RANK
PROGRAM
NETWORK
DAYS
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
NFL REGULAR SEASON – L (VIKINGS/SAINTS)
ESPN
MONDAY
10,975,000

2
SR/PRES DEBATE 2 2008(S)-10/07/2008
CNN
TUESDAY
9,228,000

3
PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE(S)-10/07/2008
FOXNC
TUESDAY
8,773,000

4
ON THE RECORD W/GRETA
FOXNC
TUESDAY
7,645,000

5
ANDERSON COOPER 360
CNN
TUESDAY
7,633,000

6
MLB ALCS (RED SOX-RAYS 1)
TBSC
FRIDAY
6,689,000

7
MLB ALCS (RED SOX-RAYS 2)
TBSC
SATURDAY
6,089,000

8
PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE CVG(S)-10/07/2008
FOXNC
TUESDAY
5,773,000

9
MLB DIVISION SERIES (ANGELS-RED SOX 4)
TBSC
MONDAY
5,720,000

10
PRES DEBATE/ANALYSIS(S)-10/07/2008
FOXNC
TUESDAY
5,432,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (October 6, 2008 – October 12, 2008).

RANK
PROGRAM
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
CSI
CBS
23,485,000

2
DANCING WITH THE STARS
ABC
18,592,000

3
NCIS
CBS
16,288,000

4
CRIMINAL MINDS
CBS
16,185,000

5
CSI: NY
CBS
15,873,000

6
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES
ABC
15,505,000

7
DANCING W/STARS RESULT SP(S)
ABC
15,065,000

8
GREY’S ANATOMY-THU 9PM
ABC
14,797,000

9
OT, THE
FOX
14,232,000

10
TWO AND A HALF MEN
CBS
14,073,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (October 6, 2008 – October 12, 2008).

Despite the opening-weekend star power of Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, and director Ridley Scott, the Middle Eastern thriller “Body Of Lies,” brought in only $13.1M, leaving it in third place. “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” took the top spot in box office earnings for the second week in a row, scooping up $17.5M in its second week. The horror film “Quarantine” grabbed the second spot, scaring up $14.2M in its first week.

RANK
TITLE
STUDIO
WEEKEND EARNINGS
(Oct 10-12)

1
BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA
WALT DISNEY STUDIOS
17.5M

2
QUARANTINE
SONY PICTURES
14.2M

3
BODY OF LIES
WARNER BROS.
13.1M

4
EAGLE EYE
DREAMWORKS/PARAMOUNT
11M

5
NICK AND NORAH’S INFINITE PLAYLIST
SONY PICTURES
6.5M

Source: The Hollywood Reporter / …

CBS’s “Ghost Whisperer” and “Numbers” were, respectively, the number one- and two-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for Friday, October 10, 2008. 
“Ghost Whisperer” drew an average audience of almost 9.7 million viewers, while “Numbers” drew roughly 8 million average viewers.
ABC’s “20/20″ rounded out the top three, with just over 7 million average viewers.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
GHOST WHISPERER
CBS
9,693,000

2
NUMB3RS
CBS
8,012,000

3
20/20-FRI
ABC
7,017,000

4
DEAL OR NO DEAL-FRI
NBC
6,633,000

5
EX LIST, THE
CBS
5,596,000

6
SMARTER THAN 5TH GRADER
FOX
5,443,000

7
LIFE
NBC
4,978,000

8
SUPERNANNY
ABC
4,961,000

9
DON’T FORGET THE LYRICS
FOX
4,829,000

10
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE FRI
UNI
4,345,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (October 10, 2008).

Overall, CBS won the night with an average audience of almost 7.8 million viewers, while …

Sen. Barack Obama will reportedly run a half-hour paid political simulcast on CBS and NBC, just days before the U.S. presidential election.
Obama’s simulcast would be the first to be aired by a presidential candidate since Ross Perot ran a series of 15 political telecasts during the 1992 presidential election.
Perot’s 1992 telecasts drew an average audience of 11.6 million viewers — 4.6% of all viewers nationwide.  His one simulcast, carried on ABC and CBS on November 2, 1992 between 8pm and 8:30pm, attracted 26 million viewers.

