The Michael Jackson media frenzy

Social networks score big numbers in what is one of the biggest media events of our time.
By Oresti Patricious, CEO, Ornico

Johannesburg, Thursday 09 July 2009 - Michael Jackson’s death and subsequent memorial concert is without doubt one of the biggest media events of our time. Television networks thronged to cover the pop star’s memorial concert, which drove colossal internet traffic with online news brands, entertainment channels and social media vying for a piece of the action.

Initial Global television audiences were estimated at over a billion viewers, which is on par with Obama’s presidential inauguration. Social media usage surged and the subject of Jackson’s death and memorial dominated the likes of Twitter and Facebook, with these networks reporting tens of thousands of tweets and status updates each minute. The fan number on Jackson’s Facebook page rocketed to over 7.4 million while the Michael Jackson sequined glove became the hottest gift item on the network. Over 800 000 gloves were exchanged between Facebook friends.

CNN reported that over 10 million people watched the memorial stream on the news brand’s website, with 5 million streams generated by Jackson mourners on Yahoo News, while FoxNews.com generated some 3.4 million streams. Thanks to a partnership with Twitter MSNBC.com reeled in 7 million streams.

Google reported a meteoric rise in searches related to Michael Jackson following news of his death, which also realized on the largest mobile search spike Goggles has experienced to date. The official Google blog reported that the spike in searches related to Michael Jackson was so big that the Google News site initially mistook the surge for an automated attack.

Traditional media also got in on the act with Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems reporting that Michael Jackson’s music experienced a 1.735 percent hike following the news of his death as many stations dedicated play lists to the legend.

The effect of the massive media attention was immediately translated commercially. iTunes and BitTorrent downloads went skyrocketing while Jackson CDs dominate the top ten in Amazon’s best seller lists.

Back home Jackson dominated mainstream television and radio channels with 702, 5fm and eTV leading coverage on the star life, death and memorial. Some 290 local print news items in the major dailies and weekend newspapers were dedicated to Michael Jackson’s death and memorial, translating into an advertising value expenditure of over R1.1 million (B&W rate). Broadcast media dedicated coverage to the value of R10 700 000.