This article was published on January 19, 2012

The BBC aired 80% of the most tweeted-about shows over Christmas


The BBC aired 80% of the most tweeted-about shows over Christmas

Eight out of ten of the most tweeted about programmes in the UK over Christmas were BBC broadcasts, says a new report from Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG).

As New Media Age reports, BBC beat ITV in the ‘social media battle’, with the SMG findings measuring the number of tweets sent with a hashtag or mentions over the period of the programme’s live broadcast, against BARB and Sysomos figures.

Eastenders was the most talked about show on Twitter, with the Christmas Day airing notching up more than 1,000 tweets each second. Sherlock followed in second place.

Only ITV’s Downton Abbey and Coronation Street made it into SMG’s top ten most talked about shows on Twitter, suggesting that the BBC is winning the ‘social’ wars. You’ll note from these figures that there isn’t a direct link between ‘audience’ and how much discussion each programme garnered on Twitter.

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Here’s the full lowdown…

Starcom MediaVest Group’s Social TV Top 10

Position | Broadcaster | Programme | Broadcast Date | Audience | Social Media Score

  1. BBC, Eastenders, 25 December 2011, 11,334,000, 18
  2. BBC, Sherlock, 1 January 2012, 10,663,000, 14
  3. BBC, Doctor Who, 25 December 2011, 10,772,000, 6.9
  4. ITV, Downton Abbey, 25 December 2011, 11,186,000, 4.3
  5. BBC, Absolutely Fabulous, 25 December 2011, 9,066,000, 3.5
  6. BBC, New Year Live, 31 December 2011, 10,670,000, 2.4
  7. BBC, Outnumbered, 24 December 2011, 8,474,000, 1.9
  8. BBC, Strictly Come Dancing, 25 December 2011, 8,495,000, 1.2
  9. ITV, Coronation Street, 25 December 2011, 10,226,000, 0.9
  10. BBC, The Royal Bodyguard, 26 December 2011, 8,347,000, 0.088

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