WATCH VIDEO. Austrian extreme sportsman Felix Baumgartner has not only broken a number of free fall records, but also established a new YouTube live record.
According to Google, more than 8 million concurrent live streams of this mission were viewed worldwide on the Red Bull YouTube channel. In addition, the jump was carried live on Red Bull’s own German language tV channel Servus TV.
Until now, the record concurrent live stream on YouTube live was reached during the Summer Olympics, with 500,000 streams.
Following five years of preparations and a two-hour live stream on YouTube, Felix and this mission now hold the world records for: the highest jump from a platform: 128,100 feet; the longest distance free fall: 119,846 feet and the maximum vertical velocity: 833.9 mph (Mach 1.24).
According to local, unconfirmed press report, Red Bull paid €50 million for the rights to sponsor the event and for the exclusive live rights, but the value of the publicity generated can easily be multiplied.
The event gave YouTube also an excellent opportunity to promote its YouTube live programming.
(picture courtesy of Red Bull Stratos)
This is a short video capturing the mission highlights of Felix Baumgartner’s supersonic free fall.