Here's an interesting article I just saw that talks about the collection of tweets and facebook posts about television shows to gage how popular the shows are. It's a great example of how word of mouth mixed with social media can be used to report consumer interest and ratings to television networks.
The article explains: Word of mouth has always been a huge factor for new TV shows, and these days, everyone is looking to Twitter and Facebook to gauge interest in TV show premieres...... Of course, social feedback doesn’t always translate to ratings, as different target audiences use social media differently, but it’s nonetheless an interesting indicator.
http://gigaom.com/video/fall-tv-social-chart/
3 comments:
This is a great example of how social media chatter can be used for market research and predictions. Though remember what we discussed in class: the absolute volume of chatter is less important than its breadth. A few very loyal fans will not be able to keep a show alive on their own.
It's true that a show needs more than a few loyal fans to keep it afloat, but look at what happened with Arrested Development. After three disappointing seasons ratings-wise, the show was taken off the air. The show picked up a ridiculous cult following on the internet (myself included), and is now being resurrected for another season and a movie. Fans of the show shared video clips, quotes, and full episodes in the hopes of someday bringing it back. There had been rumors of a movie for a few years, but the social feedback was so strong that they've decided to add a new season as well.
Yes, the same happened with Family Guy. I think Fox might be dropping its shows too quickly. Then again, maybe it is doing it on purpose...
Post a Comment