• by May 6, 2002

With television networks plugging their season finales for the all-important May sweeps season, many TV buffs turned to the Web to get the latest information, Internet audience measurement service Nielsen//NetRatings said on Friday.

Traffic to NBC's Web site jumped 21 percent to 477,000 unique visitors during the week ending April 28, compared to 393,000 the previous week, NetRatings said.

ABC posted a 17 percent gain in Web traffic, attracting 1.7 million surfers, while CBS drew 815,000 visitors to its site, posting a 12 percent increase in traffic, NetRatings said.

Rounding out the list of the major television networks, WB grew 3 percent to 903,000 unique visitors.

"In the recent weeks, various television networks have promoted season finales, new sitcom episodes and special programming events, hoping to increase viewership," said Carolyn Clark, Internet media analyst at NetRatings. "This strategy is showing early traction, with Web sites of major television networks spiking in traffic this past week."

NBC is a unit of General Electric Co., ABC is a unit of the Walt Disney Co. and WB is part of AOL Time Warner Inc.'s entertainment division.