Do politics play a role in TV viewing? 
Yes and no, according to Nielsen IAG, which recently released data showing which cable programs are most “engaging” among self-identified Democrats and Republicans.
“Engagement” refers to the amount of attention paid to a television program by the average viewer.  Nielsen measures TV engagement by questioning a representative panel of viewers about their recall of specific telecasts’ content.
Nielsen’s analysis found that the cable programs that received the highest overall engagement scores — meaning viewers were most engaged in the shows’ content — also received the most bipartisan support, …

Online buzz surrounding Senators Barack Obama and John McCain remained strong during the three presidential debates in September and October, but voters’ engagement in the debate TV broadcasts declined significantly after the first debate, according to an analysis released Tuesday by Nielsen IAG and Nielsen Online.
“Engagement” refers to the amount of attention paid to a television program by the average viewer.  Nielsen measures TV engagement by questioning a representative panel of viewers about their recall of specific telecasts’ content.
Online consumer discussion of both candidates spiked before and after each of the four …

With the presidential campaign of Senator Barack Obama touting record political contributions for the month of September, Nielsen Claritas has taken a look at the source of Sen. Obama’s and Sen. McCain contributions through the lens of lifestyle attributes and socio-economic data, such as income, age, occupation, education, and household composition.
Nielsen Claritas’s PRIZM system breaks down the U.S. population into 66 segments based on these attributes. 
Obama leads McCain in dollars and the number of donations received from the 10 PRIZM segments of the U.S. population that have made the most political contributions through …

The final presidential debate between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama drew 56.5 million U.S. viewers Wednesday night, Nielsen reported Thursday.
The TV audience for the senators’ third meeting edged past that of their first debate at the end of September, which drew 52.4 million viewers, but was easily surpassed by the audience of 63.2 million that tuned in for the second presidential debate last week.
During the previous presidential campaign, 51.2 million viewers tuned in for President Bush and John Kerry’s third debate on Oct. 13, 2004.  (View complete historical debate ratings.)
As …

The combined overall household rating for Wednesday night’s final presidential debate, in the top 56 local television markets where Nielsen maintains electronic TV meters, was 38.3. 
In comparison, last week’s debate between Senators McCain and Obama — the candidates’ second – received a 42.0 household rating in the top 55 local TV markets.  The candidates’ first debate on September 26 received a 34.7 household rating in the top 55 markets.
Wednesday night’s championship baseball game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies — aired by FOX, instead of the debate – may have impacted the …

Sen. Barack Obama will reportedly run a half-hour paid political simulcast on CBS and NBC, just days before the U.S. presidential election.
Obama’s simulcast would be the first to be aired by a presidential candidate since Ross Perot ran a series of 15 political telecasts during the 1992 presidential election.
Perot’s 1992 telecasts drew an average audience of 11.6 million viewers — 4.6% of all viewers nationwide.  His one simulcast, carried on ABC and CBS on November 2, 1992 between 8pm and 8:30pm, attracted 26 million viewers.

Traffic to the presidential candidates’ websites showed continued growth during September, Nielsen Online reported Friday.
Traffic to Sen. John McCain’s site increased by 56% over the previous month — to 4.2 million unique visitors in September, and by 239% over traffic in June.
Meanwhile, Sen. Barack Obama’s website attracted 7.9 million unique visitors in September — up by 31% from August, and by 156% over June traffic.

On Tuesday night, 63.2 million U.S. viewers watched the second presidential debate between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama.
The TV audience for the senators’ second meeting easily surpassed that of their first debate, which drew an audience of 52.4 million on Friday, Sept. 26.
During the previous presidential campaign, 46.7 million viewers tuned in for President Bush and John Kerry’s second debate on Oct. 8, 2004. 
See more historical debate ratings.

CBS’s “NCIS” was the number one-ranked primetime telecast on broadcast TV for Tuesday, October 7, 2008, drawing an audience of almost 16.3 million average viewers.
ABC’s special presentation of “Dancing With The Stars” claimed second place, with almost 15.1 million viewers.  ABC’s post-debate analysis of the second McCain/Obama presidential debate rounded out the top three, with just over 9.9 million viewers.
Post-debate coverage on NBC, CBS, and FOX also made the top ten.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
NCIS
CBS
16,288,000

2
DANCING W/STARS RESULT SP(S)-10/07/2008
ABC
15,065,000

3
VOTE2008:ANALYSIS-TUE(S)-10/07/2008
ABC
9,917,000

4
DECISION ‘08:PRES ANALYS2(S)-10/07/2008
NBC
8,349,000

5
CAMPAIGN ‘08-DEBATE ANL-2(S)-10/07/2008
CBS
7,951,000

6
BIGGEST LOSER 6
NBC
7,265,000

7
HOUSE
FOX
6,365,000

8
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE TUE
UNI
5,634,000

9
CUIDADO CON EL ANGEL TUE
UNI
4,637,000

10
FOX NEWS: …

The combined overall household rating for Tuesday night’s second presidential debate, in 55 of the 56 local television markets where Nielsen maintains electronic TV meters, was 42.1.
In comparison, the first debate between Senators McCain and Obama received a much lower household rating (34.7) in the top 55 local TV markets.  Last week’s V.P. debate received a 45.0 household rating in the top 55 markets.
One rating point equals 1% of the total TV audience in a given market.
The Nashville market, where the debate was held, had the largest TV audience, with a household rating of 59.2, while the Sacramento/Stockton/Modesto, California market had …