Deadline Press and Picture Agency, which was founded by former Edinburgh Evening News reporter Scott Douglas eight years ago, launched its own TV channel on YouTube earlier this year.

Last week it was named as the 97th most viewed channel in the UK after its coverage of the penguin at Edinburgh Zoo which was knighted by the Norwegian army attracted almost 28,000 views.

The agency p-p-p-icked up the accolade after outperforming videos on the same story posted by both Sky News (16,400 views) and ITN (3,000 views), taking the total number of views for the channel to 75,000.

Said Scott: "We were obviously delighted when we spotted that YouTube had put a badge on our site, recognising our channel as one of the top 100 for this week.

"We've been getting consistent hits to Deadline News TV since it was launched and what's clear is that the audience keeps growing.

"We might be relatively new to the online arena, but it seems we are doing something right and we will continue to develop that further."

Deadline's multimedia journalist Karrie Gillett added: "The world's media were at Edinburgh Zoo to see Nils Olav the penguin collect his knighthood because it is such a quirky story.

"So it isn't surprising our video has attracted hits from all over the world. However, what is amazing is that we've had so many more hits than the likes of Sky News and ITN. That is extremely gratifying."

As well as its YouTube channel the agency also showcases its work through its own blog, www.deadlinescotland.wordpress.com.

Earlier this month that was listed at number 94 of the 100 fastest growing blogs in the world. The listing was posted by the influential Wordpress platform, which hosts 3.7 million blogs worldwide.