Population trends have clear implications for those involved in the media and advertising industries. There are now more than 114 million U.S. TV households, with immigration continuing to play a major role in population growth. U.S. Census estimates predict that by the year 2050 more than half of the U.S.
population will be non-white.
Nielsen’s “Ethnic Trends In Media,” is a comprehensive report profiling African-American, Asian, Hispanic and White households in the U.S.  This report examines household characteristics, television usage, timeshifted viewing and popular programming genres for each group.
Key findings include:

Household …

According to a new Nielsen study, household television and peripheral trends are holding steady, even though the uncertain economic conditions are affecting just about every household and consumer behavior across the country.  To determine whether Americans’ continued affection for TV and related entertainment might be impacted by the economy, Nielsen examined several household characteristics among its National People Meter sample for the five quarters running from Q4 2007 to Q4 2008.
During this period, households with broadcast only (i.e., no cable or satellite service) TVs declined from 11.5 percent to 10.9 …

Consumers are still investing in home entertainment despite cutting back in other areas, according to Nielsen’s SportsQuestTM Survey.  The telephone survey, conducted among 1,865 respondents in November and December 2008, asked about a number of questions with respect to changes in their spending habits and how those changes may have affected how they viewed TV-related spending such as cable, direct satellite, video on demand/pay-per-view and DVD purchases and rentals.
The difficult economic conditions have forced most Americans to think about how they spend their money, so it is little surprise that …

Game seven of the closely contested American League Championship Series between the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays drew the largest ever TV audience of any MLB playoff game aired on cable, Nielsen reported Tuesday.  
The game, which aired on TBS Sunday night, drew almost 13.4 million average viewers, easily surpassing game four of last year’s Indians v. Yankees division series, which claimed second place overall with 9.2 million average viewers.
TV viewership of the ALCS games surged after the Red Sox overcame a seven-run deficit in game five to beat the …

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).

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
DAYS
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
NFL REGULAR SEASON L (JETS/CHARGERS)
ESPN
MONDAY
11,881,000

2
PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE(S)-09/26/2008
FOXNC
FRIDAY
8,211,000

3
ON THE RECORD W/GRETA
FOXNC
FRIDAY
7,413,000

4
SR/PRES DEBATE 1 2008(S)-09/26/2008
CNN
FRIDAY
7,140,000

5
COLL FTBALL-SAT PRIME L (ALABAMA/GEORGIA)
ESPN
SATURDAY
6,683,000

6
ANDERSON COOPER 360
CNN
FRIDAY
6,502,000

7
COLL FTBALL-THUR NIGHT L (USC/OREGON STATE)
ESPN
THURSDAY
6,456,000

8
PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE CVG(S)-09/26/2008
FOXNC
FRIDAY
5,850,000

9
SUITE LIFE ON DECK
DSNY
FRIDAY
5,666,000

10
SUITE LIFE ON DECK
DSNY
SATURDAY
5,129,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (September 22, 2008 – September 28, 2008)

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
DAYS
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
NFL REGULAR SEASON – L (EAGLES/COWBOYS)
ESPN
MONDAY
18,608,000

2
CLOSER, THE
TNT
MONDAY
7,627,000

3
COLL FTBALL-SAT PRIME – L (LSU/AUBURN)
ESPN
SATURDAY
5,562,000

4
HANNITY & COLMES
FOXNC
WEDNESDAY
4,921,000

5
NFL SPORTSCENTER – L
ESPN
MONDAY
4,759,000

6
BURN NOTICE
USA
THURSDAY
4,665,000

7
HANNITY & COLMES
FOXNC
THURSDAY
4,589,000

8
ARMY WIVES
LIF
SUNDAY
4,374,000

9
RAISING THE BAR
TNT
MONDAY
4,210,000

10
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
4,209,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (September 15, 2008 – September 21, 2008)

RANK
NAME
DAY(S)
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
NFL REGULAR SEASON – L (VIKINGS/PACKERS)
MONDAY
ESPN
12,501,000

2
NFL REGULAR SEASON – L (BRONCOS/RAIDERS)
MONDAY
ESPN
9,665,000

3
CLOSER, THE
MONDAY
TNT
7,440,000

4
SATURDAY MOVIE III (COCO CHANEL)
SATURDAY
LIF
5,226,000

5
TIME MACHINE
THURSDAY
HIST
5,153,000

6
MONK
FRIDAY
USA
5,020,000

7
RAISING THE BAR
MONDAY
TNT
4,978,000

8
BURN NOTICE
THURSDAY
USA
4,768,000

9
HANNAH MONTANA
SUNDAY
DSNY
4,606,000

10
THE OREILLY FACTOR
MONDAY
FOXNC
4,572,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (September 8, 2008 – September 14, 2008)

Product placements on primetime broadcast and cable TV programs fell by almost 15% on primetime programming during the first half of 2008, as compared with the same time period last year, Nielsen reported Monday.
Broadcast television placements grew by almost 12% between January and June of 2008, while placements on cable television declined by 20%.
Changes in program line-ups accounted for the growth of broadcast placements — and the decrease in cable placements. 

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
YOU DEC 08-REP CONVENTION(S)-09/04/2008
FOXNC
9,187,000

2
YOU DEC 08-REP CONVENTION(S)-09/03/2008
FOXNC
9,038,000

3
2008 VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS
MTV
8,425,000

4
CLOSER, THE
TNT
8,050,000

5
YOU DEC 08-REP CONVENTION(S)-09/03/2008
FOXNC
8,016,000

6
RAISING THE BAR
TNT
7,735,000

7
YOU DEC 08-REP CONVENTION(S)-09/04/2008
FOXNC
7,010,000

8
COLL FTBALL-SAT PRIME L (MIAMI/FLORIDA)
ESPN
6,954,000

9
THE OREILLY FACTOR
FOXNC
6,644,000

10
YOU DEC 08-REP CONVENTION(S)-09/04/2008
FOXNC
6,440,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (September 1, 2008 – September 7, 2008)