NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - April 22, 2008) - Nielsen Online, a service of The Nielsen Company, today announced that among presidential candidates, Senator Barack Obama's Web site had the most unique viewers of video content in March, with 518,000. Senator Hillary Clinton had 351,000 unique viewers and Senator John McCain had 38,000 (see Table 1). The findings were released with the March 2008 VideoCensus figures, which indicated continued growth in the consumption of online video.

 

Table 1: Presidential Candidate Web Sites ranked by Unique Viewers of Video
Content in March 2008 (U.S., Home and Work)

                        Unique Viewers       Total Video         Time Spent
Candidate Web Site      (000)                Streams (000)       per Viewer
                        --------------       -------------       ----------
Barack Obama                       518                 828           16 min
Hillary For President              351                 551          4.8 min
JohnMcCain.com                      38                  66          1.5 min

Source: Nielsen Online, VideoCensus

Minimal Viewer Overlap between Audiences

Only one percent of viewers watched video content on both Barack Obama's and Hillary Clinton's Web sites in March. Across all candidate sites, including John McCain's, there was virtually no overlap. The findings suggest that campaign Web site videos are attracting loyal viewers who are not necessarily researching all three candidates.

"This reinforces a clear trend toward candidates using the Web as a rallying point for their base -- as a place to disseminate talking points and to gather contributions," said Jon Gibs, vice president, media analytics for Nielsen Online. "Undecided voters seem to understand this and appear to be going elsewhere -- including online destinations such as CNN, MSNBC and The New York Times, as well as less official channels such as YouTube to gather broader information and view video content."

March's Topline VideoCensus Metrics

 

Table 2: Overall Online Video Consumption for January - March 2008 (U.S.,
Home and Work)
                        Jan-08               Feb-08               Mar-08
                        ---------            ---------            ---------
Unique Viewers (000)      116,745              115,799              115,366
Total Streams (000)     5,987,475            6,333,326            6,967,963
Streams per Viewer           51.3                 54.7                 60.4
Time per Viewer (min)       124.4                130.7                137.3

Source: Nielsen Online, VideoCensus

 

Table 3: Top 10 Brands by Video Streams for March 2008 (U.S., Home and
Work)
                                              Total        Unique
                                            Streams       Viewers
Video Brand                                   (000)         (000)
                                          ---------     ---------
1.  YouTube                               6,052,649        69,604
2.  Yahoo!                                  674,549        22,532
3.  Fox Interactive Media                   653,340        19,801
4.  Nickelodeon Kids and Family Network     552,121         6,256
5.  MSN/Windows Live                        401,744        10,521
6.  Google                                  340,708        14,095
7.  Veoh                                    311,074         3,136
8.  ABC.COM                                 283,776         4,609
9.  CBS Entertainment Network               277,389         3,401
10. Disney Online                           232,767         7,671

Source: Nielsen Online, VideoCensus

About VideoCensus:

Nielsen Online's VideoCensus is the first and only syndicated online video measurement service to combine patented panel and census research methodologies, providing an accurate count of viewing activity and engagement along with in-depth demographic reporting.

About Nielsen Online:

Nielsen Online, a service of The Nielsen Company, delivers comprehensive, independent measurement and analysis of online audiences, advertising, video, consumer-generated media, word of mouth, commerce and consumer behavior, and includes products previously marketed under the Nielsen//NetRatings and Nielsen BuzzMetrics brands. With high quality, technology-driven products and services, Nielsen Online enables clients to make informed business decisions regarding their Internet, digital and marketing strategies. For more information, please visit www.nielsen-online.com.

About The Nielsen Company:

The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions in marketing information (ACNielsen), media information (Nielsen Media Research), online intelligence (NetRatings and BuzzMetrics), mobile measurement, trade shows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek). The privately held company is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in Haarlem, the Netherlands, and New York, USA. For more information, please visit, www.nielsen.com.