The Walking Dead is one of the biggest shows on TV, but it's not necessarily one of the most romantic. Even if we have gotten some epic relationships out of the show, they often end very badly. Still, Match.com has found a pretty ingenious way to combine the bloody zombie apocalypse with the dating game. The dating service is introducing a new platform for singles to mingle that is all about The Walking Dead, and it could be a huge hit with its target audience.
Match.com will use a live chat to bring Walking Dead fans together to talk about new episodes as they air. In these chats - which are being touted as "live online viewing parties" - Match.com subscribers will have the option of either chatting with the entire group or sending private messages to individuals. They can congregate for their love of The Walking Dead, and they can then split off to the side to discuss favorite characters, relationships, and plot twists.
The concept of using a popular TV show to bring singles together resulted from a Match.com study that pointed to TV-loving millennials as an untapped market for the dating service. A survey revealed that millennials are the most likely members of any dating demographic to be attracted to somebody who shares their viewing habits. Data also suggests that folks who enjoy binge-watching the same shows have a 79% likelihood of sharing a date.
Match.com kicked off this zombie apocalypse-themed dating platform after test chat parties during episodes of The Walking Dead and Scandal. The dating service discovered that approximately 80% of the subscribers who checked in with the chat party stayed for the entire hour of the episode. Company CEO Mandy Ginsberg has explained that the new goal is to aid subscribers in finding love in an "entertainment-led society," according to Variety. After all, unlike The Walking Dead where the dating pool basically consists of a few dozen grimy survivors, there are a lot of people in real life looking for a match. The unconventional new method of introducing TV fans could be the perfect way for people to find their ideal partners out of the huge number of subscribers.
If you ask me, Match.com is really onto something with using The Walking Dead to form social connections. The zombie apocalypse show is the ultimate ice breaker. "So, what about that time Carl got his eye shot out?" is bound to kick off a conversation between viewers. So what if singles have nothing else in common to start with? At least they have The Walking Dead.
Now that we're in an era of binge-watching, streaming, and DVR, more people have access to more TV than ever before, and there's always something to talk about. The Walking Dead is only the first show that will get the weekly treatment from Match.com, although the company has not yet announced which other series will be featured in live viewing parties. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest in TV news, and don't forget to check out our midseason TV premiere schedule.
