EXCLUSIVE: The Top 30 Global News Sites in November

By: Jennifer Saba Like newspapers, at least half of the top 30 current events/global news sites had a difficult time clearing tough comparables in November, marking one year after a closely watched presidential election.

Of the top five sites, only AOL News increased its traffic in November year-over-year after a push to generate original content. AOL's monthly uniques grew 9% to 23 million.

Growth at Yahoo News, the No. 1 site on the list, was flat at 38.7 million uniques.

The Huffington Post managed to increase its traffic in November 2009, up 27% to 8.9 million year-over-year.

CNN Digital Network had the highest average of sessions per person at 7.3 in November.

Please note that Nielsen Online, which provided the custom data for E&P, expanded its panels in June 2009, which could affect year-over-year trending.

Below is the list of top 30 online current events and global news destinations for November ranked by uniques with the average number of sessions per user and year-over-year comparisons. Additionally, The Wall Street Journal is included on another Nielsen list, which tracks business and financial sites.

For the October list, go here.


Yahoo! News -- 38,716,000 -- 5.71 -- 0%
CNN Digital Network -- 36,605,000 -- 7.33 -- (-12%)
MSNBC Digital Network -- 35,068,000 -- 5.38 -- (-16%)
AOL News -- 23,006,000 -- 6.22 -- 9%
NYTimes.com -- 16,635,000 -- 4.00 -- (-20%)

Tribune Newspapers -- 16,551,000 -- 3.46 -- (-14%)
Google News -- 15,895,000 -- 4.12 -- 10%
Fox News Digital Network -- 15,811,000 -- 5.97 -- (-14%)
ABCNEWS Digital Network -- 12,922,000 -- 3.06 -- (-3%)
Gannett Newspapers and Newspaper Division -- 11,946,000 -- 5.29 -- (-15%)

Washingtonpost.com -- 11,321,000 -- 2.98 -- 2%
CBS News Digital Network -- 10,581,000 -- 2.60 -- (-17%)
McClatchy Newspaper Network -- 10,091,000 -- 3.86 -- (-19%)
Advance Internet -- 9,457,000 -- 4.13 -- 0%
TheHuffingtonPost.com -- 8,986,000 -- 3.44 -- 27%

USATODAY.com -- 8,309,000 -- 3.84 -- (-20%)
MediaNews Group Newspapers -- 8,081,000 -- 3.71 -- (-1%)
Hearst Newspapers Digital -- 7,722,000 -- 3.44 -- (-7%)
BBC -- 7,465,000 -- 3.15 -- (-23%)
Daily News (NY) Online Edition -- 7,109,000 -- 2.19 -- 21%

NBC Local Media -- 6,943,000 -- 1.92 -- 148%
WorldNow -- 6,811,000 -- 3.52 -- (-16%)
Examiner.com -- 6,225,000 -- 1.88 -- 228%
Guardian.co.uk -- 5,486,000 -- 1.71 -- 33%
Cox Newspapers -- 5,369,000 -- 4.59 -- 16%

NPR -- 5,012,000 -- 2.15 -- 6%
New York Post Holdings -- 4,934,000 -- 2.92 -- 10%
MailOnline -- 4,374,000 -- 2.14 -- (-7%)
Telegraph -- 4,363,000 -- 2.72 -- 7%
Topix -- 4,356,000 -- 2.47 -- (-37%)