Disney Online, which produces the No. 1 ranked community-family and parenting online destination (www.Disney.com), scored record traffic and user engagement numbers for its Disney.com mobile site in the first quarter of 2009. The strong growth was fueled by recent mobile web promotions and unique offerings including the Magical Celebrations Sweepstakes with Disney Parks, the launch of an iPhone/iTouch Safari version of the site and a mobile tie-in to the recently released Hannah Montana The Movie. Text MOBILE to DISNEY (347639)* to visit the mobile site.
Mobile traffic for the first quarter of 2009 increased substantially over the previous quarter, with page views up a record-breaking 38% and SMS messages up nearly 600%. Also, since the mobile site launched in late 2007, it has streamed over 2 million minutes of audio and generated over 135,000 personalized voicetone greetings from beloved Disney characters.
"The growth and strength of our mobile site has really taken off as guests actively seek out exclusive offerings and uniquely integrated mobile features," stated Paul Yanover, executive vice president and managing director, Disney Online. "We're focused on delivering high-quality entertainment on any platform so it's great to see this positive response from guests who enjoy Disney.com on the go."
Building on strong audience response to the Disney.com mobile site, several new interactive features were added including the integration of online account registration to mobile, allowing registrants of Disney.com to extend their account to their mobile phones, earning points while playing mobile web-based games and gain access to leaderboards. Also new, the Disney Locations feature allows guests to find local Disney events, concerts, live shows and the ability to get movie showtimes and purchase tickets - all by entering a city name or zip code. The popular mobile site also extended to the iPhone/iTouch, launching a version utilizing key features of the devise.
Attributing to the tremendous traffic growth over the last year has been the addition of numerous new sections of the site including:
· A new gadgets portal that features connected mobile to online games
· An expanded characters portal featuring in-depth mobile experiences built around popular Disney characters and franchises such as Mickey and Friends, Winnie the Pooh and Friends and Disney Fairies
· New content tentpoles supporting recently-debuted Disney Channel shows Sonny with a Chance and JONAS as well as new films like Hannah Montana: The Movie and Up
· New interactive games for JONAS and Hannah Montana where guests can unlock exclusive music and behind-the-scenes video
Data source: internal tracking.
About Disney Online
Disney Online (www.Disney.com or text MOBILE to DISNEY)*, a unit of Disney Interactive Media Group, produces the No. 1 ranked community-family and parenting destination on the World Wide Web. Launched in 1996, Disney.com is the online and now mobile web gateway to all of the company's Disney-branded entertainment initiatives, providing comprehensive access to, and information about Disney movies, travel, television, games, music, shopping and live events.
In addition, Disney Online develops and publishes a range of online products and services including Pirates of the Caribbean Online, Disney's Toontown Online, Disney Fairies Pixie Hollow and Disney Club Penguin.
Disney Interactive Media Group (DIMG) is an affiliate of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS).