NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” again claimed the top Tuesday night slot by a wide margin.  The telecast, which drew an audience of 12.6 million viewers, placed first in Nielsen’s ranking of primetime broadcast TV programs for August 5, 2008.
CBS’s “NCIS” and ABC’s “Wipeout” were again ranked second and third, respectively, with 8.7 million viewers and 7.3 million viewers each.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
AMERICA’S GOT TALENT
NBC
12,611,000

2
NCIS
CBS
8,703,000

3
WIPEOUT
ABC
7,337,000

4
BIG BROTHER 10-TUE
CBS
6,445,000

5
CELEBRITY FAMILY FEUD
NBC
6,121,000

6
WITHOUT A TRACE
CBS
5,929,000

7
HOUSE
FOX
5,558,000

8
AL DIABLO CON GUAPOS TUE
UNI
4,767,000

9
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE TUE
UNI
4,692,000

10
I SURVED-JAPANESE GM SHOW
ABC
4,541,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (August 5, 2008)

Overall, NBC won the night with an …

“The Dark Knight” has climbed past $400 million in just 18 days, hitting the mark faster than any film ever, according to The Hollywood Reporter. 
The film should pass the $403.7 million tally of ”Spider-Man” today, which would move it up to seventh on the all-time box office charts.  It would also make the film the top-grossing comic-book adaptation of all time.
Below are last weekend’s box-office totals from Nielsen EDI as of Sunday, August 3rd, as well as a full weekend box-office wrap-up from The Hollywood Reporter.

RANK
FILM
STUDIO
WEEKEND
GROSS

1
The Dark Knight
WARNER BROS.
$42,664,219
$393.8

2
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
UNIVERSAL
$40,457,770
$40.5

3
Step Brothers
SONY PICTURES
$16,506,526
$63.2

4
Mamma …

NBC’s primetime coverage of the 2004 Athens Summer Olympic Games drew an average audience of 24.6 million viewers over 17 individual telecasts.

DATE
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

Fri, 8/13/2004
NBC
25,384,000

Sat, 8/14/2004
NBC
19,818,000

Sun, 8/15/2004
NBC
25,798,000

Mon, 8/16/2004
NBC
27,109,000

Tues, 8/17/2004
NBC
30,146,000

Wed, 8/18/2004
NBC
28,396,000

Thurs, 8/19/2004
NBC
31,705,000

Fri, 8/20/2004
NBC
23,749,000

Sat, 8/21/2004
NBC
22,544,000

Sun, 8/22/2004
NBC
25,978,000

Mon, 8/23/2004
NBC
25,943,000

Tues, 8/24/2004
NBC
24,972,000

Wed, 8/25/2004
NBC
24,265,000

Thurs, 8/26/2004
NBC
21,491,000

Fri, 8/27/2004
NBC
20,141,000

Sat, 8/28/2004
NBC
18,029,000

Sun, 8/29/2004
NBC
19,563,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (August 13, 2004 – August 29, 2004)

NBC’s primetime coverage of the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympic Games drew an average audience of 21.5 million viewers over 17 individual telecasts.

DATE
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

Fri, 9/15/2000
NBC
27,275,000

Sat, 9/16/2000
NBC
21,019,000

Sun, 9/17/2000
NBC
23,883,000

Mon, 9/18/2000
NBC
21,042,000

Tues, 9/19/2000
NBC
24,081,000

Wed, 9/20/2000
NBC
22,315,000

Thurs, 9/21/2000
NBC
22,955,000

Fri, 9/22/2000
NBC
23,153,000

Sat, 9/23/2000
NBC
21,452,000

Sun, 9/24/2000
NBC
25,741,000

Mon, 9/25/2000
NBC
24,420,000

Tues, 9/26/2000
NBC
18,633,000

Wed, 9/27/2000
NBC
20,423,000

Thurs, 9/28/2000
NBC
20,859,000

Fri, 9/29/2000
NBC
15,551,000

Sat, 9/30/2000
NBC
16,296,000

Sun, 10/1/2000
NBC
16,706,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (September 15, 2000 – October 1, 2000)

The opening ceremonies for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta drew the largest U.S. television audience (39.7 million viewers) of any recent Summer Games.
In comparison, the broadcast of the most recent Summer Olympics opening ceremonies — Athens, 2004 — drew 25.3 million U.S. viewers.

