Syfy’s ‘Sharknado’ inspires a feeding frenzy on social media but the ratings show that it failed to catch actual viewers.In terms of the swath it cut through social media, “Sharknado” was an epic F5, even if the ratings barely kicked up a cloud of dust.
Syfy’s latest schlocky made-for-TV guilty pleasure struck Twitter on Thursday like, well, a swirling cyclone of bloodthirsty fish. In fact, the network said that at its peak the corny B-movie about a shark-laden tornado that devastates Los Angeles was hurling nearly 5,000 tweets a minute. Bosses announced plans for an encore next week and mulled a possible sequel.
And yet the ratings? “Sharknado” hit 1.4 million total viewers — no better than Syfy’s typical draw for such a movie. NBC gathered an audience nearly three times as large with “Hollywood Game Night” — itself no ratings monster. “The sheer absurdity of it means it inherently gives you a place to be funny and show your wit to tens of thousands of people,” Sreenivasan added.
But that doesn’t translate into actual popularity. “Just because someone’s writing about you doesn’t mean they’ll buy your product,” he said.
