MEDIA RELEASE PR37563
Online News Attracts Rapidly Growing Audience in India
MUMBAI, India, Dec. 14 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --
Yahoo! News Ranks as Top Indian News Site; Times of India Ranks as the
Top Local News Brand
comScore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today published a report on the
top online news brands in India based on data from its comScore World Metrix service. The study found that
traffic to online news sites reached a record 15.8 million visitors age 15 and older in October, up 37 percent
from the previous year, and representing 44 percent of the online population in India.
"The number of online news and information consumers in India surged 37 percent in the past year, more
than double the rate of growth of the total online audience in India," said Will Hodgman, comScore executive
vice president for the Asia-Pacific region. "As the world's seventh largest Internet market and one of the fastest
growing, India represents fertile ground for both local and multinational publishers hoping to expand their
audience footprint."
Online News Category Sees Record Number of Visitors in October
In October 2009, nearly 16 million people visited an online news site in India, a gain of 37 percent from the
previous year. A look at the most visited news destinations in India revealed that local brands make up a
significant portion of the top news sites - and some of the fastest growing. The Times of India captured the #3
spot in terms of visitation, reaching 2.6 million visitors during the month (up 78 percent), while Oneindia.in
surged 148 percent to 2.4 million visitors. The Hindu Group, the fifth most visited news property in India,
reached nearly 1.6 million visitors in October (up 19 percent).
Multi-national brands Yahoo! and New York Times ranked as the most visited destinations in the news
category - also with high growth rates. Yahoo! News led all news sites with 4.2 million visitors, up 26 percent
versus year ago, followed by New York Times Digital with nearly 3.9 million visitors, an increase of 67 percent.
Top 10 News/Information Sites in India Based on Unique Visitors
October 2009 vs. October 2008
Total India Internet Audience*, Age 15+ - Home & Work Locations
Source: comScore World Metrix
Total Unique Visitors (000)
---------------------------
Oct-2008 Oct-2009 % Change
-------- -------- --------
Total Internet:
Total Audience 31,179 36,170 16
---------------- ------ ------ ---
News/Information 11,529 15,838 37
---------------- ------ ------ ---
Yahoo! News 3,312 4,169 26
----------- ----- ----- ---
New York Times
Digital 2,306 3,854 67
-------------- ----- ----- ---
The Times of
India** 1,476 2,626 78
------------ ----- ----- ---
Oneindia.in 949 2,359 148
----------- --- ----- ---
The Hindu Group 1,299 1,551 19
--------------- ----- ----- ---
The Indian Express
Group 925 1,244 35
------------------ --- ----- ---
HT Media Ltd 1,088 1,155 6
------------ ----- ----- ---
NDTV.com 848 1,104 30
-------- --- ----- ---
BBC 777 992 28
--- --- --- ---
The Economic
Times** 769 820 7
------------ --- --- ---
*Excludes visitation from public computers such as Internet cafes
or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
**The Times of India and Economic Times are both channels included in the Times Internet Ltd property.
Local News Brands Exhibit Strong Signs of Audience Engagement
In October, an average visitor to the news/information category spent 22 minutes on news sites and
consumed 38 pages of content. An overall analysis of the category showed greater engagement with local
news brands when compared with multi-national brands. Among the 10 most visited online news brands in
India, The Times of India led as the most engaging news site with visitors averaging 14.3 minutes on the site,
consuming 27 pages of content during the month.
Visitors to HT Media Ltd, which includes Shine.com and Hindustantimes.com, averaged 11.5 minutes on
the site, consuming 24 pages of content in October. Visitors to India-based NDTV averaged 11.3 minutes
during the month and consumed 15 pages of content, while visitors to The Economic Times spent an average
of 10 minutes and consumed 20 pages of content.
Top 10 News/Information Sites in India Based on Unique Visitors
October 2009
Total India Internet Audience*, Age 15+ - Home & Work Locations
Source: comScore World Metrix
Average Average
Minutes Pages
per per
Visitor Visitor
------- -------
Total Internet: Total
Audience 700.6 1,155
---------------------- ----- -----
News/Information 22 38
---------------- --- ---
Yahoo! News 3.6 9
----------- --- ---
New York Times Digital 3.7 5
---------------------- --- ---
The Times of India** 14.3 27
-------------------- ---- ---
Oneindia.in 5.8 13
----------- --- ---
The Hindu Group 3.6 4
--------------- --- ---
The Indian Express Group 5.3 7
------------------------ --- ---
HT Media Ltd 11.5 24
------------ ---- ---
NDTV.com 11.3 15
-------- ---- ---
BBC 7.6 9
--- --- ---
The Economic Times** 10 20
-------------------- --- ---
*Excludes visitation from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
**The Times of India and Economic Times are both channels included in the Times Internet Ltd property.
"Online news is a fast-growing market segment among the increasingly technology-oriented Indian
population," continued Mr. Hodgman. "News sites offer advertisers a touchpoint for reaching millions of
engaged consumers in a branded environment. Having a reliable third-party source such as comScore
helps increase media accountability in this marketplace, which should help accelerate the growth of the online
advertising market in India."
About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of
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SOURCE: comScore, Inc.
CONTACT: Sarah Radwanick of comScore, Inc.,
+1-312-775-6538,
press@comscore.com
Translations:
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