If book sales were electoral votes, the U.S. presidential election would hardly be a close contest.
So far in 2008, four books published by Sen. Barack Obama between 2004 and fall 2008 have sold a combined 912,000 copies, according to Nielsen BookScan.
In comparison, Sen. John McCain’s five titles, published between 1999 and summer 2008, have sold a total of 116,000 copies — almost 800,000 copies less than Obama.
Between January and September 21, 2008, McCain’s top selling book, “Faith of My Fathers,” sold 73,000 copies in hardcover, paperback, and audio editions.
Obama’s top …
ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” was the number one-ranked primetime telecast on broadcast TV for Monday, October 6, 2008.
CBS’s “Two and a Half Men,” “CSI: Miami,” “The Big Bang Theory,” “How I Met Your Mother,” and “Worst Week” dominated the next five slots in Nielsen’s ranking.
RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)
1
DANCING WITH THE STARS
ABC
18,592,000
2
TWO AND A HALF MEN
CBS
14,073,000
3
CSI: MIAMI
CBS
13,884,000
4
BIG BANG THEORY, THE
CBS
9,394,000
5
HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
CBS
8,977,000
6
WORST WEEK
CBS
8,848,000
7
BOSTON LEGAL
ABC
8,746,000
8
HEROES
NBC
8,198,000
9
CHUCK
NBC
5,832,000
10
TERMINATOR: SRH CNR CHRON
FOX
5,726,000
Source: The Nielsen Company (October 6, 2008).
Overall, ABC won the night with an average audience of just over 15.3 million viewers, while CBS took …
[read more]RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)
1
DANCING WITH THE STARS
ABC
18,883,000
2
NCIS
CBS
17,470,000
3
60 MINUTES
CBS
16,648,000
4
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES
ABC
15,685,000
5
DANCING W/STARS RESULTS
ABC
15,491,000
6
MENTALIST, THE
CBS
15,484,000
7
CSI: NY
CBS
14,878,000
8
CRIMINAL MINDS
CBS
14,780,000
9
CSI: MIAMI
CBS
14,345,000
10
NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
NBC
14,207,000
Source: The Nielsen Company (September 29, 2008 – October 5, 2008).
[read more]RANK
NAME
NETWORK
DAYS
VIEWERS (P2+)
1
NFL REGULAR SEASON L (RAVENS/STEELERS)
ESPN
MONDAY
11,783,000
2
VP DEBATE(S)-10/02/2008
FOXNC
THURSDAY
11,098,000
3
SR/VICE PRES DEBATE 2008(S)-10/02/2008
CNN
THURSDAY
10,685,000
4
ON THE RECORD W/GRETA
FOXNC
THURSDAY
9,801,000
5
ANDERSON COOPER 360
CNN
THURSDAY
7,961,000
6
VP DEBATE CVG(S)-10/02/2008
FOXNC
THURSDAY
7,372,000
7
VP DEBATE ANALYSIS(S)-10/02/2008
FOXNC
THURSDAY
6,977,000
8
MLB DIVISION SERIES (ANGELS-RED SOX 3)
TBSC
SUNDAY
6,199,000
9
THE OREILLY FACTOR
FOXNC
THURSDAY
5,624,000
10
MLB DIVISION SERIES (DODGERS-CUBS 1)
TBSC
WEDNESDAY
5,381,000
Source: The Nielsen Company (September 29, 2008 – October 5, 2008).
[read more]“Hockey moms” — famously invoked by Gov. Sarah Palin in her V.P. campaign speeches — may also have a passion for politics.
According to a Nielsen analysis released Tuesday, “hockey moms” — defined as women ages 25 to 54 who live in homes with children and who watched at least six minutes of the most recent Stanley Cup Finals on NBC – were more likely than average moms to watch the first two debates of the 2008 election.
Last Thursday, Sen. Joe Biden and Gov. Sarah Palin’s V.P. debate drew 23.8% of all mothers (ages …
During the vice presidential debate between Sen. Joe Biden and Gov. Sarah Palin last week, CBS and Nielsen tracked real-time reactions to the candidates from a panel of uncommitted, registered voters who allowed CBS and Nielsen to capture their real-time reactions to the V.P. debate. However, CBS notes that in many cases, the panelists were “leaning” towards the Obama-Biden ticket.
Watch CBS’s analysis.
As they watched the debate, panel members turned a dial between 0 and 100 to indicate their reactions to the candidates’ discussion. 100 indicates a “very positive” response, 0 …
[read more]Sixty-one percent of all U.S. households watched at least one of the two 2008 election debates aired so far, according to a new analysis released Monday by Nielsen.
On average, 41% of all homes watched the V.P. debate last Thursday — up one-third from the first presidential debate the previous Friday night, which reached an average of 31% of all households.
Of all households, 39% watched neither debate, while 30.3% tuned in to both. 11.2% of all homes tuned in to the presidential debate only, and 19.5% tuned in to just the V.P. debate.
CBS’s season premieres of “Ghost Whisperer” and “Numbers” were the number one- and number two-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for Friday, October 3, 2008. “Ghost Whisperer” drew roughly 9.4 million average viewers, while “Numbers” drew an average audience of 8.2 million viewers.
ABC’s “20/20” rounded out the top three, with just over 6.8 million average viewers.
Two other premieres, CBS’s “The Ex List” (6.8 million viewers) and ABC’s “Supernanny” (4.2 million viewers), also made the top ten.
RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)
1
GHOST WHISPERER
CBS
9,447,000
2
NUMB3RS
CBS
8,212,000
3
20/20-FRI
ABC
6,840,000
4
EX LIST, THE
CBS
6,793,000
5
DEAL OR NO DEAL-FRI
NBC
6,349,000
6
SMARTER THAN 5TH GRADER
FOX
5,956,000
7
LIFE
NBC
5,543,000
8
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE FRI
UNI
4,637,000
9
DON’T FORGET …
“Beverly Hills Chihuahua,” the new Disney film featuring conversing canines, took in an estimated $29 million over the weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The total was Disney’s biggest October opening, easily surpassing opening weekend earnings for “Ladder 49″ ($22.1 million) in 2004.
DreamWorks/Paramount’s thriller “Eagle Eye” had another impressive showing in its second weekend, taking in an estimated $17.7 million.
Below are box-office totals for the weekend of October 3-5, 2008, from Nielsen EDI.
RANK
(by gross earnings)
FILM
STUDIO
WEEKEND EARNINGS
(Oct. 3-5)
GROSS EARNINGS
($ MILLIONS)
1
Beverly Hills Chihuahua
WALT DISNEY STUDIOS
$29,300,465
$29.3
2
Eagle Eye
DREAMWORKS/PARAMOUNT
$17,709,817
$54.6
3
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist
SONY PICTURES
$11,311,751
$11.3
4
Nights In Rodanthe
WARNER BROS.
$7,368,259
$25.1
5
Appaloosa
WARNER BROS.
$5,050,310
$5.6
6
Lakeview Terrace
SONY PICTURES
$4,561,227
$32.2
7
Burn After …
With the U.S. financial crisis hanging in the balance, the first debate between Barack Obama and John McCain – originally scheduled for Friday — has taken on unusual importance. But, how will this first presidential duel of the 2008 election compare with the most-watched debates of the last half-century?
Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan’s October 28, 1980 debate claimed the largest television audience — 80.6 million viewers — since 1976, the first year that Nielsen collected TV viewership data for presidential debates.
George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Ross Perot’s October 15, 1992 debate (69.9 …
Nielsen In The News
