A live audience of 2.3 million viewers is practically unheard of on the web. The Ustream live broadcast of the Tiger Woods press conference was a huge event, but it attracted 683,000 viewers, small potatoes in comparison.
To put things in to perspective, cable television shows often draw far fewer numbers. For example, a repeat prime time episode of the CW's America's Next Top Model drew merely 1.424 million viewers on Wednesday according to Nielsen TV Ratings.
Broadcasting & Cable reports that TMZ's stream "came from the in-court pool, which was the one feed allowed by Judge Revel." Clearly it was a wise move on TMZ's part to stream the feed to an online audience. They also catered to their audience with different polls, one of which drew more than 800,000 votes.
It's hard to pinpoint the exact reason for the massive viewership, though it's probably safe to assume that both interest in Lohan's legal woes and the growing consumer interest in watching events unfold live on the web are the two most significant factors.
We're still somewhat baffled by the huge number. Did you tune in to the TMZ live stream?