Image: Chimp Crazy, HBO
The documentary genre is resuming its growth trajectory after its pandemic era boom. One of the top stories about audience viewing behavior during the pandemic was a rise in demand for documentaries. Some of the most memorable breakout hits of this era included “Tiger King” and “The Last Dance,” which allowed sports junkies to get their fix during a time without live sports. The US has consistently had some of the highest demand for documentary content but it is actually British audiences who love this genre even more.
We measured a rise in demand for documentaries from 2019 - 2021. 2022 saw a cooldown in demand for documentary series across markets. Through 2023 and so far this year the share of audience demand for documentaries has resumed its climb in the US and UK. The rebound has been slightly faster in the US where documentaries made up 13.2% of demand for all shows in the first half of the year, a new high point. However, there appears to be a divergence between documentary loving countries like the US and UK compared to the rest of the world. The share of global demand for documentary series has been trending down since peaking in 2021.
Digging into granular, market-specific audience preferences using Parrot Analytics' DEMAND360, we can see that these markets have fairly distinct tastes when it comes to the types of documentary content they watch. Americans are hooked on true crime, which accounts for 12.9% of demand for the genre here compared to only 7.8% in the UK. British audiences on the other hand love travel documentary series. These shows made up 8% of demand for documentaries in the UK compared to only 4.6% in the US. In September, the most in-demand documentary series released this year in the UK was “Planet Earth III.” Contrast this with the US where the two most in-demand documentary series releases so far this year as of September were “Chimp Crazy” and "Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.” What types of documentary shows look like the best option for reversing the trend with global audiences? History and biographical documentaries made up a larger share of demand for documentaries globally than in either the US or the UK and could be a good target for reigniting global interest in this genre.