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Michael Jackson News Dominates Web Buzz

1 minute read | June 2009

The breaking news of Michael Jackson’s sudden death dominated the web yesterday (and today), causing spikes in traffic and overwhelming social networks such as Twitter and Facebook with bursts of information and updates from millions of users. In comparison, discussions of Jackson far exceeded those of the swine flu scare as well as the inauguration of President Obama.

Nielsen Buzzmetrics analysis shows that more than 16% of tweets over the past 24 hours reference Michael Jackson, and less than 2 percent of Tweets mention Farrah Fawcett and Iran.

A Topper of Charts and a Major TV Draw

That Jackson’s passing dominated the web is no surprise, as he has been a major media draw for decades. According to Billboard, over the course of his solo career, Jackson charted 47 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, 13 of which went to No. 1. As part of the Jackson 5, he earned an additional four No. 1 Hot 100 hits.In addition to his unparalleled dominance on the Billboard music charts with albums like Thriller, his past television appearances have attracted millions of curious viewers eager to see more of the reclusive, yet ubiquitous, star.

Notable Michael Jackson TV Apperances
NETWORK DATE SHOW DETAILS VIEWERS
ABC 2/6/2003 20/20 Special Controversial documentary on Jackson by Martin Bashir 27,111,000
CBS 12/28/2003 60 Minutes Ed Bradley interviews Michael Jackson 18,784,000
CBS 11/13/2001 30th Anniv Special Michael Jackson 30th Anniversary Special 25,731,000
ABC 6/14/1995 Primetime Live Diane Sawyer interviews Jackson & Lisa Marie Presley 37,532,000
MTV 9/8/1994 MTV Video Music Awards Michael Jackson & Lisa Marie Presley debut as husband/wife 5,359,000
ABC 2/10/1993 Oprah Winfrey Special Oprah and Jackson Interview 62,289,000
NBC 1/31/1993 Super Bowl XXVII Michael Jackson Super Bowl halftime show 90,990,000
Source: The Nielsen Company

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