Twitter Boosts Big Bang Theory

In Business of Media we've talked a lot about the power that Twitter has over buzz in the entertainment industry and last night Twitter struck again. The Wrap is reporting that CBS used Twitter to tease a special guest star on last night episode and it seems to have paid off in the ratings. Big Bang scored a series high ratings share (3.9/10) in adults 18-34.

For those of you who don't know (myself included until I watched last night's episode), Wil Wheaton is a Star Trek: The Next Generation alum with over a million followers on Twitter. The Big Bang Theory, even though it's a sitcom that everyone could enjoy, is targeted toward, for lack of a better word, geeks. The show follows the story of 4 scientists and the hot girl who moves in across the hall and the hijinks that ensue. Here's a promo that CBS ran for the episode:

With the knowledge that their core audience is probably very familiar with Twitter, Wil Wheaton and show runner Bill Prady used the social networking service to encourage viewers to tune in. His exact tweet was "Twitterverse, what's our plan to show the power of the online world and make the @wilw ep on Mon. the most watched ever?".

It was definitely a brilliant bit of marketing to use Twitter to create a certain level of buzz about last night's ep before it aired, and a lot of shows should take the cue from Big Bang and embrace this free marketing tool. However, The Big Bang Theory's popularity has exploded in the past few months and it's important to note that, while the Twitter campaign certainly helped, Twitter was not the sole reason for the high ratings. Other shows, Dollhouse for example, have been trying for months to create enough buzz on Twitter to boost ratings with little success. Ultimately I think The Big Bang Theory's success comes down to being able to have the right elements come together at exactly the right time.