The new television ratings system has arrived: It is now possible to understand the global popularity of TV shows on both linear and non-linear networks, including SVOD. Parrot Analytics’ global demand measurement system is able to report on how popular a TV series is in almost every country in the world, across all platforms and devices, in real time.
For the first time, a YouTube Red original series is number one in the top digital original series chart in the United States. Rhett & Link’s Buddy System, from internet comedy duo consisting of Rhett McLaughlin and Lincoln “Link” Neal, is a comedy series with the first episode free to watch for YouTube viewers. The comedians have recently listed their influences which include the Flight of the Conchords; we suspect audiences the US over have resonated with this style of light comedy. Buddy System had 78% more demand than Netflix’s Santa Clarita Diet. Netflix’s Santa Clarita Diet and Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle remained in the top five, but demand fell compared to last week: A 52% decrease for Santa Clarita Diet and a 15% decrease for Man in the High Castle, respectively.
Per our television ratings system we noticed that Netflix’s Stranger Things suffered the biggest drop in demand compared to last week out of all digital originals titles in the chart. In fact, the sci-fi series’ demand fell by 79% and dropped to ninth place on the chart. This is likely the case because the series enjoyed an abnormally large demand spike as a result of showing their Season 2 trailer at the Super Bowl. The rest of the chart remains the same compared to last week, with little change in terms of demand.
The overall chart in the US is mostly unchanged from last week with one new entry: ABC’s When We Rise. The mini-series about LGBT rights had 12% more demand than The Big Bang Theory – quite a feat given Big Bang is considered the most popular comedy on network television. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is ranked higher than Legion, but only had marginally more demand. Elsewhere in the overall chart, The Walking Dead’s demand continued to dominate Game of Thrones as it carried on with the second-half of season seven.
