The People Have Chosen
by Vicky Czarniecki January 15, 2010Last week was a first for the little people. The People’s Choice Awards were completely decided on and by “the People.” For the first time, fans were involved at the beginning stages of the show and were able to not only vote, but decide on the nominees. In a post published by AdAge which discussed changes that have been made to the program structure, this comment caught our collective social media eye,
“Simply put, makers of TV programs are learning that seeding the show among fans must take place months, not just weeks, in advance. The hope is that by using new strains of social-media, TV producers will create new momentum among hard-core fans, which can then spill over to others – generating new excitement for even the most buttoned-down video properties.”
These changes are in part a reaction to declining viewership. To that end, it is clear to see the effect that viewer participation early on in the awards process has had on viewer ratings. The program, which typically generated 15 million participants, expected more than 60 million people to take part in 2010. Those are promising numbers leading into a broadcast, and they resulted in a ratings victory for the night.
Demonstrating social media savvyness, Ashton Kutcher (who was awarded Favorite Web Celeb) ustreamed his award experience online – bringing the fans that much closer to the action. By doing this, he enabled social media to help close the gap between the glamorous celebrity life and the Ordinary Joe, something that the upcoming Golden Globes are attempting to do in their own way. Their take on web integration involves a partnership with digg to provide a daily digest of coverage leading up to the broadcast. It will be interesting to see how they weave that coverage into the actual event, and how awards shows will evolve in the coming years.
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