The effects of the recession may be seen on the BBQ grill this Fourth of July. Sales of hot dogs have been going up in recent months while register rings for more expensive bratwurst and knockwurst have been declining, according to new research from The Nielsen Company. This is a reversal of sales trends the past several years.
July 3rd traditionally has the highest sales volume for all three types of meat. Consumers were 50 percent more likely to buy hot dogs during the four-week period ending on July 12, 2008 …

Indians are increasing their expectations of what companies should be doing with respect to corporate social responsibility (CSR) according to the latest Nielsen India Corporate Image Monitor.  CSR can be an effective way of building goodwill for a company, and survey respondents most admired Reliance Industries, the nation’s largest conglomerate, Tata Motors and Tata Steel.  These companies are most closely associated with promoting education, improving healthcare infrastructure and promoting environmental consciousness.
According to the survey, half of respondents said that better healthcare infrastructure is the top social issue that they believe …

CBS’s “Two And A Half Men”, “CSI: Miami” and “The Big Bang Theory” swept the top three-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV with an average audience of approximately 9.3, 8.0 and 7.9 million viewers Monday, June 29, 2009.

Anticipatory buzz around the release of the latest model of the iPhone most likely helped Apple secure the top traffic spot among hardware manufacturers in May 2009. The site drew 55.7 million unique viewers, more than double that of Hewlett Packard which attracted more than 21 million visitors.

Hardware Manufacturer Destinations: May 2009*

Rank
Brand
Unique Audience
(000)

1
Apple
55,716

2
Hewlett Packard
21,294

3
Dell
16,826

4
Sun Microsystems
3,410

5
Nintendo
2,212

6
XBOX
2,212

7
Gateway
1,847

8
MagicJack
1,812

9
Intel
1,648

10
IBM
1,606

Source: The Nielsen Company
*U.S. Home and Work

In June, anticipation of the new iPhone 3G S sent blog mentions up 1,226 percent week-overweek on June 8, the day of the announcement. After the initial …

Retail grocery prices in the U.S. continue to creep higher overall compared with 2008, according to new research from The Nielsen Company. The good news is price increases appear to be slowing compared with the price spikes experienced by shoppers in the spring of 2008 and 2007.
These were some of the findings from the “Supermarket Pricing Trends” study which looked at pricing of the top-selling items across 45 categories over the course of five years. It concluded by measuring the 12 weeks ending May 16 in total U.S. supermarkets.
Overall, …

Summer blockbuster season is in full swing, bringing with it video games tied to the latest cinematic franchises. Additionally, this spring and summer features game releases that are offshoots of the classic Batman, Ghostbusters and The Godfather franchises. Though dismissed in the past, movie games are garnering more attention in the entertainment industry as studios look to leverage the value of their franchises.
According to recent data from Nielsen’s Video Game Tracking survey, movie-themed games are driving substantial purchase interest among gamers. X-Men Origins: Wolverine tops the list in terms …

RANK
NAME
BET
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
CBS NEWS: MICHAEL JACKSON
CBS
THURSDAY
1,230,000

2
CSI: MIAMI
CBS
MONDAY
1,127,000

3
AMERICA’S GOT TALENT-TUE
NBC
TUESDAY
1,107,000

4
20/20-FRI
ABC
FRIDAY
1,073,000

5
CSI: NY
CBS
WEDNESDAY
997,000

6
20/20 SP EDITION-6/25 10P
ABC
THURSDAY
982,000

7
NCIS
CBS
TUESDAY
981,000

8
20/20 SP EDITION-6/25 9P
ABC
THURSDAY
976,000

9
DATELINE FRI
NBC
FRIDAY
947,000

10
SO YOU THINK CN DANCE-WED
FOX
WEDNESDAY
939,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (June 22, 2009 – June 28, 2009)

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
AMERICA’S GOT TALENT-TUE
NBC
TUESDAY
11,462,000

2
NCIS
CBS
TUESDAY
11,087,000

3
AMERICA GOT TALENT-WED 9P
NBC
WEDNESDAY
10,399,000

4
MENTALIST, THE – TUESDAY
CBS
TUESDAY
9,146,000

5
60 MINUTES
CBS
SUNDAY
8,794,000

6
CSI
CBS
THURSDAY
8,739,000

7
TWO AND A HALF MEN
CBS
MONDAY
8,686,000

8
20/20 SP EDITION-6/25 10P(S)
ABC
THURSDAY
8,172,000

9
CSI: MIAMI
CBS
MONDAY
8,012,000

10
WIPEOUT
ABC
WEDNESDAY
7,796,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (June 22, 2009 – June 28, 2009)

RANK
NAME
BET
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
BET AWARDS SHOW(S)-06/28/2009
BET
SUNDAY
10,653,000

2
JON & KATE PLUS 8
TLC
MONDAY
10,605,000

3
PRINCESS PROTECTION PROGR
DSNY
FRIDAY
8,533,000

4
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
7,298,000

5
CLOSER, THE
TNT
MONDAY
6,410,000

6
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
6,263,000

7
WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE
DSNY
FRIDAY
6,018,000

8
ROYAL PAINS
USA
THURSDAY
5,943,000

9
SPRINT CUP RACING/LOUDON
TNT
SUNDAY
5,555,000

10
NASCAR POST RACE SHOW
TNT
SUNDAY
5,424,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (June 22, 2009 – June 28, 2009)

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
MANANA PARA SIEMPRE MON-06/22/2009
UNI
MONDAY
4,674,000

2
MANANA PARA SIEMPRE WED-06/24/2009
UNI
WEDNESDAY
4,668,000

3
MANANA PARA SIEMPRE TUE-06/23/2009
UNI
TUESDAY
4,657,000

4
MANANA PARA SIEMPRE THU-06/25/2009
UNI
THURSDAY
4,603,000

5
CUIDADO CON EL ANGEL MON-06/22/2009
UNI
MONDAY
4,125,000

6
MANANA PARA SIEMPRE FRI-06/26/2009
UNI
FRIDAY
4,092,000

7
CUIDADO CON EL ANGEL TUE-06/23/2009
UNI
TUESDAY
3,750,000

8
CUIDADO CON EL ANGEL THU-06/25/2009
UNI
THURSDAY
3,730,000

9
CUIDADO CON EL ANGEL WED-06/24/2009
UNI
WEDNESDAY
3,672,000

10
NOT UNI PRESENTA 6/23-06/23/2009
UNI
TUESDAY
3,490,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (June 22, 2009 – June 28, 2009)