Television’s New Fall Lineup Drives Traffic to TV Sites; Education and Computer Software Sites Gain as School Year Begins
RESTON, VA – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, released its monthly analysis of U.S. Web activity at the top online properties for September 2009 based on data from the comScore Media Metrix service. September marked the start of the fall television season as broadcast networks aired their season premieres, causing traffic to swell at TV sites.
Education – Information sites and Computer Software also gained as students sought resources for the new academic year, while the Sports category soared to record highs during the September stretch run in baseball and kickoff to football season.
“As summer fades and fall begins, Americans’ shift their focus back to school and take comfort in their TVs as season premieres and fall sports dominate the tube,” said Jack Flanagan, comScore executive vice president. “With nearly half of the U.S. online population visiting television sites in September, it is clear that more than ever before Americans are turning to the Web for entertainment.”
Fall TV Lineup Draws Fans Online
The beginning of the fall season sent Americans to TV sites for information on their favorite shows or to view episodes online, as the category grew 17 percent to 95.6 million visitors. Yahoo! TV led the category with nearly 20 million visitors (up 63 percent), followed by AOL Television with 13 million (up 7 percent) and NBC Network with 11.4 million. CWTV grabbed the #10 position with 5.8 million visitors, nearly tripling its audience since August.
Students Kickoff the School Year Right
As students hit the books in September, they also looked to the Web for information and resources. Education – Information sites and Computer Software sites both saw an increase in activity as classes resumed for students around the country. Education – Information sites grew 15 percent to 72.3 million visitors, making it one of the fastest growing categories in September, led by Pearson Education with nearly 17 million visitors (up 40 percent), Hot Chalk with 13 million visitors (up 64 percent), and Classes USA with 8 million visitors (up 13 percent).
The Computer Software category grew 14 percent, attracting 34.4 million visitors in September, led by Intuit, which grew 18 percent to 6.4 million visitors. Symantec Store followed closely with 6.2 million visitors (up 11 percent), while Wareseeker.com ranked third with 3.7 million visitors (up 76 percent).
Competition Heats Up for Sports Nationwide
Between the approaching Major League Baseball playoffs and the NFL season kickoff, sports were top of mind for many of Americans in September. The category reached an all-time high, attracting more than 98 million visitors, up 14 percent versus August. Yahoo! Sports ranked #1 with 38 million visitors during the month (up 32 percent), followed by ESPN with 29 million visitors (up 21 percent) and NFL Internet Group with 19 million visitors (up 19 percent).
Top 50 Properties
Google Sites ranked as the #1 property in September with 165 million visitors, followed by Yahoo! Sites with 160 million visitors and Microsoft Sites with 133 million visitors. Facebook.com held its #5 ranking with 95 million visitors, while ESPN climbed 9 spots to #30.
Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking
AOL Advertising led the September Ad Focus ranking reaching 91 percent of Americans online. Yahoo! Network ranked second, reaching 89 percent of the population, followed by Google Ad Network with an 86-percent reach.
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Table 1
comScore Top 10 Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors* (U.S.)
September 2009 vs. August 2009
Total U.S. – Home, Work and University Locations
Source: comScore Media Metrix
Total Unique Visitors (000)
Aug-09 Sep-09 % Change Rank by Unique
Visitors
Total Internet : Total Audience 197,311 198,378 1 N/A
CWTV.COM 1,846 5,380 191 226
FunnyorDie 3,647 6,331 74 193
CAUSES.COM 3,226 5,445 69 223
HotChalk 7,688 12,595 64 89
ABC Television 4,524 6,874 52 173
TV Guide Online Network 6,959 10,471 50 111
UNIVISION.COM 3,331 4,943 48 250
Pearson Education 11,953 16,684 40 63
Alloy Digital Network 11,315 15,415 36 70
Liberty Media Holding Corporation 8,310 11,153 34 100
*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in September 2009. Excludes entities whose growth was primarily due to implementation of Media Metrix 360 hybrid audience measurement.
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Table 2
comScore Top 10 Gaining Site Categories by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors (U.S.)
September 2009 vs. August 2009
Total U.S. – Home, Work and University Locations
Source: comScore Media Metrix
Total Unique Visitors (000)
Aug-09 Sep-09 % Change
Total Internet : Total Audience 195,538 197,311 1
Entertainment – TV 81,833 95,601 17
Education – Information 62,899 72,321 15
Retail – Computer Software 30,172 34,357 14
Sports 86,388 98,180 14
Gaming Information 52,083 58,901 13
Community – Green 16,129 18,077 12
Online Gambling 11,036 12,320 12
Community – Lifestyles 93,840 104,220 11
Religion/Spirituality 22,419 24,861 11
Entertainment – Movies 70,994 78,143 10
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Please follow this link to view tables 3 and 4: http://comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_releases/2009/10/comScore_Media_Metrix_Ranks_Top_50_U.S._Web_Properties_for_September_2009
About comScore Media Metrix
comScore Media Metrix provides industry-leading Internet audience measurement services that report 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 Media Metrix reports are used by financial analysts, advertising agencies, publishers and marketers. comScore Media Metrix syndicated ratings are based on industry-sanctioned sampling methodologies.
About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.
