The WIT Analysis: FOX

NEW YORK: Of all of FOX’s new shows presented at last week’s Upfronts, Scream Queens generated the strongest interest in social media, according to new analysis from The WIT.

Dramas derived from existing properties were largely the biggest buzz-generators during last week’s Upfronts, and FOX benefited from this with the six-episode revival of The X-Files (premiering in January 2016) and the DC Comics-inspired Lucifer. Nevertheless, its most solid contender appears to be Ryan Murphy's Tuesday night comedy drama Scream Queens (repped by Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution) set on a college campus rocked by a series of murders.

In the two days following the Upfront, Scream Queens was FOX’s most commented new show on Twitter, generating a discussion volume of about 35,000 tweets and easily securing a place in the trio of the most commented upcoming new shows across all networks for the 2015/16 season. Seven days after the creation of its social media accounts, the college drama has reached an impressive 178,000 Facebook fans and 65,400 Twitter followers. There have been a total of 6 million views for the six different 15- to 30-second teasers released so far.

"Without a full trailer released yet, the teasing strategy of Scream Queens has proven efficient and excitement is felt all across the show's social-media platforms as well on YouTube, where the level of engagement is substantial and the conversations passionate and enthusiastic,” says The WIT’s Caroline Servy. “On the one hand are fans of Ryan Murphy's American Horror Story and Glee, debating on the cast featuring familiar faces (Emma Roberts) or exciting new roles (Keke Palmer). Also present in social media are Ariana Grande's fans, reacting instantly and massively to the announced guest appearance of the singer in the drama.”

Next on FOX’s list of anticipated shows is Lucifer (Warner Bros. International Television Distribution), inspired by the character from the comic book Vertigo: the devil, who leaves hell and opens a nightclub in L.A.

With Jerry Buckheimer as executive producer and Tom Kapinos (Californication) as showrunner, the drama has not surprisingly sparked some interest and become the most viewed trailer on FOX's YouTube playlist for next season, with more than 1.4 million views as of May 19. It was the third most commented new FOX show on Twitter after The X-Files and Scream Queens, with 2,400 tweets over the two days following FOX's upfront. Interest hasn’t yet been converted into engagement, Servy notes, with the show securing less than 5,000 fans on Facebook and Twitter to date.

"The opinions so far are divided between curiosity and confusion, [with] the comedic tone and the hardly perceptible fidelity to the DC comics franchise,” Servy explains. "Loyal, hardcore DC fans find the trailer a bit cheesy and don't really see the point in referring to the comic, however the general audience seems to find the premise interesting and should sample the show. The execution will be key."

Tying with Lucifer in the buzz charts for FOX's upcoming season—with equal skepticism—is Monday night's futuristic drama Minority Report (Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution). Based on the Steven Spielberg film from 2002, the new show logged 1.2 million trailer views in the seven days following the Upfront. But there have been just 9,000 Facebook likes and less than 1,000 Twitter followers.

"Beyond the nice-looking trailer, Spielberg fans still doubt the ability of the TV show to live up to the quality of the movie (with Tom Cruise) and its performances,” Servy says. “They fear they won't find much tying the movie to the series other than the name and the concept. And interestingly enough, among the social media users, there are still many grieving Almost Human fans, traumatized by the show's cancelation after one season on FOX in 2013.” Those fans fear a similar fate for Minority Report.

Check out World Screen's guide to the network fall season here.