Nielsen Wire » Obama

President Obama & State Emission Standards

Julie Enzweiler — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:18:11 +0000

Julie Enzweiler

On January 26, 2009 President Obama announced that emission standards could be decided at a state level. This decision has spurred on an extremely heated debate online among all communities.

Forty-two percent are positive towards President Obama’s decision, predominately driven by the Environmental communities, while 44% are negative.

Consumers provide in-depth reasoning behind their belief on reversing the Bush administration’s emissions ruling; however, there is a significant amount of confusion on the number of potential emission standards the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM’s) would need to adhere to. Most consumers believe that 50 state standards would be possible, while a few believe the limit is two standards (EPA & CARB). The American people are seeking clarity on this topic either from the Obama administration, EPA or the OEM’s.

Below is a list of consumer positive and negative opinion on this topic:

Positive

Promotes innovation
Creates jobs
Lowers fuel consumption
Reduces dependency on foreign oil
Two (2) standards (EPA & CARB)
Helps the environment (expands lives, cleaner air, climate change)
Suggests OEM’s adhere to most stringent requirements & apply to all vehicles

Negative

Hurts the economy even more
Kills the automotive industry
Additional taxpayer funding needed
50 different state standards possible
Pay significantly more for a new vehicle
Produces cars consumers do not want by forcing smaller vehicles on the market, when demand is for larger vehicles
Limits vehicle selection
Lowers vehicle performance
Billions in R&D for OEM’s
Too difficult at a state level and needs to be at federal level
Logistical nightmare for all (OEM, Dealer, State, Federal & Owners)
More government regulations
Lack of electrical power infrastructure
Obama paying back campaign supporters

This new direction from Washington will certainly add to the automakers’ current economic strain. Consumers are already anticipating that Honda and Toyota will support this new initiative and push for innovation, while Ford, Chrysler and General Motors are expected to push back. It will be imperative for the Domestic OEM’s to respond to Washington and the public in a delicate manner as they are no longer just potential owners, but also key shareholders.

“Hockey Moms” Tune In For Prez, V.P. Debates

admin — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:02:53 +0000

“Hockey moms” — famously invoked by Gov. Sarah Palin in her V.P. campaign speeches — may also have a passion for politics.

According to a Nielsen analysis released Tuesday, “hockey moms” — defined as women ages 25 to 54 who live in homes with children and who watched at least six minutes of the most recent Stanley Cup Finals on NBC – were more likely than average moms to watch the first two debates of the 2008 election.

Last Thursday, Sen. Joe Biden and Gov. Sarah Palin’s V.P. debate drew 23.8% of all mothers (ages 25 to 54), while 33% of those women defined as “hockey moms” tuned in. Overall, “hockey moms” were 38.7% more likely than average moms to have watched the V.P. debate.

In comparison, the first debate between Senators McCain and Obama, on Sept. 26, drew 16.5% of all mothers (25 to 54). Among those classified as “hockey moms,” however, 21.3% tuned in to the debate, making “hockey moms” 29.1% more likely than average moms to have watched the McCain and Obama’s debate.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in the Boston Herald and Broadcasting & Cable.

Highest Rated Presidential Debates: 1960 To Present

admin — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:01:38 +0000

With the U.S. financial crisis hanging in the balance, the first debate between Barack Obama and John McCain – originally scheduled for Friday — has taken on unusual importance. But, how will this first presidential duel of the 2008 election compare with the most-watched debates of the last half-century?

Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan’s October 28, 1980 debate claimed the largest television audience — 80.6 million viewers — since 1976, the first year that Nielsen collected TV viewership data for presidential debates.

George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Ross Perot’s October 15, 1992 debate (69.9 million viewers) and Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter’s September 23, 1976 debate (69.7 million viewers) round out the top three.

George H. W. Bush and Michael Dukakis’s 1988 debates and Ronald Reagan and Walter Mondale’s 1984 debates also made the top 10.

RANK	YEAR	NETWORK	DATE	CANDIDATES	VIEWERS P2+ (MILLIONS)
1	1980	ABC, CBS, NBC	Oct. 28	Carter – Reagan	80.6
2	1992	ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN	Oct. 15	Bush – Clinton – Perot	69.9
3	1976	ABC, CBS, NBC	Sept. 23	Ford – Carter	69.7
4	1988	ABC, CBS, NBC	Oct. 13	Bush – Dukakis	67.3
5	1984	ABC, CBS, NBC	Oct. 21	Reagan – Mondale	67.3
6	1992	ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN	Oct. 19	Bush – Clinton – Perot	66.9
7	1988	ABC, CBS, NBC	Sept. 25	Bush – Dukakis	65.1
8	1984	ABC, CBS, NBC	Oct. 7	Reagan – Mondale	65.1
9	1976	ABC, CBS, NBC	Oct. 6	Ford – Carter	63.9
10	1976	ABC, CBS, NBC	Oct. 22	Ford – Carter	62.7
Note: There were no televised Presidential debates for the years 1972, 1968, and 1964. Copyright 2004 Nielsen Media Research.

