The banking industry increased ad buys during televised sports events by 36% in 2008, despite an overall 10% cut on all TV buys, according to an analysis by The Nielsen Company.
Banks spent $122 million – or 18.7% of all its TV ad dollars – on sports event programming in 2008. In 2007, the banking industry spent $90 million on sports broadcasts, or 12.5% of the industry’s total TV ad expenditures
“In today’s market, the banking industry is wise to target its ads to sports audiences,” said Tom Ziangas, SVP for Nielsen Sports. “Not …

When Tiger Woods tees off later today at the Accenture Match Play Championship, he won’t be the only one relieved by his return to the links. In fact, PGA Tour officials and TV executives might have more of a reason to celebrate than Tiger himself.
The Nielsen Company compared the network TV ratings for the 3rd and 4th rounds of golf tournaments played by Woods after the U.S. Open in 2007 with those same tournaments he missed in 2008 due to a season-ending knee injury. And the results are just what …

The Cleveland Cavaliers were the top-rated local NBA market in the first half of the season, according to an analysis released today by The Nielsen Company.
Cleveland led all NBA markets in the U.S. with an 8.1 local household rating. It’s a significant 119% jump for LeBron James and the Cavs, which ranked 9th through the first half of last season with a 3.7 rating.
The San Antonio Spurs, who boasted the NBA’s top-rated local market last season through as recently as the first month of this season, still showed an 18% year-to-year increase in its …

Last week, Nielsen looked at the history of Daytona 500 viewership. And with the 2009 Daytona 500 in the rearview mirror, it’s clear that the some of those trends are still on track.
 
Greenville, SC and Greensboro, NC maintained their spots as the top DMAs for this year’s race, scoring 21.2 and 19.9 ratings, respectively. Dayton, OH surged to the #3 spot with an 18.0 rating.
 2009 DAYTONA 500: TOP-10 LOCAL DMA RATINGS

RANK
DMA
HH RATING
# OF HOUSEHOLDS (000s)

1
Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville
21.2
182

2
Greensboro
19.9
136

3
Dayton
18.0
87

4
Indianapolis
17.2
192

5
Knoxville
17.0
93

6
Charlotte
15.6
175

7
Orlando-Daytona Bch-Melbrn
15.4
226

8
Nashville
15.3
155

9
Tampa-St. Pete, Sarasota
15.3
278

10
Jacksonville
15.1
102

source: The Nielsen Company 2009

At its peak (5:48pm ET), the race scored a …

The choice of which gaming system to buy can be difficult: Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3 all have their pros and cons.  But according to recent metered usage data from Nielsen, each console tends to appeal to different demographic groups.
“All three of the consoles have their fans, and sales of consoles and games have been some of the few bright spots in an otherwise bleak retail environment,” said Bradley Raczka, Marketing Manager for Nielsen Games.  “It will be interesting to watch the continued migration to the current generation consoles in 2009, and see how releases …

This weekend, NASCAR revs up its 2009 season with its most popular race, the Daytona 500. And when it comes to the race’s TV ratings, it’s clear that NASCAR likes to go “Green.”
In an analysis of the last ten Daytona 500s, Greenville, SC and Greensboro, NC emerged with the highest average household ratings among metered markets of 23.8 and 22.4, respectively. Rounding out the top five over that same time period are Orlando (20.0), Charlotte (19.6), and Knoxville (19.4).

Highest Avg. Household Rating: Daytona 500, 1999-2008

Rank
Market
HH Rating
# of Households (000s)

1
Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville
23.8
195

2
Greensboro-High Point-Winston-Salem
22.4
142

3
Orlando-Dayton …

Not all networks are created equal when it comes to getting men and women together to watch prime time TV, according to a new study by Nielsen PreView. And advertisers can capitalize on this fact, particularly when it comes to promoting products like jewelry and even grooming products for men.
According to a new study by Nielsen PreView, ESPN ranks among the top networks and programs in its ability to draw both men and women to the same programming, allowing for these types of Valentine messages to have the greatest …

The NBA may not draw the highest ratings for nationally televised games, but it’s second only to the NFL in delivering their core fans to the TV sets, according to a new study from Nielsen PreView.
The study, which analyzed viewership data for some of America’s favorite sports, uncovered that while Major League Baseball and NBA pull in comparable audiences for nationally televised broadcast, when compared to the actual fan base in the United States, the NBA significantly outperformed most of its peers; NBA games were able to get 7.8% of …

Advertisers during Super Bowl XLIII reached the largest audience of any Super Bowl game — the second most-viewed television event of all-time, according to Nielsen.  Ads for Bud Light Lime and GoDaddy.com were seen by 103.2 million viewers last Sunday.
According to Nielsen’s annual report on Super Bowl advertising and overall viewing, an average of 98.7 million U.S. viewers tuned in to the game.  Almost 152 million people watched the last six minutes of the game, giving it the largest reach by a TV event ever.
Other key findings include:

Total commercial airtime …

Final results released by The Nielsen Company show that the Super Bowl matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals was the most watched Super Bowl ever, eclipsing last year’s thriller between New York and New England.