xinmsn boasts strong results since inception in Singapore

This figure represents an overall increase of 392 per cent from the same time last year.

The portal’s homepage accumulated 14 million page views; video and entertainment drew 6 million page views each; while its news, lifestyle and sports channels also performed strongly, receiving a combined 14 million page views across all three channels.

According to ComScore, each unique visitor spent 22 minutes on the portal in April, almost double the time spent in March, and visited the site at least eight times in a month.

xinmsn’s early success was attributed to video content and a key highlight was the addition of Catch-Up TV to introduce free video on demand. xinmsn's video section was visited by 310,000 unique users, a 350 per cent jump from a year ago.

On the results and how it affects advertisers, Mark Inkster from Microsoft Advertising, said: “The ability of xinmsn to attract over a million visitors from different age groups and backgrounds provides a unique opportunity for our clients to reach a large number of consumers efficiently.

He added that the "strong, relevant bilingual content across the xinmsn channels has been a key factor in the portal’s success, enabling it to reach and resonate with our broad and still growing base of users.”

Moses Lye, VP of interactive media at MediaCorp, said: “We’ve noted that users are spending a significant amount of time on the site. More than 50 per cent of video users come back for more within 24 hours. It is quite evident that free catch-up TV and video on demand are real crowd pleasers. We expect even higher user engagement in the coming months.”

Launched at the end of March this year, xinmsn was touted as a portal that offers the best of both Microsoft and MediaCorp's services and media platforms.