HUFFINGTON POST PADS TRAFFIC, FAILS TO MANIPULATE RANKING
CNN Politics ended the year with a bang, earning 25 million multiplatform unique visitors for the month of December 2015 — the most current data released by comScore. The traffic places CNN Politics in a tie for first in its category with HuffPost Politics, a site that relies on a monthly boost of 6M+ unique visitors from a decidedly non-politics entity titled “Good News.” Deliberately misrepresented by the Huffington Post as politics content for the purpose of comScore traffic rankings, Good News is a hodgepodge of posts about breastfeeding in bars, shelter chihuahuas and a mini donkey with a prosthetic leg.
In short, CNN Politics remains the Web’s number one source for actual political news.
CNN Politics: #1 Multiplatform Unique Visitors (Desktop + Mobile)
In multiplatform unique visitors for the month of December, CNN Politics totaled 25 million – millions more than HuffPost Politics without the addition of Good News traffic, and more than double the number of visitors to Fox News Politics, MSNBC TV and The Hill.
25 mm: CNN Politics
- 25 mm: HuffPost Politics & Good News (6.6 mm)
- 12 mm: Fox News Politics
- 11 mm: MSNBC TV
- 11 mm: TheHill.com
- 9 mm: Politico.com
Sources: comScore Multi-Platform Media Metrix, December 2015. Based on News/Information – Politics Category.
CNN Politics: #1 in Video Starts
CNN Politics continued to dominate in video for the month of December, up 38% over the previous month and a whopping 466% over the prior year. Scoring 48 million video starts, CNN Politics more than doubled that of its closest competitor The Young Turks Network and tripled MSNBC TV’s video starts. HuffPost Politics placed 7th with only 2 million video starts for the month.
48 mm: CNN Politics
- 20 mm: The TYT Network
- 16 mm: MSNBC TV
- 8 mm: Fox News Politics
- 5 mm: Bloomberg.com – Politics
- 3 mm: Westernjournalism.com
Source: comScore Video Metrix, December 2015. Based on News/Information – Politics Category. “PoliticsWeekly.com” is excluded from this ranking.
CNN Politics: #1 in Multi-platform Views
Up 40% over the previous month and 185% over the prior year, CNN Politics easily topped the list in multiplatform views for December. Nearly doubling its closest competitor HuffPost Politics (and Good News), CNN Politics earned 160 million multiplatform views for the month.
160 mm: CNN Politics
- 85 mm: HuffPost Politics & Good News (12 mm)
- 78 mm: Westernjournalism.com
- 68 mm: MSNBC TV
- 60 mm: Politico.com
- 52 mm: Fox News Politics
Sources: comScore Multi-Platform, December 2015; Views are browser only and include desktop video. Based on News/Information – Politics Category.