DATE / TIME
YEAR / LOCATION
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

25 July / 8pm – 12am
1992 / Barcelona
NBC
21,609,000

19 July / 8pm – 12:45am
1996 / Atlanta
NBC
39,767,000

15 Sept. / 8pm – 11:36pm
2000 / Sydney
NBC
27,275,000

13 Aug. / 8pm – 11:49pm
2004 / Athens
NBC
25,384,000

Source: The Nielsen Company

Olympics advertising featuring Chinese athletes like basketball player Yao Ming and hurdler Liu Xiang appear to be paying off for advertisers.
In a Nielsen survey of Chinese consumers conducted in May 2008, Olympics ads featuring celebrity endorsements by Chinese athletes were among the most recalled. 
Liu Xiang’s Coca-Cola ads were most frequently recalled by consumers — 62% remembered them, according to Nielsen.  Yao Ming’s China Unicom and Coca-Cola ads also proved memorable — 48% recalled them.  Meanwhile, diver Guo Jing Jing’s Coca-Cola ads were recalled by 36% of those surveyed.
But despite their …

Nielsen has tracked television ratings for all summer and winter Olympic Games broadcasts since 1968.
Ratings data for Olympic Games telecasts from 1968 to 2006 – including ratings for opening and closing ceremonies and average ratings for each Olympics – are available below:
-Average Ratings: all Summer and Winter Olympics telecasts, broken out by daypart (3.36MB)
-Ratings for Opening and Closing Ceremonies: Summer Olympics
-Ratings for Opening and Closing Ceremonies: Winter Olympics

CBS’s “Two and a Half Men,” “CSI: Miami,” “Old Christine,” “How I Met Your Mother,” and “The Big Bang Theory” claimed the top five slots in Nielsen’s ranking of the top primetime broadcast TV programs for Monday, August 4.
FOX’s tenth annual “Teen Choice Awards” also made the top ten.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
TWO AND A HALF MEN
CBS
9,979,000

2
CSI: MIAMI
CBS
7,891,000

3
OLD CHRISTINE
CBS
7,599,000

4
HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
CBS
6,362,000

5
BIG BANG THEORY, THE
CBS
6,299,000

6
NASHVILLE STAR
NBC
6,212,000

7
AMERICAN GLADIATORS
NBC
5,435,000

8
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE MON
UNI
4,844,000

9
AL DIABLO CON GUAPOS MON
UNI
4,559,000

10
2008 TEEN CHOICE AWARDS(S)-08/04/2008
FOX
4,436,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (August 4, 2008)

Overall, CBS won the night with an average audience of …

Television viewing in the U.S. spiked by 17% during the Atlanta Summer Olympic Games in 1996, while TV viewing in Australia during the 2000 Sydney Summer Games jumped by 39%, according to a recent Nielsen report analyzing media trends from past Olympics.
Nielsen’s report also found that advertising spending in Olympic host countries grew significantly in both the U.S. and Greece in the years following the 1996 and 2004 Olympics. 
Only Australia saw declines in ad spending following the 2000 summer Games.  Those decreases can be attributed to general cutbacks in spending in the …

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
CLOSER, THE
TNT
7,358,000

2
NASCAR SPRINT CUP L (POCONO)
ESPN
6,191,000

3
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
5,524,000

4
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
4,985,000

5
LAW & ORDER: CI (ORIG)
USA
4,926,000

6
BURN NOTICE
USA
4,863,000

7
SAVING GRACE
TNT
4,778,000

8
HANNAH MONTANA
DSNY
4,624,000

9
MONK
USA
4,605,000

10
PSYCH
USA
4,290,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (July 28, 2008 – August 3, 2008)