Why social must be central to the future of TV
Rich Rust,
Reputation Manager,
Yomego
18th April 2011
On the day that it was announced that Simon ‘X-Factor’ Cowell is to quit the UK version of the show as a weekly judge, I thought it made sense
to talk about the burgeoning relationship between TV and social media, given that live shows such as X-factor and BGT have had such an impact on its growth.
The direct relationship between TV and social channels provides an enormous opportunity and huge challenges in equal measure, with changing consumer
attitudes and individuals demanding much more content, the key is to understand how TV & social can compliment each other and live happily ever after.
First then, some stats:
- A recent survey
of US adults, found that two in five say they have gone online or used social media to comment, post, watch or read something about a television show or program (43%).
- Of these 80-some million people, one third said they have done so after watching a TV show or program (33%)
Limitless ways for interaction
This research, when looking closer to home is backed up by the fact that
young people in the UK are spending more time on social media platforms than in front of the TV, and this weekend The Guardian claimed that “Facebook and reality TV are
leaving Soap Operas all washed up”, quoting a reporter of US title ‘Soap Opera Digest’, who explained: “Facebook is the new soap. It gives you that same
sense of intimacy, of catching up with people's lives, seeing their weddings, their children being born and growing up, that people got from soaps".
That said, on 31st March 2011 in the UK, 3,600 tweets related to the
show, were recorded during Eastenders, so this view may not necessarily provide a true picture and it’s fair to say that there is still a broad opportunity for Soap Opera’s
to harness the power of social. Take Channel 4’s Hollyoaks for example; the show’s Twitter profile has over 25,000 followers and over a million Facebook fans.
For marketers, brands, broadcasters and production companies, there is a need to quickly develop the obvious synergy between these two platforms and to develop content appropriate for each.
The people behind reality TV seem to get this already, live TV viewing is actually increasing – Xfactor, BGT, Strictly, Dancing on Ice etc, it’s all growing in popularity
year on year and the same can be said for sports broadcasting. In the US, the 2011 Super Bowl attracted huge social media engagement with tweets peaking at 4,000 per second. The X-factor
has used Facebook to not just build a community of fans, but also as a sales driver, promoting previous contestant’s
albums and encouraging fans to go out and buy the music. It also acts to fill the gap when the show is off air, highlighting audition dates and offering fans exclusive content previews.
Cross platform engagement is key
The shows which are succeeding, both in terms of TV ratings and in social media engagement are those which are featured across both as if it is a seamless continuation of the show –
the reality shows I mentioned previously are doing this well in the UK – in-show promotion now very often points viewers to social presences and asks them to engage in that way. Other
iconic shows, such as US import Mad Men, is another great example of a show which flawlessly integrates a multitude of platforms
and feeds an insatiable audience with continual content. The key here is understanding that for these two platforms to truly integrate, the call to action needs to go beyond just asking
viewers to tweet their opinions. For live shows, it needs to allow them to call in the show via skype, to comment on video content, to view exclusive parts of the show via social TV and
to see the show as an interactive brand, with a shelf-life beyond an hourly viewing slot once a week. For shows such as Mad Men and Soap Operas, the social strategy needs to empower audiences
to allow them to feel part of the on-going development of the show.
Harnessing Social TV
As well as building links between official social presences and the TV shows themselves, programme makers need to understand the opportunity afforded by Social TV – namely
allowing viewers to preview exclusive un-seen footage as content in social spaces, encouraging viewers and users alike to share that content, to talk about themes central to the
show and to grow the wider community of fans.
Mobile
Another key component to the relationship between TV and social is mobile social use. With smartphones becoming ubiquitous, there is a huge challenge in ensuring that wider social
content attributed to any TV show, also works on mobile and can be consumed within social channels on that platform.
Demographic split
Building social strategies around TV shows which cater for the less social and online savvy groups, is more challenging. That isn’t to say it’s not important –
it just requires better readiness for these demographic groups. Who’s to say that you can’t build a community of engaged 60+ year olds around a show relevant to them via
forum engagement or through a bespoke community site? In the US, although online and social usage figures among the 55’s + is far lower than other age groups, they are the most
likely group to go online are most likely to go online after seeing a TV programme (22%) if they are going to go online at all. This presents an enormous opportunity for engagement.
ROI
The debate around social media and ROI continues to rage and as technological fragmentation continues and the land grab for making the most of each platform continues, that
isn’t going to change anytime soon. What is clear though, is that the relationship between TV and social is crucial for the commercial success of TV and from a public
service perspective, crucial to maintain viewers and to battle the commercial stations. Setting clear objectives from the outset and having a very clear strategy on how to
amplify programming in social channels, must be the key to measuring the success of the activity.