Can Twitter Save Television Advertising?

It is no secret that television advertising is not what it used to be. The “Tivo” effect has resulted in many television viewers avoiding commercials all together. 40% of households now have a DVR. Other options for commercial-free viewing including online streaming through Hulu or Netflix, On Demand programming, and whole seasons of programming available on DVD.

With all of these viewers avoiding commercials, advertisers are not willing to pay the big dollars for advertisements that no one will see.  If, as a network, you are able to convince viewers to watch your show live (and thus the commercials) you will be able to command top dollars.  With less legitimate advertising slots available advertising rates for live events have risen dramatically.  The best example of this is the Super Bowl.  While television advertising rates have steadily declined, the rates for the Super Bowl have experienced a dramatic rise.

Live sporting events represent the best opportunity for advertisers to capture an audience.  That is because viewers cannot afford to wait to view a sporting event because they will want to be able to discuss it with their friends over social networks.  Scripted television shows do not share this built in advantage.  In most cases, waiting a day or two to view your favorite show is not an issue.  Sure you might here about whether it was a good episode or not, but you won’t hear details analyzed and dissected.  An extreme example of this is that most television seasons are available on DVD.  In that case, people are willing to wait a whole year to watch a television program

Twitter has the capability to change all this.  Twitter’s presence can turn the live broadcast of scripted television into appointment viewing.  This happens naturally due to the conversations that happen immediately on twitter.  With the immediacy of twitter, waiting even an hour can put you behind and leave you out of the conversation.  By the next morning, the twitter universe has moved on to discussing something else.

In addition to this happening organically, networks can contribute to this phenomenon.  One way to do this is by creating a twitter hashtag and encouraging conversation during the show.  This hashtag will allow viewers of the show to connect over twitter to discuss the show.  One network that has really embraced this is USA Network.  They put the hashtag up on screen during the show, and even provoke response by asking questions throughout the show.  You can click on the following link to see what I am talking about: http://www.flickr.com/photos/62334600@N03/5892030535/.

Going a step further, some shows even have stars of the show be a part of the conversation.  Daniel Tosh, for instance, takes to twitter during the show to take part in the conversation.  Knowing that a star may be responding to my question will certainly encourage me to be a part of the live broadcast.  An example of this is shown here: http://twitter.com/#!/danieltosh/status/23963667860.

Lastly, Comcast has launched its own social platform, focused solely on television viewing.  This new service, called Tunerfish, features conversations, sharing, and mobile applications.

Part of the appeal to viewers is being recognized with a response or a retweet from the show.  If a star of a show responds to you, you will share this with all of your followers, further promoting the show.  Jimmy Fallon has taken advantage of this.  On his show, he poses questions on twitter and then shares responses on air.  This has a powerful effect, where viewers will watch the show just to see if there question gets answered.  It also has a viral effect, because if my question is answered I will share that with all of my followers, furthering interest.

Television networks can take advantage of this tool to help build a community of viewers to their shows.  Encouraging viewers to be a part of the experience will help their ratings, and please advertisers.  A network that is able to show this value of advertisers will get a leg up on the competition in the highly competitive advertising market.