International Entertainment News: iTunes Reaches 14 Percent of Active Internet Universe, Skyrocketing 241 Percent Year-Over-Year, According to Nielsen//NetRatings

iTunes Reaches 14 Percent of Active Internet Universe, Skyrocketing 241 Percent Year-Over-Year, According to Nielsen//NetRatings

iTunes Users Prefer Distinct Consumer and Media Brands, Including Volkswagen, Wired Magazine and Cartoon Network

NEW YORK, Jan. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Nielsen//NetRatings, a global leader in Internet media and market research, today announced that traffic to Apple's iTunes Web site and use of the iTunes application has skyrocketed 241 percent over the past year, from 6.1 million unique visitors in December 2004 to 20.7 million in December 2005, reaching nearly 14 percent of the active Internet population.

Teens are disproportionately represented among iTunes users; 12 to 17 year olds are nearly twice as likely to visit the iTunes Web site and use the application as the average Internet user. iTunes users are also more likely to be male; the site's traffic is 54 percent male and 46 percent female.

"The rapid growth of iTunes is an important phenomenon in the online media marketplace," said Jon Gibs, director of media analytics, Nielsen//NetRatings. "Consumers have clearly indicated that they are eager to control their own music libraries, one song at a time," he continued.

Nielsen//NetRatings also revealed today that iTunes users form a distinct target audience with identifiable brand preferences (see Table 1). Their favorite car make is Volkswagen, which they are 2.2 times more likely to own than the average Internet user. Other popular car makers among the group include Audi and Subaru. In terms of beverages, their alcohol of choice is hard cider, followed by imported and domestic beer.

iTunes users also have decided media preferences. Among magazines, they are 3.3 times more likely than average to read Wired, 2.6 times more likely to read Rolling Stone and 2.5 times more likely to read FHM. When watching television, they flock to the Cartoon Network at 1.4 times the average rate, and to HBO and BBC America at 1.3 and 1.2 times the average rate, respectively.

"As networks begin to decide what types of programs to either produce or distribute through iTunes video, they should match the TV audiences' offline purchase and media consumption behavior with that of the iTunes users to maximize the success of video downloads," said Gibs.

Table 1: Nielsen//NetRatings @Plan Profile Points for iTunes Users (U.S.)

Vehicle Make Composition Index
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Volkswagen 217
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Audi 204
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Subaru 177
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Alcoholic Beverages Composition Index
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Hard Cider 234
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Imported Beer 202
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Domestic Beer 181
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Magazine Readership Composition Index
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Wired 329
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Rolling Stone 262
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FHM 245
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TV Network Viewership Composition Index
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Cartoon Network 137
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BBC America 129
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HBO 123
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Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, @Plan Winter 2005/2006 Release
Note: Average Composition Index is 100.

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Nielsen//NetRatings reports December 2005 data for the Top Sites by Parent Company and Top Brands. In addition, Nielsen//NetRatings reveals the Top Advertisers by Company for December 2005.

Nielsen//NetRatings Top 10 Web Sites by Parent Company and Top 10 Web
Sites By Brand, December 2005

Table 1. Top 10 Parent Companies, Table 2. Top 10 Brands,
Combined Home & Work Combined Home & Work

Unique Time Per Unique Time Per
Audience Person Audience Person
Parent (000) (hh:mm:ss) Brand (000) (hh:mm:ss)
--------------------------------- ---------------------------------
1. Microsoft 111,968 2:08:09 1. Yahoo! 103,764 3:17:03
--------------------------------- ---------------------------------
2. Yahoo! 104,097 3:17:15 2. Microsoft 97,218 0:47:18
--------------------------------- ---------------------------------
3. Time Warner 102,359 4:43:54 3. MSN 90,881 1:47:00
--------------------------------- ---------------------------------
4. Google 88,608 0:52:49 4. Google 86,553 0:52:04
--------------------------------- ---------------------------------
5. eBay 64,037 1:45:42 5. AOL 76,709 5:44:24
--------------------------------- ---------------------------------
6. InterActive
Corp 56,636 0:25:49 6. eBay 57,251 1:48:20
--------------------------------- ---------------------------------
7. Amazon 53,755 0:33:14 7. Amazon 48,032 0:31:54
--------------------------------- ---------------------------------
8. News Corp.
Online 51,515 1:21:41 8. Real 36,807 0:43:20
--------------------------------- ---------------------------------
9. RealNetworks 37,821 0:44:36 9. Apple 35,670 1:01:46
--------------------------------- ---------------------------------
10. New York
Times
Company 37,562 0:16:19 10. MapQuest 34,941 0:12:05
--------------------------------- ---------------------------------

