‘Academy Awards’ Telecast Dominates Social Media

Last night’s telecast of the 89th annual Academy Awards ceremony generated huge social media traffic, according to Nielsen. 

ABC's telecast of The Oscars drew a whopping 22 million Facebook and Twitter interactions across 8.3 million unique social media accounts, topping all entertainment shows for Sunday, according to Nielsen’s daily Social Content Ratings report.

The telecast was punctuated by the misreading of film La La Land as the Oscars winner for Best Picture after presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were given the incorrect award envelope. Independent film Moonlight was instead awarded the Oscar in the category.

The Oscars easily bested AMC’s The Walking Dead, which drew 610,000 social media interactions, followed by Hallmark Channel’s When Calls The Heart; AMC’s Talking Dead and A&E’s Hoarders Overload.

Fox’s coverage of the 2017 Daytona 500 tallied up 3.8 million Facebook and Twitter interactions from 2.2 million unique social media users to lead all live sports events for the day, according to Nielsen.

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.