THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY ANNOUNCES RECORD BREAKING AUDIENCE GROWTH ON DISNEY.CO.UK
DISNEY.CO.UK, THE NUMBER ONE AD-SUPPORTED ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT DESTINATION FOR CHILDREN & FAMILIES GROWS UNIQUE USERS AND PAGE VIEWS YEAR-ON-YEAR
London, 25th February 2008 - The Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG) today announced significant growth in audience numbers for Disney.co.uk. Already the UK's number one ad-supported online entertainment destination for children and families, the new UK site has grown unique users by 42% [1] since being re-launched in December 2007.
Monthly unique users of the site have also grown by 55% [1] year-on-year since January 2007 to over 3 million [2].
Commenting on the latest figures, Cindy Rose, Senior Vice President & Managing Director, WDIG, Europe, Middle East & Africa, said: "We are delighted to announce these figures which show that our audience has embraced the new Disney.co.uk. We experienced our best ever month in January, with unique users and page views beating all previous records.
"Page views are 120% [1] up on the same month last year with over 35 million [1] pages viewed in January 2008. Our guests are spending more time than ever - 30 minutes [1] - on the site, playing with the games, video, music and channels that are now integral to the Disney.co.uk experience."
Building on Disney's reputation as a leading provider of quality family entertainment, Disney.co.uk is a portal into a vibrant, rich online entertainment experience for children and parents, fully exploiting the arrival of faster broadband connections in the UK by giving rich media experiences such as playing videos, games and music. No other media company has the strength of brand and breadth of characters and fantasy worlds that can be brought together to create such a compelling online experience.
Disney.co.uk has also introduced Disney Xtreme Digital (Disney XD), the broadband showpiece of the new site which offers a totally customisable entertainment and community experience. Guests can publish their own customised area personalised with their favourite Disney videos, music, games, trivia, quizzes and avatars. Guests can also watch and share videos with friends, chat with friends, listen to music, create playlists and compete with each other across a stunning array of games.
Disney.co.uk, via Disney XD has also taken significant steps to address online safety for kids, including age-appropriate levels of online chat and monitoring of communication to prevent the exchange of personal information - all issues which remain an ongoing concern for parents. Parents are able to create family accounts where they can manage each child's depth of experience individually.
[1] Based on January 2008 figures from Nielsen Netratings.
[2] Based on Disney internal data.
About Walt Disney Internet Group
Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG) is the Disney business unit focused on the development of multimedia and entertainment content for internet and mobile platforms, including Disney websites worldwide. Market leader WDIG is also committed to designing and providing products for broadband distribution including Disney Connection and Disney Toontown Online, the first multi-user online game in the world for children and families ( www.disney.co.uk/toontown). WDIG delivers content and services to wireless users for Disney, ESPN and ABC brands, through wireless network operators across the world. WDIG is also the US leader for the development of interactive content for TV broadcasts through its Enhanced TV service. Steve Wadsworth is President of WDIG, headquartered in North Hollywood and with subsidiaries worldwide.