Example: The data indicates that 37.6 million home and work Internet users visited at least one of the New York Times Company-owned sites or launched a New York Times Company-owned application during the month, and each person spent, on average, a total of 16 minutes and 19 seconds at one or more of their sites or applications.

A parent company is defined as a consolidation of multiple domains and URLs owned by a single entity. A brand is defined as a consolidation of multiple domains and URLs that has a consistent collection of branded content. Reach is a measure of the unduplicated audience that visits a property. The data is expressed as the percentage of the total universe of Internet users who logged onto the Internet at least once during the reporting period.

Nielsen//NetRatings AdRelevance Top 10 Advertisers, December 2005

Top advertisers, ranked by estimated spending, are based on data from AdRelevance, Nielsen//NetRatings' advertising research service. An impression is counted as the number of times an ad is rendered for viewing.

Top 10 Advertisers by Estimated Spending

Total Estimated Impressions
Advertiser Spending (000)
1. Vonage Holdings Corp $39,039,000 14,970,152
----------------------------------------------------------------------
2. General Motors Corporation $12,449,900 2,463,197
----------------------------------------------------------------------
3. LowerMyBills.com, Inc. $10,436,300 2,447,148
----------------------------------------------------------------------
4. NexTag.com $9,787,400 3,480,681
----------------------------------------------------------------------
5. United Online, Inc. $9,102,500 2,872,465
----------------------------------------------------------------------
6. BellSouth Corporation $9,000,800 2,273,496
----------------------------------------------------------------------
7. SBC Communications, Inc. $8,266,500 1,590,247
----------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Dell Computer Corporation $8,117,600 2,163,479
----------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Netflix, Inc. $8,045,900 2,462,978
----------------------------------------------------------------------
10. Scottrade, Inc. $7,634,700 1,587,447
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Estimated spending reflects CPM-based advertising only, and excludes search-based advertising, paid fee services, performance-based campaigns, sponsorships, barters, partnership advertising, advertorials, promotions, email and direct response. Impressions reported exclude house ads, which are ads that run on an advertiser's own Web property.

Example: An estimated 1.6 billion Scottrade, Inc. ads were rendered for viewing at the cost of approximately $7.6 million during the surfing period.

About Nielsen//NetRatings

NetRatings, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRT) delivers leading Internet media and market research solutions, marketed globally under the Nielsen//NetRatings brand. With high quality, technology-driven products and services, Nielsen//NetRatings is the global standard for Internet audience measurement and premier source for online advertising intelligence, enabling clients to make informed business decisions regarding their Internet and digital strategies. The Nielsen//NetRatings portfolio includes panel-based and site-centric Internet audience measurement services, online advertising intelligence, user lifestyle and demographic data, e-commerce and transaction metrics, and custom data, research and analysis. For more information, please visit www.nielsen-netratings.com.

CONTACT: Suzy Bausch 408-941-2965

Jennifer Fan 408-941-2951

Source: Nielsen//NetRatings

CONTACT: Suzy Bausch +1-408-941-2965, or Jennifer Fan, +1-408-941-2951,
both for NetRatings, Inc.

Web site: http://www.netratings.com/

NOTE TO EDITORS: Please source all data to Nielsen//NetRatings.

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