"Fuller Spectrum" of Content Leads Consumers to Choose msnbc.com
Over CNN.com
Msnbc.com Tops CNN.com in Unique Visitors For 4th Time in a Row
REDMOND, Wash., Oct. 27, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Consumers, once again, chose msnbc.com over CNN.com and Yahoo! News as their main source online for the latest breaking news, original journalism, interactive features and comprehensive coverage of the day's news. In September, msnbc.com attracted more than 43 million unique visitors, surging past CNN.com by 16% and Yahoo! News by 13%.* For the fourth consecutive month, msnbc.com has dominated both CNN.com and Yahoo! News and was named the #1 Current Events and Global News Site according to Nielsen Online:
Consumers turned to msnbc.com more than any other news site for the full spectrum of coverage -- from the economic crisis to the latest in politics and real-time updates on the hurricanes. Msnbc.com saw traffic skyrocket past 100 million page views in multiple sections, including 150 million page views in the U.S. News section.**
-- Business News: As economic news unfolded, consumers turned
to msnbc.com to make sense of it all. Traffic to the site's
Business section generated over 112 million page views.**
-- Election News: In September, traffic to politics.msnbc.com
was up 39% over the previous record. Msnbc.com's "Decision
'08 Dashboard" provided the best insight and expert analysis
on the campaigns and upcoming election.**
-- Weather News: Msnbc.com's comprehensive coverage, including
its exclusive interactive Hurricane Tracker
(www.hurricanetracker.msnbc.com), drove over 100 million page
views to the Weather section.**
Consumers "vote" for msnbc.com over CNN.com in September
In addition to top headlines, consumers turned to msnbc.com for video and stories ranging from lifestyle, health and entertainment to technology, science and travel.
-- Msnbc.com had more than 43.2 million unique visitors in
September, topping both Yahoo! News and CNN.com.*
-- Msnbc.com's year-over-year increase in unique visitors was
44% -- more than double that of CNN.com and nearly triple that
of Yahoo! News.*
-- Msnbc.com led CNN.com in minutes per page: 988 minutes per
thousand pages viewed, compared to 885 minutes per thousand
page views.*
-- With nearly 2 billion page views, msnbc.com shattered its
previous site page view record.**
In September, consumers watched more than 114 million online video streams on the site.*** Msnbc.com also unveiled its innovative "debate video player" in September, which allowed consumers to view the full presidential and vice presidential debates, and, at any time skip ahead to a specific topic by selecting one of the keywords. When consumers clicked on a keyword, the timeline revealed the various points during each debate when those phrases were spoken by the candidates. The debate video player, available at www.politics.msnbc.com, is the latest interactive tool from msnbc.com that gives consumers the power to surface news in meaningful ways.
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).
*Source: Nielsen Online **Source: Omniture SiteCatalyst ***Source: Nielsen VideoCensus