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Tops In 2008: Best Selling Albums, Most Downloaded Songs

December 15, 2008

Nielsen has issued a year-end look at the most popular trends among Americans during 2008, covering everything from the top TV programs to the most popular consumer packaged goods.
Alicia Keys’ “As I Am” was the top selling album of 2008, according to Billboard and Nielsen.
Keys also had the most listened-to radio song of the year, “No One,” which drew 3.08 billion radio listeners between November 12, 2007 through November 16, 2008. 
“Low,” by Flo Rida, featuring T-Pain, was the most downloaded song of the year, through November 16.
According to Scarborough Research, a …

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Tops In 2008: Top Advertisers, Most Popular Commercials

December 15, 2008

Nielsen has issued a year-end look at the most popular trends among Americans during 2008, covering everything from the top TV programs to the most popular consumer packaged goods.
Procter & Gamble was the top advertiser, spending more than $2.3 billion on traditional media advertising in the U.S. through September 30.  General Motors and AT&T rounded out the top three advertisers.
Among the year’s most-liked commercials, ads by the NFL, Budweiser, and Geico were most popular with American audiences. 
Product placements by CVS (on “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”), TRESemme (on “Project Runway”), and …

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In-Theater Advertising: A Segment-By-Segment Approach

December 15, 2008

It’s no secret that individual film genres attract very specific audiences. Chick flicks, like the “Nanny Diaries,” typically resonate strongly with women, while action films, like “3:10 to Yuma,” usually appeal strongly to men.
For advertisers trying to reach target audiences, understanding which film types attract specific consumers can make or break an advertising campaign.
In response, Nielsen PreView analyzed 400 recent movies to identify 11 key movie consumer segments.
Nielsen’s “Tent Pole” segment, for example, attracts viewers from all demographic segments. Popular family and action films, like “Spider-Man 3,” typify this segment. Advertisers …

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“The Day The Earth Stood Still” Invades Box Office

December 15, 2008

Fox’s remake of the sci-fi classic “The Day The Earth Stood Still,” starring Keanu Reeves, landed atop the U.S. weekend Box Office with an estimated $31 million in opening grosses.
Warner Brothers’ comedy “Four Christmases” dropped to second place, with $13.3 million over the weekend and an $88 million cumulative take over three weeks of release.
Summit’s vampire romance “Twilight” finished third over the weekend, with an $8 million performance and a $150.1 million cumulative take over four weeks of release.
Industrywide, year-to-date totals for 2008 are outpacing the same portion of 2007 grosses by 1%, at $9.01 billion.
Below …

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A Look at the Online Video Universe

December 12, 2008

John Brauer
We now have enough VideoCensus data for some serious trending, and you can’t beat year-over-year trends for insights into how things are evolving. Having spent the past year analyzing and presenting findings from the dataset, I’m thrilled to have the ability to look at how far online video as a medium has come. I plan to use this blog as a forum to address questions coming from our video clients as well as a place to discuss new insights that can be derived from the data on …

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Tops In 2008: Top TV Programs, Single Telecasts

December 12, 2008

Nielsen has issued a year-end look at the most popular trends among Americans during 2008, covering everything from the top TV programs to the most popular consumer packaged goods.
FOX’s “American Idol” was the top TV program of 2008, according to Nielsen.  Tuesday night broadcasts of “American Idol,” through December 7, drew 15.5% of U.S. TV households, on average, while Wednesday night “American Idol” broadcasts drew an average of 15.3% of all TV households.
Viewers with DVR access gave NBC’s “Heroes” the biggest bump any primetime program received in 2008.  The average …

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Tops In 2008: Most Popular Movies And DVDs

December 12, 2008

Nielsen has issued a year-end look at the most popular trends among Americans during 2008, covering everything from the top TV programs to the most popular consumer packaged goods.
Up first: movies and DVDs. 
Action and adventure ruled the box office in 2008.  “The Dark Knight,” “Iron Man,” “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” were the top three box office earners this past year, taking in a combined $1.16 billion through December 7.
Among DVD releases, action and adventure flicks also fared well, with “Iron Man” and “I Am Legend” …

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British Hypermarkets Thrive, While Small Retailers Struggle

December 11, 2008

Sales in British supermarkets picked up during the last two weeks of November, as shoppers turned their backs on convenience stores and the high street retailers in favor of larger purchases at larger, value-oriented hypermarkets, Nielsen reported Tuesday. 
Year-over-year growth at hypermarkets reached 6% during the period, while the smallest convenience outlets declined by almost 2% during the 12-week period.
In comparison, year-over-year growth in the British grocery sector stood at 3.2% during the 12 weeks ending 29 November, according to Nielsen.  Grocery multiples showed stronger growth (+5.6%) during the period.
“In order …

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Holiday Blog Buzz Battle: Xbox Bests Wii, Playstation

December 11, 2008

Microsoft’s Xbox is the most buzzed about game console so far this holiday season, Nielsen Online reported Thursday.
The Xbox 360 garnered the largest share of online buzz between November 1 and December 9, with 41.6% of blog messages mentioning Xbox, Wii or Playstation.
In comparison, Nintendo’s Wii was mentioned in 29.8% of game console blog messages, while Sony’s Playstation ranked third with mentions in 28.6% of gaming-related blog posts.

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Sports Wrap: NCAA Football Season Review, Heisman Preview

December 11, 2008

National Ratings [updated 12/12]
Last Saturday’s SEC Championship added another notch to a record-breaking year in sports television. The Florida Gators defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide in front of 15.1 million CBS viewers and 9.3% of the nation’s households, making it the most watched SEC Championship ever and the highest rating for a non-bowl college game since 2006.
Meanwhile, ABC’s Saturday Night Football had its own share of ratings success with six of the top seven rated contests this season. The network averaged 8.2 million viewers and a 5.0 household rating for …

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