Image: The Handmaid's Tale, Hulu
The sixth and final season of “The Handmaid’s Tale” premieres on Hulu on April 8th. In addition to being critically acclaimed, the show set a record as the first streaming series to win the Outstanding Drama Series Emmy. While industry plaudits don’t pay the bills, “The Handmaid’s Tale” has been a financial success as well, delivering nearly $300M in global streaming revenue according to Parrot Analytics Streaming Economics system. American audiences generally associate this series with Hulu, but “The Handmaid’s Tale” has helped drive revenue across a number of platforms in different regions around the world.
The bulk of the streaming revenue made by “The Handmaid’s Tale” has been on Hulu in the US. However, the show has made over $100M for Amazon Prime Video since 2020 in the markets where it is available on this platform. How exactly has this show made revenue for these platforms? Through a combination of attracting new subscribers to sign up and keeping existing subscribers around.
Our model shows that “The Handmaid’s Tale” has been a particularly effective acquisition tool. We calculate that in Q4 2022, when the show’s last season concluded, it drove nearly 80k new subscriber acquisitions (1.2% of acquired subscribers for the quarter) and retained over 300k subscribers (0.95% of retained subscribers) for Hulu in the US.
Beyond its impressive financial performance, the show has also resonated with a specific demographic that has become a key driver of its success. We estimate that since 2020, 68% of the subscribers acquired or retained by the show have been women. This fits with Hulu’s position in the US streaming landscape as one of the most female dominated subscriber bases (along with Peacock).
The fact that the series is an adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s popular novel undoubtedly helped the show find initial success when it premiered in 2017. We’ve previously calculated that new shows based on a book have three times more demand than the average new series not based on a book. And having a successful first season is key to securing a renewal.
While its basis in existing IP gave its first season a leg up, subsequent seasons have significantly expanded on the source material. Entering uncharted territory has only increased audience interest - looking at previous seasons of the show reveals that each new season has had higher audience demand. Pre-release demand for the upcoming sixth season puts it on track to significantly eclipse demand for previous seasons when it finally premieres April 8th.
Although “The Handmaid’s Tale” will end with this latest season, an adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s sequel “The Testaments” began production in March so there is more content on the way for fans of the show. Throughout its run, “The Handmaid’s Tale” not only redefined dystopian storytelling but also set a new standard for how streaming platforms can leverage critical acclaim to drive global engagement and revenue.
