REDMOND, Wash., Feb. 7, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- With MSNBC.com's tenth anniversary coming up in July, the site has solidified its position as both the leader in news consumers' minds and the leader in the industry. Not only does the site continue to dominate the Nielsen//Net Ratings against all other broadcast and cable news websites, it is regularly recognized as the best news and information site within the industry, most recently in the "Best Online Publishers" issue of MediaPost's OMMA Magazine. In addition, recent research by JupiterResearch shows that MSNBC.com has outperformed the competition over the past year.
A graph accompanying this release is available at: http://media.primezone.com/cache/6016/file/2674.jpg
On the heels of being the only news site named to BrandWeek magazine's top 10 "Website Hotlist" in October 2005, OMMA Magazine chose MSNBC.com in the February 2006 issue as the best news and information site. The article focuses on ". . . the online publishers, portals and sites we believe exemplify excellence in their respective categories" and about MSNBC.com it states, "Online journalism doesn't get much better or more real-time than here." The site is praised for its understanding of the Internet as not only an extension of television but as a story-telling tool on its own, making use of best-of-breed content from NBC News and other partners, video, blogs and interactive elements that serve "both consumers and advertisers alike."
"We are the leader in online news because in the last ten years, we have focused only on being the best online," said Charlie Tillinghast, president of MSNBC.com. "Unlike many of our competitors, whose websites have evolved as necessary extensions of their TV brands, we are a distinct online brand whose focus is, and always has been, using the full capability of the Internet to tell stories in new and innovative ways, and we're being recognized as such in the industry."
MSNBC.com's reach and growth are strong and increasing. According to a study by JupiterResearch on the future of news, MSNBC.com is the most trafficked TV news site on the web and is in the enviable position of showing the most significant growth of any TV news site over the last year. MSNBC.com captured 30 percent of total news category traffic and 40 percent year over year growth, two combined statistics no other site can match. In comparison, total online news category traffic grew by seven percent. Competitors such as CNN.com and ABCNews.com who capture 24 percent and five percent of total traffic respectively, each showed below-average growth.
MSNBC.com continues its solid winning streak against the competition in the Nielsen//Net Ratings. For the past ten months, the site topped all other broadcast and cable news websites including CNN.com, ABCNews.com, CBSNews.com and FOXNews.com. The site consistently draws 23 million-plus monthly unique visitors, more than CBSNews.com, ABCNews.com and FOXNews.com combined.
ABOUT MSNBC.com:
MSNBC.com, the award-winning news site widely recognized as the best on the Internet, is the exclusive online channel for the NBC Universal News family, which includes the Today show, NBC Nightly News, Dateline NBC, Meet the Press and MSNBC TV. MSNBC.com's driving force is to provide the optimal consumer experience, presenting a diverse range of original content and the best from our partners in a rich multi-media environment that includes interactive features and free streaming video, allowing users to access the news and information they want, when they want it, 24 hours a day. Based in Redmond, WA, MSNBC.com is a joint venture of Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) and NBC Universal News (NYSE:GE).
