LOS ANGELES — Toss a water-cooler barb at a TV show and the remark disappears as fast as a weekly paycheck. Post it on the Internet and it might end up influencing what other viewers see.In a bid to exploit the explosion of online pop-culture chatter, consumer research companies are analysing it for studios and networks eager for feedback and for advertisers who want to know where to put their dollars.

Actors and others in the creative community admit checking out blogs and chat rooms for viewer reaction to their work. But such casual inquiry pales next to the approach of those who are turning the Internet into an unending focus group.

Before the start of the fall 2006 season, firms including Interpublic Media’s Consumer Experience Practice, with its “PropheSEE Fan Engagement Index,” and BrandIntel calculated that the most-talked about shows included “Heroes” and “Ugly Betty.”

According to BrandIntel’s assessment, “Vanished” and “20 Good Years” ranked near the bottom of anticipated newcomers.

When the season began it didn’t take long for the first two shows to be declared freshman faves and the latter two to disappear.

Early excitement doesn’t mean a happy ending. NBC’s “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” was found by BrandIntel to have the biggest share of preseason interest but, with about eight million weekly viewers, hasn’t made a splash in the ratings, the ultimate measure of success.

That illustrates the argument of one industry expert: Figuring out what shows are drawing attention before the TV season begins is a neat trick but not necessarily a valuable one.

“The thing I trust least is advance buzz before a show airs,” said analyst Shari Anne Brill of the Carat USA media agency.

“It doesn’t indicate how a show is going to do over time. It only indicates it will be watched.”

But the dissection of online postings can and does go much further, according to BrandIntel executives John Cummings and Michael Coristine.

Using company-designed technology, BrandIntel scans “literally billions of blogs, message boards and forums” using specific key words such as an actor’s name or show title, said Coristine, lead analyst for BrandIntel’s media division.

(Toronto-based BrandIntel does consumer research for other industries, including automative and hospitality.)

The flood of data is filtered for relevancy and then sorted and ranked to indicate, for instance, how likely someone is to view a program or whether they like or dislike a series premise. It can be cut even finer, according to BrandIntel.

“We can bring back sentiment for everything down to the fifth-lead cast member,” said Coristine, analysis that he said can help a client decide whether a character or even a show should be reworked or marketed differently.

Although online discussion of TV or any product skews “slightly” toward the younger men who are heavy Internet users, an index allows for demographic parity “so you won’t just have a world full of (shows for) 17-to-22-year-olds,” said Cummings, BrandIntel vice president.

Analyst Brill suggested another reason she’s wary of Internet data: It may be more representative of those who have high-speed online access, which she said is only about half the country, than people in general.

The notion of basing decisions about program content or scheduling on public reaction isn’t new, with networks long reliant on focus groups and “dial testing” that allows an audience to weigh in electronically on series pilots scene-by-scene.

The online analysis that has revved up in the last few years represents the evolution of the Internet’s use by business, said analyst Bill Carroll of ad-buyer Katz TV.

“It’s another tool,” he said. “Are they (the comments) a reflection of what’s happening? Yeah, they probably are. Are they the only reflection? Probably not.”

The notion of dipping into the vast online world to influence content is grating to some in the TV industry.

“I don’t like it very much,” is the initial reaction from Jon Cassar, a director on “24.” He enjoys scoping out online reaction to the Emmy-winning drama, he said, and has advocated and seen it taken into account on the show.

An outside company, unfamiliar with a plot or character’s planned direction, can’t put comments and criticism in context, he said, adding, “It’s kind of annoying.”

But “I’d be a stupid man to bet against the Internet in anything nowadays,” he said.

“Whoever can use it, however they can use it, they’re going to continue to use it. And if it helps networks to do it that way, and it’s probably cheaper to do it that way ... they’ll keep using it.”

Malik Yoba, costarring in “Raines,” an NBC drama debuting in March, said he embraces the new technology and what it represents.

“I’m a guy who comes from grass-roots organising. My background is in education, my background is in community work and I’m a big proponent of: `Ask the people what they want,”’ Yoba said.

The TV industry, he added, should be expected to employ new approaches and to “pay attention to what the people are saying, because they’ll let you know.”

As an actor, is he comfortable with that?

“Absolutely. Until they talk bad about me,” Yoba said, laughing.