MSNBC.com #1 for July 2005MSNBC.com Video Fuels Online News Leadership
For Immediate Release – Despite a flurry of online video initiatives and content partnerships among the competition, MSNBC.com was the #1 Current Events & Global News site in America in July 2005. MSNBC.com has upheld its rank atop CNN.com, ABCNews.com, CBSNews.com, FoxNews.com and now Yahoo! News and all other Current Events & Global News destinations, with 23.6 million unique visitors, according to Nielsen//NetRatings for July 2005. MSNBC.com has maintained its position above all broadcast news online competitors for the fifth consecutive month, and for three of those months has topped the entire online news category.
“The success of MSNBC.com has depended largely upon our ability to set the pace for the industry while staying ahead of the pack,” said Charlie Tillinghast, General Manager and Publisher for MSNBC.com. “Our free video has been available to consumers for years, and we have a loyal following. And as more and more online news consumers start to warm up to the technology, they’re turning to MSNBC.com for the most comprehensive and trusted video service available.”
In the past year, MSNBC.com has experienced a tremendous growth in video plays. In July of 2004, less than 20 million videos were watched on MSNBC.com, while recent months have yielded as many as 45 million video plays. The increase unmistakably reflects consumers’ growing attraction to video on the Internet.
This summer, MSNBC.com continued breaking records for video usage surrounding worldwide news events. The July 7th bombings in London generated 4.4 million on-demand video plays of NBC News coverage throughout the day on MSNBC.com. On Monday, MSNBC.com shattered records with 1.3 million live video plays of the Space Shuttle landing. MSNBC.com carried exclusive, live, telescopic NBC News video coverage during the high-temperature, high-altitude portion of re-entry on August 9th.
“Working with such esteemed partners as NBC News and MSN, we’re able to deliver the most amazing sights to viewers, at work, at home or wherever, so our consumers don’t miss history in the making.” added Tillinghast.
