More Twitter Chatter Correlates to Higher TV Ratings, Study Reveals

A new study reveals that more Twitter chatter correlates to higher television ratings.

By analyzing tweets about live TV, Nielsen and SocialGuide found that Twitter is one of three "statistically significant variables" to influence ratings. The other two factors are a show's ratings from the previous year and advertising spending

"While prior-year rating accounts for the lion's share of the variability in TV ratings, Twitter's presence as a top three influencer tells us that tweeting about live TV may affect program engagement," said Andrew Somosi, CEO of SocialGuide, an analytics service that co-led the study with Neilsen. "We expected to see a correlation between Twitter and TV ratings, but this study quantifies the strength of that relationship."