Coverage and Analysis of December Impeachment Hearings

Lifts Traffic to Conservative Websites in December;

Impeachment Bump Also Boosts Mainstream Media Websites

January 22, 2020, New York, NY – Unique visitors to the majority of major conservative media digital outlets rose in December, according to TheRighting’s exclusive traffic analysis based on Comscore data.  PJ Media, which has been posting more stories since joining  Townhall Media’s collection of conservative websites last March, led all right-wing websites with a 312% year-over-year (YOY) jump in unique visitors.  In December 2018, PJ Media generated 522,000 unique visitors, which more than quadrupled to 2,286,000 unique visitors in December 2019.

Three other conservative websites in TheRighting’s top 20 posted triple-digit gains: RedState (also part of Townhall Media), WND and The Washington Times.  The three US mainstream media websites TheRighting tracks each month all experienced YOY December increases in unique visitors:  CNN (+14%), The New York Times (+5%), and The Washington Post (+3%).  A random sampling of other prominent mainstream and liberal websites also showed YOY audience growth as well: Daily Kos (+53%), Slate (+41%), The Daily Beast (+16%) and The Atlantic (+1%). 

“The rising tide of interest in the impeachment hearings lifted all media boats on both sides of the dock,” said Howard Polskin, President, TheRighting.  “Audience scrutiny of the impeachment process that began in November carried over into December.  The holiday season did not appear to significantly distract audiences from following the polarized battles taking place in Washington.”

Foxnews.com remained the leading conservative website, posting a 6% YOY rise in unique visitors.  The site attracted 95,482,000 unique visitors. The Washington Examiner continued its reign as the second-most trafficked conservative website, helped by a 67% YOY increase in unique visitors.

Leaders and Laggards Among Top 20 Conservative Websites for December 2019

(by unique visitor percentage increase/decrease from year ago)

Leaders:

·      PJ Media (+312%)

·      RedState (+122%)

·      WND (+121%)

Laggards:

·      Breitbart (-38%)

·      Daily Caller (-22%)

·      Western Journal (-17%)

Each month, TheRighting examines Comscore data on dozens of prominent conservative websites that post original content.  TheRighting ranks the top 20 conservative websites on the basis of unique visitors and also provides data on whether unique visitors have increased or decreased year over year.  That information is posted on the Metrics section of TheRighting’s website.

TheRighting also publishes an A-Z Guide to Right-Wing Media  on its website and updates it regularly.  The guide features descriptions about prominent right-wing media websites.

Source: Comscore Media Metrix® Multi-Platform, Custom-defined list, including, but not limited to Foxnews.com, Breitbart.com, DailyCaller.com, WashingtonExaminer.com, WesternJournal.com, Washingtontimes.com, Total Digital Audience, December 2019, U.S.

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