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Last night's Victoria's Secret webcast fashion show was huge, but EW Online suggests ways to top it

Last night marked the perfect match of models and media: For the first time ever, Victoria's Secret broadcast its annual fashion show live on its website (you can find the show in the site's archive). Such Uberbeauties as Tyra Banks, Laetitia Casta, Heidi Klum, James King, and Stephanie Seymour strutted down the catwalk in the finest of underthings.

How big a draw are these supermodels? After one ad touting the lingerie show aired during the first quarter of Sunday's Super Bowl, the Victoria's Secret site received over one million hits within the hour. And whereas webcasts with 20,000 users have been considered huge in the past, 1.5 million people tried to log on last night, though Victoria's server could only handle 500,000 at a time. (EW Online tried repeatedly to tune in -- for research purposes only, of course -- but couldn't get a connection.)

But records are made to be broken. Capitalizing on favorite Internet topics other than gorgeous six-footers, an enterprising webmaster could surpass Victoria's Secret's projected tallies with just the right Web event. We at EW Online suggest the following:

  • According to Jupiter, financial info is the top draw on the net. So any money site would see its hits go through the roof if it got rid of all that iffy economic speculation and just featured an "Inside-Trader Chat," with executives of high-flying Internet corporations spelling out exactly when and how their stocks will soar or plummet. All you'd need is two well-placed insiders to kibitz, then watch the lurkers roll in.
  • Web events showing heart surgery and childbirths have scored, so imagine pairing surfers' fascination with medical science... with the equally rabid interest in George Lucas's upcoming "Star Wars" prequel. Show Boba Fett getting his gallbladder removed, and you've got yourself a Web bonanza.
  • The releases of the Starr report and the Monica Lewinsky tapes both caused online logjams. But that would be nothing compared to the traffic generated if President Clinton and Lewinsky performed live readings together of unedited portions of the Starr Report deemed too hot for Congress.
  • The biggest opportunity comes right after tonight's Victoria's Secret fashion show. Simply gather all of the teddies, garter belts, and other frilly underwear right off the supermodels' backs, and immediately begin auctioning them off on eBay. If its server doesn't burst into flames, it will be a miracle.
Originally posted Feb 04, 1999

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