• by Wayne Friedman , April 14, 2017

Earned media continues to deliver big benefits for media and entertainment brands, largely due to high-interest news viewing.

Recent news concerning the presidential election and possible Russian connections with the White House are driving strong viewer and TV news content activity.

Continued high scores have been registered for The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, YouTube, CNN, Disney, Fox and Netflix,according to earned media researcher mediaQuant.

Earned media measurement for mediaQuant calculates media value and mentions/exposure on TV news networks, online platforms (blogs, news Web sites, social media), as well as print media and other media platforms.

Looking at just TV networks, for the month of April so far, Fox (which would include all its brand associations) registered $224 million in media value for the month and a 97 score. CNN registered a media value of $150 million and an overall rating of 97. MSNBC, had $10.6 million in media value and an 86 rating overall.

The Washington Post has produced $386.7 million in media value -- the highest amount of any news organization -- and a 96 score. The New York Times produced $216.7 million in current media value, with a 97 score. The Wall Street Journal came in at $19.6 million with a 95 rating.

Looking at just entertainment brands, YouTube has the top 99 rating, amounting to $1.7 billion in media value for the month of April to date. The Disney brand has a 97 rating and $65.4 million, while Netflix has a 96 rating with $65.0 million; CBS has a 94 score and $28 million, and NBCUniversal is at 94 with $17 million.

Wikileaks took in $32.5 million in media value for April, growing 18% over a four-year period -- the biggest gainer for any media brand. It has a score of 92 -- the same as ABC and ESPN.