The Business of Television : Election

CNN: Presidential Primary Coverage

News — Mon, 18 May 2009 04:13:00 GMT

CNN laid the groundwork for its 2008 election coverage back in 2005 budgeting meetings, when all it really knew was that there would be a wide open two-party race. The planning paid off, with the Peabody judges singling out the cable network’s primary...(read more)

Ad Spending Fell 2% in Q3 as Economy Softened, Report Says

News — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:50:56 GMT

Ad spending dropped 2% in the third quarter from the previous year despite the Olympics and presidential election, TNS Media Intelligence reported Thursday. For the first nine months of 2008, total spending was down 1.7%, but most national TV categories...(read more)

Election Lifts Cable News Networks Into Top 5

News — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:59:29 GMT

The election of Barack Obama as the nation’s first African American president wasn’t the only reason the week of Nov. 3 was historic. However, it was the major reason that the five most-watched basic-cable news channels in prime time included three cable...(read more)

Column: Election Night: The Plane Truth

News — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 04:31:00 GMT

I was flying over “ruby red” Utah last Tuesday when the television networks called the presidential election for Sen. Barack Obama. We’d already had our first beverage and snack service—animal crackers, Terra chips and a Doritos snack mix among the choices...(read more)

Obama Infomercial Had to Tell Story, Team Says

News — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 04:31:00 GMT

It turns out President-elect Barack Obama’s half-hour network TV campaign advertisement, which drew rave reviews and an audience of 33.5 million viewers, came together in little more than a month. Now that the election is over, production details of the...(read more)

‘Oprah’s’ Post-Election Show Hits Household High

News — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 23:36:24 GMT

“The Oprah Winfrey Show’s” post-election program Wednesday took in its highest ratings in metered household markets in almost nine months. The show drew a 6.5 preliminary household rating in 56 metered markets, which is also a season high. Ms. Winfrey...(read more)

Obama Speech Scores 4.8 Mil Online Views in 24 Hours

News — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 06:10:03 GMT

Sen. Barack Obama’s acceptance speech after winning the presidential election last night had earned more than 4.8 million viral video views 24 hours after the clip began to circulate online, according to data from online video measurement service Visible...(read more)

CNN, MSNBC Web Sites Most Popular on Election Day

News — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 00:35:48 GMT

CNN.com won the online news race on Election Day, ranking as the most visited Web site on Nov. 4 among all media and political sites, with MSNBC.com second, said online audience measurement firm Hitwise. CNN.com’s traffic rose 146% on Tuesday compared...(read more)

78.6 Mil Watched Prime-Time Election Coverage

News — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 23:40:53 GMT

An estimated 78.58 million people watched prime-time coverage of the historic election on 14 broadcast and cable networks Tuesday night, according to final national averages from Nielsen Media Research. That’s a dramatic increase from the 59.17 million...(read more)

ABC Leads Broadcast Nets in Election Viewing

News — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 21:41:29 GMT

ABC’s coverage of Election Night was the most-watched of the four broadcast networks from 8 to 11 p.m. Tuesday, a position the network has not held on a presidential Election Night since 1996. According to fast national data, adjusted for time zone differences...(read more)

News Nets See Huge Web Traffic on Election Night

News — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 21:22:11 GMT

The Web sites of cable news networks MSNBC.com and CNN.com, as well as ABCNews.com, reported record-breaking traffic on Election Night, according to statistics released today. On Nov. 4, MSNBC.com generated nearly 250 million page views served up to more...(read more)

Podesta, Genachowski Join Obama Transition Team

News — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 20:15:45 GMT

President-elect Barack Obama today formally announced a transition team, saying it would be headed by John Podesta, Valerie Jarrett and Pete Rouse. Mr. Podesta was the final White House chief of staff in the Clinton administration. Ms. Jarrett is CEO...(read more)

ABC Leads Broadcast Nets, But Cable Likely Winner in Election Coverage

News — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 20:00:55 GMT

Early ratings returns from metered markets for the broadcast networks’ election coverage Tuesday may indicate a larger audience still to be announced for cable news networks later Wednesday. Despite covering a presidential election universally acknowledged...(read more)

Obama Wins the Battle for Online Buzz

News — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 19:31:38 GMT

Not only did Barack Obama come away with the election last night, he also tallied up more social media buzz during the last year, according to data from online tracking service Trendrr. Sen. Obama had the advantage in news mentions, blog buzz, MySpace...(read more)

What Obama Means to Ads and TV

News — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:43:37 GMT

Now that the election's over and Sen. Barack Obama is the president-elect, the real fighting can begin. With the Democrats riding to victory with promises of change, it's a safe bet the next Congress and administration will look to make a mark...(read more)