Media Roundup: Super Bowl Draws 95 Million, IE Losing Market Share and More
Super Bowl draws 95 million -- According to Nielsen Media Research, 95 million viewers tuned in to this year's Super Bowl between the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers. The game was the second most watched Super Bowl in history, behind the 97.5 million that watched last year's championship. Despite the slight drop in viewership, NBC tallied $206 million charging $3 million for each 30-second advertisement. [Source: Wall Street Journal]
IE losing market share -- Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser is continuing to lose market share to Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari and Google Chrome. In the past year, IE lost seven percent of market share while Firefox gained three percent. Microsoft hopes to regain market share when the company releases the next version of Internet Explorer later this year. [Source: CNET]
Music labels feel slighted by Apple deal -- In the wake of a recent deal that has music labels giving up copyright protection in exchange for Apple introducing flexible pricing, many labels are privately fretting about the negotiations. Apple CEO Steve Jobs was said to be combative and highly aggressive in negotiations, and many labels lament that Apple holds too much power in the industry. [Source: New York Times]
Digital switch may be delayed... again -- Similar to last week, the House is set to vote on a bill that would push back the television switchover to digital from February to June. The bill failed previously falling 20 votes short of the two-thirds majority need to pass. However, this week's bill only needs a majority vote, and is likely to pass. The Senate has already passed the bill and President Barack Obama has promised his signature. [Source: Wired]
Game sales up in US and UK, down in Japan -- In a report by three marketing firms, video game sales are up in the U.S. and UK, but down in Japan. Sales rose 26 percent in the U.K., 15 percent in the U.S. but fell 13 percent on Japan. The downturn in Japan is blamed on sagging PlayStation 2 sales that offset any gains in the newest generation of consoles. Nintendo's Mario Kart was the top selling game across all three markets. [Source: VentureBeat]