Web Traffic To Top 10 Online Newspapers Grows 16 Percent In December

While newspapers across the country face a declining number of subscribers, traffic to the top 10 online newspapers grew 16 percent in December 2008 versus a year ago, according to new research from Nielsen Online.
NYTimes.com continued to be the number one online newspaper, with 18.2 million unique visitors.  USATODAY.com and washingotnpost.com took maintained the number two and three ranks, respectively.

“December was an extremely active month in terms of news.  The economic downturn, and its effects on the holidays and coverage of the incoming presidential administration, among other stories, all helped drive this impressive growth,” said Chuck Schilling, research director, agency & media for Nielsen Online.

Nielsen Online also reported data regarding the top 10 parent companies and top 10 web brands for December.  That information and the full release can be viewed here.

Nov. 2008: U.S. News Sites See Post-Election Growth

According to Nielsen, in November, NYTimes.com was the top U.S.-based online newspaper site, while MSNBC Digital Network (MSNBC) was the top online current events and news destination, Editor & Publisher reported this week.

The NY Times’ website drew just over 20 million unique visitors in November — a 10% increase over unique traffic to the site last November.

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Demand For Political News Boosts Sept. Traffic To U.S. News Sites

According to Nielsen Online, in September NYTimes.com was the top U.S.-based online newspaper site, while MSNBC Digital Network (MSNBC) was the top U.S. online news outlet, Editor & Publisher reported this week.

The NY Times’ website drew just over 20 million unique visitors in September — a 37% increase over unique traffic to the site last September.

Meanwhile, MSNBC saw 44% year over year growth, reaching 43.2 million unique visitors in September, according to Nielsen.

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Olympics, Conventions Boost August Traffic To News Sites

MSNBC Digital Network (MSNBC) was the top U.S.-based news and current events website in August, according to Nielsen Online.

Surging interest in the Beijing Olympics and the U.S. political conventions, which occupied back-to-back weeks in August, may have played a part in boosting MSNBC past its close competitor, Yahoo! News, Editor & Publisher reported Tuesday. 

In August, MSNBC drew 52.2 million unique visitors — 12 million more than Yahoo!’s news portal, according to Nielsen.  During the prior August, both Yahoo! News and CNN Digital Network edged past MSNBC.com, with 34.3 million and 31.7 million unique visitors, respectively, to MSNBC’s 29.6 million visitors.

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Top U.S. Newspaper Sites See More Visits, Shorter Stays

Top U.S. newspaper websites saw more visits in July 2008 versus July 2007, but visitors spent less time on many of the sites, Editor & Publisher reported this week.

Nineteen of the top 30 newspaper websites recorded double-digit, year-over-year percentage increases in unique traffic in July, according to data from Nielsen Online.

Ottaway Newspapers (+167%) saw the largest gain in unique visitors.  The Wall Street Journal also recorded an impressive 94% increase in unique traffic, while number one ranked NYtimes.com saw a 38% uptick.

But at 14 of the top 30 newspaper sites, the average number of minutes visitors spent on the sites declined this July, versus July 2007, according to Nielsen.

Five of the top 10 online newspapers reported declines in the average time spent per person.

At the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the average time spent per person fell from 23 minutes in July 2007 to just under 10 minutes in July 2008.  Meanwhile, the average time spent per person at Boston.com declined by half — from more than 18 minutes in July 2007 to just over 9 minutes in July 2008.

Review Nielsen’s June 2008 U.S. newspaper Web traffic results.