CTAM Study Finds Some Chatter Matters When It Comes to TV Viewing

By John Consoli -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/11/2013 2:30:37 PM

The electronic water cooler is working after all—at least according to a new study commissioned by the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM) and conducted by Nielsen. The study finds that social chatter—particularly on Facebook—has a significant impact on what viewers watch on television.

According to the study, 46% of respondents said they started watching a TV show because of chatter on Facebook. In addition, 54% of millennials aged 18-34 said they were influenced by discussion on Facebook, 48% of adults 35-49 said they were and 30% of baby boomers 50-54 agreed that they were.

Among the social media's impact on TV viewing, Twitter finished second but ended up significantly behind Facebook. The study found 14% of respondents said they started watching a TV show because of chatter on Twitter. By age, 21% of millennials said they were influenced by tweets on Twitter, 12% of adults 35-49 said they were and 6% of adults 50-54 said they were.

TV shows' own websites, forums and online discussion boards and general entertainment sites were all a close third, slightly behind Twitter but far behind Facebook.

The study found 9% of respondents said they started watching a TV show because of chatter on a TV show's website. By age, 8% of millennials did, 12% of adults 35-49 did and 6% of adults 50-54 did.

Regarding chatter on Web forums or discussion boards, 8% of respondents said they were influenced to watch a show because of that. Within that number, 11% of millennials said it had an influence, 8% of adults 35-49 said it did and 3% of adults 50-54 did.

And 7% of respondents said chatter on entertainment sites motivated them to start watching a TV show. By age, 8% of millennials were influenced this way, 9% of adults 35-49 were and 4% of adults 50-54 were.

And less than 4% of respondents said Pinterest, Reddit, Viggle, Foursquare, GetGlue and IntoNow motivated them to turn on a particular TV program

The study also found that more females start watching a TV show due to social chatter on Facebook (49% vs. 43% for males), with more males starting to watching a show due to Twitter chatter (16% to 12% for females).

Who are the biggest influencers on social sites when it comes to watching particular TV shows? Friends and family are first, followed by coworkers and business colleagues. Next come the public at large and more casual acquaintances.

The study asked respondents how often they talk about TV shows or content. It found that millennials talk about television more than the average TV viewer overall, including those in both the 35-49 and 50-54 demos.

Conversations about TV shows take place most often with people in the same room while watching a show (67%), or in face-to-face conversations with people at various times (63%). Discussions via phone ranks next (37%), followed by texting (31%), posting on Facebook (29%), emails (25%), instant messaging (19%), tweeting and social network apps (each 17%) and blogging (13%).

Not surprisingly, millennials do more TV show discussions via texting, posting on Facebook, instant messaging, tweeting and social network apps than do the older demo groups.

Respondents were asked when they typically talk about TV shows either in person, on the phone or online; 49% said before the show goes on that day, 70% said during the show or during commercial breaks, 75% said right after the show and 83% said the next day.

Also not surprisingly, live sporting events draw the highest percentage of conversation before or during the show.

One criterion for those who participated in the study: They each had to watch more than five hours of TV programming content per week and had to engage in social interactions around TV shows either online or through word-of-mouth. An equal amount of men and women were surveyed. Both live and online interviews were conducted.