RANK
NAME
NETWORK
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
AMERICAN IDOL-TUESDAY
FOX
TUESDAY
23,963,000

2
AMERICAN IDOL-WEDNESDAY
FOX
WEDNESDAY
23,947,000

3
DANCING WITH THE STARS
ABC
MONDAY
20,528,000

4
DANCING W/STARS RESULTS
ABC
TUESDAY
14,725,000

5
CSI
CBS
THURSDAY
14,639,000

6
CRIMINAL MINDS 10PM-SP(S)
CBS
WEDNESDAY
13,723,000

7
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES
ABC
SUNDAY
13,642,000

8
GREY’S ANATOMY-THU 9PM
ABC
THURSDAY
13,511,000

9
NCIS 9P-SPECIAL(S)
CBS
TUESDAY
12,648,000

10
MENTALIST, THE-10PM SP(S)
CBS
TUESDAY
12,456,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (April 20, 2009 – April 26, 2009)

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
AMERICAN IDOL-WEDNESDAY
FOX
WEDNESDAY
2,335,000

2
DANCING WITH THE STARS
ABC
MONDAY
2,168,000

3
AMERICAN IDOL-TUESDAY
FOX
TUESDAY
1,793,000

4
DANCING W/STARS RESULTS
ABC
TUESDAY
1,710,000

5
CRIMINAL MINDS 10PM-SP
CBS
WEDNESDAY
1,539,000

6
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES
ABC
SUNDAY
1,445,000

7
GAME, THE
CW
FRIDAY
1,389,000

8
PRIVATE PRACTICE
ABC
THURSDAY
1,336,000

9
GREY’S ANATOMY-THU 9PM
ABC
THURSDAY
1,321,000

10
UNIT, THE
CBS
SUNDAY
1,303,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (April 20, 2009 – April 26, 2009)

Todd Hale, Senior Vice President, Shopper and Consumer Insight
The beginning of the year brought some surprising good news for retailers: retail sales (excluding automotive) rebounded in January and February.  While the figures were not earth-shattering – sales grew 1 percent and January and 0.7 percent in February – they were significant improvements on the last four months of 2008, where declines ranged from 1.2 percent to 3.1 percent.

Using data collected by the Nielsen Homescan Consumer Panel, we saw improved trip performance in the first two months of the year in …

The appeal of the NFL draft to fans is soaring, with viewership jumping 62 percent over the last six years, according to Nielsen data.
Last year, more than five million viewers tuned in to watch a draft where an offensive tackle (Jake Long) who had already agreed to a deal earlier in the week with Miami was drafted by the Dolphins as the number one pick. That’s almost two million more viewers than in 2002 when the Houston Texans drafted top pick David Carr, whom the franchise hoped would be their …

Charlie Buchwalter, Nielsen Online
Having been to just about every ad:tech show during the last 10 years, I have to say that the show in San Francisco this week was one of the best ever. The Moscone West venue was great, the keynotes were superb, and sat through a number of panels with top-notch panelists and moderators. And there’s nothing better than reconnecting with some of the great friends I’ve made over the years in the interactive space.
The folks at socialmedia.com hosted the ad:tech Chairman’s reception Monday night, and I gave …

CBS’s “CSI” and “Survivor: Tocantins” were the number one and number three-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV Thursday, April 23, 2009 with 14.6 and 11.3 million average viewers.
ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy-Thu 9PM” was ranked second with 13.5 million average viewers.

Organic products – which are often priced at a premium over non-organic products – have taken a sales hit over the last 12 months as consumers have cut back discretionary spending, according to new analysis by Nielsen’s Director of Industry Insights, Tom Pirovano.  In March 2008, monthly sales of organic products grew 24 percent; a year later, growth almost came to a standstill of 1 percent, marking a dramatic shift from previous monthly growth rates of more than 30 percent seen in 2005 and 2006.
[click to enlarge graph]

“The recession and …

With several high profile games released in the past few months, chalk one up for Halo Wars.  According to Nielsen’s weekly Video Game Tracking survey, the title generated the highest definite purchase interest among games in the week of their release for any title released through April 18 this year. In the week leading up to its March 3rd release in the US, 23 percent of gamers had strong purchase interest for the real-time strategy off-shoot of the immensely popular Halo trilogy. It narrowly beat Resident Evil 5 which garnered …

FOX’s “American Idol-Wednesday” was the number one-ranked primetime telecast on broadcast
TV for Wednesday, April 22, 2009 with approximately 23.9 million average viewers.
CBS’s “Criminal Minds 10PM Special” and “Criminal Minds” rounded out the top three ranked programs with approximately 13.7 and 9.8 million average viewers.

Global declines in consumer activity appear to be moderating or hitting bottom, according to the new edition of the Nielsen Economic Current, which is based on the company’s key consumer trend data as well economic data to create a concise indicator of consumer behavior.  Out of the 11 major GDP countries, only Germany showed an increase in consumer behavior in February.
“Consumers worldwide appear to be in a holding pattern and we see evidence that consumer spending might be positioned to turn around,” said James Russo, Vice President Global Consumer Insights …