MSNBC On Top, FNC In Third (Online)

In his latest Business Week column, Jon Fine notes that MSNBC.com and CNN.com frequently clobber FOXNews.com in the cable news channel Web site war. This leads Fine to say: “Could this signify that Fox News’ style is less translatable to the unbridled Web than that of its straighter competitors?” Here are some interesting excerpts:

> “They just got way out ahead. Now we’re climbing the ladder,” says Bert Solivan, general manager of FoxNews.com.

> “The Web may be all about splintering media models, but, especially for MSNBC.com, its portals still matter. Nielsen//Net Rating finds MSN.com responsible for a large chunk of MSNBC.com’s traffic. In contrast, AOL drives only a fraction as much to CNN.com. Fox News has no such portal relationship. (Wonder why Rupert Murdoch has made noises about creating a next-generation portal?)”

> At “current rates of growth, FoxNews.com has years to go before it will unseat either rival.”