Earlier this year, Bravo began holding virtual viewing parties — called Bravo Talk Bubble — designed to encourage people to hold real-time conversations while watching new episodes of shows like The Real Housewives of New York City. Viewers can track tweets from the housewives themselves, along with show producers, on BravoTV.com or via a hashtag on Twitter.
“There’s debate about exactly how much online conversation is driving TV ratings,” writes Bravo SVP Lisa Hsia in a post on Mashable. “We’ve tracked our real-time water cooler, dubbed the ‘Bravo Talk Bubble,’ and found that it has delivered a 10% lift to The Real Housewives of New York.”
A 10% lift in live TV ratings is a huge increase (you can bet that number was even higher for Conan’s premiere), and no wonder TV marketers are embracing social media. And Hsia also points out that tools like Trendrr — which tracks Twitter conversations by sentiment against time — gives TV programmers a valuable feedback loop as shows air.
“Access to real-time conversation around shows, personalities and products must be a part of TV networks’ basic road map,” Hsia says.
Earlier this week: Bravo launches new Twitter experience
