Media Roundup: U.S. Sees Internet Traffic Record Traffic, Google Ends Print Ad Program, and More

U.S. sees record Internet traffic — Online coverage of the inauguration led to record traffic on news sites and social networks. CNN.com alone provided more than 21.3 million video streams while Facebook reported 1.5 million Obama-related status updates. Some users did report waiting in online “waiting rooms” to view streams and other hiccups. [Source: New York Times]

Google ends print ad program — The search company announced today that it is ending its two-year-old program to sell print advertisements on behalf of newspapers. Since inception, the program has expanded from 50 papers to more than 800. The program’s closure comes as Google is taking steps to be more fiscally responsible, shutting down services that are not in the black. [Source: Los Angeles Times]

Twitter passes Digg in traffic — According to Web metric company Hitwise, the microblogging site Twitter surpassed the market share of Digg, the Web’s most popular social news site. However, the stats may be inflated due to Twitter’s spike in usage from the emergency landing of a plane in the Hudson River and the inauguration. [Source: TechCrunch]

WB cutting 800 employees — Warner Brothers announced yesterday that they would be cutting 10 percent of its work force. The cuts come after the studio posted a nine percent dip in forth-quarter revenue due to a slowdown in advertising across the company’s cable, magazine and Internet properties. [Source: MediaBistro]

Clear Channel cuts nine percent — The radio company Clear Channel announced that it would be cutting 1,850 jobs from multiple departments in response to the economic slowdown. In the third quarter the company posted a $86.1 million loss, and radio advertising fell seven percent. Clear Channel operates over 800 radio stations. [Source: Associated Press]