TV, Sports and News Sites Experience Gains in September

Comscore MMX Releases September Top 50 Web Rankings and Analysis; Gambling Sites Experience Huge Gains Prior to Move by Congress to Outlaw Online Gambling

RESTON, VA, October 16, 2006 – Comscore MMX today released its monthly analysis of U.S. consumer activity at top online properties and categories for September. American consumers were particularly in tune to television, sports, and news Web sites in September as the Fall TV season premiered, football season kicked off, Suri Cruise was introduced to the world, and September 11th was remembered.

Ironically, just prior to the landmark legislation passed by Congress in early October to stem gambling over the Internet, Online Gambling was the top gaining category in September, posting a 17-percent gain versus August. Leading the category was embattled PartyGaming with 10.9 million U.S. visitors, a 75-percent increase, followed by SportingBet PLC, the second-biggest gaining Web property during the month with 5.4 million U.S. visitors (up 194 percent).

“Congress’ move to outlaw online gambling comes at the prime time for football season, as people around the country are placing bets on their favorite teams,” said Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of Comscore MMX. “As speculation continues about the future of these online gambling sites, fans will very likely continue to turn to fantasy games on traditional sports Web sites, which also saw big increases last month.”

Indeed, in addition to placing bets, Americans also checked out sports Web sites in September, triggering a 7-percent increase to the sports category overall. Leading the category was ESPN with 20.4 million visitors, a 14-percent increase versus August, followed by Yahoo! Sports with 17.5 million visitors (up 27 percent) and FOX Sports on MSN with 16.5 million visitors (up 25 percent). Despite heightened fan interest in Major League Baseball during September as teams jockeyed for playoff position, traffic to MLB.com fell 16 percent versus August to 9.1 million. In contrast, traffic to Nascar.com increased 6 percent to 4.1 million visitors with its season heating up in September. Finally, with college football season kicking off, College Sports TV appeared in the top 10 Sports Sites in September, garnering 7.1 million visitors, a 22-percent increase versus August. (See Top 10 Sports Web Sites below.)

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TV Premieres Drive Traffic to Network Sites, and Traffic to Online Video Sites Continue to Grow

In the lead-up to the Fall television premiere season, sites dedicated to specific hit shows drove traffic to network TV sites. ABC.com experienced a 78-percent increase to 8.1 million visitors, driven largely by traffic to the “Dancing with the Stars” site, which saw a 212-percent increase to 826,000 visitors, and “Grey’s Anatomy,” which saw a 206-percent increase to 679,000 visitors. NBC Network sites also saw a notable gain of 52 percent (to 7.5 million visitors) in September, driven by traffic to the “Deal or No Deal” site, which increased 998 percent to 1.9 million visitors. Both ABC.com and NBC Network captured spots on the list of Top 10 Gaining Properties in September. Also of note was the 33-percent increase to Discovery.com Sites (to 7 million visitors) following the untimely death of Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter.

MSN TV represented the top TV site overall with 12.7 million visitors, followed by Yahoo! TV with 9.8 million visitors and AOL Television with 9.6 million visitors. Also notable was the 50-percent increase to TVGuide.com, which had 4.3 million visitors in September.

Online video sites also continued to gain momentum as visitation to the wildly popular YouTube gained 9 percent during the month, reaching 20.8 million visitors. Video site Metacafe gained 134 percent to 4.2 million visitors, representing the third biggest gainer for the month. In addition, TopTVBytes.com experienced a 72-percent increase to 6.1 million visitors, representing the sixth top-gaining Web property for the month.

“As the buzz about the Google/ YouTube deal turns to the topic of ‘who’s next?’ it will be interesting to watch how online video sites differentiate themselves and how major media companies take notice,” commented Flanagan.

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Traffic to Entertainment and General News Sites Increase in September

On the heals of the Emmy Awards, traffic to Entertainment news sites saw a 5-percent uptick in September, led by TMZ with 6.6 million visitors (up 8 percent), followed by People with 5.6 million visitors (up 18 percent). Most notable within this category was the 930-percent increase to Vanityfair.com, as people flocked to the site to see the first photos of Suri Cruise, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ baby daughter. Finally, the Lions Gate Entertainment Web property represented the biggest overall gainer for September with a 565-percent increase in traffic to 6.6 million visitors, driven primarily by traffic to www.hardcandymovie.com.

In addition, nearly each of the top 10 general news Web sites experienced gains in September as Americans reflected on the events of September 11th five years ago. Yahoo! News led the pack with 35.8 million visitors, followed by MSNBC with 27.3 million visitors and CNN with 24.4 million visitors. AOL News represented the biggest gainer within the top 10 news sites with 24.1 million visitors, a 19-percent increase versus August.

Top 50 Properties

In September, the top 10 properties remained unchanged with Yahoo! Sites retaining its position at number one, attracting nearly 130 million unique visitors. As anxious TV viewers prepared for the launch of the Fall season, both CBS Corporation and NBC Universal enjoyed large increases in visitors, entering the ranking this month at numbers 19 and 34, respectively. NFL Internet group also entered the ranking this month at number 37, attracting more than 16 million unique visitors eager for the start of football season. Wikipedia Sites also moved up four spots to number 11, drawing 35 million unique visitors.

Top 50 Ad Focus

In September, Advertising.com claimed the number one position in the Ad Focus ranking for the 29th consecutive month, reaching 84 percent of the U.S. population online. CPX Interactive enjoyed a strong debut at number nine, reaching more than 96 million Americans, or 56 percent of the U.S. online population. ESPN moved up four spots to number 38, while EA Online Syndicated Games and Real.com entered the ranking at numbers 49 and 50, respectively.

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*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in September 2006.

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Reach % denotes the percentage of the total Internet population that viewed a particular entity at least once in September. For instance, Yahoo! was seen by 74 percent of the more than 173 million Internet users in September.
* Entity has assigned some portion of traffic to other syndicated entities.
** Denotes an advertising network.

About Comscore MMX

Comscore MMX, a division of Comscore Networks, provides industry-leading Internet audience measurement services that report – with unmatched accuracy – details of online media usage, visitor demographics and online buying power for the home, work and university audiences across local U.S. markets and across the globe. Comscore MMX continues the tradition of quality and innovation established by its MMX syndicated Internet ratings – long recognized as the currency in online media measurement among financial analysts, advertising agencies, publishers and marketers – while drawing upon Comscore's advanced technologies to address important new industry requirements. All Comscore MMX syndicated ratings are based on industry-sanctioned sampling methodologies.

About Comscore Networks

Comscore Networks is a global leader in measuring the digital age. This capability is based on a massive, global cross-section of more than 2 million consumers who have given Comscore permission to confidentially capture their browsing and transaction behavior, including online and offline purchasing. Comscore panelists also participate in survey research that captures and integrates their attitudes and intentions. Through its proprietary technology, Comscore measures what matters across a broad spectrum of behavior and attitudes. Comscore consultants apply this deep knowledge of customers and competitors to help clients design powerful marketing strategies and tactics that deliver superior ROI. Comscore services are used by global leaders such as AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Verizon, Best Buy, The Newspaper Association of America, Tribune Interactive, ESPN, Fox Sports, Nestlé, MBNA, Universal McCann, the United States Postal Service, Merck and Expedia. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com.

Press
Bill Daddi
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646-370-1341
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