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Despite Weekend Ad Boost By McCain, Obama Maintains Overall Swing State Advertising Lead

admin — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:45:02 +0000

During the final weekend preceding the presidential election, Sen. Barack Obama ran 77% more TV ads than Sen. John McCain (5,947 vs. 3,358) in seven key swing states: Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

Despite trailing Obama in terms of the total number of TV ad units placed, McCain showed a much larger percentage increase in TV advertising from the previous weekend (Friday October 24 thru Sunday, October 26) to this past weekend (Friday, October 31 thru Sunday, November 2).

McCain bumped his TV ad units up by 76% overall in the seven battleground states Nielsen tracked, while Obama increased his advertising in those states by just 3% over the previous weekend.

State	Obama: Ad Units* (10/24/08 – 10/26/08)	Obama: Ad Units* (10/31/08 – 11/2/08)	% Growth: Obama Ad Units* (10/24 – 10/26 Vs. 10/31 – 11/2)	McCain: Ad Units* (10/24/08 – 10/26/08)	McCain: Ad Units* (10/31/08 – 11/2/08)	% Growth: McCain Ad Units* (10/24 – 10/26 Vs. 10/31 – 11/2)
Colorado	538	616	14%	92	149	62%
Florida	1,990	1,870	-6%	635	947	49%
Georgia	38	127	234%	0	31	n/a
Missouri	419	367	-12%	123	193	57%
Ohio	1,203	1,235	2.7%	442	826	87%
Pennsylvania	926	1,020	10%	371	830	124%
Virginia	659	712	8%	235	382	62%
Source: The Nielsen Company (October 24 – 26, 2008 and October 30 – November 2, 2008).
*Note: Television advertising activity reported includes preliminary commercial occurrences for local and national broadcast TV and syndicated TV. Local cable TV advertising activity is not included.

Between October 6 and November 2, Obama placed 135% more ad units (80,504 vs. 34,179) than McCain in Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

To date, both McCain and Obama have advertised most heavily in Florida. Obama ran 24,834 ads in the state between October 6 and November 2, outpacing McCain’s 8,599 ads by almost 189%.

Nielsen’s ad unit data shows preliminary commercial occurrences and may fluctuate from day to day, as data is updated.

Stay tuned on NielsenWire for daily political ad updates from the swing states.

McCain, Obama Ease TV Advertising In Swing States

admin — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 18:04:21 +0000

With the presidential election less than a week away, both candidates are easing back their advertising in seven key swing states: Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

McCain increased his ad units by small margins in Florida, Pennsylvania, and Virginia on Thursday, Oct. 30. He reduced the number of ad units he ran in Colorado by 1.5%, in Georgia by 31.9%, in Missouri by 1.8%, and in Ohio by 3.8%.

In comparison, Obama boosted his ad units slightly in Georgia, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Virginia on Thursday. Meanwhile, he reduced the number of ad units he ran in Colorado, Florida, and Ohio by small percentages.

State	Obama: Ad Units* (10/29/08)	Obama: Ad Units* (10/30/08)	% Growth: Obama Ad Units* (10/29 Vs. 10/30)	McCain: Ad Units* (10/29/08)	McCain: Ad Units* (10/30/08)	% Growth: McCain Ad Units* (10/29 Vs. 10/30)
Colorado	276	272	-1.4%	65	64	-1.5%
Florida	1,049	1,022	-2.6%	518	567	9.4%
Georgia	11	12	9%	47	32	-31.9%
Missouri	215	221	2.8%	112	110	-1.8%
Ohio	792	739	-6.7%	423	407	-3.8%
Pennsylvania	514	557	8.4%	363	396	9.1%
Virginia	346	371	7.2%	236	238	0.8%
Source: The Nielsen Company (October 29 – 30, 2008).
*Note: Television advertising activity reported includes preliminary commercial occurrences for local and national broadcast TV and syndicated TV. Local cable TV advertising activity is not included.

