- Viewing on computers rockets as night owls tune in, says ISP Plusnet -

Online TV viewing soared three-fold as broadband Britons stayed up all night long to watch the US Presidential election, according to new statistics.

People logging on to their computers to see the streamed coverage of Barack Obama’s triumph sent viewing figures “rocketing”, said internet service provider Plusnet.

There was a huge surge in traffic during the early hours as the results started to roll in.

From 2am-3am, the figure had doubled from the normal level but by 5am-6am it had more than trebled from its usual level.

Neil Armstrong, products director of Plusnet, said: “This has been the first major election of the iPlayer era. The internet has played a big part in this election and it’s only natural that people have turned to the Internet for coverage."

“There was a definite spike in the amount of online TV viewing when there was all night coverage of the American elections and Obama’s landslide victory."

“Demand for online TV was rocketing during the early hours as viewers tuned in."

“It was not only a good night for Obama but also for those services such as the BBC iPlayer. It just shows how more Britons are getting used to watching live, streamed content on their computers.”

Plusnet also noted substantial rises in the amount of TV streaming from 8am-11am.

Armstrong concluded: “This may have been because people were also logging on at work to catch up with the news.”