CNN Digital Hits All-Time Traffic Highs In 2018
Network Wraps November as #1 in Visitors, Video, Mobile, Millennials, Global, Social & Politics
Chartbeat’s #1 Most Engaging News Source of 2018
CNN reached its largest digital audience in history for 2018, wrapping the year with an average of 121 million unique visitors per month. With the close of November, CNN ranks #1 in multiplatform unique visitors for more than 2 years running, mobile unique visitors for over a full year, and multiplatform video starts for more than 3 years in a row.
Additionally, CNN earned the #1 spot on Chartbeat’s list of “Top 120 Most Engaging Stories of 2018.” Of the 120 ranked, CNN was responsible for 29 – more than any other publisher – which accounts for a quarter of the top 120 digital news consumption.
#1 IN MULTIPLATFORM VISITORS IN 2018
CNN had its largest audience on record in 2018 with a monthly average of 120 million unique visitors – an increase of 5% versus 2017. CNN outranked Fox News and The New York Times by 30 million unique visitors on average across mobile and desktop.
CNN: 120 Million Unique Visitors
- FoxNews.com – 90.0 million unique visitors
- The New York Times Brand – 89.7 million unique visitors
- WashingtonPost.com – 85 million unique visitors
- USAToday.com – 62.4 million unique visitors
- Yahoo News – 61.8 million unique visitors
Source: Comscore Media Metrix® Multi-Platform, Custom-Defined List, Total Digital Audience averaged January-December 2018, U.S. Based on CNN.com entity compared to a custom list of single brand competitors that are also in the News/Information Category. CNN Brand entity used prior to October 2018.
#1 IN MULTIPLATFORM VIDEO STARTS IN 2018
Continuing to dominate digital news video, CNN had its best year in history in 2018 with a monthly average of 527 million multiplatform video starts.
CNN: 527 Million Multiplatform Video Starts
- FoxNews.com – 171 million video starts
- ABCNews.com Sites – 153 million video starts
- Yahoo News – 144 million video starts
- MSN News – 131 million video starts
- DailyMail.co.uk – 97 million video starts
Source: Comscore Video Media Metrix®, Custom-Defined List, Total Audience, averaged January-November 2018, U.S. Based on CNN.com entity compared to a custom list of single brand competitors that are also in the News/Information Category. CNN Brand entity used prior to October 2018. (November 2018 data is the most current available)
#1 IN MOBILE VISITORS FOR 2018
CNN’s 2018 mobile audience grew by 6% over 2017, placing it ahead of second-place The New York Times by 25 million and third -place Fox News by 27 million mobile unique visitors on average.
CNN: 97 Million Mobile Unique Visitors
- The New York Times – 72 million unique visitors
- FoxNews.com – 70.4 million unique visitors
- WashingtonPost.com – 69.8 million unique visitors
- USAToday.com – 50 million unique visitors
- CBSNews.com – 49 million unique visitors
Source: Comscore Mobile Metrix®, Custom-Defined List, Total Mobile, averaged January-December 2018, U.S. Based on CNN.com entity compared to a custom list of single brand competitors that are also in the News/Information Category. CNN Brand entity used prior to October 2018.
#1 GLOBAL NEWS BRAND FOR 2018
CNN ranked as the #1 global news brand in 2018, outpacing BBC, Yahoo News and others in audience size across 24 key countries included in Comscore’s Media Metrix worldwide rollup. CNBC, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera, Euronews, Sky News, and other international news brands trailed CNN by more than 93 million multiplatform unique visitors on average and fell outside of the top 5 ranking.
CNN: 156.9 Million Unique Visitors
- BBC – 156.6 million unique visitors
- Yahoo News – 129 million unique visitors
- HuffPost Global – 124 million unique visitors
- The New York Times Brand – 114 million unique visitors
- FoxNews.com – 98 million unique visitors
Source: Comscore Media Metrix®, Custom-Defined List, Total Digital Audience, January 2018 – November 2018, Worldwide Rollup. Based on CNN.com entity compared to a custom list of single brand, multinational competitors in the News/Information Category, including The United States, Canada, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, United Kingdom and Vietnam. CNN Brand entity used prior to October 2018. (October 2018 data is the most current available).
