The Social Media Love Around Gritty Drama #CARDINAL

The series’ finale of CARDINAL culminates tonight at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CTV and fans of the show are banding together through social media to stay connected among #Cardinal’s active social community. Since the series’ debut season, viewers have used Twitter to live-tweet the gripping episodes and interact with other like-minded fans of the show. With the series finale upon us, CARDINAL’s social following has grown larger than ever with engaged fans live-tweeting the episodes each week, continuously landing #Cardinal in the Top 3 trending list in Canada and #1 in the Toronto area. At the forefront of this community is @CTV_PR’s social media correspondent for the series, Jennifer Ettinger (@FitYourStyle), who has live-tweeted the series since its debut four seasons ago. “CARDINAL has always been supported by a large community of social media users, but as technology has changed how we stay connected during this period of social distancing, the power of CARDINAL’s following has continued to grow each week,” said Ettinger. Ettinger, along with CARDINAL’s production company, Sienna Films (@Sienna_Films), as well as various other members of the media are just a few of the many Twitter accounts live-tweeting the show’s episodes each week and allowing viewers to communicate with each other from the comfort and safety of their own homes. They also post exclusive behind-the-scenes content with the cast and crew from the show’s production in North Bay, Ontario. Many of CARDINAL’s cast members even join in live-tweeting the episodes to give fans direct access to the stars of the series, including Billy Campbell (@WOCampbell), Karine Vanasse (@KarineVanasse), Glen Gould (@glen_gould), James Downing (@JamesJdna), and Zach Smadu (@JachSmadu). Frequent live-tweet participant, Angie Hung (@ahung), loves the sense of togetherness she feels from being a part of such a diverse group of fans. “I love being part of the #Cardinal social community because it’s so much fun to chat and tweet live with fellow lovers of the show. I’m inspired and challenged by the funny and witty tweets of others, and it helps me up my tweeting game!” said Hung. Another avid CARDINAL fan, Vernon Chang (@MoVernie), has live-tweeted the show since its Season 1 premiere and will miss the weekly tweet sessions once the finale airs. “It feels like the audience is trying to solve the mystery together with detectives Cardinal and Delorme, and so we feel their pain and urgency when the bad guys are on the loose. Most of all, I enjoy live-tweeting with other Cardinal fans before, during and after each episode. I will miss those awesome interactions,” said Chang. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic leaving viewers to watch Season 4 of CARDINAL in solitude, Jennifer Ettinger extended the show’s social reach to include Zoom where fans could participate in pre-show Zoom chats to meet and discuss their favourite moments from the series, as well as meet some of the show’s cast members who frequently pop in to say “hello”. The Zoom chats allow long-term fans to finally meet each other while meeting new viewers of the show, and is a great way to match names and faces to Twitter handles. The Zoom chats are also live-streamed through Facebook Live so CARDINAL followers can also participate as viewers. “Through Zoom we are allowed to have a break together — to bond over a common interest, in this case, CARDINAL. To unite, let go, and share the show together, even in our own homes,” said Ettinger, who hosts the weekly Zoom chats every Monday at 9:30 p.m. ET. Zoom Chat information can be accessed by DM-ing Ettinger. Join the social community by following Jennifer Ettinger @FitYourStyle, @Sienna_Films, @CardinalCTV, @CTV_PR, and the rest of the CARIDNAL cast, and be sure to use the hashtag #CARDINAL while watching the series finale of CARIDNAL tonight at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CTV.