"Decision '08 Dashboard" Page Views Soar Past 67 Million;
Live Video Streams Surge to More Than 1.2 Million
REDMOND, Wash., Sept. 3, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Msnbc.com's "Decision '08 Dashboard," a one-of-a-kind destination for politics available at www.politics.msnbc.com, saw traffic skyrocket throughout the Democratic National Convention with more than 67 million page views during the week ending August 30, 2008.* This record breaking total was the Politics destination's biggest week ever, ahead of the site's coverage of the November 2006 election. Viewers watched more than 1.2 million total live video streams of NBC News' expansive convention coverage - setting a new live video stream record.*
Msnbc.com, the number one Current Events and Global News site,** has surged past its competitors and quickly become the web's premiere destination for the best political news, analysis and video. Of msnbc.com's 29 million total online video streams for the week ending August 30, 16 million total streams - or 55% - were politics-related.* Consumers turned to the "Decision '08 Dashboard," for up-to-the-minute coverage from the convention floor, exclusive multimedia features, live votes, the latest FirstRead blog posts, and next day analysis of the political news. Two of the most popular features on the site were msnbc.com's special convention slideshow and the new "Map & Info" section, which presents users with the tools to explore rich demographic data about the nation or any state.
The "Decision '08 Dashboard" empowers consumers and allows them to construct their own news experience. The visually distinctive design allows them to customize the page by arranging sections as they prefer. During the convention, traffic to the "Decision '08 Dashboard" surged to 80% higher than the weekly average, making politics the number one category across the site for the week ending August 30, 2008.*
On August 29, msnbc.com, named the number one news site by Nielsen Online,** beat CNN.com in page views, unique users, and online video streams. According to CNN.com, August 29 "represented one of the year's highest traffic days for CNN.com, as well as its highest traffic day during the week of the Democratic National convention."
* Msnbc.com had 84.2 million page views on August 29,* beating CNN.com by 7 million page views. (CNN.com reported 77 million page views.) * Msnbc.com attracted 11.2 million unique users* - 12% more than CNN.com on August 29. (CNN.com reported 10 million unique users.) * Msnbc.com served 5.6 million online video streams on August 29,* topping CNN.com which served 4.9 million video streams. * On August 29, Politics.msnbc.com generated 25.8 million page views* - 60% more than CNNPolitics.com's 16.1 million page views.
According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, more consumers get their political news from msnbc.com than any other online site. One out of every four people surveyed who said they got their campaign news online named msnbc.com. Of the hundreds of sites users mentioned as sources for political news, msnbc.com was the only site to get over a 25% response.***
To experience a fuller spectrum of news, consumers can visit the "Decision '08 Dashboard" at www.politics.msnbc.com.
About msnbc.com
Msnbc.com delivers a fuller spectrum of news. Drawing on its award-winning original journalism, NBC News heritage, trusted sources and Microsoft's advanced technologies, the site presents compelling, diverse and visually engaging stories on the consumer's platform of choice. Based in Redmond, WA, msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) and NBC Universal (NYSE:GE). The MSNBC Digital Network (msnbc.com) was the number one Current Events and Global News site with more than 37 million unique visitors in June, 2008. Source: Nielsen Online.**
*Source: Omniture SiteCatalyst
**Source: Nielsen Online
***Source: Pew Research Center