Nielsen has issued a year-end look at the most popular trends among Americans during 2008, covering everything from the top TV programs to the most popular consumer packaged goods.
Procter & Gamble was the top advertiser, spending more than $2.3 billion on traditional media advertising in the U.S. through September 30.  General Motors and AT&T rounded out the top three advertisers.
Among the year’s most-liked commercials, ads by the NFL, Budweiser, and Geico were most popular with American audiences. 
Product placements by CVS (on “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”), TRESemme (on “Project Runway”), and …

It’s no secret that individual film genres attract very specific audiences. Chick flicks, like the “Nanny Diaries,” typically resonate strongly with women, while action films, like “3:10 to Yuma,” usually appeal strongly to men.
For advertisers trying to reach target audiences, understanding which film types attract specific consumers can make or break an advertising campaign.
In response, Nielsen PreView analyzed 400 recent movies to identify 11 key movie consumer segments.
Nielsen’s “Tent Pole” segment, for example, attracts viewers from all demographic segments. Popular family and action films, like “Spider-Man 3,” typify this segment. Advertisers …

Fox’s remake of the sci-fi classic “The Day The Earth Stood Still,” starring Keanu Reeves, landed atop the U.S. weekend Box Office with an estimated $31 million in opening grosses.
Warner Brothers’ comedy “Four Christmases” dropped to second place, with $13.3 million over the weekend and an $88 million cumulative take over three weeks of release.
Summit’s vampire romance “Twilight” finished third over the weekend, with an $8 million performance and a $150.1 million cumulative take over four weeks of release.
Industrywide, year-to-date totals for 2008 are outpacing the same portion of 2007 grosses by 1%, at $9.01 billion.
Below …

Nielsen has issued a year-end look at the most popular trends among Americans during 2008, covering everything from the top TV programs to the most popular consumer packaged goods.
FOX’s “American Idol” was the top TV program of 2008, according to Nielsen.  Tuesday night broadcasts of “American Idol,” through December 7, drew 15.5% of U.S. TV households, on average, while Wednesday night “American Idol” broadcasts drew an average of 15.3% of all TV households.
Viewers with DVR access gave NBC’s “Heroes” the biggest bump any primetime program received in 2008.  The average …

Nielsen has issued a year-end look at the most popular trends among Americans during 2008, covering everything from the top TV programs to the most popular consumer packaged goods.
Up first: movies and DVDs. 
Action and adventure ruled the box office in 2008.  “The Dark Knight,” “Iron Man,” “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” were the top three box office earners this past year, taking in a combined $1.16 billion through December 7.
Among DVD releases, action and adventure flicks also fared well, with “Iron Man” and “I Am Legend” …

The Warner Bros.’ seasonal comedy “Four Christmases” topped the weekend Box Office for the second week in a row,  taking in an estimated $16.8 million in Friday-Sunday grosses.
Summit Entertainment’s vampire film “Twilight” took in an estimated $13 million to reclaim second place from Disney’s CG-animated feature “Bolt”, which earned an estimated $9.7 million to finish third.
Below are Box Office totals for the weekend of December 5-7, 2008, from Nielsen EDI.

RANK
FILM
STUDIO
WEEKEND
GROSS
(MILLIONS)

1
Four Christmases
WARNER BROS.
$16,755,478
$69.4

2
Twilight
SUMMIT ENTERTAINMENT
$13,046,722
$138.4

3
Bolt
WALT DISNEY STUDIOS
$9,796,149
$79.4

4
Australia
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX
$7,050,261
$30.9

5
Quantum of Solace
SONY PICTURES
$6,752,390
$151.6

6
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
PARAMOUNT
$5,079,120
$165.7

7
Transporter 3
LIONSGATE
$4,668,898
$25.5

8
Punisher: War Zone
LIONSGATE
$4,271,451
$4.3

9
Cadillac Records
SONY PICTURES
$3,445,559
$3.4

10
Role Models
UNIVERSAL
$2,574,460
$61.6

Source: The Hollywood …

The Warner Bros.’ seasonal comedy “Four Christmases” took a huge helping of the weekend Box Office,  taking in an estimated $31.7 million in Friday-Sunday grosses, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The Vince Vaughn-Reese Witherspoon vehicle has taken in an approximately $46.7 million since arriving in theaters on Wednesday, one of three films positioned to make full use of a holiday-lengthened weekend.
Disney’s CG-animated feature “Bolt” had a saw a surprising 1% increase from its opening totals a week earlier, registering $26.6 million to rise from third to second place at the Box …

Summit Entertainment’s vampire film “Twilight” feasted on competitors this weekend, taking in an estimated $70.6 million to leave all competitors far behind, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“Quantum of Solace,” the latest James Bond film from Sony and MGM, came in second over the weekend with $27.4 million, shaping a 10-day cumulative take of $109.5 million.
Across the industry, the overall weekend take of $169 million marked a 4% overall improvement over the same time frame last year, according to Nielsen EDI. That makes eight of the last nine weekends that overall industry takes have beaten year-over-year …

“Quantum of Solace” acheived the best opening weekend ever for a James Bond film in North America, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film took in an estimated $70.4 million in domestic grosses over the weekend, which  exceeded even the most optimistic prerelease projections.
The family comedy “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa,” from DreamWorks Animation and Paramount, registered $36.1 million to land in second place over the weekend.
Overall, the weekend’s $154 million in collective boxoffice across the industry marked a 48% improvement over the same weekend last year, according to Nielsen EDI.
Below are Box …

“Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa”, the new animated sequel distributed by Paramount, opened with an impressive $63.5 million take at the Box Office over the past weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  The opening results significantly beat expectations, and even outperformed opening weekend for the original “Madagascar,” which earned $61 million in its opening over the 2005 Memorial Day weekend.
Universal’s new R-rated comedy “Role Models” finished second with a $19.3 million debut that also comfortably topped projections.
Overall, the weekend’s $148 million industrywide total represented a considerable 30% improvement over the same weekend last year, according to Nielsen EDI. 
Below are Box …