• PC World, Monday, November 15, 2010 12:55 AM

While the television industry now considers social media involvement a necessity, the benefits of establishing a presence on Twitter, Facebook and other services haven't really been shown to include improved show ratings, according to a panel of television marketing executives at the Digital Hollywood conference in New York.

Nonetheless, social media seems to generate buzz for some television shows and may be valuable in non-quantifiable ways. People tend to see social media as a conduit for letting television networks know the shows they like. But social network buzz around a show thus far seems to have little bearing on the show's Nielsen ratings for television, said Christy Tanner, the general manager of TVguide.com.

And in some cases, listening too closely to social media buzz can be harmful, suggested Michael Learmonth, the digital editor of Ad Age. He pointed to how CBS brought back a show it had formerly canceled, called "Jericho," based on the fervent response on message boards, only to have the show tank on its second outing.

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