Leading up to last week's finale, the actors of the show were very active in promoting the final run. Aaron Paul (Jessie) and Dean Norris (Hank) both do a tremendous job of tweeting during and around the show's airing, interweaving their own personality and perspective what that of their character's on the show. They both have created a voice in which they shed further light on the character, but are also along for the ride with the rest of the fans. It has created an endearing and engaging conversation that perpetuates the frenzy of Breaking Bad and it's lead up to the conclusion.
In the final week, each of the main characters were very active on social media, tweeting and posting about their favorite Breaking Bad moments, recalling all of their memories on the set, and thanking the fans for their support. This created an aura around the last episode, enticing more people to switch from football and watch the show live, rather than on DVR or OnDemand. This may seem like a small matter, but it may become critical as networks and advertisers adapt to new viewing habits during negotiations and pricing (i.e. more ads shown (vs. ondemand) or watched (vs. dvr) during live telecast, could demand higher ad rates).
AMC has historically been one of the most active networks in the digital and social space. This can be seen with Breaking Bad, as the network has integrated elements of the show's story and its characters into its digital strategy. A story line in Season 2 involved a web site called 'savewalterwhite.com'. This web site was launched by AMC to much fan fare and it received heavy traffic. The site 'breakingbadstorysync.com' was designed to be the second screen during the show's run, with different references and inside information popping up during the show. In an example of one the longer extensions of the show, a fundraising campaign was carried out through social media, with various discounts, engagements from the actors, prizes from the show and other activities meant to promote the Kind program, which promotes the awareness of the effects of bullying. The campaign raised $1.8 million in just a few weeks.
Breaking Bad has been successful through its run, and was particularly successful in the live airing of the final episode, in part because of its efforts in social media. Much of their work can serve as an example for other networks, and should also serve as an indicator at the level of integration/engagement shows will produce through social media. The trends of integrating content, characters, campaigns, and other aspects of the show will continue to persist as viewers proliferate the use of second screens during the airing of shows and the chatter on social media during and around the show. Breaking Bad drew the third highest rating for a series finale ever, and the highest ever on any cable network. Supported by 1.2 million tweets and 5.5 million interactions on Facebook during the airing, it is clear that this rating would not have been achievable without building the support they enjoyed on social media.
sources: http://www.newrepublic.com/article/114835/breaking-bad-actors-twitter-are-better-breaking-bad; http://www.redjeweledmedia.com/blog/bid/187850/Breaking-Bad-Proves-You-Can-Use-Social-Media-To-Do-a-Whole-Lot-of-Good
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