• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, September 10, 2002

American Idol is Idolized

Nielsen//NetRatings reports that traffic to Fox's "American Idol" Web site skyrocketed during the series finale, as the popularity of the twice-weekly aired show spilled over to the Web with fans flocking to the site.

Daily overnight analysis shows that traffic to the "American Idol" site skyrocketed 193 percent to 241,000 visitors on Tuesday September 3, compared to 82,000 visitors last Tuesday, August 27. Traffic to the site peaked with 308,000 surfers visiting the site, compared to 158,000 visitors the previous Wednesday.

Television ratings from Nielsen Media Research show that more than 18.7 million television viewers watched "American Idol" on Tuesday, September 4. On Wednesday, nearly 22.8 million TV viewers tuned in to watch the finale.

"'American Idol' pushed the reality show one step further with its interactivity, relying on American viewers to vote and decide the fate of their favorite contestant," said Carolyn Clark, Internet analyst, Nielsen//NetRatings

Additional data highlights for the week ending September 1, 2002:

Back-to-School season drives traffic to various educational sites during the week ending September 1st, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. Traffic to Collegeboard.com soared 171 percent from 173,000 to 468,000 unique visitors, claiming the top spot as the fastest growing brand at home for the week ending September 1st. Sixty-four percent of the site's traffic visited the SAT Math Question of the Day.

The Scholastic site drew 270,000 unique visitors, rising 74 percent from the previous week, while traffic to Sparknotes jumped 25 percent to 331,000 unique visitors.

MTV Networks surged 151 percent in traffic at work for the week ending September 1st, with more than 51 percent of the site's visitors logging on to view special video highlights, exclusive photos and a recap the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards. The site attracted 976,000 unique visitors with males comprising of 66 percent of the total audience.

Source:www.nielsen-netratings.com