Yahoo Finance Delivers Most-Watched Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders Meeting Ever
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With 2.5 million on-network streams and 3 million more on social media, it was the most-streamed event for the outlet so far this year
Yahoo Finance’s Saturday stream of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting was also Yahoo Finance’s most-streamed broadcast so far this year, according to internal numbers shared with TheWrap.
Global live streams on Yahoo’s network Saturday totaled 2.5 million, which was a year-over-year increase of 146%. An additional 3 million live streams came through Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, a year-over-year increase of 94%. It even spawned a Twitter trending topic, #YFBuffett.
In 2019, viewers watched Yahoo Finance’s stream of the shareholder meeting for about 16.3 minutes on average. This year, there was an increase of 19%, as viewers tuned in longer, averaging about 19.2 minutes across platforms and OTT. Those who watched on desktops this year tuned in for about 60.3 minutes each, on average, while mobile users watched for about 21.4 minutes.
The trends track with growth Yahoo Finance has observed recently, overall. In March, the outlet saw 101.3 million monthly unique users, according to Comscore. There were 4.25 billion global page views, too, per Verizon Media Insights. Global page views were up 89% month-over-month, as more and more people stayed home and sought out, as Serwer said, news about the coronavirus, as well as its impact on the economy. According to Comscore, there was 32% year-over-year audience growth.
Yahoo Finance secured the exclusive streaming rights to Saturday’s event for the fifth year in a row, but it was the first year the entire meeting was done remotely. Dubbed the “Woodstock for Capitalists” that regularly draws thousands to Omaha, Nebraska, the meeting involved Buffett speaking alone to the cameras where he usually addresses a huge audience in-person. Yahoo Finance Editor in Chief Andy Serwer chatted with TheWrap a few days before the event, highlighting the obstacles and triumphs his team found in preparation for the big day.
“We’re following all the CDC guidelines and keeping everyone on our team safe. That is the number one priority because we don’t want to put anyone in harm’s way. So, there are a lot of obstacles there in terms of, you know, ‘How do we actually figure out what’s going on on the ground in Omaha?’” said Serwer, whose team, up until two months ago, broadcasted largely from a studio in Manhattan. Now, like those at the other outlets, Yahoo Finance’s on-air talent is working from their homes.