Hitwise Releases 2007-08 TV Web Roundup
NBC, ABC in Statistical Dead Heat for Most Viewers for TV Site; American Idol Takes Top-Show Title
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/3/2008 2:48:00 PM
There was something for all of the Big Four networks to trumpet in Hitwise's just-released roundup of Web traffic to the broadcast-network sites for the 2007-08 season.
According to the company, which tracks surfing by some 10 million Web viewers, NBC and ABC were essentially in a statistical dead heat for the biggest share of those viewers, with ABC.com claiming 27.14% and NBC.com 27.01%. Both of those were down from the 2006-07 season, Hitwise said, with ABC's share down 9% and NBC's 18%.
CBS got bragging rights for the largest percentage increase in traffic to 21.51%, up 41% from 15.24% last season. CBS also topped the list in amount of time spent with the network at 10 minutes, 24 seconds, up 39% from 7:30 the season before. NBC was a close second at 10:07, but that was down 12% from 11:27 in 2006-07, Hitwise said.
Fox could also claim a top performer: American Idol. Idol was the top-visited broadcast-TV-show Web site with 14.01% of traffic, but NBC’s Deal or No Deal was a close second at 13.33%.
On the netlet side, The CW had reason to be optimistic about its Web performance. Its share of traffic was up 27% to 6.61%. It also placed third in time spent with the site at 9:42, up 21% from the season before and good enough for third place behind CBS and NBC.
