As a marketing company NCP is constantly collecting and analyzing the data you provide to us. We are also constantly analyzing internal information, as we look to improve our internal operations.

One of the things we measure is the Panel Support Center’s call and email volume as well as the social media contacts. Our analysis found that most of our panelist contacts are through email or social media, and that phone calls usually occur during a particular window of time.

With that in mind, NCP has decided to modify the hours the PSC is available for phone calls. Here are the revised Panel Support Center Hours:

Phone Support
Monday to Friday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET

Social Media/Email Support
Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET
Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET

Don’t Forget: NCP Is Now On Instagram
As previously announced, NCP is now on Instagram, the photo and video-sharing social networking service. Check us out at www.instagram.com/ncppanel/.

Let us know what you think of our Instagram site!

Thanks, and have a nice weekend.

Not an NCP member yet? Just sign up at join.ncponline.com!

Come Monday, the new broadcast TV season will “officially” begin. I’m pretty excited to see some of my favs coming back, including (sad to say) the final season of “The Big Bang Theory.” And there’s a lot of other good shows to watch (such as “This Is Us,” “The Good Doctor,” and “Grey’s Anatomy,” etc., etc., etc.!)

Which shows are you looking forward to watching? Whether they’re new or returning shows, let us know!

There are a lot of TV viewers out there. According to Nielsen, there are an estimated 119.9 million TV homes in the U.S. for the 2018-19 TV season.

The number of persons age 2 and older in U.S. TV Households is estimated to be 305.4 million, which represents a 0.3 % increase from last year. Increases in U.S. Hispanic, black and Asian TV households were also seen, due to estimated increases in population growth.

Additionally, the percentage of total U.S. homes with televisions receiving traditional TV signals via broadcast, cable, or via a broadband Internet connection connected to a TV set is currently at 95.9%.

Big News: NCP Is Now On Instagram!
The old expression, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” is certainly true. So we are excited to announce that NCP is now on Instagram, the photo and video-sharing social networking service. Check us out at www.instagram.com/ncppanel/.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Not an NCP member yet? Join the fun by signing up at join.ncponline.com!

It’s time for some tips!

You may not realize this, but every shopping trip you make – whether you buy many items or just a few – represents the shopping behavior of thousands of other households just like yours across the United States. This is why it’s so important to record all of your household’s purchases!

Our research shows that many of our panel members record their grocery store items, but sometimes forget to record purchases from stores such as drug stores, convenience stores, dollar stores, etc. We sometimes refer to purchases made from these types of stores as “on the go” purchases.

Here are just a few reminders:

• Drugstores now carry a wide variety of items, even food. So if you stop at a drugstore to pick up health and beauty items, vitamins, cold remedies, pain medicine, or even milk, remember to record those purchases as soon as you get home.
• If you make a quick stop at a Convenience Store, let us know about it. If the item you purchased is consumed before you get home, just save the packaging and scan the barcode later, or write the barcode number on the back of the receipt.
• Many Dollar Stores have names that sound similar. When recording these purchases, be careful when choosing the store name.

A note to those in Hurricane Florence’s path: We’ve seen the news reports and it looks like conditions will be bad for a while. Please know that our thoughts are with you and your loved ones. Please take care.

Good news, football fans, the football season is finally here! The college football season has already kicked off (sorry, I couldn’t help myself!), and the professional teams started playing last night.

My nephew recently began his freshman year at Penn State – not to play football, but to study accounting. Anyway, he’s been talking about going to Penn State for a while now, both in terms of the academics as well as being able to soak up the atmosphere at home games (where more than 100,000 people attend!), so I’ve become more interested in college football.

Like pro football, college football is BIG business, especially for the big-name schools. In its most recent study conducted during the 2017 season, The Wall Street Journal determined each football program’s value using available revenues and expenses, making cash-flow adjustments, risk assessments and growth projections for each school. Here are the most valuable football programs in the country. (And I have to tell you, I was shocked to see these numbers!)

1. Ohio State (estimated value of $1.5 billion at the end of the 2017 season)
2. Texas ($1.2 billion)
3. Oklahoma ($1 billion)
4. Alabama ($930 million)
5. LSU ($910 million)
6. Michigan ($892 million)
7. Notre Dame ($856 million)
8. Georgia ($822 million)
9. Tennessee ($745 million)
10. Auburn ($724 million)
11. Florida ($682 million)
12. Penn State ($549 million)
13. Texas A&M ($522 million)
14. Nebraska ($507 million)
15. South Carolina ($484 million)
16. Iowa ($483 million)
17. Arkansas ($456 million)
18. Wisconsin ($439 million)
19. Washington ($434 million)
20. Florida State ($385 million)

Now you might think that going to a college game wouldn’t be too costly, but that’s not always the case. According to marketwatch.com, in 2016 the average cost of attending an NFL game was around $90. In 2017, if you didn’t get a student ticket, there were at least 48 schools whose football tickets exceed that average price.

For me, I’ll just watch the games on TV! And when I speak to my nephew, he can tell me all about how Penn State played.

Do you go to football – high school, college, or pro – games? Let us know!

Thanks, and have a great weekend.

Not an NCP member yet? If you want to join the panel, just go to join.ncponline.com and sign up!