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Just over a week into this years Celebrity Big Brother, it’s clear that it’s been a success both from a ratings point of view as well as a social media one.
When Channel 5 took over the reins of Big Brother they embraced with open arms the social media republic by incorporating engaging and extensive Facebook and Twitter content, facebook voting and bringing in digital elements into “Big Brother’s Bit on the Side”.
In doing this the watching audience more than ever are discussing the goings on as they watch them on many social channels, by analysing these channels and sites I bring you some findings on how successful the buzz has been this series when compared to last.
Here we see the first week trend data for the Celebrity Big Brother that started on August 18th 2011. You can see a big initial peak of discussion for launch night which then settles down into a more rhythmic pattern as the discussion equalises, occasionally peaking for evictions or big stories but never quite capturing the heights of launch night (this is normally matched on the finale night).
(Click to enlarge)What’s interesting here is the volume of mentions for this particular series the launch peak was over 160,000 mentions in the 2 or so hours that the show runs, then each show averages around 30,000 mentions. (Please ignore the times, it is set to Pacific Standard Time)
Compare and contrast to this series’ first week:
(Click to enlarge)Over 550,000 mentions for launch night with each nightly episode stabilising at about 60,000 mentions.
That’s a pretty massive increase in social media mentions (launch night buzz tripled and each subsequent episode doubled), and taking solely without any context, a huge victory. However, let’s add a little colour to this result:
- Obviously time of year plays a big part, during the summer people have other things to do like go on holiday etc, while in January when the days are short and little else is on TV, CBB fills a perfect gap in the schedule.
- I think people have been surprised by actually how good Endemol and Channel 5 have treated the latest incarnations of Big Brother. Perhaps pensive to watch at first, the audience has come back to enjoy the goings on in Elstree, thus talking about it more.
- Social media usage has grown massively in the last 6 months.
But let’s take nothing away from the fact that actually Big Brother has and always will be a pleasure for some, a guilty one for most and being able to discuss the goings on with likeminded people augments the show greatly.
You can follow Christian on Twitter @drcasio
I have noticed this too , as ‘This Morning’,'Loose woman’,'Daybreak’ etc all talk about it , get guests on and feature it. Doing well
all we need now is live streaming everyday and all is gud
Am I being ridiculous? I can’t work out what the first letter of WILF stands for… Answers on a Tweet to @BB_Superfan – much appreciated! :D
I think Denise Welch plays a big part in this. Because she is currently part of the ITV daytime slot the Loose Women and This Morning will talk about her in support. Therefore all the loyal Loose Women and ITV daytime viewers are going to watch her.
Brilliant observations. Enough for C5 to reup? I think so. If they didn’t I’d be shocked.
So you work for C5 which means you obviously wanting to spin BB as positive.You fail to realise that C4 had twitter and Facebook too so social media is nothing new to BB.
What is new to C5′s version of BB is the disgraceful way many of us were banned from Facebook for simply asking about live feed,something which i know some are bored to death of talking about but BB is nothing without it.
So many of us have written emails and personal letters to Endemol and C5 on issues and have received nothing in return.
As you seem keen to point out the social media buzz i will point out to you that due to lack of buzz from live streaming,many fan sites have simply given up.
As you say an increase in mentions etc is all good but not everything is positive from us the viewers.It would be in C5′s interest if they intend to continue a contract in showing BB that they engage with what the fans want as after 12 years i think we have a pretty good idea whereas C5 have a lot to learn.
“What’s interesting here is the volume of mentions for this particular series the launch peak was over 160,000 mentions in the 2 or so hours…” What’s interesting is the slant you give the data. Mentioning it doesn’t necessarily mean the comments were positive, but the way the article is written makes it seem that way.