GMA New Media revenues rise 56%

MANILA, Philippines - GMA New Media Inc. (NMI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of broadcast firm GMA Network, Inc. saw a 56 percent increase in its online advertising revenues in the first 11 months from last year amid higher portal traffic.

GMA said NMI’s revenues from online advertising reached P71.5 million for the January to November period.

The jump in revenues was attributed to NMI’s growth strategies for the year, which include the optimization of the GMA Network portal (www.gmanetwork.com) for the efficient adoption of programmatic buying, continuous website enhancements paired with the effective use of social media, and initiatives to provide users an engaging browsing experience.

The increase in revenues was also due to the higher traffic to the websites of  GMA News Online (www.gmanetwork.com/News) and GMA’s official entertainment website (www.gmanetwork.com/Entertainment).

Data from Effective Measure showed GMA News Online’s page views posted a 115 percent year-on-year growth to reach one billion in the first 11 months, while the firm’s entertainment website saw a 537 percent year-on-year surge in visits to reach 643 million as of end-November.

The GMA Entertainment portal beat ABS-CBN.com in terms of total year-to-date page views, with the latter generating 561 million visits.

Unique browsers for GMA News Online and the entertainment website also grew 60 percent to 13 million, and 265 percent to 4.9 million, respectively.

“Besides the steady growth in online traffic, advertising inventory has likewise expanded due to continuous back-end improvements that create more opportunities for monetization. We remain focused on strengthening our efforts to further increase our potential for added revenues,” Dingdong Caharian, GMA New Media senior vice president and general manager said.

The firm’s YouTube revenues also jumped by 101 percent for the January to November period this year compared to the same period last year due to the rise in online video consumption.

NMI’s subsidiary, Digify Inc., likewise saw a 49 percent growth in revenues in the 11-month period this year from last year.

The growth was attributed to the continued demand for mobile, web and smart TV applications.

Digify bagged several key accounts, including SM Prime Holdings Inc., which commissioned the company to develop its SM Supermalls iOS and Android mobile apps.

The company also strengthened its partnership with Samsung Electronics Philippines Corp. by handling all the interactive displays in three museum exhibits sponsored by the latter such as Propaganda and Frames of Reference at the Lopez Museum, and BenCab in Two Movements at the Yuchengco Museum.