RESTON, VA, October 16, 2006 - comScore Media Metrix 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 11^th 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 Media Metrix.  "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.)

 

TABLE 1

Top 10 Sports Web Sites September 2006 Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users Source: comScore Media Metrix
	Aug-06 (000)	Sept-06 (000)	Percentage Change
Total Internet : Total Audience	173,407	173,428	0%
ESPN	17,850	20,385	14
Yahoo! Sports	13,763	17,472	27
FOX Sports on MSN	13,133	16,471	25
NFL Internet Group	13,355	16,401	23
MLB.COM	10,896	9,122	-16
AOL Sports	6,629	8,049	21
CSTV: College Sports TV	5,797	7,083	22
CBS SportsLine	5,851	7,024	20
SI.COM	5,115	5,785	13
NASCAR.COM	3,888	4,137	6

 

 

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.

 

TABLE 2

Top 10 TV Web Sites September 2006 Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users Source: comScore Media Metrix
	Aug-06 (000)	Sept-06 (000)	Percentage Change
Total Internet : Total Audience	173,407	173,428	0%
MSN TV	9,336	12,737	36
Yahoo! TV	10,718	9,791	-9
AOL Television	8,515	9,637	13
ABC.COM	4,576	8,140	78
PBS	6,857	7,568	10
NBC Network	4,937	7,515	52
Discovery.com Sites	5,282	7,011	33
CBS Television	6,051	6,094	1
TV.COM	5,316	6,001	13
DIRECTV.COM	5,186	5,282	2

 

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.

 

TABLE 3

Top 10 Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors* September 2006 vs. August 2006 Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users Source: comScore Media Metrix
Property	Aug-06 (000)	Sept-06 (000)	Percentage Change	Rank by  Unique Visitors
Total Internet Population	173,407	173,428	0%	N/A
Lions Gate Entertainment	986	6,564	565%	139
Sportingbet PLC	1,831	5,376	194%	169
METACAFE.COM	1,811	4,236	134%	201
ABC.COM	4,576	8,140	78%	109
NBC Universal	11,188	19,771	77%	34
TOPTVBYTES.COM	3,528	6,061	72%	151
Kaboose Network	2,125	3,415	61%	249
Mezi Media Sites	3,364	4,955	47%	180
Gemstar-TVGuide International, Inc.	3,216	4,591	43%	190
ORIENTALTRADING.COM	3,042	4,267	40%	200

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

 

TABLE 4

 

Top 10 Gaining Categories by Unique Visitors September 2006 vs. August 2006 Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users Source: comScore Media Metrix
	Aug-06 (000)	Sept-06 (000)	Percentage Change
Total Internet : Total Audience	173,407	173,428	0%
Online Gambling	23,492	27,400	17%
Gaming Information	35,322	40,841	16%
Incentives	17,318	18,990	10%
Toys	20,687	22,210	7%
Sports	68,260	73,230	7%
Genealogy	7,970	8,433	6%
Education - Information	60,229	63,705	6%
TV	73,082	76,550	5%
Entertainment - News	35,809	37,499	5%
Multimedia	99,606	103,710	4%

 

 

TABLE 5

 

Top 50 Properties September 2006  Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations  Unique Visitors (000) Source: comScore Media Metrix
Rank	Property	Unique Visitors (000)		Rank	Property	Unique Visitors  (000)
	Total Internet Users	173,428
1	Yahoo! Sites	129,724		26	Target Corporation	22,835
2	Time Warner Network	120,276		27	Bank of America	22,305
3	Microsoft Sites	119,376		28	CareerBuilder LLC	21,831
4	Google Sites	107,365		29	YOUTUBE.COM	20,759
5	eBay	78,991		30	Real.com Network	20,476
6	Fox Interactive Media	70,858		31	Gannett Sites	20,453
7	Ask Network	54,842		32	Shopzilla.com Sites	20,414
8	Amazon Sites	49,498		33	ESPN	20,385
9	New York Times Digital	40,523		34	NBC Universal	19,771
10	Viacom Digital	35,115		35	Comcast Corporation	17,798
11	Wikipedia Sites	35,057		36	Vendare Media	16,990
12	Verizon Communications Corporation	34,252		37	NFL Internet Group	16,401
13	Weather Channel, The	33,293		38	ARTISTdirect Network	15,745
14	Apple Computer, Inc.	31,873		39	E.W. Scripps	15,631
15	CNET Networks	28,744		40	Weatherbug Property	15,398
16	AT&T, Inc.	27,230		41	Photobucket.com LLC	14,729
17	United Online, Inc	26,461		42	EA Online	14,643
18	Adobe Sites	26,402		43	Cox Enterprises Inc.	14,425
19	CBS Corporation	26,398		44	WebMD Health	14,268
20	Lycos, Inc.	25,706		45	iVillage.com: The Womens Network	14,257
21	Wal-Mart	24,971		46	Ticketmaster	14,224
22	Monster Worldwide	24,828		47	JPMorgan Chase Property	14,137
23	Gorilla Nation Media	24,499		48	WhitePages	14,086
24	Disney Online	23,377		49	OVERSTOCK.COM	13,930
25	Expedia Inc	22,995		50	CRAIGSLIST.ORG	13,803

 

 

 

TABLE 6

 

Ad Focus Ranking September 2006  Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations  Unique Visitors (000)  Source: comScore Media Metrix
Rank	Property	Unique Visitors (000)	Reach %		Rank	Property	Unique Visitors (000)	Reach %
	Total Internet Users	173,428	100%
1	Advertising.com**	145,835	84%		26	EBAY.COM Home Page	39,975	23%
2	ValueClick**	129,674	75%		27	ContextWeb**	37,261	21%
3	Yahoo!	128,042	74%		28	Vibrant Media**	36,939	21%
4	Tribal Fusion**	114,498	66%		29	Undertone Networks**	36,821	21%
5	AOL Media Network	110,912	64%		30	ABOUT.COM	34,761	20%
6	Casale Media Network**	107,798	62%		31	Business.com Network	26,114	15%
7	Google	103,433	60%		32	Lycos Network	25,447	15%
8	MSN-Windows Live	101,888	59%		33	CNN	24,449	14%
9	CPX Interactive**	96,397	56%		34	Disney Online	23,377	13%
10	Vendare Media - TrafficMarketplace**	95,713	55%		35	CareerBuilder Network	22,507	13%
11	Burst Media**	89,690	52%		36	WEATHER.COM	21,990	13%
12	AOL	87,981	51%		37	YOUTUBE.COM	20,759	12%
13	24/7 Real Media**	87,092	50%		38	ESPN	20,385	12%
14	YAHOO.COM Home Page	86,044	50%		39	IMDB.COM	19,050	11%
15	Blue Lithium**	74,193	43%		40	GameDaily Custom Network	18,607	11%
16	EBAY.COM	71,096	41%		41	The WebMD Health Network	17,188	10%
17	PrecisionClick**	67,049	39%		42	Vendare Media	16,990	10%
18	Tremor Network	66,213	38%		43	SuperPages	16,361	9%
19	AdBrite**	61,547	35%		44	EXPEDIA.COM*	15,898	9%
20	DRIVEpm**	60,815	35%		45	ARTISTdirect Network	15,745	9%
21	Gorilla Nation Media Network	59,168	34%		46	WeatherBug	15,278	9%
22	MYSPACE.COM	55,849	32%		47	Travelocity All	14,929	9%
23	MSN.COM Home Page	55,296	32%		48	CLASSMATES.COM	14,926	9%
24	Ask Network	54,842	32%		49	EA Online Syndicated Games	14,683	8%
25	AdDynamix.com**	43,561	25%		50	REAL.COM*	14,561	8%

 

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 Media Metrix

comScore Media Metrix, 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 Media Metrix continues the tradition of quality and innovation established by its Media Metrix 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 Media Metrix 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.

 

 

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