comScore: The Michael Jackson Effect Shakes Up June’s Online Video Rankings

Analytics firm comScore has just released its latest statistics for video steaming sites in the United States for the month of June, and at first glance the results are quite surprising: the top video sites have seen a major shakeup, with many of the top sites abruptly falling in the rankings. The cause, of course, is the Michael Jackson effect — media organizations around the world dedicated huge amounts of coverage to the pop star's tragic death on June 25, and many people turned to the web to learn more. Other breaking news that month, including the Iranian election controversy, also likely contributed to the growth seen by news properties. Hulu , which has ranked as the third most popular video site in the United States for the past few months, has dropped down to seventh. Likewise, Fox Interactive Media, which includes MySpace , has dropped from second to fifth.