Yesterday we wrote about Bluefin Labs, which is comparing social media conversations against TV viewing in an effort to reinvent TV ratings around engagement. They ran an analysis for 2011 to date to come up with a top 10 list of the most “engaging” broadcast and cable TV networks:
1. FOX
2. ABC
3. MTV
4. CBS
5. TNT6. BET
7. NBC
8. CW
9. Cartoon Network
10. Bravo
Clearly, engagement doesn’t always equal ratings, at least by Bluefin’s measurement. For example, CBS is the top-rated network in total viewers, but Fox leads in 18-49 year olds. On the engagement scale, Fox seems to be a natural choice given its highly-talked-about shows American Idol, Glee and NFL football. As for MTV’s strong showing, it has the largest Facebook presence of any TV network on the web.
You’ll also note that networks with shows that attract younger viewers tend to perform better on the engagement chart — not many 65+ year olds are using social media to chat about TV shows, especially on Twitter.
For daily numbers of social activity around TV shows, visit our social TV leaderboard, which measures social media activity, powered by Trendrr.tv.


