Nielsen today released “C3″ ratings data for television viewing in the first week of the 2009-2010 TV season.

When it comes to making television programs available online, many companies are testing the consumer adoption of different business models and the technology required for each.

U.S. ad spending fell 15.4% in the first half of 2009, according to data released today by The Nielsen Company. A total of $56.9 billion was spent on advertising in the first six months of the year, more than $10.3 billion less than the same time period in 2008.

The Nielsen Company reported today that U.S. advertising for the first quarter 2009 was down 12% compared to the first quarter 2008. Preliminary figures show that U.S. ad expenditures declined $3.8 billion to a total spend of $27.9 billion in the first quarter.
All measured media showed negative growth in this difficult economy, ranging from Spanish-Language Cable TV (-1.1%) to Local Sunday Supplements (-37.7%).

“These first quarter results will hardly come as a surprise to an advertising industry that’s struggling just like many other areas of the American economy,” said Annie Touliatos, …

A product placement within the show “Survivor” for Charmin topped the Nielsen IAG chart of Most Recalled In-Program Placements for a reality series on the broadcast networks. Similarly, a “hybrid” ad (where sponsor messaging is combined with program or entertainment content) for Dr Pepper during “Top Chef,” was the most-recalled ad of its type. Ads for these top 10 lists were show between February 16 and March 15, 2009.

Nielsen’s final look at ad buys by the 2008 Presidential candidates proved one famous mantra: politics really are local.
President-elect Barack Obama placed one-and-a-half times as many spot TV ads than John McCain during the general election season (6/08 to 11/08), and almost twice as many ads dating back to the beginning of January when the primaries were just heating up.

SPOT TV ADS: June-Nov 2008

Barack Obama
419,667

John McCain
269,992

The local numbers show a much bigger discrepancy than those for national cable and network buys. Sen. McCain kept pace w/ President-elect Obama in those …