RANK
NAME
BET
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
BURN NOTICE
USA
THURSDAY
6,803,000

2
CLOSER, THE
TNT
MONDAY
6,601,000

3
NASCAR SPRINT CUP L
ESPN
SUNDAY
6,487,000

4
ROYAL PAINS
USA
THURSDAY
6,205,000

5
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
5,275,000

6
WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE
DSNY
FRIDAY
5,047,000

7
WWE ENTERTAINMENT
USA
MONDAY
5,036,000

8
NCIS
USA
MONDAY
4,871,000

9
NATIONWIDE POST RACE L
ESPN
SUNDAY
4,869,000

10
HANNAH MONTANA
DSNY
SUNDAY
4,797,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (July 20, 2009 – July 26, 2009)

RANK
NAME
BET
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
WIZARDS ON DECK W/ HANNAH(S)-07/17/2009
DSNY
FRIDAY
9,292,000

2
HOME RUN DERBY L
ESPN
MONDAY
8,250,000

3
BURN NOTICE
USA
THURSDAY
6,664,000

4
CLOSER, THE
TNT
MONDAY
6,590,000

5
ROYAL PAINS
USA
THURSDAY
6,230,000

6
HANNAH MONTANA
DSNY
FRIDAY
6,086,000

7
HOME RUN DERBY PRELUDE L
ESPN
MONDAY
6,065,000

8
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
5,523,000

9
SPONGEBOB
NAN
SUNDAY
5,373,000

10
SPONGEBOB
NICK
SUNDAY
5,169,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (July 13, 2009 – July 19, 2009)

On average, NBA playoff viewership is up 18% across TNT, ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC thanks in part to a pair of Conference final games. On May 26th, the Cavs and Magic pulled 10.1 million viewers in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Championship Series on TNT – the most ever for an NBA Playoff game on cable and the most-watched cable telecast of the year. And the Lakers-Nuggets’ Game 4 of the Western Conference Championship Series delivered 9.7 million viewers - the most ever for a basketball game (college or pro) in ESPN’s history.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
NBA PLAYOFFS (MAGIC/CAVALIERS)
TNT
TUESDAY
10,075,000

2
NBA PLAYOFFS (MAGIC/CAVALIERS)
TNT
THURSDAY
9,995,000

3
JON & KATE PLUS 8(S)-05/25/2009
TLC
MONDAY
9,802,000

4
NBA PLAYOFFS-CONF FNLS L (LAKERS/NUGGETS)
ESPN
MONDAY
9,731,000

5
NBA PLAYOFFS-CONF FNLS L (LAKERS/NUGGETS)
ESPN
WEDNESDAY
9,238,000

6
NBA PLAYOFFS-CONF FNLS L (LAKERS/NUGGETS)
ESPN
FRIDAY
8,462,000

7
NBA PLAYOFFS (MAGIC/CAVALIERS)
TNT
SATURDAY
8,362,000

8
2009 MTV MOVIE AWARDS
MTV
SUNDAY
5,282,000

9
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
4,894,000

10
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
4,486,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (May 25, 2009 – May 31, 2009)

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
NBA PLAYOFFS (CAVALIERS/MAGIC)
TNT
SUNDAY
8,969,000

2
NBA PLAYOFFS-CONF FNLS L (NUGGETS/LAKERS)
ESPN
TUESDAY
8,085,000

3
NBA PLAYOFFS-CONF FNLS L (NUGGETS/LAKERS)
ESPN
THURSDAY
7,886,000

4
NBA PLAYOFFS (MAGIC/CAVALIERS)
TNT
WEDNESDAY
7,321,000

5
NBA PLAYOFFS (MAGIC/CAVALIERS)
TNT
FRIDAY
6,910,000

6
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
5,200,000

7
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
5,032,000

8
NCIS
USA
SATURDAY
4,151,000

9
SPONGEBOB
NICK
SATURDAY
3,917,000

10
NCIS
USA
MONDAY
3,911,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (May 18, 2009 – May 24, 2009)

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
NBA PLAYOFFS (MAGIC/CELTICS)
TNT
SUNDAY
8,382,000

