Image: Game of Thrones, HBO
Game of Thrones may have been mighty dark on Sunday night, but it was still the biggest show on television according to Parrot Analytics’ television demand analytics. In addition, we are seeing fresh episodes of many of America’s favorite series featured in both the digital and overall charts as at the start of May.
This week, we have Cobra Kai tracked as the most in-demand streaming show once again. It’s been less than a week since the continuation of The Karate Kid franchise launched its second season. In related news, in a presentation to advertisers last Thursday in New York City, YouTube has announced that it will be lifting the paywall from its original content. This will increase the already powerful fandom for Cobra Kai, moreover, with the news that YouTube’s hit TV series is returning for a third season to debut in 2020, demand will likely remain high for the next couple of weeks.
As reported by Advanced Television and RapidTVNews, Cobra Kai was the most in-demand digital original series in the world over the seven days April 24 to April 30, 2019. Season 2 of Cobra Kai premiered April 24 and in just three days, the second season was already 136% more in demand than Season 1 in the same three-day time period in the U.S. In addition, Cobra Kai Season 2, episode 1 hit 20M views in 6 days, according to YouTube, making it the fastest YouTube Original episode to hit 20M views.
The full trailer for Hulu’s celebrated series The Handmaid’s Tale season 3 has arrived, showing off the birth of a resistance movement. The dystopian show has experienced double digital demand growth week-on-week; season 3 will premiere on Hulu on June 5th.
HBO’s Game of Thrones has offered up the fourth episode for its final season this Sunday, shifting the action to King’s Landing. The cinematography is brighter than the last episode’s Battle of Winterfell, which drew criticism for its confusing darkness. Demand for the HBO fantasy series has surged 25% week-on-week and rankings for the top 4 have not changed compared to last week.
In other non-Game of Thrones news, Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants (at No. 2), having enjoyed twelve TV seasons, two movie adaptations and one Broadway musical later, is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary this month; SpongeBob SquarePants debuted in May 1999.
Demand has jumped for One-Punch Man, revealing the villainous origins of its new central antagonist Garou and his hatred of heroes; we have observed the Japanese anime series increasing in demand (+8.8%), pushing the series from No. 11 the prior week to No. 8.
Rounding up the top ten, James Holzhauer, the 22-time winner whose record-smashing run on Jeopardy! has turned the syndicated game show into a sensation, must now face off against Ken Jennings, who triumphed in 74 games. Jeopardy! has jumped one ranking compared to the prior week on the back of a 5.3% increase in demand.
