A day after WorldNow published a press release on February streaming numbers, Internet Broadcasting announced it had set a network record of 15.4 million unique visitors for the month of February. (Yes, invitedmedia, you called it.) The traffic record was due in large part to all the weather. “A handful of stations encouraged viewers to submit personal stories of traffic troubles or storm-related photographs, with much of the user-submitted content used on air,” reads the release. “The community slideshows garnered tremendous amounts of traffic during the storms.” Full release below…
PRESS RELEASE — Internet Broadcasting, the nation’s largest publisher of local news online, today announced that a record 15.4 million unique visitors (as measured by Nielsen//NetRatings) came to its network of TV station Web sites in February. The record was a 12 percent jump over the company’s previous high of 13.8 million visitors, established in January 2007.
Winter weather and the corresponding online features allowing visitors to view and share content were the primary factors behind the February increase. Three significant mid-week storms affected huge segments of the upper-Midwest and Northeast creating travel and commuter headaches and school cancellations. Consequently, viewers turned to their local TV station Web sites for real-time radar images, weather forecasts, school closings, viewer-submitted storm photos and the latest news and information.
“This record speaks to the strength of our local TV partner brands. They are the trusted source for information that affects viewers’ daily lives,†said Julie Burrows, Internet Broadcasting’s EVP of marketing, research and product development. “The TV stations engaged their viewers by driving them online and creating a place where the community could come together to interact, share and distribute accurate, up-to-the-minute, relevant information.â€
TV station meteorologists in many markets turned to “blogs†to keep viewers informed all day long. The interactive weather blogs were part of a layered approach the stations used to emphasize information distribution and viewer feedback. A handful of stations encouraged viewers to submit personal stories of traffic troubles or storm-related photographs, with much of the user-submitted content used on air. The community slideshows garnered tremendous amounts of traffic during the storms.
February’s traffic record helped propel Internet Broadcasting to the nation’s 38th largest Web property overall (according to Nielsen//NetRatings) and marks the third month since November 2006, that Internet Broadcasting has experienced record visitor traffic. Traffic numbers represent an aggregate total among Internet Broadcasting’s network of more than 70 TV station Web sites.