Saturday, May 21, 2016

Social Media Popularity:How does it affect the TV viewership?

Social Media has become a necessity for almost everyone. Hardly anyone can survive without it if they are having access. Not just individuals, it's valuable for business related people to spread their network. Individuals wants to stay connected with their friends. But entertainment Industry is the biggest sector which targets social media. After all those numerous fan groups, online discussions about TV shows, celebrities and people give a boost to the Industry in form of many ways. It's one trend that's only increasing day by day.
































Social Media has become a necessity for almost everyone. Hardly anyone can survive without it if they are having access. Not just individuals, it's valuable for business related people to spread their network. Individuals wants to stay connected with their friends. But entertainment Industry is the biggest sector which targets social media. After all those numerous fan groups, online discussions about TV shows, celebrities and people give a boost to the Industry in form of many ways. It's one trend that's only increasing day by day.But the question here is...how much Social Media can affect to a success of a commodity. Can a product rely just on social media for success. With Social Media forming such a huge base on its own. Can it really affect for the betterment of the Industry. Let's talk about TV shows here. We don't need to tell how much popular Indian TV shows are on the web. Just hit one word on Google and millions of results shall pour in.

On a daily basis, millions and billions of fans shower their love on their favourite celebrities and TV shows. If we really go by their love, their favourite actors would go on to top every popularity list. They are of course loyal and quite dedicated. It's seen that Fan Power has done wonders in the past for TV shows and the actors. However, here we are talking about the social media popularity affecting the success of a TV show. How does it really contribute.Given by the Fan Power on the web, If we take on that account. Any TV show's huge fan following can guarantee for a huge success of a show.  Unfortunately, how good does it sound but its primarily a myth. In this article, we are not trying to hurt any fan's sentiments but this is one fact that they should understand. Few days back, we conducted a survey on TV shows. We tried to keep an eye on every popular show that has an amazing following.

































But when it comes to ratings, there is a different story to tell. Appreciation doesn't turn into numbers. A tv associate on the basis of anonymity told us - "At the end its all about the numbers game. Social Media can help to an extent but if it doesn't help in numbers it's of no use. TV production isn't a child's play anymore. A TV series these days can cost two big budget movies rolling together in the entire production. It's obvious that the pressure to deliver on ratings is always tough to handle.
Some shows manage to do it and some cannot. Making a Quality show is itself a big risk and most of the times, it doesn't work out because the viewership for such shows always remains low. We also asked him about the long running soaps that are being dragged mercilessly and also the concepts of few shows that are turning funnier day by day. He said - "Well ! The makers hardly have a choice. The shows that fail to do well are taken off air in a short period. So the channel is forced to run those shows that have been doing well, if they are still getting the ratings.

He further added - 'The fact is most of the audience that watches these shows aren't even visible on social media. Most of the viewership comes from families and mostly homely women that are associated with these shows. Also, Social Media doesn't comply to only country or a sector. A following for a TV show is huge. It also draws Individuals from many countries. Even if there's a huge spread of word being flown it doesn't necessary imply for a higher viewership.A TV show Gangaa that's performing well overseas instead of its own country is a prime example.
In our survey, the results we found were deliberately surprising. The most appreciated shows on TV these days are 'Kuch Rang Pyaar Ke Aise Bhi' 'Ek Duje Ke  Vaaste' 'Meri Awaaz hi Pehchaan Hai' 'Dahleez' but according to latest BARC ratings, their viewership seems not to be much happening While comparing to these shows, the ratings of long dragging and meaningless soaps like Yeh Hai Mohabbatein, Naagin, Sasural Simar ka, Saath Nibhana Saathiya have only increased with time despite receiving heavy criticism from social media lovers. Now this is simply Ironical!



























We even got in touch with a fan to know her views. Preety Singh from Delhi who loves Kuch Rang Pyaar Ke, Dahleez and Ek Duje.. a lot. She told us that these shows are best. But when tried reasoning with her to face the facts that these shows do not get TRP despite appreciation, Then likely any typical serial lover she brushed us off and tried to win the argument. We gave up but these are facts and we didn't create them. It's a reality.However, there is another edge to the story as well. There are exceptions where Social Media have also strengthened a shows' viewership. Sadda Haq of Channel V is a prime example. The ratings of this show have only increased with the amazing following. and So of other channel V shows  like D3, The Buddy Project and Paanch but one thing can't be ruled out here that Channel V has extensively promoted all these shows on social platforms unlike other channels do.