In terms of Nielsen household TV ratings, Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy’s presidential debates in 1960 dominate Nielsen’s top 10 ranking.

The two candidates’ October 13, 1960 debate, which drew 61% of all U.S. television households, claimed the top household rating of any presidential debate.

Nixon and Kennedy’s infamous September 26, 1960 debate — the first-ever televised presidential debate — ranked second, with 59.5% of all American TV households tuning in.

Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan’s October 28, 1980 debate was the only non-Kennedy vs. Nixon debate to crack the top five.

All three of Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter’s 1976 debates also ranked among the top 10 televised presidential debates, in terms of household ratings.

RANK	YEAR	NETWORK	DATE	CANDIDATES	RATING (% OF HOUSEHOLDS)
1	1960	ABC, CBS, NBC	Oct. 13	Nixon – Kennedy	61.0
2	1960	ABC, CBS, NBC	Sept. 26	Nixon – Kennedy	59.5
3	1960	ABC, CBS, NBC	Oct. 7	Nixon – Kennedy	59.1
4	1980	ABC, CBS, NBC	Oct. 28	Carter – Reagan	58.9
5	1960	ABC, CBS, NBC	Oct. 21	Nixon – Kennedy	57.8
6	1976	ABC, CBS, NBC	Sept. 23	Ford – Carter	53.5
7	1976	ABC, CBS, NBC	Oct. 6	Ford – Carter	52.4
8	1976	ABC, CBS, NBC	Oct. 22	Ford – Carter	47.8
9	1992	ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN	Oct. 15	Bush – Clinton – Perot	46.3
10	1984	ABC, CBS, NBC	Oct. 21	Reagan – Mondale	46.0
Note: There were no televised Presidential debates for the years 1972, 1968, and 1964. Copyright 2004 Nielsen Media Research.

View complete Nielsen ratings for all televised U.S. presidential and vice presidential debates from 1960 to present.

Primetime Broadcast Ratings, September 26, 2008

admin — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 19:20:01 +0000

ABC’s post-debate analysis of Barack Obama and John McCain’s first presidential debate was the top-ranked primetime telecast on broadcast TV for Friday, September 26, 2008. The show drew an average of almost 8.3 million viewers.

CBS’s “The Mentalist” claimed second place, with almost 7.9 million average viewers, while NBC’s post-debate coverage rounded out the top three, with just over 7.1 million average viewers.

Post-debate analysis on CBS (6.1 million average viewers) and FOX News (3.9 million average viewers) also made the top ten.

RANK	NAME	NETWORK	VIEWERS (P2+)
1	VOTE2008: ANALYSIS-FRI(S)-09/26/2008	ABC	8,272,000
2	MENTALIST, THE-FRIDAY SP(S)-09/26/2008	CBS	7,896,000
3	DECISION ‘08:PRES ANALSYS(S)-09/26/2008	NBC	7,124,000
4	20/20 SP EDITION-9/26(S)-09/26/2008	ABC	6,891,000
5	CAMPAIGN ‘08-DEBATE ANL-1(S)-09/26/2008	CBS	6,140,000
6	SMARTER THAN 5TH GRADER	FOX	5,231,000
7	FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN	CW	4,411,000
8	FUEGO EN LA SANGRE FRI	UNI	4,333,000
9	FOX NEWS: DEB POST 1-9/26(S)-09/26/2008	FOX	3,896,000
10	AMERICA’S TOUGHEST JOBS	NBC	3,839,000
Source: The Nielsen Company (September 26, 2008)

Overall, CBS won the night with an average audience of just over 7.4 million viewers, while ABC took second place with just over 7.2 million average viewers. FOX and NBC claimed third and fourth places — with roughly 5.1 million and 4.7 million average viewers, respectively. The CW and Univision followed in fifth and sixth places with average audiences of roughly 4.4 million and 3.6 million viewers, respectively.

