News this week reaches us of world records being broken by a Norwegian online travel documentary, which suggests demand for online video is across a diverse audience and that includes live streaming.

Non-stop live coverage has been streamed of a voyage (over 134 hours) by cruise ship MS Nordnorge operated by Norwegian firm Hurtigruten from Bergen to Kirkenes with viewers flocking from 148 countries to see what is going on. The programme comes from the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation and as well as being streamed, was also shown on the TV in Norway.

Such was the audience it is now claiming a Guinness World Record for the longest live TV documentary. Three million Norwegians are said to have watched the documentary -that’s almost three quarters of the country’s population! Incredibly, a further 2.9 million watched the streaming over the internet too with nearly half connecting from outside Norway – UK viewers coming in fifth in the overseas rankings.

The documentary appears to have grabbed the imagination of the public with Hurtigruten even becoming a trending topic on Twitter with one tweet every six seconds at its peak.

Whether it was the novelty concept or the fantastic Norwegian scenery that formed its backdrop, the concept certainly appears to have been a success that many more may look to follow.

Have you ever watched a TV series solely online? Could savvy web-entrepreneurs nip in ahead of established TV broadcasters?

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