No News Fatigue at Conservative Websites as Vast Majority of Leading Right-Wing Media Outlets Post Gains in May Visits

June 14, 2018, New York, NY – Eighty-five percent of the top 20 conservative websites measured by visits posted audience gains for the month of May, according to TheRighting’s exclusive analysis of SimilarWeb  data.  Altogether 17 right-wing websites showed gains for the month compared to April 2018, while only two suffered declines, and one website (Newsmax) was unchanged.  

“These numbers contradict the assumption that consumers – at least on the right – are suffering from news fatigue,” said Howard Polskin, President and Chief Curator, TheRighting.  “The major conservative websites showed some of the strongest gains in visits for 2018.  It suggests that there remains a robust consumer appetite for conservative news, insights and opinions.”  

TheRighting also found that Breitbart finally halted its streak of six consecutive months of decreased audience visits stretching back to October 2017, when it generated a 16% rise in visits from the previous month. 

For the second month in a row, The Western Journal generated the largest month-to-month increase in visits, 49.74% compared to April 2017.  Infowars experienced the largest decline in visits of any major conservative website, dropping 5.64% compared to April.  

Leaders and Laggards Among Top 20 Conservative Websites for May 2018

(by visit percentage increase/decrease from the previous month of April 2018):

Leaders:

·     The Western Journal (+49.74%)

·     The Gateway Pundit (+34.92%)

·     The Federalist (+22.48%)

Laggards

·     Infowars (-5.64%)

·     PJ Media (-2.94)

The top 5 conservative websites in total May visits are as follows:

1.    Foxnews.com (312,900,000)

2.    Breitbart (66,370,000)

3.    The Daily Caller (28,780,000)

4.    The Daily Wire (25,510,000)

5.    The Gateway Pundit (19,080,000)

Three prominent mainstream media sites TheRighting tracks each month recorded mixed results for May-over-April visits: The New York Times (+4.03%), CNN (+0.19%) and The Washington Post (-8.27%).  

Among other trends TheRighting found in April:

·     Neo-Nazi website marching forward: The Daily Stormer recorded 2,720,000 visits for May, up 8.64% compared to April. 

·     Most social:  39.99% of visits to The Daily Wire came from social, the most of any top 20 conservative websites.

·     Friendliest with Facebook:  88.54% of all visits from social to Rush Limbaugh’s website came from Facebook, the most of any top 20 conservative website. 

 

Each month, TheRighting examines SimilarWeb data on dozens of prominent conservative websites that post original content. TheRighting ranks the top 20 conservative websites on the basis of total monthly visits and also provides data on whether visits have increased or decreased from the previous month.  That information is posted on the Metrics section of TheRighting’s website. (May 2018 data available here.)  

 

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