CBS’s “CBS Friday Movie Specia” claimed the top slot in Nielsen’s ranking of the top primetime telecasts broadcast TV for May 29, 2009. The show drew just over 6.6 million average viewers Friday evening.
NBC’s “Dateline Friday” was the second-ranked program with approximately 5.8 million average viewers while ABC’s “20/20 Friday” rounded out the top three with 4.7 million average viewers.

Case Study: Nielsen’s People Meter Technology Brings Miami More Accurate Picture of TV Viewers

Nielsen is in the process of installing electronic meters – called Local People Meters (LPM) – in the largest TV markets.  The roll-out of LPMs in Miami in Oct 2008 provides a good case study on how technology can make local TV ratings more accurate and representative of the local population than ever before.
Nielsen’s electronic People Meters measure what people really watch and do not rely on the memories of people filling out the paper diaries, …

As news came out about Time Warner’s decision to split with AOL, blogs were buzzing, with most in consensus that this could be a great move for both AOL and Time Warner. Many blogs discussed how AOL, under the new leadership of Tim Armstrong, could definitely make headway as an independent company. With all of the buzz surrounding the subject, conversations have already more than tripled today compared to yesterday, increasing from less than .01 percent on Wednesday the 27th to .05 percent by the end of the work day …

EA will release The Sims 3 on June 2nd, marking a new chapter for this immensely popular life simulation franchise. As EA begins its marketing push, the title appears quite healthy based on a variety of metrics. Fully 72% of female PC gamers and 64% of male PC gamers were aware of The Sims 3 in Nielsen’s most recent Video Game Tracking survey. Furthermore, 43% of females are definitely or probably interested in buying the title compared to 28% for males.
This high level of interest and gender disparity is to …

CBS’s “CSI”, “Without A Trace-Special” and “NCIS Thursday 8PM-Special” were the top three-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV with an average audience of approximately 10.0, 9.7 and 9.6 million viewers Thursday, May 28, 2009.

Viewership levels for the NHL playoffs are up compared to last year on both Versus and NBC, a trend that may continue with a Stanley Cup Finals featuring two hockey crazed cities, Detroit and Pittsburgh, and one of the NHL’s brightest stars, the Penguins’ Sidney Crosby.
 

But just as important as the raw viewership for the NHL and Versus, which is available in 66% of US homes, is the brand behavior of these viewers.
With advertising dollars tight in the current economic climate, the pressure is even greater for sports leagues to demonstrate return …

The global recession seems to have only lightly brushed India.  Despite some slippage in the fourth quarter (growth slowed to only 14.7%), overall ad spending was up 25 percent in 2008.  And while it remains to be seen how India and the rest of the world endure in 2009, all signs seem to point to continued ad spend growth in the country as the national TV networks work toward setting up regional and local channels.

Media Outlet
2008 (US$000s)
2007 (US$000s)
% Change

TV
2,195,065
1,845,807
19%

Newspapers
3,322,955
2,418,702
37%

Magazines
411,922
324,771
27%

Radio
670,285
648,064
3%

Cinema
47,132
42,713
10%

Outdoor
289,165
263,169
10%

Other
89,839
59,338
51%

TOTAL
7,026,363
5,602,564
25%

Source: AdEx India – A division of TAM India …

CBS’s “G Strait: ACM Artist Decade Special” and “Criminal Minds Special” were the number one and two-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for Wednesday, May 27, 2009 with 10.6 and 8.9 million average viewers.
ABC’s “Wipeout” rounded out the top three with 8.7 million average viewers respectively.

Since mid-May an additional 200,000 U.S. homes prepared their homes for the June 12 transition to digital television, leaving roughly 3.1 million homes (or 2.7%) unready for the switch. While these new figures show an improvement in the level of preparedness among African American and Hispanic households, but both groups remain less ready than the national average.
For details on a market-by-market breakdown of DTV readiness, read the complete media release.

% OF HOMES COMPLETELY UNREADY FOR DIGITAL TRANSITION

DATE
Total
White
African
American
Hispanic
Asian
Under 35
Over 55

May 25, 2009
2.7
2.1
5.4
4.7
3.2
5.0
1.5

May 10, …

CBS’s “NCIS”, “‘Then Mentalist” and “Without A Trace” swept the top three-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV with an average audience of approximately 12.5, 12.4 and 9.6 million viewers Tuesday, May 26, 2009.