Website hits record for election

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Almost one million people used BBC Scotland's online news service on Friday, mainly to keep up with the Scottish election results.

There were also more than seven million page views in the 24 hours from midnight on Thursday.

Head of News and Current Affairs, Atholl Duncan, said: "This is a record and these are astonishing figures.

"This confirms a significant change in the way that news audiences access the latest on major stories."

He said figures from throughout the campaign also confirmed this was a major development in online election coverage.

Everyone who followed the election closely knows that BBC Scotland was the place where the election happened Atholl DuncanBBC Scotland Head of News

"People want news of stories such as the Scottish elections immediately as events occur," Mr Duncan said.

"BBC Scotland's delighted to be leading in providing a quality service on the internet to such a massive audience.

"Everyone who followed the election closely knows that BBC Scotland was the place where the election happened.

"Now our online service is complementing the excellent coverage we also carried on TV and radio."

During the campaign, the online site also hosted a daily election webcast based on questions and views from users.

Election blog

In total there were eight-and-a-half hours of audio, featuring 34 contributors from minority groups and the mainstream parties.

In addition, there was a huge user response to BBC Scotland political editor Brian Taylor's election blog which was written throughout the campaign.

His thoughts were also posted during the live television election programme on BBC One.

BBC Scotland produced special election results programmes which ran through the night on TV and radio.

It also produced three Big Debates and a leaders' debate on TV and radio, while Newsnight Scotland became a "must watch" for political aficionados as it grilled key party figures in specially extended editions across the campaign.