MSNBC.com reported a sharp increase in usage of its news web site during the war in Iraq. The site delivered 87 million free video streams during the first three weeks of the war, surpassing its own previous records. An average of 4.1 million video streams per day were served between 19-March and 08-April. A single day peak of 10 million streams were served on Friday, 21-March-2003. MSNBC said that it was the only major news site to offer free streaming video, which included a live feed from downtown Baghdad. During the first week of the war, MSNBC’s at-work audience grew 38% to 8.3 million viewers compared with the previous week, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. MSNBC believes that more workers turn to the Internet for breaking daytime news than to traditional offline media.
http://www.msnbc.com
- CNN and ABC News make their online video available only through paid subscriptions. Streaming video from CNN is available through the CNN NewsPass or the RealOne SuperPass service. ABC News video can be viewed by subscribers to ABCNEWS On Demand and the RealOne SuperPass.
- BBC News and CBS News offer streaming video for free from their respective Web sites.