CNN Retains Longtime Lead Over All Digital News Outlets
Network Tops All Competitors in Reach: Multiplatform Visitors, Mobile Visitors, Video Starts, Millennial Audience and Social
February 2018 Marks 36th Month at #1 for CNN Politics
CNN Digital continued its streak as the nation’s number one source for news and information in February 2018, reaching a wider audience than any competitor across measurements including multiplatform visitors, mobile visitors, video starts, millennial audience and social reach.
#1 IN MULTIPLATFORM VISITORS
Up 12% YOY, CNN Digital again reached more people than any other news source. In its 21st straight month on top, CNN outranked its closest competitor, The New York Times, by 35 million unique visitors across platforms. With 122 million unique visitors, CNN dwarfed FoxNews.com’s audience of 86.7 million.
CNN: 122 Million Unique Visitors
- The New York Times Brand – 87.3 million unique visitors
- FoxNews.com – 86.7 million unique visitors
- WashingtonPost.com – 84 million unique visitors
- Yahoo News – 82 million unique visitors
- USAToday.com – 67 million unique visitors
Source: comScore Multi-Platform Media Metrix, February 2018. Based on CNN Brand entity compared to a custom list of single brand competitors in the News/Information Category.
#1 IN VIDEO STARTS
Marking its 33rd straight month as the #1 producer of news video, CNN topped all competitors in digital video starts and earned nearly triple the starts of second place Fox News.
CNN: 340 Million Desktop Video Starts
- FoxNews.com – 134 million starts
- Yahoo News – 123 million starts
- MSN News – 113 million starts
- Dailymail.co.uk – 78 million starts
- CBSNews.com – 49 million starts
Source: comScore Video Media Metrix, February 2018. Based on CNN Brand entity compared to a custom list of single brand competitors in the News/Information Category. **Numbers above reflect desktop video starts. Multiplatform (desktop + mobile) video starts will be released by ComScore at a later date.**
#1 IN MOBILE UNIQUE VISITORS
CNN’s mobile reach surpassed that every other news provider. CNN (100 million) reached 30 million more mobile users than New York Times and nearly 33 million more than WashingtonPost.com.
CNN: 100 Million Mobile Unique Visitors
- The New York Times Brand – 70 million unique visitors
- WashingtonPost.com – 67.1 million unique visitors
- FoxNews.com – 67.0 million unique visitors
- HuffingtonPost.com – 56 million unique visitors
- BuzzFeed.com – 54 million unique visitors
Source: comScore Mobile Metrix, February 2018. Based on CNN Brand entity compared to a custom list of single brand competitors in the News/Information Category.
#1 IN MILLENNIAL USERS
In February, more millennial users turned to CNN for their news than any other source. CNN outpaced both portals and sites alike to outpace both Yahoo-HuffPost and USA Today.
CNN Network: 44 Million Millennial Unique Visitors (multiplatform)
- Yahoo-HuffPost News Network – 43.9 million millennial unique visitors
- USA Today Network – 40 million millennial unique visitors
- The Weather Company – 39 million millennial unique visitors
- NBC News Digital – 33 million millennial unique visitors
- BuzzFeed.com – 32 million millennial unique visitors
Source: comScore Multiplatform Media Metrix, February 2018. Based on News/Information Category; Persons: 18-34.
#1 POLITICAL NEWS SOURCE
CNN Politics dominated all competitors in audience reach for the 36th month in a row with 40 million multiplatform unique visitors, 31 million mobile unique visitors, 277 mm multiplatform views and 89 mm desktop video starts.
CNN Politics: 40 Million Unique Multiplatform Visitors
- Politico.com – 26 million unique visitors
- TheHill.com – 25 million unique visitors
- Fox News Politics – 17 million unique visitors
- HuffPost Politics – 15 million unique visitors
- MSNBC TV – 9.4 million unique visitors
Source: comScore Multi-Platform Media Metrix, February 2018; Based on News/Information – Politics Category.
#1 SOCIAL MEDIA
CNN again ranked as the number one social news outlet in the US, with more fans and followers than any other competitor.
- #1 news brand on Facebook with 46.7 million Facebook fans across CNN’s main accounts
- #1 most followed news brand on Twitter with 93.5million followers across CNN’s main accounts
- @CNNBRK alone had over 13m more Twitter followers than the leading competitive flagship account (The New York Times – 41.1m followers)
- #1 most followed US news brand on Instagram with 4.3 million followers
Sources: Shareablee, February 2018. Brands included in comparison are CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, The New York Times, HuffPost, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, BBC News, BuzzFeed, ABC News, NPR, Mashable, The Daily Mail, NowThis, AJ+, Al Jazeera English, NBC News, CBS News, HLN, and Yahoo News. Facebook main accounts for CNN are CNN and CNN International. Twitter main accounts for CNN are @CNN and @CNNBRK. Instagram for CNN includes flagship account only.