The WIT Analysis: CBS

Young Sheldon, a prequel to The Big Bang Theory, generated the most buzz among social media users out of all of CBS’s new fall shows, according to The WIT, which tracked trailer views and Facebook and Twitter interactions in the week since the network’s Upfront.

The WIT notes that trailer views for CBS are “significantly below” the average of other networks, given its older skew. The trailer for Young Sheldon, about a child prodigy living with his family in East Texas, secured 4.6 million views on its official Facebook and YouTube pages. On Facebook, the show has elicited 86,000 likes and on Twitter it had 5,000 followers as of today. It is the most talked-about comedy across all the networks, with 33,000 comments posted on Facebook and Twitter in the last week.

“While the buzz is significant, the Big Bang fan base gave the trailer a mild welcome, a risk the creators probably assumed when they opted for a single-camera comedy with no laugh track,” says The WIT’s Caroline Servy. “In the same vein, they run the risk of being bashed by [established] fans that will look for each and every inconsistency with Sheldon’s past as evoked in The Big Bang Theory. Although the most positive users praise the sweet ‘comedy drama’ vibe of the trailer and acknowledge the talent of the actors playing young Sheldon and his mother, many social media users did not engage with the trailer and found it boring, not funny and unnecessary—a couple of flashback episodes could have been enough.”

CBS’s second most buzz-worthy show is the Thursday night procedural S.W.A.T., inspired by the 1970s series and 2003 film, starring Shemar Moore. The first-look trailer secured just 940,000 views and the series had 30,000 Facebook likes and 1,300 Twitter fans as of today. Conversation level was better, The WIT says, with 6,700 comments on Facebook and Twitter over the last week, making it CBS’s most talked-about new drama.

“With The Shield‘s creator Shawn Ryan on board as a co-producer, and the presence of beloved Criminal Minds alum Shemar Moore in a lead role, the procedural has good credentials and appears as a solid candidate for Thursday nights,” Servy says. “The online audience thinks the trailer looks good—better than the feature movie—and will appreciate its action-packed, cinematic vibe as long as it avoids stereotypes and carefully handles the topical issue of racial tensions and police brutality.”

Rounding out the top three is Wisdom of the Crowd, starring Jeremy Piven. Based on an Israeli format, it focuses on a tech innovator who creates a crowd-sourcing hub to solve his own daughter’s murder, in the process revolutionizing crime-solving in San Francisco. The trailer had 660,000 views but its online fan base is still small, with just 5,000 Facebook likes and 230 Twitter followers, and the show only generated 2,200 comments on Facebook and Twitter. SEAL Team logged more fans on social-media platforms, but had fewer trailer views, The WIT says.

“Apart from the general criticism that the five-minute trailer reveals too much, the opinions of social media users are divided around almost all aspects of Wisdom of the Crowd,” Servy says. “Some social media users find the premise intriguing and fresh, while others judge it totally implausible, too similar to Person of Interest or the short-lived APB. Jeremy Piven’s fans are glad to welcome him back in a lead role, but are not so sure the role suits him.”