52.7 Million Watched President Bush’s Economic Crisis Address

admin — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 18:16:29 +0000

52.7 million viewers tuned in for President Bush’s speech on the U.S. economic crisis, which aired live Wednesday night from approximately 9:00pm to 9:15pm EST on ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, Telemundo, Univision, CNBC, CNN, FOX News Channel, and MSNBC.

	Rating	Average Audience Number
All Households	33.2	38,031,000
Persons 2+	18.2	52,653,000
Source: The Nielsen Company (September 24, 2008)
Note: Sum of audience estimates for ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, Telemundo, Univision, CNBC, CNN, FOX News Channel, and MSNBC.

As a comparison, TV ratings for selected major news events throughout the past two decades are included below.

Event	Number of Networks	Date	Average Combined Household Rating	Average Number of Viewers (P2+)
President Ford’s Funeral	8	1/2/2007	11.3	15,028,000
Michael Jackson Trial Verdict	11 – English Language	6/13/2005	21.1	28,115,000
Michael Jackson Trial Verdict	2 – Spanish Language	6/13/2005	14.7	2,470,000
State of the Union	7	1/19/1999	31	43,500,000
Clinton’s Grand Jury Testimony	6	9/21/1998	18.8	22,500,000
Clinton’s Apology Address to Country	8	8/17/1998	46.9	67,600,000
Princess Diana’s Funeral–Sat 6-8am	8	9/6/1997	26.6	33,252,000
OJ Simpson Verdict	10	10/5/1995	42.9	53,925,000
State of Union-Clinton	5	1/25/1994	32.9	45,800,000
Clinton Address re: Health Care	4	9/22/1993	32.8	47,700,000
Joint Session of Congress by Clinton	4	2/17/1993	44.3	66,900,000
Clinton Address on the Economy	4	2/15/1993	42.1	64,300,000
Bush News Conference re: LA Riots	5	5/1/1991	37.1	54,600,000
Gulf War Day One	4	1/16/1991	54.3	85,600,000
Source: The Nielsen Company (2007)

View the full media alert.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in TV Week.

Two-Thirds Of U.S. Households Tuned In To Dems’ and GOP’s Conventions

admin — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 22:23:03 +0000

It’s one of the few points not up for debate this election season: TV coverage of the typically uneventful U.S. political conventions drew record-breaking audiences.

Nearly two-thirds of all U.S. households (64.5%) — 120.1 million people age two or older — watched at least one of the 2008 political conventions, according to a new analysis released Thursday by Nielsen.

Viewership levels for the Democratic and Republican conventions were essentially even, with about half of all U.S. households watching each. Overall, 15% of all homes tuned in to the Republican National Convention only, while 15.7% tuned in to just the Democratic National Convention. Another 33.9% of all households tuned in to both conventions.

Homes that watched both conventions were likely to be older (age 65+) and better educated (32.3% had college degrees) than viewers who watched only one of the conventions.

RNC-only households were usually bigger (four people or more), had higher incomes ($100,000+), and were more likely to be white, while DNC-only households were smaller (two people), less wealthy ($20,000 or less), and more likely to be African American.

One-fifth (21.2%) of DNC-only homes were headed by an African American, while 83.5% of RNC-only homes were headed someone who is white.

Similar percentages of African American and white viewers tuned in to both conventions (35.7% and 34.5%, respectively). Among African Americans, 27.4% watched only the DNC, and only 8.1% watched only the RNC. Meanwhile, 16.2% of white viewers watched the RNC only, and 13.6% watched the DNC only.

Read the full report — and stay tuned during the presidential debates for more Nielsen TV audience analyses.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in the Baltimore Sun, The Boston Globe, Broadcasting & Cable, and Multichannel News.

Historical TV Ratings: Republican Conventions

admin — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:57:17 +0000

YEAR	NETWORKS	TOTAL RATING	TOTAL HOMES
2004	Total- ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, FOXNC	15.3*	16,809,000*
2000	Total- ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, FOXNC	13.9**	14,042,000**
1996	Total– ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, PBS	16.5***	15,756,000***
1992	Total– ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, PBS	20.5	20,000,000
1988	Total– ABC, CBS, NBC	18.3	16,200,000
1984	Total– ABC, CBS, NBC	19.2	16,200,000
1980	Total– ABC, CBS, NBC	21.6	16,500,000
1976	Total– ABC, CBS, NBC	31.5	21,900,000
1972	Total– ABC, CBS, NBC	23.4	14,400,000
1968	Total– ABC, CBS, NBC	26.4	15,000,000
1964	Total– ABC, CBS, NBC	21.8	11,130,000
1960	Total– ABC, CBS, NBC	28	12,596,000
Source: The Nielsen Company (1960 – 2004)
Presidential nominating conventions are held in July and August with the party holding the Presidency scheduling its convention last. Changes in the parties’ primary system have impacted the conventions in recent campaigns.
2004 data based on the sum of Rep. Convention Coverage during Common Coverage Time Periods: CNN, FOXNC, MSNBC= Monday 10-11:00PM; ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOXNC, MSNBC = Tuesday and Wednesday: 10-11:00PM; ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOXNC, MSNBC* = Thursday: 10-11:15PM. (*coverage includes sustained programs).
**2000 data based on the sum of Rep. Convention Coverage during Common Coverage Time Periods: ABC, CNN, MSNBC, FOXNC=Mon-Thu appr.10-11pm; CBS=Wed-Thu appr. 10-11pm; NBC=Tue-Thu appr. 10-11pm.
***The Family Channel also aired the ‘96 Republican Convention but is not included in the Total Rating and Total Homes.