The season premiere of CBS’s “CSI” was the number one ranked primetime telecast on broadcast TV for Thursday, October 9, 2008.
ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” claimed the number two slot, and CBS’s “Survivor: Gabon” rounded out the top three.
Premiere episodes of CBS’s “Eleventh Hour,” ABC’s “Life on Mars,” and “SNL on Thursday Night” also made the top ten.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
CSI
CBS
23,485,000

2
GREY’S ANATOMY-THU 9PM
ABC
14,797,000

3
SURVIVOR: GABON
CBS
13,278,000

4
ELEVENTH HOUR
CBS
11,373,000

5
LIFE ON MARS
ABC
11,333,000

6
SNL:WKND UPDT 10/9(S)-10/09/2008
NBC
10,850,000

7
E.R.
NBC
9,408,000

8
OFFICE
NBC
9,245,000

9
UGLY BETTY
ABC
8,521,000

10
FOX MLB NLCS GAME 1(S)-10/09/2008
FOX
7,735,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (October 9, 2008).

Overall, CBS won the night with an average audience of just over 16.1 million viewers, …

Each week, Nielsen Sports’ analysts offer their take on the biggest sports media headlines.
Angels/Red Sox Match-Up Tops Division Series TV Ratings
The third game of the Los Angeles Angels v. Boston Red Sox drew the largest television audience of the division series: 6.2 million viewers.  The three other games in that contentious series also made the top ten — with average TV audiences of approximately 5.7 million (game four), 5.3 million (game two), and 4.4 million viewers (game one), respectively.
After the jump, view complete national ratings from the division series games, aired …

Advertising by credit card services companies dipped significantly in the first three weeks of September, as the ongoing economic turmoil in the U.S. reached a boiling point, Nielsen Monitor-Plus reported Thursday.
Among credit card services companies, TV ad units for Sept. 1 – 21, 2008 were down by almost 24% versus the same time period last year.
Most of the top advertisers in the Credit Card Services category — including Capital One, Discover, Synovus, Washington Mutual, and Visa — reduced their TV television advertising activity in September.
Earlier in 2008, advertising by credit card …

On Tuesday night, 63.2 million U.S. viewers watched the second presidential debate between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama.
The TV audience for the senators’ second meeting easily surpassed that of their first debate, which drew an audience of 52.4 million on Friday, Sept. 26.
During the previous presidential campaign, 46.7 million viewers tuned in for President Bush and John Kerry’s second debate on Oct. 8, 2004. 
See more historical debate ratings.

CBS’s “NCIS” was the number one-ranked primetime telecast on broadcast TV for Tuesday, October 7, 2008, drawing an audience of almost 16.3 million average viewers.
ABC’s special presentation of “Dancing With The Stars” claimed second place, with almost 15.1 million viewers.  ABC’s post-debate analysis of the second McCain/Obama presidential debate rounded out the top three, with just over 9.9 million viewers.
Post-debate coverage on NBC, CBS, and FOX also made the top ten.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
NCIS
CBS
16,288,000

2
DANCING W/STARS RESULT SP(S)-10/07/2008
ABC
15,065,000

3
VOTE2008:ANALYSIS-TUE(S)-10/07/2008
ABC
9,917,000

4
DECISION ‘08:PRES ANALYS2(S)-10/07/2008
NBC
8,349,000

5
CAMPAIGN ‘08-DEBATE ANL-2(S)-10/07/2008
CBS
7,951,000

6
BIGGEST LOSER 6
NBC
7,265,000

7
HOUSE
FOX
6,365,000

8
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE TUE
UNI
5,634,000

9
CUIDADO CON EL ANGEL TUE
UNI
4,637,000

10
FOX NEWS: …