The Internet played an important role in the 2008 election campaign, so it’s no surprise that on Election Day, people used multiple news sources to follow results.  By combining television and Internet samples through a process known as fusion, Nielsen provides new data showing how the two media worked together to meet the demand for election news updates.
A total of 163.6 million adults sought election coverage from either television or the Internet — or both. This shows the unduplicated or cumulative audience that used one or the other medium for at …

President-Elect Barack Obama’s “V.P. pick” text message remains the most notable example of short code marketing in the U.S.  
According to a report released Monday by Nielsen’s Telecom Practice, Americans should expect to see more text message marketing in the future.  Given the immense popularity of texting in the U.S. and abroad, it’s not surprising that marketers have ramped up their use of the medium to engage their customers — where there’s an audience, marketers are not far behind.

Nielsen’s final look at ad buys by the 2008 Presidential candidates proved one famous mantra: politics really are local.
President-elect Barack Obama placed one-and-a-half times as many spot TV ads than John McCain during the general election season (6/08 to 11/08), and almost twice as many ads dating back to the beginning of January when the primaries were just heating up.

SPOT TV ADS: June-Nov 2008

Barack Obama
419,667

John McCain
269,992

The local numbers show a much bigger discrepancy than those for national cable and network buys. Sen. McCain kept pace w/ President-elect Obama in those …

RANK
PROGRAM
NETWORK
DAYS
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
ELECTION NIGHT 08(S)-11/04/2008
CNN
TUESDAY
15,209,000

2
NFL REGULAR SEASON – L (STEELERS/REDSKINS)
ESPN
MONDAY
14,205,000

3
ELECTION NIGHT 08(S)-11/04/2008
CNN
TUESDAY
13,172,000

4
ELECTION NIGHT 08(S)-11/04/2008
CNN
TUESDAY
12,409,000

5
ELECTION NIGHT 08(S)-11/04/2008
CNN
TUESDAY
11,299,000

6
ELECTION NIGHT 08(S)-11/04/2008
CNN
TUESDAY
11,039,000

7
AMERICAS ELECTION HQ
FOXNC
TUESDAY
9,454,000

8
AMERICAS ELECTION HQ
FOXNC
TUESDAY
9,322,000

9
ELECTION NIGHT 08(S)-11/04/2008
CNN
TUESDAY
8,522,000

10
AMERICAS ELECTION HQ
FOXNC
TUESDAY
8,304,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (November 3 – 9, 2008).

If election night were a television program, its 71 million plus viewers would place it second only to the Super Bowl as the most watched event of 2008. In a year of remarkable sporting events, coverage of the Presidential qualifying rounds also drew huge ratings, as the candidates sparred in primaries, conventions, and debates in hopes of becoming the last one standing.
Sports metaphors in politics and the intermingling of the two genres are nothing new: retired athletes fill the halls of congress, Presidents throw out first pitches, and Championship teams …

Surging online activity on Election Day accompanied record voter turn-out at the polls, as voters flocked to current events and news sites to follow election results.
Web traffic to sites within the “Current Events and Global News” category was up 27% on Election Day, versus the previous Tuesday (Oct. 28), Nielsen Online reported Wednesday.
The candidates’ websites also drew healthy traffic on Election Day.  Obama’s site had 1.2 million unique visitors on Nov. 4, while McCain’s site had 479,000 unique visitors.

Rank
(by
Nov. 4 UA)
Website
Unique Audience:
Oct. 28, 2008
(in 000s)
Unique Audience:
Nov. 4, 2008
(in 000s)
% Change

1
CNN Digital Network
8,496
12,847
51%

2
MSNBC …

TV coverage of the 2008 U.S. election results drew more than 71 million average viewers Tuesday night, according to Nielsen.
Live news coverage was carried on both broadcast and cable networks, including Spanish-language networks: ABC, CBS, FOX Broadcast, NBC, Telemundo, Univision, BBC America, BET, CNBC, CNN, FOX News Channel, MSNBC, and TV One.
Nielsen’s audience estimates include primetime coverage, from 8pm to 11pm, in the Eastern and Central Time Zones and live in Mountain and Pacific Time Zones.

Audience estimates for the 8pm to 12:30am time frame, which featured Sen. McCain’s concession speech and …

ABC’s 9pm to 11pm coverage of the U.S. presidential election results was the top-rated primetime telecast on Election Night, Tuesday, November 4, 2008.
NBC’s 8pm to 11:30pm coverage of the voting results claimed second place, and ABC’s 8pm to 9pm Election Night coverage rounded out the top three.
Election returns coverage on CBS, FOX, and Univision dominated the rest of the top ten.

Rank
Program
Network
Viewers (P2+)

1
VOTE 2008-9:00PM(S)-11/04/2008
ABC
14,185,000

2
DECISION ‘08 PRIME(S)-11/04/2008
NBC
12,462,000

3
VOTE 2008-8:00PM(S)-11/04/2008
ABC
11,206,000

4
CAMPAIGN 2008 ELECT 3(S)-11/04/2008
CBS
7,410,000

5
YOU DECIDE 2008(S)-11/04/2008
FOX
4,733,000

6
DESTINO 2008 7 11/4(S)-11/04/2008
UNI
4,535,000

7
DESTINO 2008 8 11/4(S)-11/04/2008
UNI
4,474,000

8
DESTINO 2008 6 11/4(S)-11/04/2008
UNI
4,365,000

9
DESTINO 2008 5 11/4(S)-11/04/2008
UNI
3,669,000

10
DESTINO 2008 4 11/4(S)-11/04/2008
UNI
3,505,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (November …

Barack Obama’s historic election victory set bloggers abuzz.
In the wake of winning the 2008 U.S. presidential election, Obama was mentioned in almost 20% of all blog discussions, Nielsen Online reported Wednesday.
In comparison, John McCain was referenced by just 6.3% of all blog entries posted on November 5, according to Nielsen.

On the eve of the presidential election, both candidates made hefty boosts in their advertising in seven key swing states: Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
On Sunday, Nov. 2, McCain ran just 708 TV ad units in those seven states — 48% fewer than the 1,463 ad units Obama ran that day. 
But on Monday, Nov. 3, Obama’s lead in these key battleground states shrank to 79% — or a margin of 1,510 ad units, after McCain’s campaign increased the number of TV ad units it ran in those …