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. The broadcast, which featured a halftime performance by Bruce Springsteen, had an average viewership of 98.7 million viewers.

RANK
SUPER BOWL
WINNER
LOSER
AVG # OF VIEWERS
P2+

1
2009
Pittsburgh
Arizona
98,732,000

2
2008
New York
New England
97,448,000

3
1996
Dallas
Pittsburgh
94,080,000

4
2007
Indianapolis
Chicago
93,184,000

5
1986
Chicago
New England
92,570,000

6
1993
Dallas
Buffalo
90,990,000

7
2006
Pittsburgh
Seattle
90,745,000

8
1998
Denver
Green Bay
90,000,000

9
1994
Dallas
Buffalo
90,000,000

10
2004
New England
Carolina
89,795,000

Source: 2009 The Nielsen Company

Bruce Springsteen’s appearance at the Super Bowl half-time on Sunday dovetailed with the January 27 release date for his new album “Working On A Dream.” So, how will his Super Bowl performance impact the sales of latest album and older songs?
According to a new study by Nielsen PreView, not surprisingly, album sales and digital tracks do go up following a Super Bowl half-time performance. However, not all artist sales are equal and not all markets respond similarly.
The study, which analyzed music sales of the past four Super Bowl half-time …

With all the anticipation surrounding Sunday’s big game, an analysis of national and local ratings from past Super Bowls provides insight into the viewership of this year’s matchup:

In terms of DMA’s (Designated Market Area), Phoenix is ranked 12th and Pittsburgh 23rd of the 56 metered markets. The 2006 Super Bowl featured a similar match-up with Seattle, ranked the 13th largest DMA, against Pittsburgh, then 22nd. That game received a 57.4 rating in Pittsburgh and 54.4 in Seattle (compared to 41.6 nationally).

From 1999-2008, the highest single-year metered market performance was delivered in Jacksonville …

Last year’s matchup between the Patriots and the Giants was viewed by a record 97.5 million people in the U.S. As expected, the Super Bowl was the most-watched TV broadcast in 2008. Networks broadcasting the Super Bowl often use the game as a lead-in for one of their regular shows. This year, NBC will broadcast a one-hour episode of The Office. Last year, 29.1 million viewers stuck around after the game to watch an episode of House on FOX.

Year
Super Bowl
Avg. viewers
in millions
Show After Game
Avg. viewers
in millions

2008
FOX – …