India's online news readership jumps 34% in past year: comScore
The Times of India leads online news ranking, while also generating significant traffic from abroad
BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | October 3, 2013
comScore Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, has released a report highlighting online news readership in India based on data from its comScore Media Metrix service. The report shows that there has been significant growth in daily readership of news and information content in the past year, with an increase of 34 per cent to 9.4 million average daily visitors to the category.
comScore News/Information Properties in India August 2012-2013 Total India – Home and Work Computers Source: comScore Media Metrix |
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August 2012 | August 2013 | % Change | |
Total Unique Visitors (000) | 40,044 | 45,902 | 15% |
Total Visits (000) | 259,686 | 364,592 | 40% |
Average Daily Visitors (000) | 7,042 | 9,402 | 34% |
Average Minutes per Visitor | 31.6 | 41.6 | 31% |
Total Unique Visitors (000) | 40,044 | 45,902 | 15% |
TOI leads online news ranking: The Times of India continues to be the clear leader in the news category, maintaining its No. 1 position since last year with 12.7 million unique visitors in August. India.com sites showed 25 per cent growth breaking into the top 10 for the first time with more than 7.1 million unique visitors. In addition to those two properties, 16 of the top 20 news properties are currently local news publishers.
comScore Top 20 News/Information Properties in India August 2013 Total India – Home and Work Computers Source: comScore Media Metrix |
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Rank | Property | Unique Visitors (000) | Rank | Property | Unique Visitors (000) | ||
1 | The Times of India | 12,715 | 11 | The Hindu Group | 4,201 | ||
2 | Yahoo!-ABC News Network | 10,721 | 12 | IBN Live | 4,175 | ||
3 | HT Media Ltd | 8,219 | 13 | The Indian Express Group | 3,492 | ||
4 | India Today Group | 7,676 | 14 | Bhaskar.com | 2,537 | ||
5 | India.com Sites | 7,188 | 15 | CNN Network | 2,171 | ||
6 | About | 7,044 | 16 | BBC | 2,113 | ||
7 | Jagran Sites | 6,312 | 17 | Sify News And Information | 2,034 | ||
8 | NDTV | 6,258 | 18 | HPMG News | 1,965 | ||
9 | OneIndia.com Sites | 6,182 | 19 | Navbharat Times | 1,862 | ||
10 | The Economic Times | 4,415 | 20 | FirstPost.com | 1,832 |
Data also suggest reader engagement for the news category has spiked within the past year, with users spending on average 31 per cent more time on news sites at 41.6 minutes per visitor. DivyaBhaskar.co.in and Bhaskar.com demonstrated especially strong engagement at 100.3 minutes and 62.1 minutes, respectively. Other niche news sites with more modestly-sized audiences – including Jagbani.com, PunjabKesari.in, and Navbharat Times – also generated high engagement with a higher number of page views per visitor than the category average of 48.
Significant audiences from abroad: Continuing a past trend, many of the top Indian news sites saw a significant amount of traffic from abroad. FirstPost.com generated the highest share of its audience from abroad at 51.3 per cent, followed by Manorama sites at 45 per cent. The Times of India, as the most prominent news brand, also successfully extended its audience into other markets with 37.8 per cent of its audience coming from abroad. NDTV, India.com sites, and The Indian Express Group also have more than 30 per cent of their respective audiences coming from outside of India.
Share of Audience from Abroad Among Top News/Information Properties in India* August 2013 vs. August 2012 Total India – Home and Work Computers Source: comScore Media Metrix |
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Property | Unique Visitors (000) from Outside India | Unique Visitors (000) from India | % of Audience From Abroad |
FirstPost.com | 1,932 | 1,832 | 51% |
Manorama Sites | 902 | 1,089 | 45% |
The Times of India | 7,736 | 12,715 | 38% |
NDTV | 3,550 | 6,258 | 36% |
India.com Sites | 3,584 | 7,188 | 33% |
The Indian Express Group | 1,606 | 3,492 | 32% |
The Hindu Group | 1,741 | 4,201 | 29% |
(Based on News/Information properties with at least 1 million visitors)