#1 IN MILLENNIAL REACH IN 2018
CNN was the #1 news outlet in unique multiplatform visitors between the ages of 18-34 with an average of 33 million per month in 2018 – 6 million more than second-place The New York Times.
CNN: 33 Million Millennial Unique Multiplatform Visitors
- The New York Times Brand – 27 million millennial unique visitors
- WashingtonPost.com – 22 million millennial unique visitors
- HuffPost U.S. (All Inclusive) – 18.79 million millennial unique visitors
- DailyMail.co.uk – 18.78 million millennial unique visitors
- BBC – 17 million millennial unique visitors
Source: Comscore Media Metrix®, Custom-Defined List, Digital Audience Persons 18-34, January 2018 – December 2018, U.S. Based on CNN.com entity compared to a custom list of single brand competitors in the News/Information Category. CNN Brand entity used prior to October 2018.
#1 POLITICAL NEWS SOURCE IN 2018
CNN Politics maintained its #1 position in political news for 2018, ranking ahead of all competitors through the November Midterm Elections.
CNN: 46 Million Unique Visitors
- Politico.com – 30 million unique visitors
- TheHill.com – 27 million unique visitors
- Fox News Politics – 20 million unique visitors
- HuffPost Politics – 13 million unique visitors
- NBCNews.com Politics – 12 million unique visitors
Source: Comscore Media Metrix® Multi-Platform, New/Information – Politics, Total Digital Audience, averaged January-December 2018, U.S.; CNN Politics has been #1 in the competitive rank in video and multiplatform views since March of 2015.
#1 IN SOCIAL AUDIENCE FOR 2018
CNN has ranked as the number one US news outlet in social audience for more than four years, with more fans and followers than any other competitor.
- #1 news brand on Facebook with 47.6 million monthly average Facebook
fans across CNN’s main accounts - #1 most followed news brand on Twitter with 94.8 million monthly
average followers across CNN’s main accounts- @CNNBRK alone had over 12.5 million more monthly average Twitter followers than the leading competitive flagship account (The New York Times – 41.9 mm followers) and 36.6 million more than Fox News (17.8 mm followers)
- #1 most followed US news brand on Instagram with 5.2 million monthly
average followers
Sources: Shareablee, January-December 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. *(October 2018 data is the most current available)
#1 MOST ENGAGING NEWS SOURCE IN 2018
CNN topped Chartbeat’s “Top 120 Most Engaging Stories of 2018” list with 29 total pieces ranked, including the #1 spot. With more stories on the list than any other publisher, CNN’s content accounted for a quarter of engagement time in the top 120 list.
CNN: 29 Stories for a Total Engaged Time of 269,949,736 Minutes
- BBC: 22 Stories for a Total Engaged Time of 175,640,865 Minutes
- The New York Times: 18 Stories for a Total Engaged Time of 193,102,832
Minutes - New York Magazine: 9 Stories for a Total Engaged Time of 98,844,685
Minutes - ESPN: 7 Stories for a Total Engaged Time of 66,611,376 Minutes
- The Washington Post: 6 Stories for a Total Engaged Time of 55,458,466
Minutes
Source: Chartbeat Top 120 Most Engaging Stories of 2018 list.
#1 IN MULTIPLATFORM VISITORS IN NOVEMBER
CNN saw a larger audience reach than any other news source in November 2018 with 123 million unique visitors domestically. CNN outranked The New York Times by 18 million unique visitors and Fox News by 34 million unique visitors across platforms.
