The Iran Election and Social Media: The New News Revolution

Analysis by Emily Luger, Nielsen Online
The Iranian election is yet another watershed moment in the ongoing evolution of news and media, further blurring the lines between being, reporting, and following the story. In the two weeks since the controversy and conflict surrounding the election, a number of insights have emerged about how the Internet and social media continue to be a transforming force for the News industry. Initial Nielsen analysis of search results provides some conclusions, while others areas beg additional probing.

Findings from an  Internet snapshot from June 18, 2009:

• CNN rarely shows up in the top five search results for select Iran Election terms, mirroring criticism from consumers that the global news network’s coverage of the Iran Election was lacking (#CNNFail).
• Wikipedia emerges within the top two search results for 4/5 of the leading topics.
• At least one social media source emerges within the top 10 search results for every term. In most cases, the social media sites emerge directly above a traditional, major news source, such as WSJ.com.

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Consumers Blame Media for Weak Reporting Prior to Weak Economy

As the global economy appears to be bottoming out - at least in some parts of the world - questions still remain as to why so many people worldwide were blindsided by the severity of the crisis. Part of blame, it seems, may rest with the media.

According to a recent 52-nation online survey conducted by The Nielsen Company, the general consensus among consumers across much of the world is that the media did a poor job informing the public about the issues leading up to the current financial crisis.

In every region, except Latin America, the percent of people who agreed or strongly agreed that media coverage was inadequate outnumbered those who disagreed — by two-to-one.

Q: The news media did not do a good job of informing me of issues that led up to the global financial crisis

EU - Europe
APIMEA - Asia Pacific, India, Middle East and Southern Africa
LA - Latin America
NA - North America

The two regions where consumers were most dissatisfied were Europe and North America. Not surprisingly, these were the areas hit hardest by the current economic crisis. GDP in Western Europe and North America were the lowest among all regions covered.

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Obama’s 100 Days Press Conference Draws 28.8M Viewers

Last night’s primetime press conference to mark Barack Obama’s 100^th day in office was viewed by 28.8 million people in the U.S., according to The Nielsen Company. The event pulled an 18.8 household rating on 10 TV networks.

Viewership for the presser was 29% less than the President’s last press conference on March 24, which was seen on 11 networks. President Obama’s first primetime press conference was watched by 49.5 million U.S. viewers on eight networks.

PRESIDENT OBAMA’S PRIMETIME PRESS CONFERENCE RATINGS

Networks airing last night’s press conference from 8pm to 9pm ET included ABC, CBS, NBC, Univision, CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, CNBC, and MUN2. Telemundo aired the press conference on a tape delay at 11:35pm ET.

Download the media advisory.

Obama’s Three Screen Presidency

Karen Watson,  Managing Director, Government & Public Sector Sales, The Nielsen Company

One hundred days is scarcely enough time to draw any firm conclusions about a new president’s capabilities. Even so, Barack Obama has garnered considerable respect for his media skills. Pundits have dubbed him the “new media president;” while some of the most cynical among them believe his underlying strategy is to end run traditional Washington gatekeepers by communicating more directly with constituents sympathetic to his agenda. But his fans and critics alike may be missing the bigger picture.

It’s true Mr. Obama has readily embraced most things digital. Throughout much of his campaign, his unique online audience bested those of his opponents - Hillary Clinton during the primaries, and John McCain in the general election - sometimes two-to-one. His historic 26-word text message announcing Joe Biden as his running mate reached nearly three million U.S. mobile subscribers, and is considered the nation’s single largest mobile marketing event ever. And since taking the oath of office, he has continued to use the web to blog on vital issues and field questions from the public. 

It should come as no surprise, however, that the president is taking full advantage of new technologies. Given the current state of the media, it would be more astonishing if he didn’t.

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Networks Balance News vs. Bottom Line with Obama Press Conference

President Obama marks his 100th day in office tonight with his third primetime press conference since January. The President’s request for air time adds a strain not only to each network’s news resources, but also to their overall bottom line.

It’s no secret that the 8pm hour generates much-needed ad dollars for broadcast TV networks. In February, ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC combined to average $21.5 million in revenue on Wednesdays from 8pm to 9pm ET. With that kind of money in play, networks are forced to balance their public service duties with financial obligations.

So what happens to advertisers who pay good money to place ads on pre-empted primetime broadcasting?

“In a situation like that, networks will find other ways to make good on their deals with advertisers,” says Annie Touliatos, VP for Sales Development at Monitor-Plus, Nielsen’s advertising intelligence service. “They can shift programming or offer to run the ad another week. They can also spread the ad buy over several spots that offer the advertiser the same level of viewer impressions. The key is for advertisers to ensure they will reach their target audiences effectively.”

First 100 Days: Economic Crisis Now Tied to “Brand Obama” Online

Valerie Bogus, Nielsen Online

President Barack Obama has reached his 100th day in office amid generally positive sentiment according to a Nielsen Online analysis of online “buzz” surrounding the 44th President. Using our Brand Association Map to plot keywords and phrases, we demonstrate visually how the conversations have shifted between his first 100 days in office, compared to the 100 days before his swearing in.

