​Today’s competitive, evolving, and jumbled television landscape means that shows without a well-crafted social media strategy are destined to fail, according to Access Hollywood and Access Hollywood Live Executive Producer Rob Silverstein.

“The only way to grow any show that has been on the air is through social media,” Silverstein told the audience at the Live TV LA summit in Hollywood on Friday. “You have to have a social media coordinator for every single show. You have to have a coordinated effort with the talent and the producers.

Social media, he added, is complimentary, not competitive. In a 24-hour news cycle, the social media and the Internet create interest so that viewers will then tune-in to see his hosts’ and guests’ take on a trending topic.

That added competition and challenge, he added, is helping create one of the most exciting times ever for live television professionals.

“I’ve never been more enthused. There’s more networks, there’s more outlets. I think there’s going to be more and more live programming on TV,” Silverstein said. “I am incredibly enthusiastic—this is the best time to be in this.”

With so much competition in the live space, marketers and producers have to pay close attention to crafting compelling story lines in order to drive tune-in.

That challenge can be especially tough when it comes to sports, where Time Warner Cable SportsNet Executive Producer Larry Meyers told the audience about how the network approaches what can seem like a run-of-the-mill program: a weekly sports matchup.

“It’s about the people we bring into our studios and into our games. You look for people who are fun on the air,” Meyers said Friday. “You make an event out of each game; you craft a story line.”

“Our business is very externally focused,” said Benjamin Ringe, executive VP and executive producer of Peacock Productions, the long-form factual production arm of NBC which delivers content for multiple network partners. “We produce for 25 networks, and every pitch we’ve had in the last year has had a buyer going ‘please, please give us a live event,’” Ringe said.

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