Twitter: What the networks have to say. Spoiler alert: Very little.

With Televised Revolution getting its Twitter feed out there, we thought it would be interesting to see what the Australian TV networks are doing with their Twitter feeds.

Why, though, should Twitter be important to a media organization like a television network? It’s an excellent promotional tool that can enable them to promote upcoming programing and last minute schedule changes. Also, it creates a dialogue with the viewership. Ultimately, however, the main reason that TV stations need to use Twitter is quite simply because Twitter is where their customers are.

So, how do they fare in adapting to using Twitter? Unsurprisingly, poorly.

Channel 7 - They started quite strongly with multiple posts on their first day. But, so far they’ve managed just 43 updates. Since June 2007. Kudos for getting on the bandwagon early, but it’s a shame they never utilised it to its potential. That said, both Sunrise and Sunday Night do feature useful Twitter feeds that are updated quite regularly.

Channel 10 – 4 posts were made in February 2009. That’s it so far.

Channel 9 – Channel 9 are yet to open a Twitter account.

SBS – Like Channel 7, SBS have been involved with Twitter since 2007. So far, they’ve managed just 52 posts, but they seem to have been fairly active on the Twitter front for the past couple of weeks and using it quite productively.

ABC Television – Neither ABC1 or ABC2 have Twitter feeds, but the ABC have been active in giving individual shows Twitter feeds. Good Game, ABC News Breakfast, and The New Inventors have been given feeds. Considering how proactive the ABC have been in integrating Twitter into the day-to-day communication methods of their radio services, its disappointing that the television arm of the organization haven’t embraced Twitter as thoroughly. I’d have expected in the very least that the ABC Press Dept would have a feed up and running.

So far, it seems that only SBS have really taken to using Twitter in a meaningful way. That said, it has only been in recent weeks that mainstream media have laid focus on Twitter. It’s entirely feasible that the next couple of weeks may see an increase in tweeting from the networks.