Friday Night Lights - A Social Media Perspective

Inspired by a best-selling book and popular movie, Friday Night Lights was a little-known television show that aired on NBC from 2006-2011.  Featuring relatable characters, rich story-lines, and endless emotional scenes, the show quickly became a favorite for a small but passionate audience. Set in the fictional town of Dillon, Texas, the story-line centers around a high school football team and the small rural community in which they live.  For a television show that was filmed in a real Texas community, featured local residents as extras, and tackled many of the difficult issues we face in life, it surprises many people that have discovered and fallen in love with the show through Netflix in recent years that it had a small viewership in the years it aired.

There are numerous reasons why Friday Night Lights failed to garner the audience it truly deserved. One of the biggest reasons is the time slot placement.  When it first aired, it was placed in prime-time competition against Dancing with the Stars and American Idol, two of the most popular shows on television at the time.  Due to scheduling conflicts, it was also unable to air on Friday nights, which would've further helped build the audience because of easy date recall.  Another issue that Friday Night Lights faced was their initial failure to market the show to an audience outside of young males drawn to football.  The promos in the beginning season highlighted gritty football action instead of focusing on the intense character relationships that appeal to a wider audience.  As I like to say, Friday Night Lights isn't a football show - it's a show that happens to have football.  To their credit, NBC began working hard to help expand and market the show to a wider audience. They aired episodes on Bravo, created a new tagline "It's About Life", featured character profiles, and played short promos in movie theaters across the USA.  If the show aired in present day, there are many things I would do to successfully market the show.

From a social media perspective, it is important for Friday Night Lights to be engaging with fans across social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.  With a comprehensive, integrated marketing campaign, the show can work to tell a story and help create conversations about both the show and life.  One way to achieve this is through the use of a summary video series.  This series can highlight the key moments in each episode after it has aired and use the actors and writers to discuss the episode.  Providing engagement and further authenticity for fans, many shows in present day have experienced success with this concept, including Bates Motel and Game of Thrones.  Another way to effectively use social media is through the use of Q+A sessions. Whether it's the lead actor taking questions for a specified amount of time on Twitter, or the producer using Facebook Live to answer questions in real time, these fan interactions help provide insight into the show and makes the experience even more realistic.

While Friday Night Lights never received a sizable audience, it ran for five successful seasons and provided a wonderful experience to the viewers it did receive.  They are a prime example of the importance of correctly identifying the target audience and marketing the product in the most accurate format possible.