Historical TV Ratings: Democratic Conventions

admin — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:48:22 +0000

YEAR	NETWORKS	TOTAL RATING	TOTAL HOMES
2004	Total- ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, FOXNC	14.3*	15,537,000*
2000	Total- ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, FOXNC	15.3**	15,380,000**
1996	Total– ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, PBS	17.2	16,418,000
1992	Total– ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, PBS	22	20,500,000
1988	Total– ABC, CBS, NBC	19.8	17,400,000
1984	Total– ABC, CBS, NBC	23.4	19,500,000
1980	Total– ABC, CBS, NBC	27	20,700,000
1976	Total– ABC, CBS, NBC	25.2	17,400,000
1972	Total– ABC, CBS, NBC	18.3	11,400,000
1968	Total– ABC, CBS, NBC	28.5	16,200,000
1964	Total– ABC, CBS, NBC	28.8	14,695,000
1960	Total– ABC, CBS, NBC	29.2	13,216,000
Source: The Nielsen Company (1960 – 2004)
Presidential nominating conventions are held in July and August with the party holding the Presidency scheduling its convention last. Changes in the parties’ primary system have impacted the conventions in recent campaigns.
*2004 data based on the sum of Dem. Convention Coverage during Common Coverage Time Periods: ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, FOXNC = Mon, Wed, Thur. 10-11:00pm; CNN, MSNBC, FOXNC = Tues appr. 10-11pm.
**2000 data based on the sum of Dem. Convention Coverage during Common Coverage Time periods: ABC, CNN, MSNBC, FOXNC = Mon appr. 10-11:45p, and Tues through Thurs. appr. 10-11pm; NBC= Mon 10:30-11:45p, Wed-Thu 10-11pm; CBS=Wed-Thu appr. 10-11pm

Obama’s V.P. Text Message Reaches 2.9 Million

Admin — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:13:41 +0000

The Barack Obama Campaign generated significant buzz this weekend by announcing Senator Obama’s Vice Presidential selection via SMS text-message. Nielsen estimates that 2.9 million U.S. mobile subscribers received a text message from the Obama campaign over the weekend.

The Vice Presidential message (sent in the late hours of Friday night) is, by many accounts, the single largest mobile marketing event ever in the U.S.

“From a mobile perspective, it makes sense that the campaign chose to use text-messages,” Nic Covey, Director of Insights, Nielsen Mobile, noted. “Today, 116 million U.S. mobile subscribers (52 percent of subscribers) actively use text messaging, making it a new mass medium for marketing efforts.”

Obama’s VP text-message is already being seen as one of the most important text messages ever sent, and one of the most successful brand engagements using mobile media. “The value of the message goes far beyond the 26 words and 2.9 million recipients,” Covey said. “Here, Obama branded himself as cutting edge, inflated the already enormous press attention paid to his VP pick and further established a list of supporters’ most coveted form of contact: their cell phone numbers.”

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in Newsday and the Los Angeles Times.

Presidential Candidates Neglect Online Advertising

admin — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 20:00:01 +0000

Senators McCain and Obama are each spending sizable sums of money on TV advertising during the Olympics. But when it comes to placing display advertising online, both candidates have relatively unimpressive records, Mediaweek Senior Editor Mike Shields noted Monday in a column.

“The 2008 race has been lametastic when it comes to online advertising,” Shields wrote, adding: “McCain’s been nearly invisible when it comes to display advertising.”

Senator McCain placed 16 million online display ad impressions in June, while Sen. Obama ran 80 million impressions, Shields noted, citing Nielsen Online data.

View additional Nielsen Online advertising data for the 2008 presidential candidates.