Senators McCain and Obama spent about the same on Olympics TV advertising — between $5 and $6 million, Adweek reported Monday.
But McCain got much more bang for his advertising bucks, according to an analysis by Nielsen IAG.
Nielsen’s survey of 1,600 likely general election voters who watched the Beijing Games found that McCain’s Olympic ads more effectively communicated a basic message, were recalled by more viewers, and triggered a larger intent-to-vote increase among viewers than ads run by Obama’s campaign. 
On average, the two McCain ads that were surveyed — “Celebrity” and “Washington’s …

Day four of the Democratic National Convention featured the acceptance speech by nominee Sen. Barack Obama.  The convention was carried live during prime time on ten networks – ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News Channel, MSNBC, BET, TV One, Univision and Telemundo.  Coverage varied by network, all ten aired live coverage from approximately 10-11PM (ET). The final night drew the largest audience so far for the Democrats (24.5% of all American homes), eclipsing the audience reach the three previous evenings.

The speech by Sen. Obama was the fifth most-viewed, non-sports program …

More than 24 million people watched the third night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention — a 7.5% decrease from 26 million viewers on day two of the convention.
Wednesday night’s speeches, which featured Former President Bill Clinton’s endorsement of Senator Obama and Senator Joseph Biden’s acceptance of his party’s nomination for vice president, drew 12.2% of all African American viewers — down slightly from the prevous night when Hillary Clinton addressed the convention (12.7%), but up from day one (12%), when Michelle Obama spoke.
Viewers age 55 and older continue to dominate …

Almost 26 million people watched the second night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention — a 16% increase from 22.3 million viewers on the opening night of the convention.
Tuesday night’s speeches, which featured Senator Hillary Clinton’s much anticipated keynote address, continued to draw a large proportion of African Americans (12.7% of all African American viewers tuned in). 
Viewers age 55 and older also continued to dominate Tuesday night’s TV audience, with 20% of all Americans in that age group watching the convention coverage on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News Channel, MSNBC, BET, …

More than 22 million people — and 17 million U.S. households — watched the first night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention on Monday, August 25.
A large percentage of African American households (24%) tuned in for the night’s speeches, which included a keynote address by Michelle Obama. 
Among White households in the U.S., 14.6% watched the convention Monday night, while just 7.3% of Hispanic households tuned in.
Viewers age 55 and older also dominated the TV audience Monday night – 16.6% of all Americans in that age group watched the first night of convention coverage broadcast live during primetime on ABC, CBS, NBC, …

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 …

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 …

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 …

With the national political conventions starting next week, pundits and the general public, alike, are scrutinizing Barack Obama’s and John McCain’s campaign strategies.
On Thursday, Nielsen joined the fray, releasing an analysis of the candidates’ online presence and buzz, their advertising campaigns, and TV viewership for past conventions. 
Online Audience and Videos Viewed
BarackObama.com’s unique audience was twice as large as JohnMcCain.com’s in both June and July 2008.  However, in July, the number of video streams on JohnMcCain.com more than doubled, possibly due to press coverage around Senator John McCain’s ad that compared …

This year’s presumptive presidential nominees seem hesitant to advertise over the Internet. According to Nielsen Online, the candidates have been active with search advertisements, with McCain getting 5.4 million hits in May, as opposed to Obama’s 1.8 million.
Mediaweek reports that digital ad executives say they are disappointed, puzzled, even a little impatient when it comes to the light spending to date. Meanwhile, those with firsthand knowledge of the campaigns say that in spite of the Web proving a fund-raising gold mine (particularly for Sen. Obama), senior officials continue to …