Sun-Times News Group Web Sites Top 50 Million Page Views for First Time for the Month of June
Sun-Times Media Group, Inc. (OTCBB:SUTM) announced today that total page views of its Sun-Times News Group Web sites, which include suntimes.com, increased for June 2008 to 54.6 million, a 45 percent increase from June 2007, according to Nielsen//Net Ratings. That marks the first time the Sun-Times News Group sites combined have ever topped 50 million total page views.
In addition, the time visitors spent on Sun-Times News Group Web sites increased on average to 9 minutes and 10 seconds. The combined Sun-Times News Group sites continue to rank among the top 10 newspaper Web sites with more than 3.5 million unique visitors each month.
“These numbers show there is a growing hunger for local Chicago area news, sports and commentary. The Sun-Times News Group is delivering increasingly robust products online that are clearly showing results in the data we are seeing,” said Cyrus F. Freidheim, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer of Sun-Times Media Group.
The Sun-Times News Group features more than 90 local Web sites, which include sites that correspond with the Chicago Sun-Times and each of the company’s 70 suburban newspaper titles, all of which together provide more than 200 communities with information unique to their cities and neighborhoods.
Among the specific sites showing particularly strong traffic growth were suntimes.com, rogerebert.com and searchchicago.com/autos.
“Chicagoans want their local news and movie information from the best source, which is the Sun-Times. And we are pleased with how the online and print versions of our expanded SearchChicago/Autos products have performed, particularly in such a tough economic and advertising environment,” Mr. Freidheim said. “What’s more, through our recently announced partnership with Yahoo! Inc., and the growth of our online audience, we now have more benefits than ever to offer our advertising clients.”
Sun-Times Media Group in June 2008 announced that it had joined with more than 700 newspapers to enhance its online advertising offerings and increase its sizable audiences through a strategic alliance with Yahoo! Inc. The alliance includes:
— The ability for the Sun-Times News Group to offer a one-stop buying experience for advertisers;
— Using Yahoo! technology to offer to Sun-Times News Group advertising clients graphical advertising, behavioral targeting and search functions;
— Distributing local news stories across multiple Yahoo! properties and sites to increase the number of online viewers who see Sun-Times News Group ads.
The Sun-Times News Group reaches 4.2 million print and online readers each week, according to Scarborough research, and serves the Chicago area more comprehensively than any other news company.
About Sun-Times Media Group
Sun-Times Media Group, Inc. is dedicated to being the premier source of local news and information for the greater Chicago area. Its media properties include the Chicago Sun-Times and Suntimes.com as well as newspapers and Web sites serving more than 200 communities across Chicago. Further information can be found at www.thesuntimesgroup.com.
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Certain statements made in this release are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Act”). Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, any statement that may predict, forecast, indicate or imply future results, performance or achievements, and may contain the words “believe,”"anticipate,”"expect,”"estimate,”"project,”"will be,”"will continue,”"will likely result,”"plan,” or similar words or phrases. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties are detailed from time to time in reports filed by Sun-Times Media Group with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in its Forms 10-K and 10-Q. New risk factors emerge from time to time and it is not possible for management to predict all such risk factors, nor can it assess the impact of all such risk factors on the Company’s business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results.