But the question here is...how much Social Media can affect to a success of a commodity. Can a product rely just on social media for success. With Social Media forming such a huge base on its own. Can it really affect for the betterment of the Industry. Let's talk about TV shows here. We don't need to tell how much popular Indian TV shows are on the web. Just hit one word on Google and millions of results shall pour in.On a daily basis, millions and billions of fans shower their love on their favourite celebrities and TV shows. If we really go by their love, their favourite actors would go on to top every popularity list. They are of course loyal and quite dedicated. It's seen that Fan Power has done wonders in the past for TV shows and the actors. However, here we are talking about the social media popularity affecting the success of a TV show. How does it really contribute.

Given by the Fan Power on the web, If we take on that account. Any TV show's huge fan following can guarantee for a huge success of a show.  Unfortunately, how good does it sound but its primarily a myth. In this article, we are not trying to hurt any fan's sentiments but this is one fact that they should understand. Few days back, we conducted a survey on TV shows. We tried to keep an eye on every popular show that has an amazing following.But when it comes to ratings, there is a different story to tell. Appreciation doesn't turn into numbers. A tv associate on the basis of anonymity told us - "At the end its all about the numbers game. Social Media can help to an extent but if it doesn't help in numbers it's of no use. TV production isn't a child's play anymore. A TV series these days can cost two big budget movies rolling together in the entire production. It's obvious that the pressure to deliver on ratings is always tough to handle.




In our survey, the results we found were deliberately surprising. The most appreciated shows on TV these days are 'Kuch Rang Pyaar Ke Aise Bhi' 'Ek Duje Ke  Vaaste' 'Meri Awaaz hi Pehchaan Hai' 'Dahleez' but according to latest BARC ratings, their viewership seems not to be much happening While comparing to these shows, the ratings of long dragging and meaningless soaps like Yeh Hai Mohabbatein, Naagin, Sasural Simar ka, Saath Nibhana Saathiya have only increased with time despite receiving heavy criticism from social media lovers. Now this is simply Ironical! We even got in touch with a fan to know her views. Preety Singh from Delhi who loves Kuch Rang Pyaar Ke, Dahleez and Ek Duje.. a lot. She told us that these shows are best. But when tried reasoning with her to face the facts that these shows do not get TRP despite appreciation, Then likely any typical serial lover she brushed us off and tried to win the argument. We gave up but these are facts and we didn't create them. It's a reality.

However, there is another edge to the story as well. There are exceptions where Social Media have also strengthened a shows' viewership. Sadda Haq of Channel V is a prime example. The ratings of this show have only increased with the amazing following. and So of other channel V shows  like D3, The Buddy Project and Paanch but one thing can't be ruled out here that Channel V has extensively promoted all these shows on social platforms unlike other channels do. If you have followed Sadda Haq and D3, you must have followed their facebook pages too. A fantastic marketing campaign was involved that had really helped these shows. Another interesting aspect of the survey was that the TV shows that have almost null popularity on Social Media are actually doing really well. Sony's Hanuman and AndTV's Santoshi Maa both the mythological shows have hardly a great fan base on social media but they are consistently holding well on the charts.





















After this, we turned back to the associate and asked for a mutual solution that can help the makers and also the fans on social media. He said - Although it's not possible for a TV show to run long without sustainable ratings however if we takes small measures and steps, there's a light to progress. He hinted towards making shorter series that run for a shorter period that can be deviod of ratings and provide good entertainment value as well. But he also added that's its a temporary solution. Producers still won't take risks to experiment regularly after all there are huge setups and big creative decisions involved. Anyways we can only hope for a bright future in entertainment where everyone can be pleased. The fans, the actors, the audience, the channel everyone in order. Only a change is needed...When ! We are yet to see.

2 comments:

  1. You have not mentioned Tamanna Such a natural story related to today's world.with limited episodes......

    ReplyDelete
  2. You have not mentioned Begusarai and Krishnadasi.

    ReplyDelete