Atop 2008 Nielsens: Telecasts, websites, DVDs, more
— -- The Nielsen Co.'s annual tally of the tops in television and selected other areas for 2008:
Top 10 single TV telecasts (viewers in millions)
1 Super Bowl XLII (Feb. 3, Fox) 97.4 2 Super Bowl Post-Game (Feb. 3, Fox) 63.9 3 NFC Championship (Jan. 20, Fox) 53.9 4 Olympics Opening Ceremony (Aug. 8, NBC) 34.9 5 Summer Olympics (Aug. 12, NBC) 34.0 6 American Idol (Jan. 15, Fox) 33.4 7 Summer Olympics (Aug. 10, NBC) 32.3 8 Academy Awards (Feb. 24, ABC) 32.0 9 American Idol (May 21, Fox) 31.7 10 Summer Olympics (Aug. 16, NBC) 31.6 Source: Nielsen Media Research; Jan. 1—Dec. 7, 2008; household ratings include live and same-day time-shifted viewing; excludes telecasts under 5 minutes
Top 10 time-shifted prime-time TV programs (increase in viewership)
1 Heroes (NBC) 35% 2 Fringe (Fox) 26% 3 Lost (ABC) 25% 4 Bones (Fox) 21% 5 Grey's Anatomy (ABC) 20% 6 House (Fox) 18% 7 Survivor: Gabon (CBS) 18% 8 American Idol (Tues., Fox) 13% 9 The Mentalist (CBS) 13% 10 American Idol (Wed., Fox) 12% Source: Nielsen Co.; Jan. 1—Nov. 23, percentage increase in viewership is based on absolute difference between live household ratings and live plus 7-day viewing
Top 10 TV series, fall season (average viewers in millions)
1 CSI (CBS) 21.3 2 Dancing With the Stars (ABC) 19.7 3 Grey's Anatomy (ABC) 18.1 4 Dancing w/Stars Results (ABC) 17.7 5 NCIS (CBS) 18.7 6 Desperate Housewives (ABC) 17.4 7 The Mentalist(CBS) 16.7 8 Sunday Night Football (NBC) 16.5 9 Criminal Minds (CBS) 16.3 10 60 Minutes (CBS) 16.0 Source: Nielsen Media Research, season through Nov. 30, including time-shifted viewing within 7 days except for the most recent two weeks
Top 10 broadcast programs with product placements (total number of occurrences)
1 Biggest Loser (NBC) 6,248 2 American Idol (Fox) 4,636 3 Extreme Makeover: Home (ABC) 3,371 4 America's Toughest Jobs (NBC) 2,807 5 One Tree Hill (CW) 2,575 6 Deal or No Deal (NBC) 2,292 7 America's Next Top Model (CW) 2,241 8 Last Comic Standing (NBC) 1,993 9 Kitchen Nightmares (Fox) 1,853 10 Hell's Kitchen (Fox) 1,807 Source: Nielsen Co.; Jan. 1—Nov. 30
Top 10 U.S. websites (average monthly audience in millions)
1 Google 120.5 2 Yahoo 114.9 3 MSN/Windows Live 98.4 4 Microsoft 95.5 5 AOL Media Network 90.2 6 YouTube 72.6 7 Fox Interactive Media 68.8 8 eBay 54.7 9 Wikipedia 54.5 10 Apple 49.3 Source: Nielsen Co.; January—October, number of individuals who visited one or more times
Top DVD sales (distributor, release date)
1 Iron Man (Paramount, Sept. 30) 2 I Am Legend (Warner, March 18) 3 Alvin and the Chipmunks (Fox, April 1) 4 Enchanted (Disney, March 18) 5 National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets (Disney, May 20) 6 WALL·E (Disney, Nov. 18) 7 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull(Paramount, Oct. 14) 8 Sex and the City: The Movie (Warner, Sept. 23) 9 Bee Movie (Paramount, March 11) 10 American Gangster (Universal, Feb. 19) Source: Nielsen Co.; Jan. 1—Dec. 7; several key titles not yet released; based on unit sales (including Blu-ray and HD DVD), not including Wal-Mart, but most other retailers included
Top 10 mobile games (share of revenue)
1 Tetris 7.0% 2 Bejeweled 4.0% 3 Guitar Hero III 3.6% 4 Wheel of Fortune 2.6% 5 Pac-Man 2.5% 6 The Oregon Trail 1.9% 7 Ms. Pac-Man 1.7% 8 Are You Smarter Than a 5th-Grader? 1.6% 9 Tetris Mania 1.6% 9 Surviving High School 1.2% Source: Nielsen Co. Mobile Games Report, third-quarter 2008; based on carrier-billed revenue at the top four U.S. carriers