/ciol/media/agency_attachments/c0E28gS06GM3VmrXNw5G.png)
Follow UsBANGALORE: Australians have gone cricket crazy ‘online’ for the first day of the 2006 Ashes series.
According to Internet content delivery firm, Akamai, which services twenty nine of the top 30 media companies around the world, Australian news websites were receiving more than 126,000 visitors per minute, representing a 70 per cent increase in Internet traffic to these sites.
The Akamai Net News Index showed that almost four times as many people were following the cricket online than those watching at the Gabba.
Towards the end of play on day one, a major Australian sports website was receiving more than 11,700 unique visitors per hour as compared to a normal average of 3,000 visitors.
“Across the board, Australian news websites experienced an immediate 4 fold increase in visitors just before the first Ashes ball was bowled,” said Stuart Spiteri, Director of Akamai in Asia Pacific.
“Following this initial spike, Australians continued to follow the game ball by ball in growing numbers.
“These results demonstrate that the Internet is becoming the dominant channel for Australians to get real time updates on major news and sporting events.
“Today’s results reflect the similar massive online success of the ICC Champions Trophy, and proves that the Internet has come of age as the place to go for sports news.
“As consumers, and Australian cricket fans, look for real time information such as online scoreboards, video replays and audio streaming, they are turning to the Internet to find it,” Mr Spiteri said.
CIOL Bureau