Nielsen Releases First Local Demographic Ratings for New Broadcast Series Premiering This Fall

Nielsen Releases First Local Demographic Ratings for New Broadcast Series Premiering This Fall

NEW YORK, Oct. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Nielsen Media Research today reported that among viewers age 25-54, "Invasion" was the highest rated new television show premiering this season in four of seven television markets measured with Local People Meters (Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia.) Among this same demographic group, "My Name is Earl" was the highest rated premiering new show in New York, while "Commander in Chief" was the highest rated new premiere in Washington and "Criminal Minds" was the highest rated in San Francisco.

This is the first time that local demographic ratings have been widely available day-by-day for new shows premiering during the fall television season. These LPM ratings provide previously unobtainable overnight data on who watched the first episodes of original broadcast prime time series airing in September. Nielsen had earlier reported on new cable television series that premiered during the summer.

Nielsen's data also shows that among adult women, the initial episode of "Commander in Chief" was the highest rated new program in six of the seven LPM markets, including Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, DC. In San Francisco "Criminal Minds" was the number one show among women.

Among adult men, the first episode of "Invasion" was the highest rated new premiere in three LPM markets (Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles), while "My Name is Earl" was the number one premiere in Washington, DC and San Francisco, "Commander in Chief" was number one in New York and "Criminal Minds" was number one in Philadelphia.

Comparing these local ratings to the national ratings during the same period, "Invasion" was the highest rated new premiere nationwide among both viewers age 25-54 and adult men, while "Commander in Chief" was first among adult women and "My Name is Earl" was the highest rated new premiere among viewers age 18-34.

By local market, highlights of LPM ratings among premieres of new series included the following (see tables for more details at http://everyonecounts.tv/public/documents/100605_premier_topten.pdf):

Boston -- Several new shows had their best premiers in Boston, including "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart," which finished first among viewers age 18-34; "Ghost Whisperer," which finished third among women and fifth among men; and "Out of Practice" which finished fourth among viewers 25-54 and fifth among women.

Chicago -- "Invasion" was easily the most popular new premiere, finishing first among men and viewers 25-54 and 18-34. "E-Ring" had its strongest showing in Chicago, finishing sixth among viewers 25-54 and fifth among women.

Los Angeles -- "Criminal Minds" performed well in Los Angeles, finishing third among women and fourth among viewers age 25-54. "Supernatural" finished sixth among viewers 25-54, its strongest showing in any market.

Philadelphia -- A number of shows had their highest demographic ratings among all seven LPM markets in Philadelphia, including: "Invasion," with a 10.0 rating among viewers 25-54; "War at Home," with a 10.4 rating among viewers 18-34; "Commander in Chief," with a rating of 12.9 among women; "Criminal Minds," which garnered a 9.1 rating among men.

New York -- "Everybody Loves Chris" which was the number one show among viewers 18-34, and "Love, Inc.," which finished fifth among this demographic, both had their best performance in New York.

San Francisco -- "Bones" finished second among both viewers age 25-54 and adult women. "Prison Break" finished first among viewers age 18-34, its strongest showing in any market.

Washington, DC -- "Commander in Chief" finished first among adult women and viewers 25-54, while "My Name is Earl" finished first among men and viewers 18-34. In Washington, DC, "Prison Break" finished in the top ten for all four demographics, the only market where it did so.

About Nielsen Media Research

Nielsen Media Research is the world's leading provider of television audience measurement and advertising information services. In the United States, Nielsen's National People Meter service provides audience estimates for all national program sources, including broadcast networks, cable networks, Spanish language networks, and national syndicators. Local ratings estimates are produced for television stations, regional cable networks, MSOs, cable interconnects, and Spanish language stations in each of the 210 television markets in the U.S., including electronic metered service in 56 markets. For more information, please visit: http://www.nielsenmedia.com/ .

Nielsen Media Research is part of VNU Media Measurement & Information, a global leader in information services for the media and entertainment industries. The group serves the information and marketing needs of television and radio broadcasters, advertisers, agencies, media planners, music companies, publishers, motion-picture studios, distributors and exhibitors, and the Internet industry. VNU is a global information and media company with leading market positions and recognized brands in marketing information (ACNielsen), media measurement and information (Nielsen Media Research) and business information (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Computing, Intermediair). VNU is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in Haarlem, the Netherlands and New York, USA. The company employs 38,000 people. Total revenues under IFRS amounted to EUR 3.3 billion in 2004. VNU is listed on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange. For more information, please visit the VNU website at http://www.vnu.com/ .

Source: Nielsen Media Research

CONTACT: Matt Tatham of Nielsen Media Research, +1-646-654-8362

Web site: http://www.nielsenmedia.com/ http://www.vnu.com/

------- Profile: Ent