CBS Interactive Posts Traffic Increases Across Its Popular Sites According to November Nielsen Online

SAN FRANCISCO (Map) - CNET and GameSpot Post Double Digit Growth As Shoppers Turn to the Sites for Shopping Advice and Product Recommendations this Holiday Season

Last.fm Continues Growing Popularity as a Leading Music Destination in the U.S. with 26% Increase in Users

CBSNews.com Posts 63% Increase in Unique Users, Driven by Election and Post-Election Coverage

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- CBS Interactive today announced significant increases in traffic across its leading brands, according to Nielsen Online (November 2008, U.S. Data). The increases, which follow the strong growth reported by comScore MediaMetrix last week, reflect CBS Interactive's success at producing the best online content across the categories that people care about most.

Following are highlights from the November Nielsen Online:

-- CBSNews.com quality, in-depth content around the 2008 Elections contributed to significant year-over-year increases in unique users (63%), site visits (98%), and total minutes (135%) spent on the site -- CNET and GameSpot continued to post strong growth as consumers turned to both sites for expert, unbiased advice on what games, technology, and consumer electronic product to buy this holiday season. CNET posted a 12% growth in unique users month-over-month and GameSpot post a 21% year-over-year increase in users. -- Last.fm continues its growing popularity in the US, posting a 26% year-over-year increase in unique users and a 21% year-over-year increase in total minutes spent on the site. Due to holiday gaming sales, GameSpot saw an up-tick in unique users year-over-year of 21% -- CBS.com continues to lead its network competitors in key engagement metrics, including minutes per person (11.9) and pages per person (17) -- CBSSports.com continues to lead their competitive set in engagements with 62.8 minutes per user

Additionally, CBS entertainment content available on Verizon VCast has grown year-over-year in terms of videos viewed in the third quarter (Q3 07 vs Q3 08). According to Nielsen Mobile Video research, CBS content featured on VCast proved to be among the most viewed and downloaded content offered to VCast subscribers. Further underscoring that CBS content is attracting a loyal and engaged audience on mobile devices, of all the top rated channels on VCast, CBS ranked #1 in terms of downloads per unique user.

"Sites like Last.fm, GameSpot, and CNET are must-have resources for consumers during the holiday season, as they turn to these sites for advice on the best in music, games and technology," said Quincy Smith, CEO of CBS Interactive. "The growth across these brands underscores the valuable content they produce for their audiences."

"As mobile video grows, CBS video content is clearly resonating with viewers," said Neil Ashe, President, CBS Interactive. "Our content not only works in mobile, but is in demand by viewers and continues to grow. As the video quality continues to grow and data speeds increase, high quality, professional content will become more and more important to content providers and aggregators."

About CBS Interactive

CBS Interactive, a division of CBS Corporation, is the best online content network for information and entertainment. With more than 170 million people visiting its properties each month, it is the 8th largest Web property globally. Its portfolio of leading brands, which include CNET, CBS.com, CBSSports.com, GameSpot, TV.com, BNET and Last.fm, span popular categories like technology, entertainment, sports, news and business.