Over the weekend, MSNBC weighed in on my earlier post analyzing the new Nielsen-Netratings data that shows CNN Digital Network surged above MSNBC in the May web rankings. “This lift is a result of their new definition,” explains MSNBC.com’s Gina Stykes, pointing to CNN’s recent investment and partnership with Internet Broadcasting, which appears to have resulted in CNN rolling up Internet Broadcasting’s unique users (minus NBC’s owned-and-operated stations, which did not take part in the IB-CNN deal). “The year-over-year data show that without the new partnership, CNN.com would be down 7% year-over-year, while MSNBC.com increased 14% in the same period,” Stykes explained.
Two Lost Remote readers who are knowledgeable with the CNN-IB deal confirmed Internet Broadcasting’s uniques have been rolled up into the CNN Digital Network — which goes to show, it’s all how you slice it in the metrics.