Category: Sport; bbc.co.uk; Five Live; Radio 4
Date: 14.09.2005
Printable version
The BBC Sport website achieved record figures thanks to the thrilling climax of the Ashes.
On Monday 12 September, the final day of the fifth Test, there were 3.3 million unique users to the site - which broke the previous record set on the day of the Olympics 2012 announcement.
Over half a million people listened online to the live commentary on Test Match Special, with people accessing it through the Five Live, Radio 4 and Sport websites.
The series also boosted the BBC's cricket website figures with 7 million unique users visiting the site in the month of August - almost a three-fold increase on August last year.
Ben Gallop, Editor BBC Sport Interactive, said: "The interest in the Ashes on the internet has been enormous all summer.
"The traffic levels to the BBC Sport website have been unprecedented and fans have been contacting us from all around the world to tell us the lengths they have had to go to to follow the action.
"People in offices have been desperate to check what's going on via their office PCs, tourists on the beach were following the scores on their mobiles, and ex-pats who haven't even been able to see a ball being bowled have been glued to our text commentaries.
"What's really taken us by surprise has been the whole new audience who have been introduced to cricket this summer.
"We've seen a three-fold increase in the space of a year, with many more women and young people taking an interest in the sport."
