Breaking the news of Michael Jackson's death saw traffic to the celebrity gossip website TMZ.com jump by almost a quarter last month.

TMZ.com, which late last month was the first to break the news of the King of Pop's heart attack and death, saw a 24% increase in web traffic to 11.7 million unique users.

The figures, measured by comScore Media Metrix, represent a record for the Hollywood gossip site.

TMZ.com, a joint venture between AOL and Telepictures Productions, also saw a 10% month-on-month increase in page views by users to 279m.

The site, founded by managing editor Harvey Levin, said that its mobile website and iPhone application also set new record traffic levels with over 11m page views on 25 June, the day of Jackson's death, as the public hunted out updates and information on unfolding events.

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