CNN: 123 Million Unique Visitors
- The New York Times Brand – 105 million unique visitors
- WashingtonPost.com – 91 million unique visitors
- FoxNews.com – 89 million unique visitors
- NBCNews.com – 81 million unique visitors
- USAToday.com – 68 million unique visitors
Source: Comscore Media Metrix® Multi-Platform, Custom-Defined List, Total Digital Audience, November 2018, U.S. Based on CNN.com entity compared to a custom list of single brand competitors that are also in the News/Information Category.
#1 IN MULTIPLATFORM VIDEO STARTS IN OCTOBER
CNN topped its competitors in October 2018 with 549 million multiplatform video starts, making October the 42nd straight month at #1.
CNN: 549 Million Multiplatform Video Starts
- FoxNews.com – 213 million video starts
- Yahoo News – 175 million video starts
- MSN News – 168 million video starts
- ABCNews.com Sites– 140 million video starts
- DailyMail.co.uk – 83 million video starts
Source: Comscore Video Media Metrix®, Custom-Defined List, Total Audience, October 2018, U.S. Based on CNN.com entity compared to a custom list of single brand competitors that are also in the News/Information Category. (October data is the most current available)
#1 IN MOBILE UNIQUE VISITORS IN NOVEMBER
CNN’s mobile audience of 101 million mobile unique visitors surpassed its competitors in November 2018. CNN saw 15 million more mobile users than second-place The New York Times and 28 million more than fourth-place Fox News.
CNN: 101 Million Mobile Unique Visitors
- The New York Times Brand – 86 million unique visitors
- WashingtonPost.com – 78 million unique visitors
- FoxNews.com – 73 million unique visitors
- NBCNews.com – 70 million unique visitors
- DailyMail.co.uk – 60 million unique visitors
Source: Comscore Mobile Metrix®, Custom-Defined List, Total Mobile, November 2018, U.S. Based on CNN.com entity compared to a custom list of single brand competitors that are also in the News/Information Category.
#1 NEWS BRAND AMONG MILLENNIALS
CNN was the #1 news outlet for multiplatform visitors between the ages of 18-34 in November with 33 million unique visitors in that age range.
CNN: 33.4 Million Millennial Unique Multiplatform Visitors
- DailyMail.co.uk – 32.6 million millennial unique visitors
- The New York Times Brand – 31 million millennial unique visitors
- WashingtonPost.com – 27.1 million millennial unique visitors
- NBCNews.com – 26.7 million millennial unique visitors
- USAToday.com – 18 million millennial unique visitors
Source: comScore Media Metrix®, Custom-Defined List, Digital Audience Persons 18-34, November 2018, U.S. Based on CNN.com entity compared to a custom list of single brand competitors in the News/Information Category.
#1 POLITICAL NEWS SOURCE IN NOVEMBER
Covering the U.S. Midterm Elections, CNN Politics dominated as #1 in political news in November with 55 million multiplatform unique visitors, 352 mm multiplatform views and 90 mm desktop video starts.
CNN Politics: 55 Million Unique Visitors
- Politico.com – 39 million unique visitors
- TheHill.com – 29 million unique visitors
- Fox News Politics – 26 million unique visitors
- NBCNews.com Politics – 19 million unique visitors
- HuffPost Politics – 14 million unique visitors
Source: Comscore Media Metrix® Multi-Platform, New/Information – Politics, Total Digital Audience, November 2018, U.S.; CNN Politics has been #1 in the competitive rank in video and multiplatform views since March of 2015.
#1 SOCIAL MEDIA IN NOVEMBER
CNN has ranked as the number one social news outlet in the US for more than four years, with more fans and followers than any other competitor.
- #1 news brand on Facebook with 48.5 million Facebook fans across CNN’s main accounts
- #1 most followed news brand on Twitter with 95.3 million followers across CNN’s main accounts
- @CNNBRK alone had over 12.1 million more Twitter followers than the leading competitive flagship account (The New York Times – 42.4 mm followers) and 36.2 million more than Fox News (17.8 mm followers)
- #1 most followed US news brand on Instagram with 6.2 million monthly average followers
Sources: Shareablee, November 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.
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