Twitter is “world’s biggest sofa” for TV viewers

Twitter is the “world’s biggest sofa”, according to head of broadcast partnerships Dan Biddle, speaking about the social network’s role in TV viewing.

Speaking at the Future TV Advertising Forum in London this morning, Biddle said Twitter had the power to connect TV viewers all over the world, and stressed the importance for broadcasters to embrace and manage hashtags effectively.

“We are no longer alone when watching the TV. We have the opportunity to connect with people all over the world watching the same programme at the same time,” Biddle said. During peak times 40% of all tweets are about TV shows, he added, with sports, and football in particular, driving TV Tweets.

According to Biddle, 71% of people who saw a social media impression about a TV programme went on to watch it, while 31% continued to watch a TV show because of its social media impression. In this sense, Twitter could act as a TV guide, said Bidden, describing TV hashtags as “the ultimate bat signal”.

Biddle said broadcasters were starting to see the value of using Twitter to help viewers engage with their shows. “Broadcasters are increasingly doing their upmost to bring viewers into their shows. They are trying to make Twitter as valuable as possible for their users and themselves,” he said. “It’s an incredibly engaging platform.”