Over the years I’ve watched programme directors sweating the wait between the launch of a big TV event and the arrival of overnight ratings, on edge as the audience judges a program the next big thing or the next big mistake.

These days they can sleep like a baby or cry like one, by getting a sense of the outcome from viewer interaction across Twitter and Facebook.

“Emotion is at the heart of the argument for television as an advertising medium, because emotion leads to persuasion, and success in advertising is all about persuasion.

The morning’s audience numbers may be less than the sponsor guarantee, but when social network reviews are positive the message to sponsors is clear – “The audience loves us, stay with us while it builds.”

Following its recent Season 4 launch in the US, Jersey Shore held a 62% share of all comments made about TV while it aired, and 56% of the social audience for Jersey Shore commented during the show, according to SocialGuide Data. Trendrr measured 912,055 Twitter mentions, 51,507 on Facebook, 10,250 check-ins on GetGlue and 357 on Miso — more than all the other prime time shows in Trendrr’s daily top 10 list combined. (Source: lostremote)

The Masterchef finale is another example of the passion TV builds as loyal fans shouted out on Twitter about sandwiching an episode of The Renovators in between the cook-off’s denouement. Some social research may well be warranted to avoid costly scheduling mistakes in future.

Television generates emotive responses to its content. Emotion is at the heart of the argument for television as an advertising medium, because emotion leads to persuasion, and success in advertising is all about persuasion.

TV has always been the ultimate social media. It sparks the conversation, engages across the broadest range of society and remains a ubiquitous and welcome media presence.
On any given day 8 out of 10 under 25’s with mobile devices are engaged in constant live social commentary on shows they are watching with their friends in real time. That interaction continues throughout a broad range of demographics. It would be folly to ignore them. TV has a responsibility to capitalise on its role as a driver of the success of social media.

TV has begun to capitalise on the interest an online program can generate which was the case when Mindshare Entertainment created “In the Motherhood,” an original online series for its clients Sprint and Unilever’s Suave that was later picked up by ABC Television and developed into the first prime time comedy to be spun off from a web series.
Old Spice and other very viral social media and online content seem to find their way into network schedules, driven there by the online excitement they generate. There is a fusing of mediums here that is exciting and shows that the symbiotic relationship between great content and the public will overcome perceived platform barriers.
Television is empowered by social networks and vice versa, with direct interaction between consumers and content highlighting the power of the relationship in a way ratings can’t emulate.

Brands benefit from the new connections TV has with its audiences. TV is evolving to maintain its presence as an advertising powerhouse for brands looking to create a space for themselves in the consumer mindset. TV is a window on society and its culture and while the ratings tell the story – the more audiences love the show, the more open to your message they are. A reality check on the true like-ability of a program, or its ability to capture imagination is available in real time, and in today’s environment, television executives have a responsibility to take that check.