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.
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?
A big part of remaining relevant to Australian audience is content – understanding what viewers want. But this means not just airing content that’s typically worked in the past but looking beyond your own organisational walls and listening to real conversations happening both on social media and in the news, in real-time from around the world.
With The Handmaid’s Tale, the show was trending on social media well before it aired in Australia. This would have been a strong indicator of the potential success it could have here.
So what if broadcasters started using news and social media insights to listen to audiences from around the world and incorporate these insights into business strategies? It has the power to completely overhaul the way broadcasters approach content — everything from what content to purchase to program scheduling or even a story plot outcome. Understanding what people are saying about a program in real-time can give broadcasters the added insights that will ultimately help them retain eyeballs.
Take the current conversations happening right now around Australia’s reality TV programs — think The Block, The Bachelor, Hell’s Kitchen and Survivor. While The Block continues to take the top spot in ratings, it is trailing behind on social media, with The Bachelor taking the top spot there.
On the other end of the spectrum, Hell’s Kitchen has aired to a wave of criticism both in the news and on social media and in the rating. And it doesn’t look like it’s getting any better, with online conversations dipping.
Considering these insights, does it make sense for Seven to cut its losses now and move Hell’s Kitchen out of the prime time slot, or let it fall to the same fate as Zumbo’s Just Desserts? It’s these types of insights that can help broadcasters make these important decisions early and fast.
In a world where consumers have endless access to content, now is the time for traditional broadcasters to act. There needs to be a true understanding of what viewers want and with social media offering a platform for Australians to express themselves, understanding these conversations are easy.
Media monitoring technology to do just this is already available, so now it’s just a matter of broadcasters using these technologies to gain insights and make more strategic decisions. It’s these insights that will make all the difference as more broadcasters continue to fight for eyeballs.
David Hickey is director of Meltwater ANZ.
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.
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David, did you actually talk to any ‘traditional programmers’ before writing this?
You’d be enlightened if you had.
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Agreed PM – think the word is ‘facile’ for David’s premise/article.
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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.
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@ 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!
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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.
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Interested to know where the stats for the Battle pie are sourced from? Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc or just one of those?
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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.
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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
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