10 million viewers tune in to U2 on YouTube

The rock band U2 play at Pasadena, California

YouTube generally shows short video clips, and the U2 concert was one of handful of live broadcasts the website has undertaken, and it showed that it could generate audiences to rival broadcast television, as ten million viewers clicked on to YouTube to watch U2 perform live at Rose Bowl, Pasadena, Calfornia at end of last month, a record for simultaneous viewing on video website. Malcom Gerrie, chief executive of WhizzKid Entertainment, company that filmed the event, said that both band and YouTube were shocked and surprised by how many people watched online. “This achieved kind of audience you might see for a television hit show, but it was far greater than you would see for a music show on television in any single country,” he said. “In Britain, they’re cracking open champagne if Later with Jools Holland gets seen by 600,000 people.”