Nielsen Wire » presidential politics

UPDATED: Obama Inaugural Events Viewed By 30.1% In Top Markets

Nielsen Wire — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 17:47:31 +0000

Updated 01/27: The updated %figures and chart reflect updated data relative to select West Coast markets.

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The combined overall household rating for the inauguration of President Barack Obama in the top 56 local television markets where Nielsen maintains TV meters was 30.1%.

The Raleigh-Durham market had the largest TV audience with more than 51% of households tuned in to the day’s events.

Rank by HH Rating	Market Name	Market Rank by Number of TV Households	Household Rating % of TV households in market tuned in
1	Raleigh-Durham (Fayetvlle)	27	51.2
2	Washington, DC (Hagrstwn)	9	47.7
3	Norfolk-Portsmth-Newpt Nws	43	46.7
4	Baltimore	26	44.3
5	Greensboro-H.Point-W.Salem	46	42.3
6	Charlotte	24	40.8
7	West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce	38	39.6
8	Memphis	48	39.4
9	Richmond-Petersburg	58	37.2
10	Greenvll-Spart-Ashevll-And	36	35.9
11	Birmingham (Ann and Tusc)	40	35.7
12	Miami-Ft. Lauderdale	16	35.5
13	Knoxville	59	35.3
14	Ft. Myers-Naples	62	33.8
15	Las Vegas	42	33.4
16	Kansas City	31	32.9
17	Philadelphia	4	32.5
18	Nashville	29	31.6
19	Columbus, OH	32	31.3
19	New Orleans	53	31.3
21	Buffalo	51	31.0
22	Detroit	11	30.8
22	Pittsburgh	23	30.8
24	Providence-New Bedford	52	30.0
25	Dayton	64	29.9
25	Indianapolis	25	29.9
25	New York	1	29.9
28	Louisville	50	29.7
29	Atlanta	8	29.3
29	Hartford & New Haven	30	29.3
31	Oklahoma City	45	29.2
32	San Antonio	37	28.9
33	Cincinnati	34	28.6
33	Jacksonville	47	28.6
35	Albuquerque-Santa Fe	44	28.5
36	Orlando-Daytona Bch-Melbrn	19	28.3
37	San Diego	28	28.2
38	Tampa-St. Pete (Sarasota)	13	28.0
39	St. Louis	21	27.9
40	Chicago	3	27.8
41	Cleveland-Akron (Canton)	17	27.2
42	Houston	10	26.9
43	Los Angeles	2	26.6
44	Portland, OR	22	25.9
44	Sacramnto-Stkton-Modesto	20	25.9
44	San Francisco-Oak-San Jose	6	25.9
47	Tulsa	61	25.8
48	Milwaukee	35	25.7
49	Boston (Manchester)	7	25.4
49	Seattle-Tacoma	14	25.4
51	Austin	49	25.1
52	Dallas-Ft. Worth	5	24.6
53	Salt Lake City	33	23.7
54	Minneapolis-St. Paul	15	23.6
55	Phoenix (Prescott)	12	22.4
56	Denver	18	21.8
©2009 The Nielsen Company

See previous ratings for presidential elections here.

From Nixon To Bush 43: Presidential Inauguration Ratings

Nielsen Wire — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 18:50:18 +0000

On Tuesday, January 20th, Americans will witness history with the inauguration of the 44^th President of the United States, Barack Obama. How will this event compare with other inaugurations over the past 40 years? Nielsen has compiled data about inaugural viewership since 1969.

Key findings are:

Ronald Reagan’s 1981 inauguration drew the most viewers – almost 42 million.

First time inaugurations of two-term presidents drew higher ratings than their second (exception: Nixon in 1973).

The least watched inauguration since 1969: George W. Bush in 2005, with 15.5 million.

Click this link for complete inauguration ratings 1969-2005

PRESIDENT	DATE	Viewers P2+
G.W.Bush	1/20/2005	15,536,652
G.W.Bush	1/20/2001	29,008,200
Clinton	1/20/1997	21,583,000
Clinton	1/20/1993	29,721,041
G.H.Bush	1/20/1989	23,316,325
Reagan	1/20/1985	25,053,886
Reagan	1/20/1981	41,800,260
Carter	1/20/1977	34,127,090
Nixon	1/20/1973	32,950,900
Nixon	1/20/1969	27,007,700
Source: © 2009 The Nielsen Company

Box Office Sales Linked With Presidential Politics

admin — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:25:51 +0000

Will the presidential elections impact Hollywood?

If history is any guide, Democratic presidents are associated with larger box office sales growth. From 1980 to 2007, box office sales grew by 2.8%, on average, during Democratic administrations, while average sales growth under Republican administrations was just 1%, according to research released Monday by Nielsen PreView.

Overall, in the past three decades, movie sales have grown almost three times faster during Democratic administrations than during GOP administrations, according to Nielsen.

The entertainment industry may be facing tough times regardless of which party takes the White House in January.

According to a recent Nielsen study, 56% of consumers said they are likely to reduce their discretionary entertainment spending, as they seek ways to reduce expenses.

Spending on travel and clothing may also take a hit — 51% and 41% of consumers surveyed by Nielsen plan to cut spending on those respective items. In contrast, healthcare and housing spending were least likely to be reduced by consumers — just 9% of respondents said they will cut expenditures in those areas.

View Nielsen PreView’s full report.

Cast your vote to help guide Nielsen PreView’s future political research.

Choose from among the following topics:
- Democrats’ vs. Republicans’ media habits
- Undecided voters’ media habits
- Dominant Web sources for political information
- Changes in how American consumers access political news and information via TV and the Internet