary spending, sales of 3 liter (3L) premium wine casks – better known to some as “boxed wine” – showed double digit growth in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to a new Nielsen study.
With a growth rate of 32 percent in the last 13 weeks of 2008, premium wine casks outpaced all other wine categories, and there remains room for significant growth going forward.
On a full year basis, premium wine casks grew 31 percent, compared to 4.4 growth for table …

Not all networks are created equal when it comes to getting men and women together to watch prime time TV, according to a new study by Nielsen PreView. And advertisers can capitalize on this fact, particularly when it comes to promoting products like jewelry and even grooming products for men.
According to a new study by Nielsen PreView, ESPN ranks among the top networks and programs in its ability to draw both men and women to the same programming, allowing for these types of Valentine messages to have the greatest …

FOX’s “American Idol-Wednesday” claimed the top slot in Nielsen’s ranking of the top primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for February 11, 2009. The show drew just over 24.8 million average viewers Wednesday evening.
CBS’s “Criminal Minds” and “CSI: NY” rounded out the top three with 12.5 and 11.9 million average viewers respectively.

Rank
Program
Network
Viewers (P2+)

1
AMERICAN IDOL-WEDNESDAY
FOX
24,825,000

2
CRIMINAL MINDS
CBS
12,476,000

3
CSI: NY
CBS
11,939,000

4
LOST
ABC
9,820,000

5
LAW AND ORDER
NBC
7,436,000

6
OLD CHRISTINE
CBS
6,672,000

7
GARY UNMARRIED
CBS
6,540,000

8
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE WED
UNI
5,574,000

9
KNIGHT RIDER
NBC
5,482,000

10
CUIDADO CON EL ANGEL WED
UNI
5,028,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (February 11, 2009).

Overall, FOX won the night with an average audience of almost 24.8 million viewers, while CBS took …