Michael Jackson memorial brings 19% spike in world web traffic

Video-streaming surge prompted by Michael Jackson memorial service falls short of record set by Obama inauguration

Millions of people across the world used the internet to watch Michael Jackson's memorial service in Los Angeles yesterday, although the surge in web traffic did not beat the previous record held by Barack Obama's inaugaration as US president in January.

Jackson's shock death on 25 June saw many websites buckle under the sheer weight of traffic, although the internet fared better during yesterday's memorial service.

Global web traffic was at least 19% above normal during most of the event at the Staples Center, according to Akamai Technologies, a Massachusetts-based firm that handles 20% of the world's web traffic. It said the Jackson memorial brought the internet's second largest day ever in terms of total traffic.

"When a public figure of global prominence such as Michael Jackson passes away, the public's desire for up-to-date information and news is rarely satiated," said Robert Hughes, executive vice-president of global sales, services and marketing at Akamai.

CNN said its own website recorded 9.7 million live video streams on Tuesday between noon and 5pm LA time (8pm-1am, UK time) although the news site's all-time viewership record for a full day stands at almost 27 million video streams for Obama's inauguration on 20 January.

The CNN website also partnered with Facebook to let friends and family share commentary while watching Jackson's memorial service live online, yielding about 6,000 status updates a minute.

CNN.com and Facebook entered into a similar collaboration during Obama's inauguration, although Facebook saw twice as many status updates during that event.

Other US websites, including CBSNews.com, ABCNews.com, FoxNews.com and Hulu.com, also hosted live streaming coverage of the service, as did the BBC in the UK. Hulu reported that Tuesday was its second-highest live video streaming day after the Obama inauguration.

The BBC News channel's live stream was accessed 410,000 times via the BBC News website in the UK, according to the corporation.

On Twitter the 10 most popular topics yesterday afternoon were also all connected to Jackson's memorial, with the term "Michael Jackson" alone generating 80,000 tweets per hour.