Not surprisingly, cable news networks CNN and MSNBC recorded robust traffic for their Websites' streaming coverage of yesterday's memorial service for pop icon Michael Jackson at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
CNN said that the Jackson coverage resulted in the second largest live video streaming day in CNN.com's history, topped only by President Obama's inauguration last January. In total, CNN.com served 10.5 million live streams served for the day, representing an increase of over 6000% compared to the prior 4-week Monday-Friday daily average. (For comparison, CNN.com served 26.9 million live streams in total on Inauguration Day.)
During the memorial service itself, which ran from 1 to 4 p.m. EST, CNN.com served 4.4 million live video streams. The site's live video peaked with 781,000 concurrent live streams, which is also the 2nd highest concurrent streaming event in CNN.com's history. CNN.com also recorded 104.8 million page views and 15.6 million unique visitors in total.
Meanwhile, rival MSNBC said that its Website, Msnbc.com, recorded a record of just under 19 million total streams from its coverage of the memorial (both networks cited measurement firm Omniture as their source). That surpassed the site's previous video stream record set during President Obama's inauguration. Msnbc.com said that visitors spent an average of 12.1 minutes per visit viewing Michael Jackson-related video.
Fox News Channel also enjoyed strong trafffic for its Website, FOXNews.com. The site delivered 3.4 million streams on Tuesday, with concurrent streams peaking at 676,821, marking the second-highest stream delivery in its history after the 2009 inauguration.
