Fox Web site rocks as "Idol" returns

By Alex Woodson

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - The midseason return of "American Idol" helped double Fox Broadcasting's online traffic in January compared with December.

Nielsen Online said Fox had 4.6 million unique visitors in January, up 101% from December, surpassing CBS (4.5 million, down 24%) for the month. But both network sites still are behind ABC.com and NBC.com, which had 8.1 million and 7.9 million visitors, respectively.

In addition to "Idol," the Fox site benefited from the return of "Prison Break" and the premiere of "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles," according to Bill Bradford, senior vp content strategy at Fox.

Although Fox does not stream episodes of "Idol" on its site, it still was the most-visited part of the property, with an estimated 1.1 million visitors.

ABC.com's month, which saw an 11% increase, was keyed by "Lost's" January 31 return. Even though the streaming numbers for "Lost" count toward February's numbers, the network aggressively promoted the show on the site through the month.

The strategy involved making "Lost's" first three seasons available and showcasing features connected to the show. The popular ones included "Lost Theories," where fans uploaded videos to the site attempting to decipher the mysterious series, and an offering in which an automated version of the wisecracking Sawyer gave users customized nicknames.

Even though NBC's numbers dipped slightly from December, the network said it had expected the Hollywood writers' strike to have a deeper impact on traffic.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter