I know from reading twitter that some people use filters to block out what they see as the excessive social chatter over certain reality TV “talent” contests on a Saturday. In fact I remember chuckling at the weekend as one person forlornly commented that their twitter time line was almost empty as a result of the self imposed filter.
Well guess what, the clever boffins at Virgin Media, along with help from beardier boffins at the London School of Economics, have looked at a combination of TV viewing figures and social media engagement to produce an algorithm that ranks TV shows out of ten in terms of engagement. And interestingly, the shows with the biggest audiences don’t necessarily produce the biggest social media interactions.
Graham Norton’s Friday night talk hit the top place alongside BGT largely due to the huge success of Will Smith and his son Jaden’s appearance which was watched by over 11 million people on YouTube. Let me say that again, 11 million people on YouTube. That’s a lot. More than pretty much anything that doesn’t involve kittens in fact.
Click on the inforgraphic for a larger view
Viewing figures has long since stopped being the be all and end all, so it’s interesting to see another take on what makes the hottest TV.
disclaimer: I got sent the infographic and it was interesting enough I thought I’d publish it. No monies have changed hands and unfortunately Richard Branson hasn’t offered me a free trip on Virgin Galactic either.