Overall, on Thursday, McCain ran 1,814 total ad units in Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia — up 2.8% from the previous day, in which he ran 1,764 ads.

Obama continues to out-advertise McCain, but he actually reduced his ad units in these states by 0.3% overall — from 3,203 units on Wednesday to 3,194 units on Thursday, Oct. 30.

On Wednesday, Obama ran 82% more ad units than McCain in these seven states, but by Thursday that lead had shrunk to 76% – or a margin of 1,380 ad units.

Between Oct. 6 and Oct. 30, Obama placed 142% more ad units (74,557 vs. 30,821) than McCain in Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

Nielsen’s ad unit data shows preliminary commercial occurrences and may fluctuate from day to day, as data is updated.

Stay tuned on NielsenWire for daily political ad updates from the swing states.

33.5 Million Viewers Watched Obama’s Infomercial

admin — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 20:23:03 +0000

Senator Barack Obama’s infomercial drew 33.5 million U.S. viewers Wednesday night, according to Nielsen.

The simulcast — the first of its kind since Ross Perot ran a political telecast on the eve of Election Day in 1996 — aired on CBS, FOX, NBC, Univision, BET, MSNBC, and TV One between 8pm and 8:30pm EDT.

Perot’s 1996 telecast drew almost 22.7 million viewers.

On an average Wednesday night, the networks that aired Obama’s telecast draw a combined average of 30.3 million average viewers during that half-hour daypart.

In comparison, the final debate between the two presidential candidates drew 56.5 million U.S. viewers on October 15. The candidates’ first debate on September 26 drew 52.4 million viewers; their second debate, on October 7, drew 63.2 million viewers.

View the full media alert.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings by Reuters and the Associated Press, as well as in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, the Baltimore Sun, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek, Ad Age, Multichannel News, Broadcasting & Cable, Media Life, and Media Post.

McCain Bumps Up Swing State Ads; Obama Pulls Back

admin — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 20:18:55 +0000

On Wednesday, Sen. John McCain continued to increase his TV advertising in seven key swing states, while Sen. Barack Obama reduced his TV ad units in most of these states.

Wednesday evening marked the release of Obama’s half-hour infomercial.

McCain increased his ad units in Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia on Wednesday, Oct. 29. He reduced the number of ad units he ran in Missouri by -1.7%.

In comparison, Obama increased his ad units in Florida and held his advertising steady in Georgia on Wednesday. Meanwhile, he reduced the number of ad units he ran in Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia by slight percentages.

State	Obama: Ad Units* (10/28/08)	Obama: Ad Units* (10/29/08)	% Growth: Obama Ad Units* (10/28 Vs. 10/29)	McCain: Ad Units* (10/28/08)	McCain: Ad Units* (10/29/08)	% Growth: McCain Ad Units* (10/28 Vs. 10/29)
Colorado	294	276	-6.1%	55	63	14.5%
Florida	974	1,057	8.5%	456	512	12.3%
Georgia	10	10	0%	24	47	95.8%
Missouri	233	223	-4.3%	113	111	-1.7%
Ohio	805	782	-2.8%	389	422	8.5%
Pennsylvania	528	519	-1.7%	344	361	4.9%
Virginia	374	373	-0.3	219	235	7.3%
Source: The Nielsen Company (October 28 – 29, 2008).
*Note: Television advertising activity reported includes preliminary commercial occurrences for local and national broadcast TV and syndicated TV. Local cable TV advertising activity is not included.

Overall, on Wednesday, McCain ran 1,751 total ad units in Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia — up 9.4% from the previous day, in which he ran 1,600 ads.

Obama continues to out-advertise McCain, but in comparison, he boosted his ad units in these states by just 0.68%, overall – from 3,218 units on Tuesday to 3,240 units on Wednesday, Oct. 29.

On Tuesday, Obama ran 101% more ad units than McCain in these seven states, but by Wednesday that lead had shrunk to 85% — or a margin of 1,489 ad units.

