Guest Editorial
By Cabledude, PWTorch VIP member/TV industry insider

If I had to guess, some suit at WWE (probably not Vince McMahon) or USA Network recently read this article (or one like it) and now feel justly inspired to saturate the product with what seems like inane Twitter references. (Can Social Media Save TV Shows – Social TV & The New Media Minute

Network executives are already canceling new fall shows like ABC’s Charlie’s Angels and NBC’s The Playboy Club, raising the question of what role social media plays in the success of a TV show. The New Media Minute did some digging to see if these shows scored in social buzz, and also looks at a new Nielsen study linking online buzz and higher ratings. Plus, cable networks such as WE tv and Oxygen have indeed found a link between social media and TV show performance.

So with axes already fallen on new TV shows like ABC’s Charlie’s Angels and NBC’s The Playboy Club, and analytics experts keen to understand whether there’s any correlation between social buzz and TV ratings, it’s worth noting that none of these cancelled shows were among the top 100 most-buzzed-about shows in online circles last week, nor did they crack the list for the entire month of September. That’s according to data from the social tracking service Social Guide.

Now, their lack of buzz may have been the canary in the coal mine to network execs that the shows would falter. A just-released Nielsen report confirms that, yes, social chatter does indeed translate to higher TV ratings. Nielsen found that for the 18-34 age group that a 9% increase in social buzz volume correlates to a 1% increase in ratings. Of course, every ratings point makes a huge difference to advertisers, so that’s a significant increase.

Cable networks too have also learned that social media can boost ratings, because Facebook & Twitter are often where viewers first learn about a TV show. The cable network WeTV said that in a study it conducted, about 1/3 of female Facebook users 18-54 have recommended a TV show to their Facebook friends.

Oxygen has had success on air and online with its Glee Project this past summer in part because of social TV pro viewing apps, and partnerships with social sites like Get Glue that help drive viewership and impressions. The network said the show nearly tripled in total viewers over its run partly because of those social TV efforts.

You see this a lot with cable networks especially - everyone is getting very nervous about time-shifted viewing, tablets, Netflix, etc., etc. So, in an effort to try to remain relevant, they latch onto any new media statistic (as flimsy as most are) they can to justify a show's popularity or importance in pop culture. There are now whole "social media" departments and people are hired specifically to monitor Twitter & Facebook traffic (I mean, these people have to justify their jobs too, after all).

It seems WWE has been sucked into this trap (late to the game, as usual) and are going overboard. The effort to brand WWE Network as "the most interactive channel" in history is further evidence of how seriously they are taking this.

Unfortunately for them, most of this stuff won't make a dime's worth of difference in the ratings. Sure, it's a great way to maybe engage your existing fan base who might be so inclined, but this isn't a magnet for new viewers, particularly when a show has been around for as long as WWE Raw.

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