Despite Twitter’s limited growth over the past few quarters, the social messaging service continues to experience second screen popularity with television viewers. Facebook is attempting to tap into this market as well, but has been battling the perception that its users generally post before or after a broadcast, rather than during it. However, U.K.-based social analytics agency SecondSync released a study that suggests 60 percent of Facebook interactions about TV programs occur during the broadcasts. Continue reading Second Screen: The Battle Between Tweets and Facebook Posts

In response to the mounting competition California currently faces from nearly 40 states that offer financial incentives for TV and film production, Democratic State Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra plans to introduce new legislation this month designed to keep production in California. The proposed legislation would increase the state’s $100 million annual budget for TV and film tax incentives. Additionally, it would expand productions eligible for tax credits to include big budget films and network series. Continue reading California Looks to Boost Tax Breaks for Film & TV Production

Two of cable’s biggest programming networks, FX and Turner, have decided they want to stream all of their series’ episodes within a current season online. It’s a challenge to the industry standard, which generally allows networks to stream only the five most recent episodes online. But if this were to change, Netflix would get away with paying significantly lower rates for any show streamed elsewhere — and studios aren’t too happy about that possibility. Continue reading Cable Networks and Netflix Face Off Over Streaming Rights

Vince Gilligan, the creator of the Emmy-winning series “Breaking Bad,” told BBC in a recent interview that he attributed the show’s following in part to illegal downloads. The dramatic final episode was downloaded illegally more than 500,000 times in just 12 hours — the show’s most pirated episode, according to Variety. But Gilligan also says those downloads negatively affected the people who worked on the show and earned them less money as a result. Continue reading ‘Breaking Bad’ Creator Credits Illegal Downloads for Popularity

Netflix has launched a new website called Spoiler Foiler that enables users to read their Twitter feeds without running the risk of seeing spoilers related to AMC’s award-winning series “Breaking Bad.” For example, fans who access Twitter on Monday morning, but missed the show the night before, can now rest easy. Through an automatic filter, tweets that contain potential spoilers appear blacked out, providing users with the option to read them or not. Continue reading Spoiler Foiler Blocks Unwanted Tweets About “Breaking Bad”

An analysis of ratings for Turner’s Cartoon Network suggests that children’s cable programmers may be suffering as a result of Netflix deals. At the beginning of 2013, Turner solidified a deal with Netflix that included shows on Cartoon Network and Adult Swim. Since Cartoon Network content became available on Netflix at the end of March, data has revealed that ratings in Netflix households have been 10 percent lower than those of non-Netflix households. Continue reading Cartoon Network: Are Ratings Suffering Due to Netflix Deal?

The final season of AMC’s “Breaking Bad” debuted with its best ever rating of 5.9 million viewers. Part of the high ratings can be attributed to Netflix, where subscribers can watch all previous episodes of the series, providing new viewers with a way to catch up prior to the new season. Along with the high ratings, there was a spike in illegal downloads of “Breaking Bad” episodes. This occurred despite the show being made available within hours across global regions. Continue reading Record Ratings and Illegal Download Spike for ‘Breaking Bad’

Yesterday marked a new milestone in media history when original Netflix programs “House of Cards,” “Arrested Development” and “Hemlock Grove” became the first digital-only television shows to be nominated for Emmy Awards. “House of Cards” earned nine nominations, including one for Outstanding Drama, while “Arrested Development” received three noms, including one for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Jason Bateman. Horror series “Hemlock Grove” got two nominations. Continue reading Netflix Makes History: Digital-Only Shows Earn Emmy Noms

Amazon’s X-Ray feature, which uses the company’s IMDb database of content to add real-time actor information to Amazon’s Instant Video service, will expand to include TV show viewing, the company announced on Wednesday. To start, the X-Ray feature will be available for 13 shows including popular hits like “Downton Abbey,” “The Walking Dead,” “Breaking Bad” and “Game of Thrones.” Amazon and IMDb are working to expand the service. Continue reading X-Ray: Actor ID Feature from Amazon Expands to TV Shows

When the fourth season of NBC’s “Community” aired in February, it pulled in 4 million viewers, which is roughly a quarter of the audience that tunes in to top hit sitcoms. Until recently, Nielsen numbers in that range might be the end of a series (think “Firefly,” “Jericho,” “Freaks and Geeks”). But on the night of the “Community” premiere, the show spawned two worldwide trending topics via Twitter — perhaps a more important metric today. Continue reading Should Nielsen Change How it Measures TV Audiences?