NetRatings said traffic to American Idol's site went bananas during the final episode last Wednesday night:

Traffic to Fox Television's "American Idol" Web site skyrocketed during the finale of the popular twice-weekly TV series, Internet audience measurement service Nielsen//NetRatings said on Friday.

Daily overnight analysis from NetRatings showed that traffic to the "American Idol" site nearly tripled on Tuesday, to 241,000 visitors from 82,000 a week earlier.

Traffic to the site peaked on Wednesday night with 308,000 Web surfers visiting, compared with 158,000 a week earlier.

Television ratings from Nielsen Media Research showed that more than 18.7 million television viewers watched "American Idol" on Tuesday, while 22.8 million tuned in to the final episode the following night.

"'American Idol' pushed the reality show one step further with its interactivity, relying on American viewers to vote and decide the fate of their favorite contestant," said Carolyn Clark, an Internet analyst at NetRatings. "The Web site provided an additional medium for fans of the show, offering clips of performances, photos of the contestants and, most recently, an opportunity to chat with the winner, Kelly Clarkson."

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