Thursday, December 17, 2015

Great Uses of Social Media By Late-Night Shows


These days, it’s not enough for a popular TV show to be entertaining while episodes are actually airing. Nope – that entertainment has to endure between episodes. I recently wrote about the creative ways certain shows are relying on Twitter to stay top-of-mind. Now I want to take a closer look at the social media tactics used by a specific type of programming: Late-Night shows.

Before diving in, let me clarify that the following examples of excellent social media usage aren’t intended to shine a spotlight on the show hosts. Even though some of them are great follows on a personal level, this post highlights the unique social media maneuvers performed for the betterment of the actual show. Let’s begin with a host that built his Late-Night credibility one social media post at a time.

JIMMY FALLON | Hashtags and Games

Fallon gets it. He’s perfected the craft of using social media to interact with fans off-air. He invites his Twitter followers to play along in creative hashtag games that range from sharing weird personal stories to creating funny alternative lyrics to popular songs.



JIMMY KIMMEL | Halloween and Viral Twerking

Kimmel and his staff know the power of video. Each year, Kimmel fans are invited to participate in an always-funny Halloween stunt. Parents are challenged to film the reactions of their children when told their Halloween candy is all gone. The submissions get better every year!


But that’s not the only YouTube success the Kimmel show has enjoyed. You may remember this viral video…


…that turned out to be staged by Kimmel all along!



JAMES CORDEN | Car Karaoke

Corden took the helm of the Late Late Show in late 2014 and quickly educated American on what his British fans already knew: he’s really into music. That’s easily noticed in his wildly popular Car Karaoke skits, which are smartly posted on the CBS website and the show's Facebook page before it reaches viral proportions on YouTube.

Our #CarpoolKaraoke with One Direction is finally here and totally worth the wait.
Posted by The Late Late Show with James Corden on Wednesday, December 16, 2015


Our decreasing attention spans and endless info cravings are two big factors as to why social media is becoming a required promotional tool in the entertainment industry. For these Late-Night shows, social media provides another access points to fans in a time when the viewing or original airings is not guaranteed. If you know of other examples that you would like to share, send them my way on Twitter. Thanks for reading!


Top Photo {Courtesy}

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