Ryan Seacrest: Do More With Social Media

Ryan Seacrest

Using social media to build a stronger bond with TV and other entertainment audiences is already working, but  Hollywood needs to do a lot more with it, Ryan Seacrest,  said at the Code Conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, according to deadline.com.

“I believe that the dialogue [with audiences] needs to live on, not just during the broadcast,” said the man with 12 million Twitter followers and a bewildering array of TV and radio shows, Internet investments and more.

“We’re trying to do that. As an industry, we need to be doing more of that. One of the great things about [American] Idol when it first started was that it brought family together. When you watch Idol now, you can re-create that [in social media conversations]. I believe that conversation about your show is important. Whether that translates to a rating point, I don’t know.”

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, who joined Seacrest onstage along with Kara Swisher of conference sponsor Re/Code, said studies by Nielsen, Fox and others back up Seacrest’s belief that a strong social media presence on Twitter and beyond can boost a TV show’s success.

“A Nielsen study last year found three things that drive ratings: 1) last year’s ratings, 2) the amount spent on advertising and 3) Twitter,” Costolo said. “Twitter can extend and aggregate attention for shows. What we saw to be true anecdotally, they documented.”

Seacrest said his team makes a point of using social media to support their new programs. “When we make a deal with a network, we genuinely do whatever we can to promote the show,” Seacrest said.

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