NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--King Features Syndicate, the world’s premier distributor of comics, columns, editorial cartoons, puzzles and games to newspapers worldwide, is launching Comics Kingdom™, a first-of-its-kind digital platform that provides a revenue-driving business service to help local news Web site publishers foster user engagement and attract marketers.

Developed by King Features’ King Digital division, Comics Kingdom offers a turnkey business solution utilizing one of the most popular newspaper features – the comics pages – as the central element of a unique content-based ad engine. King Features has signed deals with the online divisions of The Daily Oklahoman and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as well as Albany Times-Union – with which King Digital conducted a successful beta test. Additional deals with major market newspapers are expected in the coming weeks.

Comics Kingdom delivers a robust, dynamic Web 2.0 experience, presenting King Features’ complete portfolio 60-plus strips in full color and packaged in one destination for the first time. The user-friendly, community-based entertainment portal includes contemporary and classic favorites like Zits, Mutts, Blondie, Beetle Bailey and Hägar the Horrible. Comics Kingdom features 1,500 comic strips daily, including a 30-day archive, and increases user engagement because users can customize their comics experience through the easy-to-use interface that prompts interaction and sharing. Users can email comics, including the site’s tagline and link, which drives additional visitors to specific newspaper online destinations.

King Digital’s six-month beta test with the Albany Times-Union demonstrated the effectiveness and appeal of Comics Kingdom for both advertisers and readers. Test results showed traffic to the comics section nearly doubled, with more than 11 page views per unique visitor and an average engaged session time of nearly 5 minutes. Notably, the beta test resulted in an 86 percent increase in ad inventory.

Publishers may learn more and view live portals by visiting www.comicskingdom.com.

Comics Kingdom is the first product developed by King Digital aimed at major online news sites that want quality content to drive ad impressions. King Digital is currently developing other initiatives to help publishers monetize premium content for their Web sites.

About King Digital

King Digital is a premium content and services provider to online publishers and a developer of platforms for licensed brands. As a unit of King Features Syndicate, King Digital provides content solutions to publishers that reach over 2.5M unique visitors per month generating 30M page views through 140-plus online outlets. From comics to lifestyle advice, entertainment and political opinion, King Digital offers more than 160 branded and packaged content properties to companies that look to retain loyal users. King Digital enables Web publishers to extend their service and generate ad revenue with minimal resources.

About King Features Syndicate

King Features Syndicate is a member of Hearst Entertainment and Syndication Group, which combines Hearst Corporation’s cable network partnerships, television programming activities and newspaper syndication and merchandise licensing operations. King Features is the world’s premier distributor of comics, columns, editorial cartoons, puzzles and games, distributing in print and online some 150 features to nearly 5,000 newspapers worldwide. On the Web at www.kingfeatures.com.