The impact of TV rating on Twitter’s activity: Evidence for Chile based on the Teleton 2012

Abstract

Does television rating have an impact on Twitter’s tweeting? The emergence of digital social media is changing the television industry practices. In particular, TV channels are explicitly including social media tools to interact with their audience. These efforts are mostly based on intuition rather than on evidence. To contribute to identify the actual effect of TV programming on Twitter’s tweeting, this study analyzes the relationship between TV rating and Twitter’s tweeting during the Teleton 2012, an event that is transmitted by all Chilean channels simultaneously. The results suggest a statistically positive impact of television rating on Twitter’s tweeting. Specifically, during Teleton 2012, a rise of 1 point on television rating per minute increased Twitter’s tweeting by 1.5 tweets per minute on average and 6 tweets per minute during prime time.