REDMOND, Wash. and NEW YORK, Feb. 5, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TODAYshow.com kicked off 2009 at record pace with page views soaring past 154 million, the most page views the site has had in one month -- ever. The remarkable start to 2009 follows on the heels of a banner year in 2008, where traffic to TODAYshow.com reached an astounding 1.3 billion total page views for the year.* Online video growth also exploded in 2008 with more than 320 million online video streams for the year.*
TODAYshow.com's coverage of the inauguration, emergency plane landing on the Hudson River and other top stories of the day as well as exclusive interviews from TODAY anchors and interactive tools and features attracted millions of consumers to the site. TODAYshow.com shattered the 100 million page view per month mark eight times in 2008.* And in 2008 the site averaged more than 5 million unique visitors per month who spent 5.5 minutes per visit.**
"When you take television's legendary and ever-popular TODAY brand plus the affiliation with msnbc.com, the #1 news site on the web, and then combine that with TODAYshow.com's own unique ability to share the stories that matter and practical information with its audience, that's powerful," said Catherine Captain, general manager of TODAYshow.com. "Clearly, that resonates and makes TODAYshow.com one powerhouse online lifestyle destination."
"TODAY's continued dominance in morning television and the explosive growth of our website shows that the TODAY brand is stronger than ever," said Jim Bell, executive producer of TODAY. "The show and the site complement each other perfectly and are providing important news and information not just in the morning, but whenever people want."
TODAYshow.com is the first stop for consumers interested in news, advice and lifestyle information of all kinds. In addition to interviews and tips from NBC's TODAY show, the site offers a behind-the-scenes blog with anchors and regular expert columns on everything from food and wine to travel, fashion and relationships. TODAYshow.com also offers original web-only reporting and interactive features to help make sense of the latest news and trends. The site's message boards, blogs and user-generated content connect members of the TODAY community and allow visitors to share advice and opinions.
*Source: Omniture SiteCatalyst
**Source: Nielsen Netview