I really like watching movies, so I’m really looking forward to this Sunday when one of my favorite awards shows will be broadcast – the Oscars! I’ll be tuning in early for the red carpet preview to see what everyone is wearing!

I haven’t had a chance to see many of the nominated movies, because I’ve been busy with work and family life. But, I’m still interested in finding out who wins an award.

Last year’s ceremony, according to Nielsen, was watched by 37.3 million total viewers, which was the lowest-rated Oscars telecast since 2011. But it still ranked as the No. 4 most-watched program and the No. 1 entertainment program of 2015.

According to Nielsen, the highest-rated Oscars show of all time was the 1998 ceremony, when one of my favorite movies, Titanic, won 11 Academy Awards, including best picture. That year 55.25 million viewers watched the show.

The average cost of a 30-second ad during Sunday’s Oscars telecast is between $1.9 million and $2 million, according to Kantar Media. Those numbers are significantly larger than the average cost of a spot during last year’s Grammys ($942,000) or Golden Globes ($577,000).

Hope you get a chance to see the show. It should be interesting!

Have a great day.

I haven’t been here at NCP too long, so I was curious about the history of the company. You may not know how long the panel has been around and how it got started. So let’s take a closer look at one of our parent companies and see what happened and when!

1923: Arthur Charles Nielsen, Sr., establishes the ACNielsen Company.

1933: Nielsen starts measuring and reporting drug store and retail store sales.

1934: Nielsen starts measuring and reporting food and department store sales.

1935: Nielsen invents the concept of “market share,” defined as the size of the “shopping pie” a manufacturer’s or retailer’s sales represent.

1963: Nielsen starts measuring and reporting discount mass-merchandiser store sales.

1977: Nielsen introduces scanning of UPC barcodes to measure retail sales.

1980: National Scantrack Service is introduced, which collects UPC barcode information from retail stores, then sells that data to manufacturers.

1987: Nielsen introduces National Electronic Household Panel, featuring hand-held scanners used by household members to record all UPC-coded purchases. (This is the forerunner of the Homescan Consumer Panel, which became NCP!)

1990: The first survey is mailed to panelists.

2003: Nielsen introduces online survey opportunities to their consumer panel members.

2004: Nielsen introduces Homescan Online, the first Internet measurement service that creates a direct link between off-line purchase behavior and online surfing activity. This is now known as NCP Connect.

2010: The Nielsen Company enters into a joint venture with another leading consumer insights provider, Information Resources, Inc. (IRI) to form the National Consumer Panel.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this brief history lesson.

Have a great day!

Sunday is Valentine’s Day, and I hope you celebrate the day. I’m a hopeless romantic, so this is one of my favorite holidays! So share the love on Valentine’s Day with friends and family and treat them special on Sunday – and every day!

Since Valentine’s Day is traditionally a gift-giving day, I thought I’d share some interesting information.

According to the National Retail Federation, Valentine’s Day-related spending is expected to reach 19.7 billion this year, compared with around $18.9 billion in 2015. Consumers are expected to spend an average of $146.84 on flowers, jewelry, candy, apparel and more, compared with $142.31 last year. (These figures include purchases for significant others as well as friends, family members, and even pets!)

More than half of the U.S. population celebrates Valentine’s Day by purchasing a greeting card, with 141 million Valentine’s Day cards being exchanged annually, according to Hallmark.

Want to buy your Valentine some candy? Well, there are more than 3,300 confectionery and nut stores in the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The estimated value of chocolate and cocoa product shipments for manufacturers was $14.9 billion in 2014. Meanwhile, nonchocolate confectionery product manufacturing had an estimated value of $9.3 billion in product shipments in 2014.

What about buying flowers for your loved ones? Perhaps you could go to one of the more than 14,000 florists’ establishments nationwide.

Need to find some jewelry for your Valentine? It shouldn’t be too hard to find something nice at one of the more than 23,000 jewelry stores in the United States. In February 2013, these stores sold an estimated $2.5 billion in merchandise, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

I hope you have a great Valentine’s Day, and remember if you buy flowers, candy, or clothing, you can record these purchases, even if they don’t have a barcode. If you have a scanner, use the Barcode Reference Booklet. If you use the NCPMobile App, use the onboard Non-Barcoded Items Listing. (Note: If you have the white scanner that you have to hold up to your phone’s mouthpiece to make transmissions, you do not have the Barcode Reference Booklet.)

Have a great day!

Hi, there!

The Super Bowl is this Sunday. When I think of the Super Bowl, I think of great commercials and eating lots of tasty food at a party. I know, some people actually watch the game and care about who wins. But that’s the great thing about the Super Bowl, why it has become such a national attraction. There’s something for everybody.

According to The Nielsen Company, last year’s Super Bowl was the most-watched televised event in U.S. history, as more than 114 million viewers tuned in. (By the way, for the past two years, women have made up 47% of the TV viewing audience.)

Even if you don’t like football, it’s still a lot of fun to watch. I know I’m really looking forward to the halftime show and seeing Coldplay, Beyoncé, AND Bruno Mars!

Remember, if you’re purchasing anything for a Super Bowl party or something just to have while watching the game at home, whether it’s chips and dips, wings, an adult beverage, or anything else, please make sure and record your purchases!

Here are some interesting statistics, courtesy of The Nielsen Company:

• In 2015, Americans spent $2.54 billion on popular snacks in the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl

That included:

• $1 billion on salty snacks
• $53 million on deli sandwiches
• $12.6 million on vegetable trays (nice to see some people eating healthy!)

When it comes to adult beverages:

• Americans spent $1.2 billion on beer in the two weeks leading up to 2015’s Super Bowl.

Now this statistic makes me laugh:

• With all that snacking, sales of antacids rose 4.5% in the week after the Super Bowl, compared with an average week.

It’s important that you record everything you buy, because our panel members’ food preferences were reflected in the statistics above.

Don’t forget our Oscar promotion. I hope you made your selection for Best Actress and also sent us your purchase information! Early next week, be on the lookout for an email with a survey for the next category, Best Actor.

Enjoy the game!