The Discovery Channel ramped up tweeting and displayed fan Tweets on air during “Discovery Unwrapped Week,” a week of special programming with twists and holiday-themed episodes. As a result, there was a 143% increase in overall Tweets about @Discovery and its programs from December 8-10, compared to the same time period during the previous week’s days, according to Nielsen’s SocialGuide.
For some shows, the effect was even more pronounced. On Sunday, December 8, a special two-hour episode of Naked & Afraid (@NakedAndAfraid) had 330% more Tweets, 21,000 in total for the night, and a 470% bigger Twitter audience (492,000 people according to Nielsen’s SocialGuide) than the following week’s episode, which did not show Tweets on air.
The show suggested that viewers tweet with the hashtag #NakedAndAfraid, and that their Tweets might show up on screen.
You’re watching a special #DiscoveryUnwrapped edition of #NakedAndAfraid. Tweet with us and your message could be on TV!
— Naked and Afraid ( @NakedAndAfraid) December 9, 2013
The account for the Nashville band @ladyantebellum was among the throngs of accounts tweeting about the show.
anyone else watching #nakedandafraid? that one girl is miserable. - ck
— Lady Antebellum ( @ladyantebellum) December 9, 2013
As a result of the promotion and the Tweets by such high-profile viewers, @NakedAndAfraid gained 3,048 followers by the end of the day, a 650% boost over the 469 followers it started with that day, according to Twitter internal data.
The boost in Tweets and audience for @NakedAndAfraid was not an anomaly. On the Tuesday night of #DiscoveryUnwrapped, Moonshiners (@MoonshinersTV) also displayed Tweets on air during back-to-back episodes that included a Christmas special.
That night, 82,000 people saw 3,500 Tweets about the show, spikes of 140% and 150%, respectively, compared to the previous week’s episode that did not display on-air Tweets, according to Nielsen’s SocialGuide. And @MoonshinersTV also live-tweeted during the week of Discovery Unwrapped:
Retweet if you would wanna get Jeff’s brandy as a holiday gift. #Moonshiners pic.twitter.com/XPueowWJFw
— Moonshiners ( @MoonshinersTV) December 11, 2013
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