Top 50 news websites in the US: Most newsbrands returned to growth in October ahead of election

Most of the top newsbrands in the US saw web traffic growth in October following two months of declines. All but one of the ten most-visited news sites in the US, and almost four in five of the top 50, grew their visits compared with September. Thirty websites in the top 50 also saw their visits grow year-on-year in October, as well as eight of the top ten.

Among the ten most-visited news sites in the US, Forbes (118.4 million visits) saw the greatest growth, increasing 42.7% compared with October 2023 and 4.



7% compared with September 2024. It was followed by USA Today (185.3 million, up 41.

6% year-on-year) and the website of People magazine (157.4 million, up 32.3%), which were the only other top-ten sites to see double-digit growth compared with 2023.

CNN (425 million) remains the most-visited news site in the US despite an 11.8% year-on-year decrease in traffic — the only fall among the top ten besides Fox News (258.1 million), which lost 22.

5% of its October 2023 traffic. The broader traffic bounce back may reflect increased news interest in the run-up to the US election, which happened in the first week of November . The Fox web traffic decline contrasts with the network’s reported surge in TV viewership around the election .

[Read more: Top publishers saw less traffic on day of 2024 US election versus 2020 ] Among the broader top 50 news sites in the US, sports news site athlonsports.com (34.7 million) continued its reign as the fastest-growing publisher, nearly qua.