The BBC has revealed that bbc.com reached a record 96 million unique users and generated an all-time high of 1.3 billion page views in March 2014. BBC World News welcomed its five millionth Facebook fan and new figures also reveal that the BBC is by far the most-shared news brand on Twitter (according to Newswhip), with its stories shared a record 2.71 million times across the month – almost 50 per cent more than any other publisher. The driving factors were its coverage of major global news stories including the crisis in Ukraine and the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 and the increased popularity of bbc.com’s feature sections including BBC Future, BBC Travel and BBC Culture.

The site, which offers up-to-the minute international and local news and in-depth analysis, saw unique user figures up 26 per cent on the monthly average of 76 million, whilst page views rocketed by 35 per cent. Over 34 million video views were seen during the month, with a record-breaking 11 million viewed via the bbc.com apps.

James Montgomery, Director of Digital and Technology for bbc.com, said, “As the leader in global breaking news, our users rely on the BBC to provide impartial and accurate news on developing stories and significant global events, whatever their nature or location. We are incredibly proud that so many people chose us as their trusted source for news on the major stories that captivated the world last month.”

BBC.com has seen a rise in mobile usage of 88 per cent year on year to 24 million browsers per month, whilst figures for desktop have remained stable at 56 million.

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