TV networks are finding that the best way to build viewership for their offline shows is to join their online communities.

Networks are beginning to turn online for input in the direction of their shows from their viewers, AdAge reports. ABC’s popular series Grey’s Anatomy set up a companion blog, titled Grey Matter. On it, one of the show’s writers noted that viewer feedback held “an enormous amount of weight in the writers’ room.”

Recently, new mashup network CW created a page on MySpace, and so far more than 27,000 members have made the network their “friend.” In 2004, Bravo’s “Project Runway” created a blog and podcast for one of the show’s advisors, Tim Gunn. Now there are more than 10 blogs and podcasts on its site.

These community-building initiatives are credited with some success because direct network involvement gives viewers a sense of input in the direction of the shows. Bloggers and fans see the writers for shows reaching out to them as a sign of respect, and bloggers are notorious for rallying around companies that reach out to them in their own space. Such efforts may even vest an interest among those bloggers to see the series succeed.