Friday, September 25, 2015

Live from Nashville

This was a big week in television with ABC premiering their strong lineup of shows such as Nashville, Scandal, and Grey’s Anatomy. Girls (and maybe guys) everywhere grabbed their long stemmed wine glasses, cheese plates, and popcorn to sit down and enjoy the return of their Wednesday and Thursday night television favorites.

My personal favorite of ABC’s lineup is Nashville. It is a show all about the music scene in Nashville. It’s old school meets new school. Think Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, and family meet Taylor swift and company. Oh, and add a little political drama in there too. What I love about Nashville is that it is real. The music is written new for each show and there is a lot of raw emotion that the characters exhibit. Last season, they even did a few “live episodes” where the characters were live singing every melody instead of pre-recording it. The producers do a few things to reinforce that feeling of realness that the viewers have with the characters. Nashville releases a recording of every song after the episode airs, making viewers feel as if these are real stars in Nashville and we are getting to witness their reality show. They also had all of the main characters perform at the Grand Ole Opry for a night called, “Nashville Live on the Record”. Lastly, all of the actors live Tweet each episode. It engages consumers in the best way possible. Actors will ask for viewers to retweet if they feel the same way or tweet about their thoughts if they are different. It asks for audience action. Here are some examples of what their live tweet session looks like:






The Live Tweeting was especially important for me on Wednesday night when Nashville premiered. I sat down in my living room at 9:45pm, giving myself ample time to get the TV turned on and get settled before the 10:00pm start time. However, when I flipped on my TV and turned to ABC, my TV produced the dreaded message “signal cannot be found”. After spending 30 minutes on the phone with the cable company, I realized that I was not going to be watching Nashville. BUT I did have the Live Tweet session to keep me updated on the drama. It was helpful and even offered me a different perspective than watching the actual show. There is no doubt that people love the ability to relate and Nashville does just that. They relate to their audience in a real, organic way in order to draw them in further.  

5 comments:

  1. I love this. I hate watching tv live because I hate the commercials, but there is the trade off of not being apart of the conversation in real-time. I love watching the Bachelor/Bachelorette, but I would force myself to stay off of Twitter because I didn't want any spoilers. However, sometimes during the show I would stray on there and have conversations with some of my friends about who we liked/didn't like and which one was #relationshipgoals - which was annoying to everyone else but fun for my friends and I. A great read, thanks for sharing!

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  2. I dont watch Nashville but I can definitely appreciate the live tweeting aspect of the show. My apartment complex experiences alot of difficulties with our cable so I cant tell you how many times Im ready to watch a show and then the channel doesnt show up. Additionally, I feel like when the actors are present on social media supporting their projects you form a better relationship with them and gain a greater appreciation for the show.

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  3. I've watched the first 2 seasons of Nashville but unfortunately have not watched the newer seasons. However after hearing how much you love it, you might have convinced me to start watching it again :) the Live Tweeting is also great! Except sometimes, if you are planning to watch a show at a later time the Live Tweeting can ruin the surprises. Always got to remember to stay of Twitter if you don't wait spoilers! :)

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  4. I definitely agree that the live tweeting aspects of shows can be so awesome. However, sometimes I do dread looking at social media after I've missed a big night of tv because I'm so afraid of the spoilers. Every since, I found out Derek died in Grey's Anatomy from a Facebook post the next day, I always try to avoid social media until I'm caught up on the latest shows!

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  5. Love your use of the word organic. I was in Nashville last weekend, we must have just missed each other! I wish they covered more of the restaurant culture in Nashville. Edley's is a favorite BBQ place of mine and Pharmacy is always the spot to get some fresh breakfast. Talk about southern cooking. Paula Deen visited last month and raved about the place. Looking forward to the Titans in town this weekend!

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