Why Australia’s TV programmers need to start paying closer attention to social media
In a world where consumers have endless access to content, now is the time for traditional broadcasters to stop pandering to ratings and start planning their schedules around social media sentiment, argues Meltwater ANZ’s David Hickey.
We’re in the midst of another golden age of TV. With the introduction of Netflix, Stan and Amazon Prime Video, there’s more content vying for viewership than ever before. And while this is great for consumers, free-to-air Australian broadcasters are searching for new ways to secure eyeballs.
Hickey: In a world where consumers have endless access to content, now is the time for traditional broadcasters to act
SBS is a prime example of a traditional broadcaster adapting to the changing environment around it. Despite only having 10% of the budget commercial broadcasters traditionally have for TV content, it’s building a library of content that gives audiences access to shows that they’re not getting anywhere else.
Take The Handmaid’s Tale. It’s already been dubbed “the show of 2017” and has dominated the catch up rankings since launching in Australia last month. But it appears that no broadcaster actively sought to purchase it. Why?
Hi David, I’m a programmer at TVNZ, the national broadcaster in New Zealand.
I get the sentiment, but I think it naive to think that programmers are not thinking about the social aspect of their shows when they are commissioned. We are always thinking about why a show might work, what are the marketable aspects, and how can we have really engaged audiences.
Unfortunately buzz and social media noise do not necessarily create ratings. While noise may correspond with awareness and help sampling of a show at its launch, there is no hard relationship between noise and ratings as your very data points out.
End the end this all comes down to one thing. Networks do not sell buzz, they sell ratings. If an advertiser came and approached us and said they wanted to reach x people via social noise, we would certainly commission and schedule differently. But until the advertising industry demands something different, the networks will be geared to delivering the biggest reach and audience they can.
David, did you actually talk to any ‘traditional programmers’ before writing this?
You’d be enlightened if you had.
Agreed PM – think the word is ‘facile’ for David’s premise/article.
D, I thought ‘peurile’, but ‘facile’ fits the bill as well.
It’s amazing that there was all this social buzz and no-one else apart from SBS picked up the ‘phone and called Hulu and did the deal. It’s as simple as going to 7-Eleven and buying some milk.
Oh, what’s that you say? SBS did the deal before it was aired (and probably before the production was completed)? And there was a local bidding war? And the other channels are peeved that SBS nabbed it for Viceland?
A tad of a worry that kiddies are writing articles like this.
This whole article can be summed up in one word: topical. And trust me, this word comes up a lot when discussing new content, fella.
@ Edward – It doesn’t just stop there – according to this article, Game of thrones writers could even use meltwater’s super social listening tools to write their episodes!
Interested to know where the stats for the Battle pie are sourced from? Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc or just one of those?
I think the point here is that the social commentary reflects audience engagement with the content, and its relevance and resonance. Advertiser support for programming is obviously imperative to a show’s success and despite what some have said above, ratings are not actually all we look at.
As someone who selects programming for brand integration and sponsorship (including The Bachelor, The Block & Survivor and plenty more), we’re not JUST looking at ratings as the metric to support a program. Having deeper (3rd party) insight into audience responsiveness, sentiment and engagement is extremely valuable in identifying the very best opportunities for us.
As per Amanda Meade/The Guardian
And no SBS did not outbid anyone to get The Handmaid’s Tale. They picked it up as part of a broader content deal with the distributor MGM which gave them an additional 100 hours of television on top of the groundbreaking show. “There was no bidding war,” Ebeid said. “Channel Nine would not have wanted any of that content. We had no idea it would be a hit.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/aug/04/news-corps-handmaids-fail-is-sbss-gain-as-boss-hits-back-at-bunch-of-sooks