Breaking stories lead to 180,000 uniques in March, 1.5 million page views since launch
LOS ANGELES (April 1, 2009) – TheWrap.Com, a unique primary news source focused on the business of entertainment and media, reached the two month mark this week with rapid growth in readership and widespread adoption in the entertainment industry. Founded by award-winning journalist Sharon Waxman, TheWrap has achieved instant recognition worldwide as a reliable and independent source by both media and industry professionals, delivering high-profile news breaks, investigative stories and authoritative analysis.
· Since its launch in late January 2009, TheWrap has garnered more than 1,600,000 page views in just over 370,000 visits to date, with more than 180,000 unique visitors in March alone according to Google Analytics.
· Among the many stories TheWrap has broken are Zac Efron’s recent decision to bail on the highly anticipated film, Footloose, the MPAA rating’s board to give Sacha Baron Cohen’s Brüno an NC-17 and the exclusive interview with the Twitter user many believed to be Actor Christopher Walken.
· Among the hard-hitting investigative stories The Wrap has broken include a series about the closures of Hollywood’s historic Motion Picture Television Fund’s hospital and long term care facility, leading to an admission of errors by the Fund’s chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg; and a close look at a screenwriting contest run by FadeIn magazine, that has led to complaints by winners that the contest does not deliver on its promised prizes and perks.
· As a result of The Wrap’s industry exclusives, the news organization has been cited and linked to by major news sources including The Drudge Report, The Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, the Los Angeles Times, CBS-Marketwatch, E! Online, Newsweek, IMDB, Yahoo!, TIME, Financial Times and Digg.
“The enthusiasm for The Wrap confirms the basics of our proposition – that the business of Hollywood has great appeal and deep reach,” says Sharon Waxman, Founder and CEO. “It’s exciting to see the spread of The Wrap’s content throughout media channels across the country and around the world. We intend to grow this audience by continuing to provide quality news coverage with a lively, informed voice.”
Among the Hollywood insiders who have contributed content to the site include “Airplane” director David Zucker, “Contender” writer/director Rod Lurie, “Seinfeld” writer Peter Mehlman, producer Mike Medavoy, musician Peter Himmelman and AMPAS president Sid Ganis, driving the news organization’s authentic voice.
“This rapid audience acquisition demonstrates that there’s a tremendous hunger for intelligent, entertaining coverage,” says Kevin Davis, COO of The Wrap. “Clearly, we are filling a gap in industry coverage, and the audience is listening.”
The Wrap is headquartered in Santa Monica, California.
About TheWrap
TheWrap (www.thewrap.com) is a unique primary news source focused on the business of entertainment and media. Offering its readers original reporting, exclusive contributions from industry readers and curated news from around the globe, The Wrap is led by award-winning journalist and author, Sharon Waxman. She is best known for her work as a Hollywood correspondent for The New York Times, and brings her extensive journalism experience and knowledge of the entertainment industry to TheWrap readers. TheWrap news organization is backed by Maveron, a venture capital firm based in Seattle, Washington and co-founded by Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz and Dan Levitan.