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How to build and engage TV audiences through Twitter
CANNES: How do broadcasters mine into the social treasure trove that is Twitter? Twitter’s head of broadcast partnerships UK Dan Biddle attempted to answer this during one of the MipCube’s sessions in MipTV in Cannes.
He pointed out that Twitter has 200 million users the world over who post about a billion tweets every two and a half days. 60 per cent of these users access twitter using their mobile phones.
He disclosed that TV works like glue for Twitter citing UK’s example where 40 per cent of tweets are made during prime time and are about TV. “Twitter is the room we watch TV in,” he said with a confident smile. “While hash tag is the campfire around which people tell stories.”
He cited examples like Dogging Tales – a documentary which covered people who wanted to have anonymous sex. Thanks to the right push, it got some 120 million tweets. The twitter buzz drew viewers to the show like bees to a honey pot who switched on their TV sets almost immediately. Others who could not watch it tuned into it with catch up TV.
He then narrated the case of Saturday Night Takeaway one of the teams used to post a frozen pose before the kick off. They decided to get viewers to interact with their team and send in what their pose of the week should be. Audiences and followers on Twitter deluged them with poses before the show started.
He also gave the example of a show Fishfight wherein viewers were given two minutes during a commercial break to send in tweets relating to “what are your prawns eating?” with the hash tag #fishfight to supermarkets. The exercise was to raise awareness of unsustainably fed prawns. Around 16,000 tweets poured in the 120 second window.
“The effort worked well in making the show engaging,” said Biddle.
Broadcasters and producers can also take a cue from what ESPN Sports Centre does with instant replays, he said.
“They clip out key moments of the game and send it out as instant replays. They know users could do it; they decided to beat them to it,” he revealed.
“It is very engaging for followers. ESPN has also got Ford to put in some money behind it through pre-roll ads and further promote to its own community.”
Biddle’s believes that broadcasters and producers would do well to programme Twitter as they would programme their channels. “Bear in mind Twitter is the ultimate teaser, not spoiler,” he emphasized.
“Also take advantage of feedback and amplify it further even if it something you did not expect. There’s opportunity even there if you look at it different.”
His step by step bible for doing it right is as follows:
Before the show: Preview clipspredictions and start the talent talking on twitter.
During the show: Amplify the tweet spot by encouraging polling/voting and playing of games around it. And continue to get the talent tweeting.
After the show: Have recaps, sneak peeks, reviews and feedback. Reward loyalty and keep the conversation going. Finally, drive audiences to VOD or other pay platforms which can help you monetize your content.
Applications
With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
