Image: Marvel’s Jessica Jones, Netflix
The feasibility of TV measurement lies at a crossroads in the entertainment industry as 6 in 10 young adults in the United States are now watching television online, according to Pew Research Center survey conducted in August 2017. In today’s multi-device, multi-platform world, how do we establish an accurate picture of global popularity given the number of people worldwide now streaming on their daily commutes, or on a tablet that might double as their bedroom TV…as just two examples of today’s fragmentation. Our CEO Wared Seger has recently addressed this very question in his Cablefax article, titled “Measuring Popularity in a Multiplatform World“.
Let us now look at our streaming TV ratings chart and linear TV series popularity chart, powered by demand data, for the US domestic market.
In our latest chart, a lot has happened in both streaming and linear television this week. The major news is Marvel’s Jessica Jones is the #1 most in-demand digital original title after its season two launch on March 8. This represents a change of pace for the former action-heavy oriented title from the Netflix/Marvel universe as it focuses on the personal struggles of being a superhero rather than showing combat and bloodshed. Marvel’s Daredevil roughly gained 30% in contrast to last week as new artwork is displayed for the upcoming season. Last but not least, a smorgasbord of events caused demand to increase significantly this week: A new season of Black Mirror (ranked #4) has been officially ordered on March 5 and Voltron: Legendary Defender (ranked #7) launched the 5th season on the same date as the Black Mirror announcement.
Separately, two of the most prominent Netflix titles are in the media over distinct reasons: Stranger Things (behind-the-scenes drama with a 10% increase in demand compared to last week) and Orange is the New Black (the Hollywood Reporter theorized that creator Jenji Kohan might split the cast into two new prisons). Finally the trailer for the final season of House of Cards was released on March 4, showing Claire Underwood at the helm. This may have contributed to demand uptick of 87% for the political drama, contrasted to last week.
In other major news, Spongebob Squarepants has experienced an increase in demand compared to last week in the overall chart, likely due fictitious cancellation rumors. Other animation titles – Star Wars Rebels (ranked #4) and Rick and Morty (ranked #7) – were also exposed to an upward trend in demand. What’s more, noticeable casting changes on Grey’s Anatomy and The Walking Dead bucks the demand chart trends. In the bottom two, The CW’s Supernatural reappeared in the chart after news of a crossover with Scooby-Doo.
