No social zombies here: understanding AMC’s ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ audiences
Social media and TV go together like peanut butter and jelly on a couch sandwich: very, very well. Second screen viewing is now common place when people watch live TV, as social media allows us to respond in real-time and connect with other fans. And for TV networks, analysing this online conversation can add real value as well.
Analysis of social media interaction around TV shows can, for example, help decide whether a show should be renewed for another season, who the most liked and disliked characters are, and give insight into where fans want the show to go.
Pulsar has been working with multiple entertainment organisations to help them make sense of consumption habits and audiences' demographical make-up. AMC is one of these TV networks - they came to us so we could track, analyse and map out conversations of the entire first half of the second season for 'Fear the Walking Dead'.
Network split
We tracked all mentions of 'Fear the Walking Dead' across Twitter, Tumblr, Forums, Blogs and all articles online, and found that 95% of total conversation happens on Tumblr and Twitter.
We know that each social network has its own audience, and that each network is used for different reasons. So it's not surprising then that Tumblr and Twitter were used to channel different conversations: where Tumblr users mainly spoke about the episodes and the characters, Twitter was used to discuss nominations for the Teen Choice Awards and for users to tell their followers they are watching the show.
Surprisingly, most of the conversation took place outside of the broadcast window, meaning conversation not happening during the show itself - which drove 64% of the conversation. Conversation topics during this window were varied, from talk about trailers and spoilers, to speculation around the motives of the characters and the actors who were pivotal in the previous episode.
In terms of the main characters, we found that Alicia (28.8%), Strand (20.2%), Madison (16.4%) and Nick (20.5%) led the way. However, conversations around Alicia were focused around her nomination for Teen Choice Awards and her promotional work prior to the series release.
Outside the leading topics, discussion was focused around Ouroboros, Blood, and Spoilers.
Who's behind the keyboard?
In terms of gender, the conversation is balanced: 52.1% of the drivers are women, 47.9% are men. The difference lies in how they talk about the show - men are more focused on the characters (in particular Travis and Alicia) and how they feel about the show, whereas women spoke about the show generally and focused on the Teen Choice Awards.
The US dominated conversation, which is expected considering the show stems from the US. Excluding the US, 'Fear the Walking Dead' is spoken about at the same level across Europe and South America. Mentions for the show were highest during Episode 1 (74,325 mentions), but beyond this, mentions were fairly consistent across the remaining episodes (averaging 31,275 mentions).
Alycia Debnam Carey as Alicia - Fear the Walking Dead. Photo Credit: Justin Lubin/AMC
The analysis of AMC's 'Fear the Walking Dead' shows a pattern we see with other TV shows as well: conversations predominantly take place on Twitter and Tumblr, with chatter slowing down after the shows premiere.
In this AMC's case they can use this information to better inform their on-air social media strategy - commenting on specific scenes to inspire curiosity throughout their following, or focus their content on the most popular characters to increase engagement.
If you're interested in getting to know your audience, we'd love to hear from you. Send us an email to [email protected].
