Social Wit List: May 2014

NEW YORK: As social media continues to exert its influence on television viewing habits, we turned to the trend-trackers at The WIT to find out what new shows generated buzz on Twitter and Facebook last month.

In May, NBC's iHeartRadio Music Awards led the pack with some 173,000 tweets. The live broadcast of the first-ever edition of the music awards show founded by iHeartRadio featured artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Pitbull and Shakira. The event aired on May 1 on NBC in the U.S. Popular hashtags were #liveevent, #music, #fanpower and #gossiping.

Number two on the list is 24: Live Another Day, which racked up 155,000 tweets. The May 5 broadcast on FOX in the U.S. saw the return of Jack Bauer's exploits, several years following the events of the eighth and final season in May 2010. Hashtags surrounding the broadcast included #emotion, #jackisback and #actionlovers.

The Italian program Stasera… Laura! Ho creduto in un sogno, which broadcast on Rai1 on May 20, comes in at number three, with 71,000 tweets. The music-driven special celebrated the 20-year-long career of Grammy Award-winning Italian singer Laura Pausini. The hashtags #music, #nationaltreasure, #prestigiousguests and #fanpower were associated with the broadcast.

BBC One's When Corden Met Barlow, broadcast on May 5, drew 51,000 tweets. The program saw comedian/TV presenter James Corden and pop veteran Gary Barlow tour significant locations from the Take That star's life. Among the hashtags used in social media were #nationaltreasure, #fanpower, #emotional and #goodchemistry.

The top five is rounded out by Petals on the Wind, the second TV adaptation of the V.C. Andrews novels, following up Flowers in the Attic, which was a social media hit in January. The TV movie, which kicked off on May 26 on Lifetime in the U.S., garnered 42,000 tweets, with the notable hashtags #controversial, #disturbing, #beautiful and #toomuch.

From Discovery Channel in the U.S., #BikerLIVE had 38,000 tweets surrounding the May 12 broadcast. Considered the new Biker Build-Off (aired from 2002-2007), the show features three regional competitors per episode and an interactive live voting component. Hashtags used on social media included #livevoting, #nostalgia4BikerBuildOff and #enthusiasm.

Announo, which aired on May 8 on La 7 in Italy, drew 32,000 tweets. The weekly talk show talk show sees key political figures answer questions from 24 young panelists in a studio. Italian PM Matteo Renzi was the first guest. Social media users were hashtagging #engaging, #youthpower and #hotpolitics.

NBC's Undateable, a comedy created by Bill Lawrence (Scrubs, Cougar Town) about a group of single friends who are bonded by their common inability to attract women, ranked eighth for social media buzz. The May 29 broadcast had 28,000 tweets surrounding it, with such hashtags as #funny, #greatwriting, #tooconventional and #nomorelaughtracks.

Camino al amor, which aired on Telefe in Argentina on May 26, garnered 28,000 tweets. The telenovela sees the hero come back to Argentina from Mexico and come face-to-face with the love of his life. Popular hashtags used on Twitter and Facebook included #muchanticipated, #starcouple and #tooshort.

Number ten on the list is Rising Star: A Próxima Estrela, which aired May 4 on TVI in Portugal. It is the local adaptation of the talent format Rising Star, which first aired in Israel and is soon to premiere in the U.S. on ABC. There were 23,000 tweets about the show, with such hashtags as #engaging, #greatcast and #tooslow.

Visit TheWit.com to access more data on what shows are making waves across the globe.