The biggest social TV busts from the past week: 'Girls' final season announcement fails to upset the masses
As the holidays ended there were some big TV events. Netflix's docu-series "Making a Murderer" continued to gain momentum, as did The Bachelor and Game of Thrones. The announcement of the final season of Girls however was the biggest bust. Here are the full insights from Union Metrics and editor-in-chief Jenn Deering Davis.
Summary of the top moments from the past week:
- It was a fairly quiet week for television news, aside from a number of premieres and premiere date announcements. So today, we'll take a look at some of the biggest premiere stories from last week to see what Twitter was most interested in.
- Making a Murderer actually premiered on Netflix a few weeks ago in mid-December, but the internet only really discovered it last week. Viewers shared commentary on social media and journalists explored every single angle of this latest true crime series to capture audience attention.
- The Bachelor on ABC kicked off its newest season on January 4. This long-running show is now in its 20th season! So that begs the question - do fans still tune in? How much does Twitter still care about a show that's been on for 15 years?
- FXX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia started its 11th season on January 6. Like The Bachelor, this is another long-running show, so we're left to wonder how much enthusiasm Twitter has left for it.
- HBO announced the premiere date for the hotly anticipated season 6 premiere of Game of Thrones would be April 24. While not an actual premiere episode, just the announcement of the date has in the past set Twitter abuzz, so we're curious if this season is any different.
- And then, in what is basically the opposite of a premiere announcement, HBO's Girls announced it would be ending after season 6. The show's fifth season begins next month, so there are still two full seasons left in its run, but fans of the show were most likely disappointed that it's almost over.
How did each do on Twitter?
- Enthusiasm for The Bachelor remains high. The premiere episode generated 375k tweets on the day it aired, and nearly half a million total tweets last week. That's actually higher than either of the past two year's premieres, so yes, fans do still tune in. A lot. And It's Always Sunny earned 22k tweets last week, which is an increase from the premiere week last year. So while It's Always Sunny is a lot smaller than a mass-culture hit like The Bachelor, it still interests its fans, who continue to get excited about it on Twitter.
- And then there's Game of Thrones. There were 60k tweets about the premiere date announcement last week. That's more tweets than most shows' actual episodes generate. Game of Thrones continues to be a social media powerhouse and that isn't likely to slow down anytime soon.
- Netflix is also doing really well lately. There were more than 500k tweets about Making a Murderer last week. That's way up from the first few weeks the show was around; it only generated 70k tweets the week of December 18 when it premiered, and 200k tweets the week after. Twitter definitely discovered the show last week - and then they went nuts.
- So that leaves Girls, which looks to be the biggest bust of the week, generating only about 9k tweets about its cancellation. Most cancellation announcements fail to generate much buzz on Twitter, with only the most active fanbases interested in the news, but for a show that typically pulls in more interest on a network that does social media really well, this is a disappointment. So it must really be time to end the show.
Jenn Deering Davis is Editor-in-Chief of the San Francisco-based social analytics company Union Metrics. She has 15 years of industry and academic experience in organizational communications, social media and research, spending her career turning turning data into effective stories and helping stakeholders more easily understand new technologies. Union Metrics has been delivering social media answers to brands and marketers since the company launched TweetReach in 2009. Today, Union Metrics’ multi-channel social analytics are used by thousands of digital marketers at the world’s most innovative brands to optimize social media strategies and create impactful campaigns across Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tumblr. Visit Union Metrics at unionmetrics.com and @unionmetrics to learn more.
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