Golden Globes Uproar – Good or Bad for TV Brands?

Golden Globe nominations have been released. As expected, there are a few surprises, and more than a few unexpected snubs. As you can imagine, it’s the snubs that really have fans worked up in a lather. People who could not even tell you who won the Globes last year are fuming on message boards, and comment threads because their favorites didn’t get the nomination nod.

Ronn Torossian says, win or lose, this uproar is a huge PR win for the networks … and may even be by design.

Think about it. Each year there are some surprise nominees, and more than a few “what do you mean they didn’t get it?” snubs. Those non-nominations are good for days, if not weeks, of constant conversation in the entertainment media field, online, and in print.

Fans just can’t stop screaming about the disrespect to their favorite shows, or cast members. And every single angry comment, tweet, or post is free advertising for the Golden Globes awards show.

Awards shows in general have been losing audience numbers for years. The continual commentary is one way to get – and keep – people engaged. Producers don’t care if viewers tune into boo the shows that win. As long as people tune in.

It’s the Holy Grail of PR, Torossian suggests, you get people watching because they’re happy and you get all the pissed off people, too. That’s pretty much everybody, when you get right down to it. At least, everybody who watches TV. Even if they don’t watch the entire show, they will tune to it, DVR it, or stream a portion at some point.

Why? Because of all the energy expended arguing, or commenting about it. By the time the show airs, these people are invested. They need to get that feeling of completion, of angry closure.

Read more from Ronn Torossian:

Ronn Torossian on Forbes
Ronn Torossian on Medium
Ronn Torossian on LinkedIn
Ronn Torossian Update
Ronn Torossian on Business Insider