Can Social Media Save a Struggling TV Show?

Welcome back!

We’ve all seen social media do some pretty amazing things.  From increasing the awareness about the Haiti earthquake to giving “Pants on the Ground” the attention it so rightfully needed.  Some TV shows have embraced social media and engaged with their viewers, which, I can imagine, can only be a good thing for them.  The question is, could a struggling TV show use social media to bring in new viewers and have more people hitting “record” on their Tivo remote?

Let’s take a look at a few shows and their social media efforts and determine if social media may or may not be factor in their strength/weakness.

Chuck

The TV series “Chuck” may be the quintessential (yeah, I can use big words!) example here.  A show that struggled out of its 2nd season and was announced to be canceled, and not return for a 3rd.  The social media explosion may have been due to the show’s large nerd & geek following (go nerds!).

Around April of ‘09 is when things started to get crazy.  Several sites were created such as Please Save Chuck as well as dozens of blog posts that were created to generate buzz.  GiveMeMyRemote.com changed their name to Give Me My Chuck for a week as a part of their support which they appropriately named “Chuck Week”.

Fans of the show were encouraged to blog, tweet and post to facebook about their love for the show and to encourage a 3rd season.  The number of fans on the Official Chuck Page on facebook exploded.  Sure it doesn’t have millions like Family Guy of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air page have, but it does have a high amount of fan activity, in comparison.

This caught the attention of major outlets such as CNN, TV.com and had some notable attention on GiveMeMyRemote’s post on Be A Nerd…Join the Herd.

The Show’s star, Zachary Levi, also did some offline social media by taking a convention of about 200 people in Birmingham to Subway (one of the show’s primary sponsors).  You can check out a 6 minute vid on that over at Youtube, if you’re feeling so inclined.

American Gladiators (2008)

I was particularly bummed about this show getting the axe.  I grew up watching the old American Gladiators and when they brought it back, I was pumped (plus, the new Phoenix is SMOKING hot!!).  I still remember one of the recent episodes where a contestant called Hurricane “candycane”, because of the pink he had in his hair (who’s asinine decision that was, I’ll never know!).  Anyhow, the show execs had planned on it’s return to a 3rd season, but due to poor viewership and bad ratings, they changed their mind and cut the show (FYI, the show may still return, just not on NBC…yay!).

Looking at it from a social media perspective, they performed pretty poorly.  A non-existent twitter account and a facebook page that leaves much to be desired!  Not only did they rarely update their profile (almost never), but what they DID put up there was boring, lame and in no way interacting with the fan base that wanted to support them.  Seriously?  Pictures of the Gladiators dressed up as, well…gladiators?!  Snooze!

Here are some things I feel could’ve really spiced up their facebook efforts:

• Contests:  Sure, this isn’t an original thought, but what fan wouldn’t want some autographed swag, free tickets…or a super-awesome date with Phoenix (sign me up!!).  I know the word “engage” is kind of a frowned upon term in social media, but this would be one great way to get more fans and possibly even some more viewers.
• Better (and more frequent) updates: A Sysomos study noted that on an average facebook page, the admins create 1 wall post every 15.7 days.  These could’ve been a variety of updates.  From highlight clips, to wall posts from the Gladiator’s themselves…in their case, anything would’ve been better than nothing.
• Fitness/Diet tips:  Finding out the demographic of your fans is crucial in any facebook page.  My guess is many of the people who watched the show were people who liked action, competition, sports, fitness and the like.  I’d also wager that many people who watched would’ve liked to compete on that show, and maybe even looked up to many of the Gladiators (but not Helga, she’s gross).

Could social media have saved American Gladiators?  Maybe.  Could they have done a better job with their social efforts?  Hell yeah, they could’ve!  Maybe if the show gets saved on another network, they could learn and embrace the power of socializing once in a while.

Arrested Development

I chose this one because it is near and dear to my heart.  A comedy show that could easily rival current sitcoms running today!  Yet, due to poor rankings, and several bad decisions made by Fox execs</personal opinion>, the show got the shaft in its 3rd season.  Sure, social media was in its infancy back in those days, and there was no such thing as Twitter, but it still could’ve increased DVD sales and overall buzz (hey, it’s what saved Family Guy!).

Maybe it’s the love for the show or the fact that comedy can easily be successful in the social realm, but there are so many avenues to go with this show.  To this day, one of my favorite Twitter accounts is Dr. Tobias Funke’s!  Since there was no Twitter and Facebook was still racing against Myspace at the time, the show could’ve benefited from social news sites such as Digg, Stumblupon, etc.

Back then, achieving a front-page story on the social sites was a lot easier and several micro-sites could’ve been created to produce viral content in regards to the show (not to mention a perfect chance to grow ImOscar.com!).  Even with it being off the air for over 5 years now, it still remains as one of the most quoted television shows!  That’s something that could’ve been utilized towards their advantage.

Viral Ideas:

• Top 10 Most Awkward Moments with the Bluths [videos]
• The 5 Best “Magic Tricks” Performed by GOB (ILLUSIONS!)
• Lost Audition Tape of Tobias Funke for the Blueman Group

Oh well, hopefully they’ll still run with the movie (2011, here we come!), and who knows where things will go from there.  Again, much like the Gladiators, they’ll have a chance at a possible redemption, if they can socialize and attract a larger fan base.

There are many more that could be covered, but for the sake of time, space and your brain cells, I’ll cut this off here.  I’d love to hear of any ideas you have for canceled shows in the comments below.

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