The final presidential debate between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama drew 56.5 million U.S. viewers Wednesday night, Nielsen reported Thursday.
The TV audience for the senators’ third meeting edged past that of their first debate at the end of September, which drew 52.4 million viewers, but was easily surpassed by the audience of 63.2 million that tuned in for the second presidential debate last week.
During the previous presidential campaign, 51.2 million viewers tuned in for President Bush and John Kerry’s third debate on Oct. 13, 2004. (View complete historical debate ratings.)
As …
Why do consumers buy the same baby diapers again and again, but switch between different brands of shampoo and toothpaste?
Such buying decisions can be influenced by a consumer’s mindset — or “shopping mode,” a new study released Thursday by Nielsen reports.
The study examined consumer shopping behavior across 22 home and personal care categories and found that shoppers’ mindsets vary according to the kinds of products they seek to purchase.
The G1 smartphone — due out next week — is poised to give Apple’s iPhone its first serious challenge.
For its part, the iPhone 3G has maintained strong growth, with a steady flow of mobile subscribers switching to AT&T for the iPhone in the two months since the device launched in mid-July, Nielsen Mobile reported Thursday.
Between June and July, the number of customers switching to AT&T for the iPhone increased by 97%. Postpaid network adds for AT&T grew by 70% during the same period, according to Nielsen.
So far, the iPhone 3G has …
NBC’s post-debate analysis of the final presidential debate between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama edged past ABC’s post-debate coverage to claim the number one spot in Nielsen’s ranking of the top primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for Wednesday, October 15, 2008.
FOX, which aired live coverage of Game 5 of Major League Baseball’s National League Championship Series — instead of the debate, rounded out the top three.
CBS’s post-debate analysis also made the top ten.
RANK
PROGRAM
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)
1
DECISION ‘08:PRES ANALYS3(S)-10/15/2008
NBC
9,091,000
2
VOTE2008:ANALYSIS-WED(S)-10/15/2008
ABC
8,864,000
3
FOX MLB NLCS GAME 5(S)-10/15/2008
FOX
8,029,000
4
OLD CHRISTINE
CBS
7,613,000
5
GARY UNMARRIED
CBS
7,529,000
6
KNIGHT RIDER
NBC
7,470,000
7
CAMPAIGN ‘08-DEBATE ANL-3(S)-10/15/2008
CBS
7,189,000
8
PUSHING DAISIES
ABC
6,108,000
9
FOX MLB NLCS GAME …
Each week, Nielsen Sports’ analysts offer their take on the biggest sports media headlines.
Professional baseball, football, basketball, hockey — and even NASCAR — all converge in October, making it one of the year’s busiest sports months. Unfortunately, that plethora of options frequently presents sports fans with difficult TV viewing decisions.
Take this past Sunday — when NBC’s Sunday Night Football carried live coverage of the San Diego Chargers playing the New England Patriots. Meanwhile, Game 3 of the MLB National League Championship Series aired live on FOX.
The combined overall household rating for Wednesday night’s final presidential debate, in the top 56 local television markets where Nielsen maintains electronic TV meters, was 38.3.
In comparison, last week’s debate between Senators McCain and Obama — the candidates’ second – received a 42.0 household rating in the top 55 local TV markets. The candidates’ first debate on September 26 received a 34.7 household rating in the top 55 markets.
Wednesday night’s championship baseball game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies — aired by FOX, instead of the debate – may have impacted the …
Throughout the presidential and vice presidential debates, certain words (change, maverick) and phrases (my friends, Joe six-pack) used by John McCain, Barack Obama, and Sarah Palin, have driven post-debate conversation as tracked by Nielsen Online. At the final presidential debate on October 15, “Joe the Plumber” from Ohio, also known as Joe Wurzelbacher, was unwittingly added to the conversation after media outlets recorded his recent tax discussion with Senator Obama. During a discussion about tax policy, the candidates referred to Joe at least 20 times, subsequently driving discussion and debate …
[read more]Advertising in Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America grew by 1.5%, year-over-year, in the second quarter of 2008, Nielsen reported Wednesday.
Strong advertising growth in the Asia-Pacific region (+7.6% over Q2 2007) drove the increase, according to data released in Nielsen’s latest Global AdView Pulse report.
Ad spending trends worldwide showed significant variations — with overall advertising declines recorded in North America (-1%) and Europe (-3%).
Growth (by value) of food sales at British supermarkets slowed to 5.4% during the 12 weeks ending October 4, compared with the same period in 2007, Nielsen reported Tuesday.
Flagging sales in September, when growth dipped to 4.5% — a full percentage point below August growth levels, drove the declines.
“Shoppers are still trading down,” Mike Watkins, senior manager, retailer services, Nielsen noted. “Family shoppers in particular, are trying to save money, with 70% saying on they are looking to economize on grocery shopping — up from 63% in June.”
CBS’s “NCIS” and “The Mentalist” were, respectively, the number one- and two-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for Tuesday, October 14, 2008.
“NCIS” drew an average audience of just over 18 million viewers, while “The Mentalist” drew roughly 14.9 million average viewers.
ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars” rounded out the top three, with just over 14.8 million average viewers.
The season premiere of ABC’s “Eli Stone,” which drew almost 8.4 million average viewers, also made the top ten.
RANK
PROGRAM
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)
1
NCIS
CBS
18,038,000
2
MENTALIST, THE
CBS
14,935,000
3
DANCING W/STARS RESULTS
ABC
14,816,000
4
HOUSE
FOX
13,269,000
5
WITHOUT A TRACE
CBS
11,051,000
6
LAW AND ORDER:SVU
NBC
9,512,000
7
FRINGE
FOX
9,157,000
8
ELI STONE
ABC
8,394,000
9
BIGGEST LOSER 6
NBC
7,637,000
10
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE TUE
UNI
5,188,000
Source: …
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