SocialGuide Links Brands To Viewers

If you're like most TV viewers, you keep a second screen - a smartphone, iPad or laptop - close by to tweet or post comments on Facebook about what you're watching in realtime. According to the Nielsen ratings agency, more than 60 percent of American TV viewers are doing this regularly and the trend is growing. A new Brooklyn-based website called SocialGuide leverages this viewer trend by aggregating more than 100 million realtime comments on Twitter and Facebook about 24,000 unique shows as they air. The site displays viewers' comments alongside its program listings, sorting the TV programs according to their buzz factor. Registered users can then review streams of comments from their friends, those in their same zip code and add their feedback about things like how celebrities dressed at the Oscar's or how commentator Nancy Grace misstepped during her dance routine in Dancing With The Stars. There are other sites which aggregate comments from social networks about TV programs, but the unique aspect of SocialGuide for Rainmakers, it is that the platform also engages advertisers to those consumers who love to tweet about their favorite shows or movies. Networks realize that brands want to be linked to those shows that have the most engaged audiences and they're starting to add hashtags at the bottom of the screen to encourage viewers to tweet and post about their shows. The content sharing and consumer generated media helps boost network ratings, making the brand's exposure all the more valuable.