2
NBA PLAYOFFS-CONF SEMIS L (LAKERS/ROCKETS)
ESPN
THURSDAY
7,352,000

3
NBA PLAYOFFS (MAGIC/CELTICS)
TNT
TUESDAY
5,233,000

4
NBA PLAYOFFS (ROCKETS/LAKERS)
TNT
TUESDAY
5,187,000

5
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
4,940,000

6
NBA PLAYOFFS (NUGGETS/MAVERICKS)
TNT
MONDAY
4,837,000

7
NBA PLAYOFFS-CONF SEMIS L (CELTICS/MAGIC)
ESPN
THURSDAY
4,795,000

8
NBA PLAYOFFS (NUGGETS/MAVERICKS)
TNT
WEDNESDAY
4,574,000

9
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
4,415,000

10
ICARLY
NICK
SATURDAY
4,319,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (May 11, 2009 – May 17, 2009)

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
ICARLY MOVIE:DATEABADBOY
NICK
SATURDAY
6,472,000

2
NBA PLAYOFFS (ROCKETS/LAKERS)
TNT
WEDNESDAY
6,321,000

3
NBA PLAYOFFS-CONF SEMIS L (LAKERS/ROCKETS)
ESPN
FRIDAY
5,952,000

4
NBA PLAYOFFS (ROCKETS/LAKERS)
TNT
MONDAY
5,400,000

5
NBA PLAYOFFS (CELTICS/MAGIC)
TNT
SUNDAY
5,089,000

6
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
4,794,000

7
ICARLY
NICK
SATURDAY
4,585,000

8
NBA PLAYOFFS (HAWKS/CAVALIERS)
TNT
TUESDAY
4,501,000

9
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
4,488,000

10
NBA PLAYOFFS (CELTICS/MAGIC)
TNT
MONDAY
4,352,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (May 4, 2009 – May 10, 2009)

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
5,498,000

2
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
5,101,000

3
NFL DRAFT L (2009 NFL DRAFT)
ESPN
SATURDAY
5,058,000

4
MLB SUNDAY NIGHT L (YANKEES/RED SOX)
ESPN
SUNDAY
4,598,000

5
ICARLY
NICK
WEDNESDAY
4,521,000

6
NCIS
USA
MONDAY
4,334,000

7
FOR THE LOVE OF RAY J
VH1
MONDAY
4,223,000

8
HATCHING PETE
DSNY
FRIDAY
4,138,000

9
LAW & ORDER: CI (ORIG)
USA
SUNDAY
4,100,000

10
DEADLIEST CATCH
DISC
TUESDAY
4,049,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (April 20, 2009 – April 26, 2009)

Monitoring traffic to three major web properties – ESPN, Yahoo! Sports, and CBS Sports – during the recent NCAA Basketball Tournament shows a spike in activity over last year (Y-O-Y) and the boost in traffic compared to the previous month (M-O-M).

Unique Audience  And % Change

Site
Mar-08
Feb-09
Mar-09
M-O-M
Y-O-Y

CBS Sports
15,106,000
10,684,000
18,127,000
70%
20%

ESPN
19,844,000
17,181,000
22,938,000
34%
16%

Yahoo! Sports
19,432,000
24,953,000
25,515,000
2%
31%

Source: Nielsen Online

Additionally, video streaming on CBS Sports saw massive gains during the tournament, with nearly a 300% gain in unique users watching video. Those viewers racked up more than 380 million minutes of viewing time in March.

CBS …

Brand advertising budgets took a hit in 2008, with expenditures dropping 2.6 percent compared to 2007. While most media suffered, two bright spots were Hispanic cable TV, where ad spending grew 9.6 percent, and cable TV, where growth was 7.8 percent.  But what has happened to online advertising?
Perhaps the biggest challenge facing advertisers and web sites is the plethora of sites competing for scarce advertising dollars with little to offer in the way of differentiation.  Unfortunately, no single formula or strategy has emerged to guide advertisers looking to build brand …