Radar Online Unveils Newly Designed Site

NEW YORK, Oct. 22, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- David J. Pecker, Chairman, President and CEO of American Media, Inc. (AMI), unveiled a newly designed RADAR ONLINE (www.radaronline.com) for both desktop and mobile platforms. The new design brings an updated, cleaner, more contemporary and stylish look to RADAR, the most influential and trusted celebrity and pop culture news brand in the world, across all devices and platforms providing a cutting edge product and unparalleled experience to its rapidly growing audience.

"Today's relaunch showcases RADAR's position as the premier online entertainment destination and provides our growing audience an innovative and exciting experience to enjoy our exclusive content across multiple platforms," said Pecker. "The rapid growth of RADAR since AMI acquired the title in 2008, particularly over the past two years, underscores the site's leadership position in a crowded and competitive marketplace, and the new site ensures that RADAR will continue to be the market leader for breaking celebrity and entertainment news."

Among the new features, RADAR now offers faster load times, enhanced photo galleries, a more unified reading experience, stronger engagement with quick-scan headlines, improved page curation techniques and a fresh way to showcase advertisements.

"Throughout this period of growth and acceleration, RADAR has consistently showcased why it is a must-read for the celebrity-obsessed," said AMI's Chief Content Officer and Vice President, Dylan Howard, the Editorial Director of RadarOnline.com. "Last week alone, while national media searched for the answers about what really happened to Lamar Odom, it was this site that secured the world exclusive surveillance video of the terrifying moments before 911 was called in an effort to save his life."

Traffic is at an all-time high growing an unprecedented 60%* [Google Analytics] year-over-year, while also demonstrating mobile growth of 300%. Additionally, both audience and engagement across all social media channels have grown exponentially. RADAR's Facebook community has seen a 376% increase over the past year, resulting in a 900% increase in referrals from social media alone.

Original and exclusive news content helped propel the site to unparalleled growth among the key categories of unique visits [up 55%], direct traffic [up 20%], and page views [up 40%].

"This is the kind of investigative reporting that only RADAR will do in the current media climate. We are rooted, day-to-day, in good old-fashioned reporting methods," said Howard.

"We reimagined every aspect of the RADAR experience in order to better tell stories for our readers and showcase our premium advertisers," added Brian Kroski, Chief Digital Officer of AMI. "Our primary goal was to provide an environment that best represented RADAR's rich storytelling though improvements in typography, video, photos and artwork throughout the site delivering a visually appealing, clean, cohesive and gratifying reader experience, no matter where they are experiencing the site."

This is the latest in a long list of exciting announcements for RADAR.

In January, RADAR announced it had joined forces with The Weinstein Company (TWC) to develop and produce a talk show based around the brand.

The project will leverage the world-class reporting team at RADAR and draw upon their team of journalists and correspondents in New York, Los Angeles, and around the country.

"The new site will play a key role in the experience, driving content and discussions to the show, making it a truly integrated television and online offering and a place for audiences to share their stories, opinions and interact," added Howard.

About American Media, Inc.

American Media, Inc. (AMI) owns and operates the leading print and digital celebrity and active lifestyle media brands in the United States. AMI's titles include National Enquirer, Star, OK!, Globe, National Examiner, Soap Opera Digest, Men's Fitness, Muscle & Fitness, Flex and Muscle & Fitness Hers. AMI also manages 14 different digital sites including RadarOnline.com, OKmagazine.com, MensFitness.com and MuscleandFitness.com. AMI's magazines have a combined total circulation of 2.1+ million and reach more than 35 million men and women each month. AMI's digital properties reach 49+ million unique visitors and 343+ million page views monthly.

SOURCE American Media, Inc.