In the week leading up to Thanksgiving we have observed US audiences increasingly consuming subscription content over linear offerings: There are three new digital original series debuting and only minor changes in overall television show chart. Perhaps there is increasing demand for SVOD series during the festivities with audiences having more time on their hands to access their favorite shows? Coming in at #1, Marvel’s The Punisher from Netflix had the highest increase in demand (+74%), compared to last week. Elsewhere in the top five, despite on hiatus, both Stranger Things (dropped to #2) and Star Trek: Discovery (dropped to #3) had a 11% drop in demand week-to-week but still more demand than newly released titles from Hulu.
Marvel’s Runaways premiered on November 21, which is the first non-Defenders franchise series not on Netflix; the teen-oriented superhero drama on Hulu is ranked #4 and was produced by Josh Schwartz (who created FOX’s The O.C.). The second new release title, Netflix‘s Godless had 24% more demand than the new season of Longmire (which is a continuation of the series which was previously running on A&E Networks). Sidenote: A western drama genre has not previously appeared in the top ten Digital Originals chart. The final, newly released title, is Future Man form Hulu, which has dropped three ranks compared to last week. Rounding out the top ten is Marvel’s Daredevil as principle productions begin for season 3, slated to release in 2018.
Overall audience demand for network broadcast series waned off; it appears audiences chose to spend their time elsewhere – we observed little change in demand this week compared to last week. Instead, digital original series like Stranger Things, Marvel’s The Punisher, Star Trek: Discovery and Marvel’s Runaways all emerged in the overall TV chart – suggesting a significant change in series popularity. While a lot of network series are on a “holiday hiatus” and won’t return until January, there are some noticeable changes in the chart this week: CW’s The Flash gained slightly in demand after a crossover episode from DC superheroes was announced and AMC’s The Walking Dead also gained 5% in demand compared to last week, having now aired nearly half of the current eighth season. Whilst the overall chart continues to be dominated by shows from linear networks, subscription content consumption is expected to increase in the coming years.