The economy and the economic stimulus package are the isues most closely associated with President Obama’s tenure, as words like “crisis,” “trillion,” “banks,” and “tax” are nested more closely to “economy” and the President. Aside from new terms like “socialist” and “blame” found in the Map for the last 100 days, there is a surprising lack of emotionally charged or negative content about the President found in this dataset culled from millions of online messages and posts that mention Obama.

What A Difference 100 Days Makes - Other Findings

• Post inauguration, radio personality Rush Limbaugh and former President George W. Bush are now the most closely associated to Obama in online conversations. Previously, Arizona Sen. John McCain correlated most closely to Obama.
• Discussion about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq - two topics that produced high-volume, emotionally strong online buzz — are featured more prominently, and closer together, in the most recent sample surrounded by words like “terrorists” and “troops.”.
• Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is the only foreign leader whose name emerges in correlation with Obama discussion.
• CNN is the only media outlet that appears on the map
• Obama carries little pre-election “baggage” with him into the White House. Questions about his citizenship and Kenyan roots, for example, all but disappear from the mapped discussion once he takes office.
• Change, the mantra of his campaign, has moved further out on the map.

Click images to enlarge

*About the Brand Association Map

Similar to a bulls-eye, the BAM determines phrase correlations within a data set of consumer-generated media. A leading concept (brand, issue, personality, etc) is placed in the center of the bulls-eye, and phrases that have a relationship to the leading concept appear within one of the three rings. All words/phrases on the map are significantly correlated to the center term. For ease of viewing, the words are separated on the association map into different categories, as seen in the legend. The closer a word appears to the leading concept in the center of the bulls-eye, the stronger the correlation. Also, groups of phrases that reside together on the map are placed together for relationship purposes.

Engaging The Public: Video Viewing Up At WhiteHouse.gov

From the moment President Obama began his race for the White House, he became known as the candidate who understood and knew how to use the Web.  Since being elected, he has continued to use the Internet as a vehicle for connecting with people. One of the first acts of the new administration was to create a revamped Web site to help them stay engaged with the public. Knowledge and interest in the “new” WhiteHouse.gov has continued to grow since its inception in January, and video viewing has been an important element of this growth.

The proliferation of video across the site, from the President’s weekly video address to video segments on the site’s blog, has helped spur this impressive growth. Unique viewers of video content increased 236 percent month-over-month, growing from 75,000 in February to 252,000 in March 2009, while total video streams increased 350 percent during the same time period.

Unique Video Viewers and Total Video Streams at WhiteHouse.gov 

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Auto Buzz: Do Consumers Trust The Govt. At The Wheel?

Jennifer Volz, Nielsen Online

Consumer reactions to recent government moves toward U.S. automakers GM and Chrysler range from skeptical to supportive, based on Nielsen Online’s analysis of Internet consumer buzz.

The Obama Administration’s weekend request for GM CEO Rick Wagoner’s resignation is merely “symbolic” for some consumers, contributing to their belief that Wagoner is being made a “scapegoat.”

Despite the President’s assurances that the federal government has no intention of running an automotive company, consumers remain concerned about the future of American capitalism and what some perceive as a shift toward socialism. Yet, some consumers agree that the government has a right to take these actions given that automakers asked for government-backed bridge loans and taxpayer support.

These recent developments have created significant Internet buzz since March 30th, surpassing discussion levels from mid-February related to the submission of restructuring/viability plans from GM and Chrysler.

GM, Chrysler and Government Loan Situation Buzz (January 1 - March 30, 2009)

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40 Million Watch President Obama’s Press Conference

President Barack Obama capped off a week of television appearances with a prime time press conference on Tuesday March 24, 2009. The event was carried live from 8:00 to approximately 9:00PM on 11 networks. The sum of average audience for those networks was 40,354,000 and had a combined household rating of 25.9. The networks carrying the press conference were ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, Telemundo, Univision, CNBC, CNN, FOX News Channel, MSNBC, mun2.

The President’s first prime time press conference was watched by 49.5 million people on eight networks on February 9, 2009.

In the week before the press conference President Obama visited The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Thursday March 19. The program was seen in 8.9 million homes in the 56 metered markets that represent 70% of all U.S. TV households and earned an average 11.2 rating and 26 share in those local markets. On Sunday March 22 more than 17 million people watched 60 Minutes featuring an extended interview with the President, making the show the 4th most watched show of the week behind American Idol and Dancing with the Stars.

In the two months since taking office President Obama has communicated directly to the American people and the world via television on multiple occasions. Here is a summary of some of the most visible TV appearances.

Real-Time Focus Group Grades Obama’s Press Conference

Using dial meters to track their approval in real time, a group of self-identified Democrats, Republicans, and Independents rated President Barack Obama’s March 24, primetime press conference. Responses were generally split down party lines on major themes and interestingly on the AIG exchange between CNN’s Ed Henry. Those who identified as Republicans spiked with the question and dropped at the President’s response, Democrats dropped at the question and spiked at the President’s terse “I like to know what I’m taking about…” response.

Video: Obama And CNN’s Ed Henry

Other Findings

• Based on questions posed before and after the press conference regarding confidence in the President’s plan, Republicans and Democrats remained generally unmoved, but Independents were swayed in a more positive direction.
• Inheriting deficit is a sore spot with Republicans
• Both parties agreed criticism of President Obama was not about race

View Tracking By Time And Topic Click To Enlarge