Dive Brief:

• Despite the strong competition from social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to become the second-screen leader, an NBCUniversal executive says social media doesn't drive ratings. 
• In an interview with the Financial Times, NBCUniversal Head of Research Alan Wurtzel said that social media is "not a game changer yet" and that high-ratings TV shows are more likely to drive social media mentions than the other way around. 
• Wurtzel's opinion is based on results from NBCUniversal's broadcast of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, during which only 19% of viewers posted on social media. 

Dive Insight: 

There's a bit of a chicken and egg situation going on when it comes to social media driving TV ratings. For starters, it's quite hard to measure whether or not social media activity is driving ratings because there's no direct tools for that yet. Wurtzel certainly has a point that high-rated TV shows tend to inspire social media posts, but the Olympics are a very specific TV event. It may not be the best data to base broad statements about social media and TV as a whole.