OXYGEN CELEBRATES BEST AND MOST WATCHED YEAR EVER IN 2009
Driven By W18-34 (+14%)
Returning Originals Set All Time Series Highs and "Dance Your Ass Off" Becomes Biggest Freshman series in Network History
Digital Platform Delivers Double and Triple Digit Increases
NEW YORK, NY - December 28, 2009 - As 2009 draws to a close, Oxygen celebrates its most watched year ever in primetime across all key demos and total viewers; and saw double digit growth in target audience W18-34, marking a triumphant outperformance of last year's record achievements, according to Nielsen Media Research. The network continued to produce in top form in year two under the NBC Universal banner, which is proven by several milestones. Oxygen launched an incredibly successful new dance/weight-loss competition series "Dance Your Ass Off," which delivered the network's most watched series premiere and most watched freshman series ever. On the digital front, Oxygen experienced double digit increases online, triple digit growth in mobile and created a groundbreaking new social experience, www.OxygenLive.com, providing fans with a real time interactive way to watch original series.
In primetime for 2009, Oxygen experienced tremendous year-over-year gains exceeding 2008 results in key demos averaging 87,000 W18-34 (+14%), 112,000 A18-34 (+10%), 168,000 W18-49 (+9%), 224,000 A18-49 (+6%) and 424,000 total viewers (+8%). Additionally, the year solidified the network's sixth consecutive year of growth among key demos and total viewers.
"From ratings and digital growth to our launch of e-commerce and first-ever social viewing platform OxygenLive, our business is hitting on all cylinders," said Jason Klarman, General Manager, Oxygen Media. "The year's phenomenal growth and success is a testament to our strategic focus on delivering the Generation O woman the �Live Out Loud' brand she wants on every platform."
Returning series and staples of the "Live Out Loud" brand, "Bad Girls Club" and "Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood" reached series highs in 2009 earning their best seasons ever. "Bad Girls Club" season four is pacing to be the series highest season ever, delivering double digit growth above season three by 58% among A18-49, 54% among W18-49, 47% among W18-34, and up 63% among total viewers. This incredibly popular season earned the most watched telecast on Oxygen ever among P18-49, F18-34, P18-34, and total viewers, the second and third telecasts in the network's history to draw more than one million A18-49. On another high note, season four of "Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood" outperformed the previous year's season with 10% gains among W18-49 (699,000 average), up 6% among A18-49 (849,000 average), and up 6% among total viewers (1.144 MM average).
Other remarkable highlights adding to the year's successes include a #2 ranking among women's networks in the competitive demos A18-34, W18-34, W18-49 and coming in as the youngest women's network with a median age of 41.7; made a substantial move to #23 ranking among all ad-supported cable entertainment networks for W18-49; an increase in prime ratings six out of seven nights of the week; 26 telecasts delivered over one million viewers; and eight out of twelve months were record setting among key demo A18-49 with December coming in as the highest month ever in traditional prime in W18-34 and A18-34.
Oxygen's digital properties also saw significant double and triple digit gains this year, with www.oxygen.com claiming its best year ever in page views and monthly visitors. When compared to 2008, Oxygen's website is up 90% in page views for the year and up 20% in monthly unique visitors. Additionally, Oxygen mobile has experienced enormous success since launching in June 2008; with an astounding 175% increase in page views and a 71% bump in monthly uniques year-to-date. The network's innovative digital assets was a major contributing factor to the year's accomplishments and continues to be a huge asset when it comes to enhancing the Oxygen viewer and fan experience.
Source: Nielsen Media Research, Most Current Data: Live + 7 through 12/06/09, blended with Live + Same Day through 12/23/09. BGC is Live+Same data. Women's Networks include LIF, LMN, WE, OXY and SOAP.
Source: Oxygen.com, Page Views and Monthly Unique Visitors: YOY comparison, Omniture SiteCatalyst 1/1/09-12/21/09 vs. InsightXE through April '08 and Omniture SiteCatalyst May '08 forward; Year totals through 12/21/09
About Oxygen Media
Oxygen Media is a multiplatform lifestyle brand that delivers relevant and entertaining content to young women, wherever they are. Oxygen is rewriting the rulebook for women's media, with a vast array of unconventional and original content including "Bad Girls Club," "Dance Your Ass Off" and "Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood." Popular features online include shopOholic, makeOvermatic, tweetOverse and hormoneOscope. Available in 75 million homes, online at www.oxygen.com, or on mobile devices at wap.oxygen.com, Oxygen Media is a service of NBC Universal.
|