Channel 4 has become the latest UK broadcaster to tap into Facebook’s second screen stats using the social network’s API tools.

The Public Feed API gives Facebooks partners access to a real-time feed of public posts on pages and profiles that use a specified word. The Keyword Insights API aggregates theses posts so users can look at different time frames, as well as viewing relevant anonymous profile information around the gender, age and location of their viewers.

In bid to keep ahead of the competition and sell its service to broadcasters – who are keen to understand more about their audiences and use mobile to improve accountability of TV ads – Facebook hightlights that 5.5m actions were generated during the Breaking Bad finale. Channel 4 will initially use the tools to look at social chatter around Made in Chelsea, Sunday Brunch and Channel 4 news.

Facebook’s API tools were launched in beta September 2013, with partners including Buzzfeed, CNN, NBC and BSkyB, with Sky named as the first UK broadcaster to get on board. The test has also been extended to cover braodcasters in France, Germany, Brazil, Canada and India.