Despite losing to Cuba in a closely contested game Wednesday evening, the Chinese women’s volleyball team claimed the top TV rating of all Olympics events broadcast on Chinese television on Wednesday, August 13, AGB Nielsen Media Research reported Thursday.
In China, 143 million viewers watched the China vs. Cuba game on CCTV 1 Wednesday evening, according to AGB Nielsen.  In comparison, 84 million Chinese tuned in for the men’s weightlifting 77kg final that aired on CCTV 2 during the same time period.
In three games on August 9, 11, and 13, the Chinese …

Although it was a work day, online traffic to websites with Olympics-related content and video soared on Monday, August 11, according to Nielsen Online. 
Unique visitors to the video section of NBC’s Olympics site increased by nearly 140% – from 858,000 on Sunday, August 10, to 2,030,000 on Monday, August 11, Nielsen reported.
Meanwhile, traffic to Yahoo’s Olympics section grew 85% on Monday, compared to daily web traffic the prior day.

Rank:
U.A., Aug. 11
Website
Unique Audience:
Aug. 8
(in 000’s)
Unique Audience:
Aug. 9
(in 000’s)
Unique Audience:
Aug. 10
(in 000’s)
Unique Audience:
Aug. 11
(in 000’s)

1
Yahoo Olympics
1,477
3,324
2,839
5,253

2
NBC Olympics
2,664
4,008
3,264
4,560

3
AOL Olympics
395
1,010
1,205
1,192

4
Sports Illustrated Olympics
293
331
667
646

5
Beijing2008.cn
429
780
581
607

6
New York Times Olympics
341
466
301
482

7
ESPN Olympics
273
343
579
368

8
Fox Sports on MSN Olympics
49
95
259
182

9
USA Today Olympics
280
184
231
163

10
CBS …

Advertisers placed 35 minutes of advertisements during the 2008 Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony, according to advertising data released Monday by Nielsen.
For the first time since the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002, commercial time was down — from 43 minutes and 55 seconds during 2006 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony in Torino and 40 minutes during the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony.
Overall Commercial Minutes
35 minutes (includes 5 min/40 sec of promos)
Top Advertisers: Parent Companies
1. Exxon Mobil Corp.: 150 seconds (2 min/30 sec)
2. McDonald’s Corp.: 120 seconds (2 min)
3. Visa …

Olympics advertising featuring Chinese athletes like basketball player Yao Ming and hurdler Liu Xiang appear to be paying off for advertisers.
In a Nielsen survey of Chinese consumers conducted in May 2008, Olympics ads featuring celebrity endorsements by Chinese athletes were among the most recalled. 
Liu Xiang’s Coca-Cola ads were most frequently recalled by consumers — 62% remembered them, according to Nielsen.  Yao Ming’s China Unicom and Coca-Cola ads also proved memorable — 48% recalled them.  Meanwhile, diver Guo Jing Jing’s Coca-Cola ads were recalled by 36% of those surveyed.
But despite their …

The New York Times reported Monday that NBC Universal may earn more than $1 billion in TV and online advertising sales for the Beijing Olympics.
The story noted that the largest TV advertisers have not changed in recent Olympics.  Six companies, including official sponsors like Coca-Cola and Visa, were among the top 10 spenders in both 2000 and 2004, according to data from Nielsen Monitor-Plus.
View the top 20 TV advertisers and advertising categories for the 2000 and 2004 Olympics.