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Poll: The next video-streaming record breaker?

Help us predict which event will make simultaneous streaming-video viewership surpass the record set the day President Barack Obama took office.

Caroline McCarthy Former Staff writer, CNET News
Caroline McCarthy, a CNET News staff writer, is a downtown Manhattanite happily addicted to social-media tools and restaurant blogs. Her pre-CNET resume includes interning at an IT security firm and brewing cappuccinos.
Caroline McCarthy

News.com Poll

What will break the Obama inauguration's streaming-video record?
Akamai reports that Tuesday's inauguration shattered records for simultaneous live-stream viewing. What event will be the next record-breaker?

World Cup soccer
Another inauguration
Live performance
Natural disaster or emergency
Live-streamed "Lost" finale (We can dream!)



View results

We've all heard it by now. Live streams of Barack Obama's presidential inauguration broke records for the Web, with about 7.7 million streams flowing concurrently at its peak. Which, of course, makes us wonder: what will set a new record?

With broadband penetration, not to mention Web usage in general, still growing, it's conceivable that some event of historic importance will surpass the inauguration in due time. Chances are, it'll be some prescheduled event that people know to tune into, rather than a sudden occurrence--but you never know.

We picked a few possibilities: World Cup football (soccer), for example, has been a big draw for Web traffic in the past, and with the 2010 tournament taking place in South Africa, the geographic distance from Europe and the U.S. may mean that some football fans are tuning in remotely rather than on location. Or, hypothetically, what if a major TV show chooses to broadcast its finale online? (Yeah, yeah, we know, the networks would never let it happen.)

Choose your prediction, or leave a comment with your own theory.