CNN Pressroom - CNN Only Online News Brand to Generate More than One Billion Total Usage Minutes in Single Month

The CNN Digital Network has staked a new high ground in September, topping not only all “Current Events and Global News” sites but also beating out all other “News and Information” sites including Internet stalwarts Wikipedia and the Weather Channel.

CNN has stood as the No. 1 site in the Current Events and Global News subcategory since 2005, according to Nielsen//NetRatings’ Home and Work Panel data, but this latest leap takes it performance to the top of a new level. CNN’s performance follows a major overhaul of CNN.com that includes new and innovative story-telling paradigms.

According to Nielsen, the network also registered more than 1 billion total usage minutes for the month. To date, the CNN Digital Network is the only Current Events and Global News destination ever to achieve 1 billion total usage minutes within a month, according to NetRatings data available back to January 2004. CNN last achieved that milestone in January 2006 and March 2006.

In September, the CNN Digital Network topped a billion total usage minutes with 1.022 billion minutes, 31 percent more than Wikipedia.com with 781 million minutes and 37 percent more than Yahoo News with 746 million minutes. Among other related sites, the MSNBC Digital Network had 679 million minutes and the Fox News Digital Network had 375 million minutes.

In the subcategory of Current Events and Global News, the CNN Digital Network maintained its No. 1 position for share of online news with 17 percent, compared to Yahoo News with 12 percent. For September, it also claimed the greatest share of online news in the broader News and Information category.

September also marked the second month in a row that the CNN Digital Network attracted more than 30 million unique users in a single month, registering 30.9 million unique users.

CNN.com is the world's No. 1 destination for online and wireless news, garnering the greatest audience share among current events and global news sites. Launched in 1995, CNN.com draws from the resources of CNN Worldwide and its many partners to provide consumers with the most enriching, immediate interaction with news anywhere, seamlessly combining articles, videos, images, interactive features and user-generated content. CNN.com’s news video offering – both live and on-demand – is unparalleled on the Web. CNN.com’s recent awards include an Edward R. Murrow award, a National Headliner award and two EPpy awards.