Between Oct. 6 and Oct. 29, Obama placed 146% more ad units (71,400 vs. 28,994) than McCain in Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

Nielsen’s ad unit data shows preliminary commercial occurrences and may fluctuate from day to day, as data is updated.

Stay tuned on NielsenWire for daily political ad updates from the swing states.

Primetime Broadcast Ratings, October 29, 2008

admin — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 20:00:21 +0000

The conclusion of Game 5 of the MLB World Series, which aired on FOX, was the number one-ranked primetime telecast on broadcast TV for Wednesday, October 29, 2008.

CBS’s “Criminal Minds” and “CSI: NY” rounded out the top three.

NBC’s and CBS’s telecasts of Sen. Barack Obama’s half-hour political infomercial also made the top 10.

Rank	Program	Network	Viewers (P2+)
1	FOX WRLD SERIES GM5 CONCL(S)-10/29/2008	FOX	19,844,000
2	CRIMINAL MINDS	CBS	13,966,000
3	CSI: NY	CBS	13,754,000
4	FOX WRLD SRS GM5 CONCLPRE(S)-10/29/2008	FOX	12,080,000
5	FOX WRLD SRS GM5 CONCLPST(S)-10/29/2008	FOX	10,538,000
6	OBAMA: PAID POLITICAL-NBC(S)-10/29/2008	NBC	9,911,000
7	OBAMA: PAID POLITICAL-CBS(S)-10/29/2008	CBS	8,602,000
8	DEAL OR NO DEAL-WED	NBC	8,337,000
9	PRIVATE PRACTICE	ABC	7,933,000
10	OLD CHRISTINE	CBS	7,607,000
Source: The Nielsen Company (October 29, 2008).

Overall, FOX won the night with an average audience of just over 15.3 million viewers, while CBS took second place with just over 11.9 million average viewers. NBC and ABC claimed third and fourth places with roughly 7.4 million and 6.9 million average viewers, respectively. Univision and the CW followed in fifth and sixth places with average audiences of roughly 4.7 million and 2.8 million average viewers, respectively.

21.7% Of Households In Top Local TV Markets Watched Obama Infomercial

admin — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:12:07 +0000

The combined overall household rating for Senator Barack Obama’s Wednesday night infomercial, in the top 56 local television markets where Nielsen maintains electronic TV meters, was 21.7.

Obama’s simulcast is the first to be aired by a presidential candidate since Ross Perot ran a political telecast on the eve of Election Day in 1996. That program was watched by 16.8% of all households nationwide.

Ross Perot also ran a series of 15 political telecasts during the 1992 presidential election.

In comparison, the final debate between the two presidential candidates received a 38.3 household rating in the top 56 local TV markets. The candidates’ first debate on September 26 received a 34.7 household rating in the top 55 markets; their second debate, on October 7, received a 42.0 household rating in those markets.

Among the top 56 local metered markets, the Baltimore market had the largest TV audience, with a household rating of 31.3, while the Portland market had the lowest household rating: 14.2.

One rating point equals 1% of the total TV households in a given market.

Rank (by H.H. rating)	Market	Market Rank (by population size)	Household Rating (% of U.S. households that watched debate)
1	Baltimore	26	31.3
2	Philadelphia	4	29.0
3	West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce	38	28.0
4	Nashville	29	27.3
5	Greensboro-H.Point-W.Salem	46	27.2
6	St. Louis	21	27.1
7	Washington, DC (Hagrstwn)	9	26.8
8	New York	1	26.2
9	Boston (Manchester)	7	25.7
10	Hartford & New Haven	30	25.1
Source: The Nielsen Company (October 29, 2008).

View ratings for Nielsen’s 56 top local metered markets.

Obama’s infomercial aired live on CBS, NBC, FOX, UNIVISION, MSNBC, and NY1 Wednesday night. This data does not include ratings from BET, which aired the infomercial during different time periods.

National ratings for the infomercial will be available from Nielsen Thursday afternoon.